NATUROPATHY AND HOLISTIC HEALTH
SAIBAL DAS
Health and all that jazz
■ BY AMIT MAHAJAN
A
s the sun moves south beyond
the Equator, on its way to its
annual rendezvous with the
Tropic of Capricorn, Goa begins to get
ready. It starts decking up expectantly,
a change here, a touch there... to host
the winter visitors who will flock to its
shores. Some will come looking for
fun and frenzy and action. Others will
throng in search of relaxation,
healing, even solace.
Travellers and revellers alike know
Goa for its attractions. The business of
leisure is pursued in right earnest on
busy beaches, and partying prevails in
other stomping grounds. The sinking
298 WELLNESS HOLIDAYS IN INDIA
sun blushes on romantic evenings on
isolated beaches and seaside cliffs. The
old churches and the Portuguese-
flavoured streets carry the aroma of
past. For those who are tired of the
idea of ‘activity’ and want just calm
and repose, there is the deep relax-
ation of the wet beach enveloping
tired feet; the healing touches of the
waves rushing to soak away the
tension from weary limbs; and the
regenerative warmth of the sun
massaging the muscles, loosening
them tissue by deep tissue.
However, one of the most impor-
tant but indefinable things that make
Goa ‘Goa’ is the fact that it attracts a
constant movement of people, from
Goa attracts the free spirited
all over the world, who are interested
in alternative ways of “living” —
forming communities differently, re-
lating to the environment differ-
ently, earning differently, eating
differently… and therefore also
relating to their bodies and minds
differently. That is, healing and
getting healed differently.
This was the Goa in my mind, the
Goa with a difference, a land replete
with an alternative healing culture,
when I came here to figure out its
‘wellness scene’. An author of a guide
book had written of a Goan beach
town: “As with other beach towns in
Goa, many places offer Yoga courses,
Reiki, massage and Ayurvedic treat-
ments. Ask around or look for signs.”
HEALING IN GOA
And this was what I did. Even as
‘Elvis’ Pereira, ‘Britney’ Sequiera and
SPECIAL FEATURE
Bosco ‘Marley’ sang from screaming
billboards, vying to become the
Kingfisher-sponsored voice of Goa.
A healer a day...
Like these singers, Goa throws up
healers and therapists at every turn,
but they do tend to gravitate to Goa’s
happy hunting grounds: the beach
stretches of Anjuna-Vagator in the
north, Calangute-Baga towards the
centre and Palolem-Patnem in the
south. Some are hidden in nooks and
crannies, others boldly claim atten-
tion on the main streets.
It was by pure chance that I
caught a glimpse of Susi’s notice, on
a random wall of a house on my way
back from Anjuna Beach. The notice
was well worn out and probably the
only one that survived from the
previous season. And because not
many people do Shiatsu, leave alone
‘Craniosacral therapy’, I decided to
give her a call — fortunately, she was
back from Europe that very day.
Susi is one of those who could be
termed the local foreigners of Goa.
She came here in 1976, leaving
behind, she hoped, Western civilisa-
tion. In Goa, she offers her therapies
from her home in Arpora (near
Anjuna Beach), a beautiful green and
secluded hamlet. In her session she
combines Shiatsu (see ‘Pressure
tactics’ on page 307), Dynamic Spine
therapy and Craniosacral (see ‘Fine-
tuning the body’ on page 310). She has
been practising for 20 years and you
feel that you are in safe, deft and
competent hands.
I complained of a discomfort in
my lower back, not pronounced
enough to be pain, but frequent
enough to be unhappiness. She began
the session with Dynamic Spine
Therapy. I stood with my back
towards her, a bit bent forward and
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NATUROPATHY AND HOLISTIC HEALTH
Wellness activities in Goa are concentrated around the beaches
my hands holding the bars of a
window. She pressed two points on
my lower back, and made me move
slowly, first my torso and then an
oscillating movement with my leg.
The idea was to bring the spine into
alignment. She worked similarly on
my thoracic and cervical spine. Then
I was lying down, on my back and
then on my stomach and Susi worked
on the various meridians — her
movements precise, the pressure sure,
her 20 years of experience showed in
every manouvre. She used a lot of her
body for exerting pressure, at many
angles and positions.
“It’s a good workout for me too,”
she said, “more than three sessions a
day are too many.” At one point she
was standing on the insides of my
feet, and surprisingly for me, I let out
an audible sigh of relief.
