Tara at Ayurvedic Pharmacy

I had the opportunity to work with the Ayurvedic pharmacy to make Ayurvedic poultices for hot compress massage. in Kerala, India.

My journey to India...

It was a difficult decision to miss ISPA this year since I've only missed 2 in over 20 years. But my journey in India and my Ayurvedic research have called me. I look foward to sharing this experience with my spa friends and colleagues when I return. Please stop by the TARA booth to say hello virtually! It will mean so much to me and my team.

Tara's Daily Routine While in India

Marari Beach Resort in Kerala, India

Our group at the Marari Beach Resort and medical center for a tour, lecture, wonderful lunch and tea. — with Wendy Nierel Bosalavage and 3 others in Kerala, India.

Ayurvedic Clinic in Kerala, India

Ayurvedic Pharmacy in India

2013 Trip to India

My trip to India has been amazing in so many ways. I have great photos, some of which are included in an album posted on Facebook - click here to see the photo album.

The first few days included a tour of Old Delhi by rickshaw, a visit to a sari store where our group of women picked out saris for the Bollywood gala to be held at Taj hotel. The day included a cooking class and lunch in the private home of Prabeen, a well known Indian chef, TV personality and author. To be in someone's home in Delhi was a wonderful experience.
The next day a group of us went to Agra to see the Taj Mahal. Wow! No words can descrivpbe it's magnificence. Lunch at the Agra Oberoi was sensational. A gorgeous classical design hotel and some of the best Indian food we would have on the entire trip!

The Global Spa and Wellness Summit held at the Oberoi kicked off on Oct. 4, hosting delegates from around the world- industry leaders. The conference provided many dynamic presenters and interesting information for the future of our industry. But for sure the Dali lama was the highlight. He addressed our conference for about 90 mins and laughed and smiled and showed us with unconditional love and compassion. I saw him many years ago at UC Santa Cruz college campus, but twice in a lifetime held special meaning for me.

Our post conference excursion was to southern India, to the Kerala backwaters. Kerala is known as the motherland for Ayurveda. A group of 20 of conference attendees stayed at the Coconut Lagoon and enjoyed endless buffets of Indian cuisine for breakfast lunch and dinner, along with authentic Ayurvedic treatments.   The waters are so beautiful in the morning and evening light. I went kayaking with Jim Chenevey from Living Earh Crafts, and Roberto Arjona from Rancho La Puerta and our new yogini friend Stacy, also from California. 

Each morning we did sunrise yoga  in a primitive hut that looked out onto rice fields and water ways. One morning as I was doing sun salutation I looked up and saw a soft he of a rainbow. It felt so auspicious, I tried to capture it in a photo.

Each day we had Ayurvedic treatments which were quite surprising to some in our group. Though seasoned spa goers, the authentic Ayurvedic treatments included sitting naked on a stool for an Indian Head massage, being pounded with hot herbal compresses, then massaged with generous amounts of herbal infused oil, then followed by a cleansing with an herbal paste and a rinse with buckets of warm water.

We visited an organic garden, had a cooking class in an open air kitchen in the garden followed by a traditional lunch served on a banana leaf, where we ate with our hands.
After lunch we visited an Ayurvedic pharmacy and watched herbal oils and medicines being made. I got to stir the pot and also make herbal blouses, or compresses.

Leaving Kerala for another Ayurveda and Yoga Retreat, Four of us left the backwaters and lagoons for the mountains. What mapquest said would take 5 hours, ended up taking 11! What a long journey!

Now in the mountains in the tea growing region, it is so lush and colorful. The air is so clean here. Our program begins with a consultation with dr, mouli, Ayurvedic physician. We are given medicine specific for our individual prakruti or constitutional make up and to adress specific ailments. In my case it is lymes disease manifesting in my knee joints. Medicines are dispensed 6 times a day- beginning at 6 am., then after breakfast, lunch, tea time , dinner and bedtime.. The capsules are fine, but the herbal liquid is so difficult to swallow! Yuk!

Yoga begins at 6:30 and again at 12:30 and 4:30.Meditation is at 4:30,  and two treatments a day are scheduled I between. There are  many interesting guests that have come from all over the world to seek Ayurvedic treatment for health conditions, or to study Ayurveda, or Yoga teacher training. Most guests are staying for weeks or months at a time. We take walks in the afternoon through the tea plantation hills and through villages where the children run out to greet us. We see how people in this region live- very simply in small one or two room houses.

I am thrilled that my knees are doing well and I feel I am rebuilding my strength.

Tara at the Taj Hotel in New Delhi, India

The Taj Hotel New Delhi pulled out all the stops to put on a magical party for the Global Spa Summit ... complete with fireworks and Bollywood dancing! Thank you GSWS 2013 for a memorable night!