Ayurvedic Spa Rituals and Ayurveda Sessions in Southeast Asia

Part 2 - continued

Spa Speak

No need to slip up when faced with the latest spa menus, grease up on your Ayurvedic terms
Doshas – Ayurveda classifies patients by body types determined by proportions of the three doshas. These include Vata (air and space), Pitta (fire and water), and Kapha (earth and water). An imbalance between the three is considered to cause various health problems.
Marma Points – vital energy points of the body
Shirodara – a Ayurveda steam of warm herbal oil is poured on the forehead in a continuous stream to induce a clear, calm mind.
Pizhichil – Ayurveda warm herbal oil is poured all over the body and massaged into the body to two therapists.
Panchakarma – an Ayurvedic system of purifying and cleansing the body involveing five processes.

What’s New: Youth Hospital

With Bangkok Hospital’s new BMC Anti-Ageing Center (www.bangkokinternationalhospital.com) slated to open this March, medical travellers can now add a new destination to their list of holiday options. Anti-ageing medicine is a medical specialty founded ont eh application of scientific and medical technologies fro the early detection, prevention, treatment as well as reversal of age-related dysfunction, disorders and diseases. The new BMC Anti-Ageing Centre in Bangkok offers a wide range of services dedicated to preserving youth and vitality. There are specific programmes relating to anti-ageing (functional medicine), hormone replacement, exercise, dietary advice, mental health support and weight loss, alongside check up services. To help you look as good as you’ll feel, the BMC Anti-Ageing Centre also includes related services such as aesthetic dermatology and plastic surgery.

Questions and Answers

Why is Ayurveda catching on in all the major spas and wellness centers? A medical and Ayurvedic doctor with over 10 years of experience in alternative medicine, Dr. Sushil Rahul of Chiang Mai Oasis Spa (www.chiangmaioasis.com) gives some insight on this year’s hot holistic buzz:

Why Ayurveda?
Because Ayurveda is the ultimate choice for those who wish to live a harmonious life in tune with nature, coupled with a sensible lifestyle based on knowledge. It shows us how unbalanced states can be corrected and maintained, based on one’s individual body composition.

What’s on offer at Oasis Spa?
We tailor our Ayurvedic menu and packages according to the client’s needs, based on an integrated holistic approach that involves relaxation, detoxification, rejunvenation, and beautification. Specific Ayurveda treatments include Ayurvedic Shirodara, body massage and head massage.

What treatment is recommended?
What works best is a tailor made package for an individual, based on Ayurveda consultation with the doctor.

What about Ayurvedic herbs – do they have to be imported from India?
As we are a day spa and not a clinic or hospital, we develop our Ayurveda menu according to day spa requirements, we don’t prescribe herbs as such for the treatment. We use Indian and Thai herbs to make Ayurvedic massage oils, and advise the client on making lifestyle and diet changes based on Ayurvedic principles and alternative medicine.