Susi ended the session with my
first experience of Craniosacral
therapy. It was the most subtle form
of healing I had come across, so much
so that I felt she was doing nothing
302 WELLNESS HOLIDAYS IN INDIA
CHARUKESI RAMADURAI
but sitting with my head in her
palms, fingers supporting the cervical
spine. But it also felt like something
was being done, something very
delicate, her fingers were in touch
with some dynamic inside my head
and spine.
Later I learned that that is what
Craniosacral is (see ‘Fine-tuning’ on
page 310) and we agreed ‘deep’ was
the only word to describe it with all
the connotations of ‘difficult to
comprehend’, ‘profound’, ‘intense’…
Post-session we shared some jasmine
tea in the lovely verandah of her
house in a leafy ambience. I promised
the next time I meet her we will
discuss whether and how it is possible
to run away from what she calls
‘Western Civilisation’. Susi can also
teach the massage she does. A 7-day
course (5 hours every day) will make
you competent to do a general
massage.
My next encounter is with
Karuna. Karuna (meaning compas-
sion) is her chosen name, and she has
chosen it well. In the very first
encounter she appears a wonderfully
nice and empathetic person. Of
European parentage and upbringing,
she says her heart is half-African and
half-Indian. She finds Europe much
more sterile, and lifeless, than the
places she has seen in India. In
Palolem she gets a sense of comm-
unity — a community formed by the
‘outsiders’ and the ‘locals’ together.
The last time she was in Delhi, she
mainly walked along the Yamuna,
trying to get a sense of people’s lives
on those fringes. The first thing she
wants to speak to me is about the
strife local people had been going
through after many shacks along the
Goan beaches were broken after a
court order.
Karuna takes Yoga and Medita-
tion classes, and also does massage.
Her skills are drawn from the
Sivananda and Bihar schools of
Yoga — she takes classes twice daily.
You can attend your first class with
voluntary contribution; subsequently
she charges Rs 200 per class. There is
an invitation to the local people to
join her classes for free. Sunday
morning is the Meditation class,
which is free for everybody.
Karuna’s massage (Rs 500/ 1 hour)
combines elements of Thai and
Swedish massages and a therapy
HEALING IN GOA
Veganism: No milk of
SPECIAL FEATURE
human kindness
Food products like milk, curd, cheese and
honey are the mainstay of the diets of many
vegetarians, and the epitome of goodness for
those brought up in the moral and dietary
traditions of dairy-farming, cow-worshipping
societies. However, for vegans these products
are anathema. Veganism is a way of life that
seeks to exclude — for reasons of health, ethics
as well as ecology — all products that are
derived from animals.
Health-wise, veganism attributes several
potential adverse health effects to dietary
animal fats and proteins, and many nutritional
benefits — including lower levels of saturated
fats and no cholesterol — to diets devoid of
animal products. Ecologically speaking, vegans
consider animal products to be a wasteful
method of producing food and thus, inimical to
earth’s ecology. Ethically, veganism believes
that humans do not need animal products to
survive and that it is wrong to kill or cause
suffering to other animals.
called Dorn (see page 309) using
gentle pressure of the hand and
thumbs. Dorn works at many levels
— it is great for both physical and
mental stress, and as an emotional
release. While working my shoulders,
she said they were very stressed and
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NATUROPATHY AND HOLISTIC HEALTH
KEDAR BHAT
An Ayurvedic massage and a Kalari massage (above right) in progress
she could not even ‘connect’ with
them. Her inference was that I was
carrying many responsibilities and
should let go. Ten minutes later when
she came back to the shoulders, she
felt that they’d loosened and I felt
lightness like I hadn’t for a long time.
Finding Karuna is easy as she
works next to the popular Blue Planet
restaurant in Palolem. It’s a great
place to eat healthy — try the Healthy
Juice (pineapple, carrot, pepper, balsa-
mic vinegar, ginger and cumin) for
Rs 50. Also check out notices about
other health-related activities.
Further south from Palolem,
walking on the very empty Patnem
Beach, I came across the happy sight
of Bhalu, Oko, Mala and Pepe —
German Shepherds all — relaxing on
the water’s edge while people
meditated nearby. They were part of
the Moksha Nivas Holistic Healing
Centre run by Uma and Greg
“Mahesh” Wright who teach Yoga in
the Iyengar tradition and practise
Reiki. The centre has a beautiful
location right on the beach and close
304 WELLNESS HOLIDAYS IN INDIA
KEDAR BHAT
to a rocky outcrop.
