I remember my first trip to Kerala. The amazement and the fear in perceiving the strength of a place that lives on energy and releases energy. The desire for powerful regeneration that every day I breathed only by walking and looking into the eyes of its inhabitants. I really understood what Ayurveda was and how much a retreat centered on this ancient natural medicine could contribute to my inner change.
Because Ayurveda is an art of good living and an approach to face one’s own existence while keeping it in perfect balance with the environment and the universe. For this ancient discipline, life is not only “being in the world” but “being consciously” to reach the 4 objectives – Dharma (duty -virtù to follow), Artha (understanding, well-being and prosperity), Kama (happiness) and Moksha (freedom and enlightenment) – which lead to the harmony of body-soul-spirit. Preserving health and well-being becomes essential to fulfill this path marked by vital energies (tridosha) placed in specific areas of the body and by particular functions.
Our harmony is born from the balancing of the doshas. Because for Ayurveda every man is related to the energy of the universe and his well-being is the result of the deep connection between body, mind and soul. The attention from the individual then moves to the whole and every discomfort, problem or illness must be considered in the whole. Each treatment and therapy becomes therefore unique because it is the result of a personalized assessment that does not overlook the equilibrium-imbalances of the three doshas Vata, Pitta and Kapha.
My first trip to Kerala taught me this, to consider myself a complete being who had to learn how to find a center and to listen to every part of muself. This is why an Ayurvedic retreat is not just a place of relaxation entrusted to massages or purification therapies, but an opportunity for a deep connection, an opportunity to care for one’s body and soul, a moment of listening to the most profound needs. Rest becomes an instrument of true physical and psychological reinvigoration; yoga and meditation accompany the soul towards pacification; the targeted treatments prescribed by Ayurvedic doctors rejuvenate and regenerate. A trip to Kerala is never just a journey. But a thousand.
“I have often found myself with a goodbye to make, a suitcase to prepare, a radical change to deal with and a new dimension to find. Managing changes in work, life and prospects have led me to my most authentic metamorphosis: to make a profession of the travel experience.