Ayurveda
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I have just returned from a four month trip to Southeast Asia and India. I was nervous about managing my symptoms while I was away, but I knew I had to go and not let my disease hold me back from my desire to travel. I did have many experiences where diarrhea would come at the least opportune time, but I managed.
Going to India was not on my travel plans at the time. My plan was to travel to Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Viet Nam, but after watching "Eat Pray Love" with Juia Roberts, I decided I wanted to visit an Ashram as well, and since I was visiting Asia anyway this was the time to do it.
I searched online and applied to different retreats when I stumbled upon an Ayurveda retreat. Ayurveda is India's traditional medicine, practiced for
5-10 000 years. I even came across one website that specifically treated Crohn's. So I applied to a few and finally I was ready for my journey to India. At the retreat, on my first visit with the doctor he stated he was confidednt that he could heal my ulcers and manage my disease. They told me my problem was of function rather than structure, and with that I began my detox.
Punchakarma is what Ayurveda describes as a cleanse to rid your body of all toxins and reprogram your cells. I underwent 7 days of enemas, 5 days of Ghee treatment followed by purgation (which is the process of eliminating the toxins brought out by the Ghee by inducing diarrhea). I also practiced yoga and mediatated daily for a month and ate only an Ayurvedic diet provided by the retreat along with medications prescribed by the physician. What is important about Ayurveda is that no two people would be treated the same, even if you had the same diagnosis. I think this is a mistake in western medicine, you get diagnosed with an illness and there is only one route to take medically. This doesnt make any sense since we are all genetically very different. Ayurveda is a holistic approach and focuses on the whole individual not just the illness.
I have been home for almost three weeks now, and I just had my abdominal ultrasound. I have significant improvement since my last ultrasound. They were not able to identify any inflammation at all and most importantly my symptoms have improved immensly.
Although healing myself physically was the reason I went to this retreat, what I really found was my true self. I was able to heal myself emotionally, spiritually and physically. This is the true way to heal, although I am still and will always be learning about myself, this was the first step in the right direction. I will never forget the love and support that was offered to me from all the patients and staff. It was truly an amazing and life changing experience that I will appreciate and cherish for the rest of my life.
I wanted to share my experience with you, because this treatment is truly effective, and I think we need to find some alternative to our western medicine that incoporporates a holistic approach from people who actually care about you. On a side note, when I went to the ultrasound the technician said he was having a boring and slow day because no one critical came in and everyone was healthy and I thought wow, instead of being happy for these healthy people you really just think of everyone as an object and not a real person, just for the sake of having an exciting day. It really saddens me.
Anyways if anyone would like more information on Ayurveda I would be happy to help out!
Thanks for reading
Lots of Love,
Michelle
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I have just returned from a four month trip to Southeast Asia and India. I was nervous about managing my symptoms while I was away, but I knew I had to go and not let my disease hold me back from my desire to travel. I did have many experiences where diarrhea would come at the least opportune time, but I managed.
Going to India was not on my travel plans at the time. My plan was to travel to Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Viet Nam, but after watching "Eat Pray Love" with Juia Roberts, I decided I wanted to visit an Ashram as well, and since I was visiting Asia anyway this was the time to do it.
I searched online and applied to different retreats when I stumbled upon an Ayurveda retreat. Ayurveda is India's traditional medicine, practiced for
5-10 000 years. I even came across one website that specifically treated Crohn's. So I applied to a few and finally I was ready for my journey to India. At the retreat, on my first visit with the doctor he stated he was confidednt that he could heal my ulcers and manage my disease. They told me my problem was of function rather than structure, and with that I began my detox.
Punchakarma is what Ayurveda describes as a cleanse to rid your body of all toxins and reprogram your cells. I underwent 7 days of enemas, 5 days of Ghee treatment followed by purgation (which is the process of eliminating the toxins brought out by the Ghee by inducing diarrhea). I also practiced yoga and mediatated daily for a month and ate only an Ayurvedic diet provided by the retreat along with medications prescribed by the physician. What is important about Ayurveda is that no two people would be treated the same, even if you had the same diagnosis. I think this is a mistake in western medicine, you get diagnosed with an illness and there is only one route to take medically. This doesnt make any sense since we are all genetically very different. Ayurveda is a holistic approach and focuses on the whole individual not just the illness.
I have been home for almost three weeks now, and I just had my abdominal ultrasound. I have significant improvement since my last ultrasound. They were not able to identify any inflammation at all and most importantly my symptoms have improved immensly.
Although healing myself physically was the reason I went to this retreat, what I really found was my true self. I was able to heal myself emotionally, spiritually and physically. This is the true way to heal, although I am still and will always be learning about myself, this was the first step in the right direction. I will never forget the love and support that was offered to me from all the patients and staff. It was truly an amazing and life changing experience that I will appreciate and cherish for the rest of my life.
I wanted to share my experience with you, because this treatment is truly effective, and I think we need to find some alternative to our western medicine that incoporporates a holistic approach from people who actually care about you. On a side note, when I went to the ultrasound the technician said he was having a boring and slow day because no one critical came in and everyone was healthy and I thought wow, instead of being happy for these healthy people you really just think of everyone as an object and not a real person, just for the sake of having an exciting day. It really saddens me.
Anyways if anyone would like more information on Ayurveda I would be happy to help out!
Thanks for reading
Lots of Love,
Michelle