Many friends of Uma and Mahesh
are healers and practitioners of
alternative therapies, and they prac-
tise or teach different therapies here,
such as Zen Shiatsu, Chi Gong and
Mayan massage. However, they are
itinerant souls. Uma and Mahesh were
hoping to have somebody who would
teach Vipassana Meditation and,
possibly, Kundalini Yoga learned from
the Osho Ashram later in the season.
Their website explains: “At the
moment we are mainly a Yoga centre,
but from time to time we have highly
recommended masseurs or Reiki
teachers who grace us with their
talents as they pass through here on
their India travels, usually in the peak
season October to March.”
Back in Anjuna, I meet Sandra, a
dietary advisor from England who has
been living in Goa for a couple of
years now and insists that she has
given up staying in England for good.
You can meet Sandra at the Blue Tao
Organic Restaurant and Café; she is
intimately connected with Blue Tao
and is their dietary advisor. She comes
here every second day during the
season, and also to keep any pre-fixed
appointments.
A meeting with Sandra and the
Harmonic Food Intolerance Test
she offers (see alongside) can poten-
tially change your dietary life. I, for
example, have given up eating fruit
after meals since she told me that if
you have fruit with any other food
group, the fruit just sits in the
stomach, rotting, waiting for its turn
to be digested. Sandra has loads of
knowledge to share about what to eat,
and when, and how. You can work
out with her a balanced diet (vege-
tarian, non-vegetarian or vegan) for
yourself and, as examples, discuss the
menu of Blue Tao and figure out ‘why
the ginger in leek carrot soup?’ You
may combine the Food Intolerance
Test with the dietary advice; she
charges Rs 950 for an hour.
The Blue Tao Organic Restaurant
and Café is run by Jagran M A
D’Angelo, Italian by birth, Indian by
choice. A spacious restaurant right on
the Anjuna Beach Road, its menu lists
both vegetarian and vegan (see ‘Vegan-
ism’ on page 303) choices, and is de-
signed with Sandra’s help. The restau-
rant serves excellent soups (Rs 50-60),
salads (Rs 90-160), sandwiches (Rs 90-
160), spaghetti (Rs 110-150), momos
HEALING IN GOA
Food Intolerance Test:
SPECIAL FEATURE
Test of substance
It is a commonplace that some foods do not
suit some of us, and also that many diseases
are caused by our adverse reactions to
particular foods. This phenomenon is called
Food Intolerance. The problems caused by
Food Intolerance can range from diarrhoea
and asthma to depression, anxiety and
migraine. Identifying the food that is causing
the problem is usually a long and tedious
process of trial and error.
A Food Intolerance Test is a much simpler
way of finding out if any food product
adversely affects you. The test measures your
body’s response to different foods and drinks.
The equipment consists of a simple painless
sensor that is put on the tip of your finger. The
sensor is connected to an electronic device
whose settings can be changed to correspond
to various food products. Your body’s
resistance in each instance is measured and it
indicates whether you have intolerance
towards that product.
You may have a test done for all kinds of
foods, or only for specific food groups that you
may suspect. Intolerance to a particular
substance does not necessarily mean that you
will have to give up that substance forever.
Sometimes, after avoiding the food for a short
period the body can tolerate it thereafter.
WELLNESS HOLIDAYS IN INDIA 305
NATUROPATHY AND HOLISTIC HEALTH
A Yoga class in progess at the Blue Planet restaurant
(Rs 90-140) and pancakes (Rs 40-60).
You can also have innovative options
such as coconut-mushroom-green
peas spaghetti with pumpkin miso
soup or an avocado-soya sandwich
with leek-carrot-ginger soup. Bever-
ages to choose from are juices like
papaya orange juice (Rs 50) and green
tea (Rs 40).
Unlike most tourism-oriented
establishments in Goa, Blue Tao
functions throughout the year. It is a
happening place health-wise and
addresses ill health on many fronts.
During the high season (mid-Novem-
ber to April) Blue Tao organises Yoga
and Meditation classes in the
morning; for bookings and prices you
can directly contact Jagran (Mobile:
09850419782). They also have a
natural health shop, a small affair
with natural incenses, Aromatherapy
oils, natural alcohol-free perfumes
and cosmetics. Their notice board is a
good place to find health and healing
related information for Goa.
306 WELLNESS HOLIDAYS IN INDIA
KEDAR BHAT
If you have formed an impression
that healing in Goa is an activity
practised by only non-Indians, check
out Mr Anand at Johnny’s Hotel in
Calangute. He will single-handedly
cure you of this impression, and
much else. He offers a host of
treatments and courses: Reiki, Yoga,
Reflexology as well as Metamor-
phosis Healing.
Anand is a portly-looking middle-
aged man, very much the teacher he
is otherwise. However, he has been a
healer for many years. He charges Rs
300 per session for Yoga and Rs 600
for other treatments. Indians are
likely to get some discount. I had a
session of Reiki and Metamorphosis
Healing each. Metamorphosis is a
technique developed in England in
the 1950s by Dr Robert St John, and
relies on the body’s self-healing
capacity. The healer uses a very soft
touch on the feet, hands and head
deploying a butterfly-like action of
the fingers. Metamorphosis therapy
goes beyond the physical body to
address the unconscious.
Anand inspired confidence and
my session was indeed a very relaxing
one, but, perhaps because it was the
only sitting I had, it came nowhere
close to what I later read of this
treatment. Sample this: “The therapy
uses gentle touch to change life
patterns by re-educating the
unconscious mind and eliminating
deeply seated influences, resulting in
profound shifts in illness, disease and
emotional disturbances.”
Then there are Debby and
Mahesh, who, when they are not
relaxing somebody’s tensed up
muscles with their nimble fingers, are
to be found sitting on the steps
outside their lovely tall house on the
Anjuna Beach Road. Mahesh prac-
tises a whole lot of massages and
treatments, which he has learned
over the years from various sources.
He does Aromatherapy massage,
Reflexology, Ayurvedic massage
and treatments such as Kizhi,
Kadivasti, Shirodhara… Debby is
trained in Aromatherapy and in
Ayurvedic treatments. In summer
they run a Reflexology clinic in
Finland, and are very proud of a
Finnish newspaper’s reportage about
them. Mahesh has good firm hands as
he manoeuvres the contours and
HEALING IN GOA
Shiatsu Massage:
SPECIAL FEATURE
Pressure tactics
Finger pressure: that’s the simple meaning of
the Japanese word Shiatsu, and the system of
healing known by this word believes that we all
have the capability to heal and get healed by
mere touch. The system of Shiatsu massage
originated in China and was further developed
in Japan. Now Shiatsu is a popular method of
alternative healing practised in many countries.
This system believes that our bodies work
and heal themselves by the operations of the
body’s energy called chi, which flows in 12
channels called ‘meridians’. These meridians
are given names such as Spleen Meridian or
Stomach Meridian and run longitudinally
through the body. At specific pressure points,
located on the meridians, one can influence the
flow of this energy, induce it to move towards a
state of balance and thus, achieve healing.
A typical Shiatsu massage is done on the
patient lying on a mat. The healer presses
various points along the meridians depending
upon the patient’s condition. Only the natural
pressure of the hands and the body is applied
during the massage. The massage is a very
relaxing experience even though some points
can be painful. Shiatsu is good for a general
improvement in health and also for a wide
range of problems from migraines and back
pains to constipation and skin diseases.
WELLNESS HOLIDAYS IN INDIA 307
NATUROPATHY AND HOLISTIC HEALTH
Sun, sand and smiles under the massage-man’s hands
structures of your body. He feels
Reflexology is the most effective of
the treatments he practises, and the
toughest for him to do. They charge
Rs 500-900 for the different therapies;
the time of a session varies from 45
mins to an hour and 15 mins.
In the establishments run by
Debby and Mahesh, men work on
men and women on women, and
they are scathingly contemptuous of
what they claim is a flourishing
practice in Goa — women offering
Ayurvedic massage services to men,
thereby demeaning Ayurveda. This is
a refrain I heard often enough, but
did not get a single such offer in more
than a week’s time (although it might
be a more clandestine activity or
offered to better men than I).
In fact, a common sight was the
men doing maalish on the beaches
for men as well as women with
nonchalant ease.
On the same Anjuna Beach Road
I found HP Vishnu offering Marma
massage (Rs 500, more than an
308 WELLNESS HOLIDAYS IN INDIA
hour). He doused me in herbal oils
that he had prepared himself and,
while intoning Vedic chants, worked
on my Marma points. Even though
Vishnu practises in a small room with
minimal trimmings, he knows his
massage. It left a feeling of being
thoroughly scrubbed and cleansed as
well as kneaded to the point of stupor.
Marma therapy is a part of
Ayurveda according to some, and of
the Siddha system according to
others. There are said to be 107 Marma
points on the body, related to the
seven chakras, and by striking or
massaging them one can produce
harmful or healing effects. In fact, it is
claimed that the Marma system
travelled, like Buddhism, to Tibet,
China and Japan from India and
formed the precursor to the Japanese
Shiatsu massage. Interestingly, Vishnu
found a painful point in the centre of
my calf and said it was related to
digestion — earlier Susi had said the
same thing about the same point
according to the Shiatsu principles.
HP Vishnu is in his fifties, hails
from Pune and has an experience of
15 years in Marma and Ayurveda; he
has been in Goa for about six years.
After a session, if he feels the need, he
will teach some Yoga asanas and
Pranayama. You can also learn the
basics of Ayurveda and Marma
massages with him in a 15-day long
course, 2-21/2 hours everyday, costing
approximately Rs 10,000.
‘Health’ is a large concept and
everybody agrees that there is a deep
connection between health and
happiness. Some sure ways of keeping
happy (and thus, healthy?) on the
Goan beaches are: chilled beers under
the shade of beach umbrellas, fish
and chips on the edge of the rocky
promontory hanging above the blue
waters, and beach volleyball or foot-
ball with the restaurant workers. If you
cannot leave the beach and still want
some healing, then try the tradition-
al Hindustani massage — Rs 400 for
full body, Rs 200 for half (head and
torso or arms and legs) on Anjuna
Beach. This is absolutely delightful
stuff on a beach bed (Rs 100 for the
day) in one of the beach shacks. The
rough but comforting hands of a
North Indian male will squeeze out
the tiredness from your shoulders and
calves. Follow this with a swim in the
rolling waves.
HEALING IN GOA
Dorn Therapy: The
SPECIAL FEATURE
modern folk art
Dorn is a method of healing, often described as
a ‘gentle relative to osteopathy and chiro-
practic’, developed in the 1970s by Dieter
Dorn. A farmer and sawmill owner in Germany,
Dieter Dorn wanted this method to be freely
available to anybody to use and to become a
folk medicine. He did not use his right to make
it a trademark. Dorn is now a popular technique
to cure back pain, sciatica, hip problems and
other problems.
The Dorn Method is based on the principle
that our spinal column is symmetrical and in a
harmonic equilibrium. Due to inequality in the
lengths of a patient’s legs, the pelvis becomes
somewhat twisted and causes asymmetries in
the spinal column. During the therapy, a practi-
tioner carries out a correction of the unequal
leg lengths and treats many conditions related
to spinal misalignments. These misalignments
are to be found in almost everybody these days
and cause a range of spinal and joint problems.
Dorn is a gentle method in which pressure
by hands and thumbs is used to correct the
vertebrae and other joints. No medicines are
administered. The re-alignment is done by a
dynamic process — the bones are brought
back into proper position while they are
moving. Usually, the effect of the therapy is felt
immediately.
WELLNESS HOLIDAYS IN INDIA 309
NATUROPATHY AND HOLISTIC HEALTH
Craniosacral: Fine-tuning the body
The atmosphere in which our cranium and
spine exist form a system called Cranio-
sacral, and for trained fingers it is possible to
perceive the subtle rhythms in cerebrospinal
fluid and the membranes that surround the
cerebrum and the spine. This non-invasive
subtle art of healing was discovered by Dr
Sutherland in the early 1900s in the US and
involves ‘listening’ with the hands by the
therapist. John Upledger improved upon his
work in the 1970s and began Craniosacral as
a healing system.
In Calangute, this is cheaper (Rs
300, full body) and there are more
masseurs and masseuses. Check out at
any of the beach cafés with names
like Goan Waves, Sea King and Sea
Breeze. If you can’t find one — and
this is unlikely — just ask the vendors
or the waiters.
Business as unusual
This happening wellness scene, of
course, attracts a motley crowd of
healers — aspirants and charlatans,
and all the in-between, difficult-to-
trust shades. In Calangute, Guru
Shruti Prakash will win hands down
a contest for the most hand-billed
healer. His leaflets were all over the
pillars and walls of the Calangute
market — thankfully they were small.
He calls himself a palmist and healer
and his place the ‘Natural Healing,
Soul Realisation and Mysteries
Experience Centre’. He can read your
palm and give you insights into
yourself and suggestions for happier
life, cure you of acidity, pain in the
neck and headaches, but also of
confusion, sadness and restlessness.
He practises Chakra Energy Healing,
Shiatsu, Meditation, Yoga, Colour
Therapy — the claims are exhaustive
and exhausting. His room is a
310 WELLNESS HOLIDAYS IN INDIA
Craniosacral is the subtlest of therapies
and generates a profound sense of relaxation
with the slightest of touches by the therapist.
In a typical session, the patient lies down or
sits and the healer will gently place their
hands on the patient’s body and will ‘tune’ in
to the system. At the same time this helps
release the restrictions in the body, which
inhibit the body’s natural healing capabilities.
This healing is good for general well being
and is beneficial for all kinds of conditions
including physical and emotional problems.
subaltern mad artist’s studio; the floor
and the walls of the small cube are
speckled with photocopied hand-
charts, Yoga postures, Reflexology
diagrams and Acupressure schemas.
Guru Shruti Prakash manages a
soft diffused appearance in his kurta-
pyjama and a whitening beard. He
occupies the centre among the tricks
of his trade. I wanted to know and
experience the ‘Rebirthing’ and
‘Chakra Energy Healing’ that he
advertised but he insisted that we
began with palm reading and that it
would indicate the healing we should
choose. The idea, he said, was not to
test his skills but to together see if we
could reach somewhere significant.
He took my palm and spoke in a soft,
happy, enchanted voice — he sounded
deliriously joyful like a Sufi mystic in
a trance and had fitting Punjabi-
tinged English to go with it.
However, his system of charging
clients is a letdown. He keeps a time-
piece next to him and charges Rs 5 for
a minute with the proviso that you
stop him when you want. This, of
course, means that you keep track of
the time, for he can go on speaking
endlessly, often suggesting that a little
more time will be worthwhile. The
same price holds for his other
HEALING IN GOA
KEDAR BHAT
therapies. I tried Rebirthing, in
which, “through guided breathing a
SPECIAL FEATURE
person can be made to see his
problems clearly”. We tried that for a
while but as the clock ticked Rs 5 per
minute to no great result, I asked him
to stop. He looks like an interesting
character, claims a lot of knowledge,
and might be good in some of the
stuff he does but I suggest that if you
go to him fix up a price beforehand
and save yourself from the threat of
the ticking timepiece.
Again in Calangute, Nishant and
Manish are boyish-looking young
men, strong and muscular. They look
just like the image I have of gym
trainers. However, they prefer to be
known as Swami Manish and Swami
Nishant and operate in winters from
Goa, and in summers from Manali.
Their centre is located in a small flat It’s all in your hands
on the first floor of a housing block in
the main bazaar in a locality replete 1,500/ 2 hrs). However, their setting
with restaurants with names like Red in a tired, box-like flat did not inspire
Lion Bar, Red NDA, Cassandre. They much confidence.
are trained in Ayurvedic massages, You are also sure to find
Thai massage, Reflexology, pretenders like Srinivas — Ayurvedic
Meditation and Yoga, and have Healer, s/o K Sanjiv Rao Mukhia,
learnt most of their trade in Pune. unmissable thanks to his choice of
They appear knowledgeable and perch. He sits on the pavement on the
confident, and their prices are main road that goes to the Anjuna
reasonable: Yoga (Rs 150/ 1 hr), Thai Beach, outside the popular Dhum
massage (Rs 600/ 1 hr), Reflexology Biryani Restaurant. The stuff of his
(Rs 600/ 1 hr), Marma therapy (Rs trade — herbs, roots, choornas and
WELLNESS HOLIDAYS IN INDIA 311
NATUROPATHY AND HOLISTIC HEALTH
The outdoors can be invited indoors at Bhakti Kutir
Bhakti Kutir: Living out of the box
As it darkened outside and I climbed up to
my room in Bhakti Kutir, I had two choices for
the south wall of my room. If I drew the
curtain the wall would be a bamboo screen.
Otherwise, with the curtain removed, the
leafy foliage of a tree fenced the room. Bhakti
Kutir is this delightful place run by a Goan-
German couple just off the Palolem Beach,
with huts made of bamboo and straw
located on a wooded hillock.
The accommodation is clean and
comfortable (do not expect luxury) and
ecologically sensitive. The squat toilets are
compost-type and the walls are mud-
plastered. The food is simple, earthy, organic
and usually vegetarian. Tofu, homemade
pasta and local drinks like kokum syrup are
served. However, Bhakti Kutir is not into
asceticism — fresh seafood, beer and wine
are readily available. Care has been taken to
make eating a pleasant communal experi-
ence. The dining area has old wooden furni-
ture and trees form a lovely canopy.
312 WELLNESS HOLIDAYS IN INDIA
KEDAR BHAT
Bhakti Kutir routinely organises Yoga
classes and Meditation workshops. They
also have an Ayurvedic centre called Kailas
Kerala Traditional Ayurveda, located in
beautiful and spotless huts. I had a Kalari
massage in which I was made to lie down on
a mat and the therapist did a whole-body
massage with his feet, while holding on to
ropes for support. His feet moved dexter-
ously up and down my body, knowing
exactly how much pressure was to be given
where. Often he would be standing on my
back, even on the belly. Implausible as it may
sound, the experience is an extremely
rejuvenating one. The massages and treat-
ments cost Rs 600 and more.
Contact
Bhakti Kutir, 296 Colomb, Palolem
Canacona, Goa
Tel: 0832-2643469/ 72
Email: bhaktikutir@yahoo.com
Tariff: Rs 1,500-3,000
HEALING IN GOA
KEDAR BHAT
oils are spread out around him and he
waits. He comes from Karnataka,
SPECIAL FEATURE
claims Ayurveda as a family heirloom,
charges Rs 50 for consultation, Rs 400
for medicine for a month and can try
helping any condition, except
gonorrhea and AIDS. He took my
pulse, concentrated and let loose a
verbal barrage of vata-pita at me. This
he followed with a highly compli-
cated statement, concocting a
miasma of anxiety with words like
‘too much heat’, ‘cells’, ‘sperm’ and
‘water’. I inferred that he was tar-
getting my supposed male insecurity,
as is the practice of many commercial
enterprises, and was predicting a
dilution of sperm if I did not take him
seriously. I decided not to.
Genuine practitioners or con
artists, the healers in Goa are in a state
of continual flux; they are an itiner-
ant lot. For one, most are seasonal, In the name of Ayurveda
functioning usually from November
to April. Secondly, they may or may
not come here year after year. Susi,
gap of more than a decade. And at
Moksha Niwas, different healers visit
even though she has come for 20 the place as and when they can.
years, is not sure whether she is doing Do not plan too much when you
the right things in her life and might go to Goa, go there with the spirit of
not return the next season. Karuna, adventure, let Goa surprise you with
on the other hand, is in her first the unexpected. Its healers may
season here and is already finding the change, but healing will go on.
warmth of a community and of
home. Shruti Prakash has spent only For contact details of these healers in
two seasons here, and those over a Goa, turn to next page
WELLNESS HOLIDAYS IN INDIA 313
NATUROPATHY AND HOLISTIC HEALTH
SUNSHINE, WATER... AND THE REST
Like most of Goa’s tourism-related activities taking place around sunshine and
water, the wellness business also gets concentrated around the prime beach
stretches: Anjuna-Vagator in the north, Calangute-Baga towards the centre and
Palolem-Patnem in the south
Anjuna-Vagator
For many, Anjuna is the place if you want
to combine health and holiday. Anjuna
and the area around it — Vagator and
Assagao — are a beehive of healing
activity. You’ll find esoteric stuff like
colour healing and chelation therapy but
also the usual Yoga and Ayurveda. A new
Ayurveda centre materialises every day,
ready to pour warm medicated oils on
painful bodies.
◆Susi Arpora, 5 km from Anjuna
near Hotel Nilaya
Mobile: 09850464895 Speciality: Shiatsu,
Craniosacral therapy. Cost: On request
◆Sandra Blue Tao Restaurant
Anjuna Beach Road
Mobile: 09822176791
Speciality: Dietary advice and Food
Intolerance Test. Cost: Rs 950 upwards
◆Debby and Mahesh The Asian
Ayurvedic Centre, Sorrantto
Anjuna Beach Road
Mobile: 09822708577
or
The True Ayurvedic Health Centre
Gaon-Vadi
Anjuna-Baga Road
Tel: 0832-3250777; Mobile: 09850417779
Speciality: Ayurveda, Aromatherapy,
Reflexology
Cost: Rs 500-900
◆HP Vishnu Kakapai House
Anjuna Beach Road
Mobile: 09822481748
Speciality: Marma massage
Cost: Rs 500 upwards
◆Healing Here and Now
St Michael’s Vaddo, Anjuna
Tel: 0832-32272487 Speciality: Colour
healing, colon cleansing
Cost: On request
314 WELLNESS HOLIDAYS IN INDIA
◆Yoga Magic Assagao
Tel: 0832-5623796. Speciality: Yoga
retreat. Cost: Rs 400 upwards
◆Healthy Healing Centre
(Shikha Aggarwal)
861/ 2 Sorantto Vaddo
Anjuna, Bardez
Tel: 0832-3253657. Speciality: Chelation
therapy and oxygen healing therapies
Cost: Therapies — Rs 50-1,500
Packages — Rs 3,500 upwards
Calangute-Baga
The Calangute-Baga beach stretch is the
centre of the Goan tourists’ universe.
Shops, cafés, people, water sports,
beach activities — the blend creates a
perpetually festive atmosphere.
Compared to the other beaches in Goa,
Calangute has more people — more
Indians who are more protective of their
bodies, they shield themselves diligently
from the sun and from others. Ayurveda
has become a major ingredient in this
holidaying mix, converting it into a
healthy disorder. Signs advertising
Ayurveda can be found all over the place
— you have low-end options and high-
end ones. You can have single
massages, Ayurveda treatment
packages, Panchakarma therapy and
beauty and health care products.
◆Pousada Tauma
Porba Vado, Calangute. Tel: 0832-
279061-63 Speciality: Ayurveda
Cost: Rs 1,500 upwards
◆Johnny’s Hotel
(Anand) Cabrawado, Baga Road
Tel: 0832-277458
Mobile: 09823207592
Speciality: Reiki, metamorphosis, Yoga
Cost: Rs 300 upwards
◆Guru Shruti Prakash, Natural Healing,
Soul Realisation & Mysteries
Experience Centre
Cottage 2, Hotel Calangute Mahal
Baga Road
Mobile: 09860531108
Speciality: Palmistry, Rebirthing,
Chakra Meditation, Colour therapy
Cost: On request
◆Swami Manish and Swami Nishant,
The Patanjali Yoga & Ayurvedic Centre
Flat No. 11, Simplex Chamber
UMTA Vaddo, Calangute
Mobile: 09226818294. Speciality: Yoga,
Ayurveda, Reflexology
Cost: Rs 150 upwards
Palolem-Patnem
The Palolem-Patnem stretch in South
Goa is famous for its beautifully shaped
beach, dolphin sightings and wellness
tourism. South Goa is discernibly
different from the North — it is more
wooded than inhabited, forest rather
than fields flanks the roads between
towns. Ayurveda is flourishing in
Palolem too. You can find an Ayurvedic
massage in the hotels on the beach;
most of these hotels have small wooden
cottages on stilts. There are many other
therapies to be found. Check the light
tower as you approach Palolem Beach
and the wall near the stairs of Patnem
Beach. New notices crop up every now
and then.
HEALING IN GOA
◆Karuna Next to the Blue Planet
Restaurant, Main Street to Palolem
SPECIAL FEATURE
Beach. Mobile: 09860656541
Speciality: Yoga, Meditation, Shiatsu
massage. Cost: Rs 200 upwards
◆Moksha Nivas Holistic Healing Centre
(Uma and Mahesh)
Patnem Beach
Mobile: 09890875992
Speciality: Yoga, Reiki, Meditation
Cost: Rs 200 upwards
◆Palolem Ayurvedic Centre
Behind Hotel Good Shepherd
Mobile: 09422640193
Speciality: An excellent place to get a
taste or the full course of Ayurveda
Cost: Rs 500 upwards
◆Kailas Kerala Traditional Ayurveda
Bhakti Kutir (see page 312)
Cost: Rs 600 upwards
◆Joby’s House of Ayurveda
Behind Bhakti Kutir Palolem, Canacona
Mobile: 09850457471
Speciality: Ayurveda massage
Cost: Rs 450 upwards
◆Hotel Premier Cabana
Calangute-Baga Road
Mobile: 09373712721
Speciality: Reiki and Shiatsu courses
Cost: Rs 400 upwards
◆Hotel Neptune Point
Mobile: 09923095927. Speciality: Yoga
Note: These listings carry therapy
costs only
WELLNESS HOLIDAYS IN INDIA 315