I wasn’t planning on getting any panchakarma treatments until I traveled further south to Kerala, but then I stumbled upon Kaivalyadhama in Mumbai while searching the web for a place to buy a neti pot. I was in the midst of a terrible head cold and was desperate to clear my sinuses with some neti pot action, but upon visiting their site, I learned they also had panchakarma treatments.

One such treatment is called Nasya, and they list the benefits as follows:

It is a wonderful treatment to remove the doshas or congestion in the ear, nose & throat. It cures problems of the respiratory track like chronic allergic asthma, cold, cough, etc.

It relieves mental fatigue, nervous disorders like depression, insomnia, epilepsy and insanity. It is also useful in problems of excessive hair fall and premature graying. It helps to induce calm and quiet sleep. It sharpens the intellect by enhancing nervous system.

I’ve also been having problems with insomnia since my arrival in India, so the treatment sounded like a good one for me. I emailed them on Sunday, and they got back to me Tuesday morning to let me know they had availability that day. They also confirmed they had ceramic neti pots for sale (only 40 rs!), so I hopped in a cab and made my way to their facility conveniently located on Marine Drive across from Chowpatty.

After the receptionist did a quick intake, I was shown into the doctor’s office. Of all the doctors of Ayurveda I have seen, I liked this woman especially for her compassion in addition to technical knowledge. She worked with me on my short time frame to compile a couple hours’ worth of treatments to help me clear some of the sinus congestion lingering from my cold. I knew I wanted the nasya, which she confirmed was a good treatment for me at that time, and she added a full-body massage—abhyangam—with herbal steam. I didn’t argue with her, especially as the price for all three treatments was only 1800 rs in addition to her 250 rs consultation fee.

The panchakarma (PK) therapist was a sturdy woman (and they only do same-sex massages there, which is a hallmark of Ayurvedic authenticity) with kind eyes and strong hands. She showed me to the PK room and had me sit in a chair for the head massage with herb-infused oil. After about ten minutes of this heavenly treatment, told me to strip down naked and lie on the massage table, where she expertly rubbed down my entire body with long Swedish-style strokes and a lot more medicated oil. I was in heaven.

Next came the steam, which meant climbing into a box with doors in front and up top that folded shut around me to leave only my head sticking out. The steam became pretty intense after a couple of minutes, so I had to pop open one of the top lids to release some of the heat. The PK therapist had assured me she was within earshot if I became uncomfortable, so I didn’t feel trapped.

After the steam, it was time for my nasya treatment. The thought of oil going up my nose seemed strange, but since I had mastered the neti pot, I wasn’t too concerned. She first massaged my entire face with ghee, which was lovely if not a little bit weird smelling, and then gently tilted back my head to receive about five drops of oil in each nostril. As soon as I could taste the herbs in the back of my throat, she stuck cotton in my ears to protect them from the air after the nasya (the ears, nose, and throat passages are all connected) and told me to wait at least three hours before showering.

Ideally I should have gone straight home to rest, but it was my last night in Bombay, and I already had plans to see a movie with my friend. When I emerged from the movie, my friend pointed out that my neck and shoulders were glistening with the oil that had dripped down from my hair, so I’d recommend going straight home after treatment if for no other reason than to prevent the oil from running down your back and staining your clothes.

The center also offers yoga classes and is renowned for its yoga teacher certification and mission to understand yoga from a scientific as well as spiritual perspective. They can create yoga routines that are designed to treat specific conditions, so I plan to visit them next time I’m in Mumbai to see what Ayur-yogic asanas they recommend for my dosha type. And another hour-long massage doesn’t sound bad either.

Amid a lush garden of banyan trees, the stately yet somewhat decrepit R. A. Podar Ayurved Hospital just south of the Bandra-Worli Sea Link offers no-frills treatments for locals and foreigners alike at some of the lowest costs I have encountered for Ayurvedic care. I have visited the institution twice, with the first time being almost a year ago for virechana treatment, and the second time being a week ago for some vata pacifying herbs to help with my jet lag. Overall, I’d recommend this place as an option for treatment in Mumbai, but there are some caveats.

Virechana Treatment November 2016

Before my first visit, I began by filling out the online consultation form available on the college website, and I highly recommend taking this step first if you decide to go. I was able to correspond with an upper level professor at the college who arranged for me to see a doctor before I arrived.

The morning of my consultation, the doctor recommended virechana, and I was given a set of instructions for purvakarma, which is the preparation for treatment. For those of you who have not had virechana before, this is the treatment where you drink ghee every day in order to loosen the ama, or built-up toxins, in the body. My orders were to drink increasing amounts of ghee mixed with special salt for the week leading up to treatment. I had to ingest the ghee and salt mixture first thing every morning at home, and by the end I think I had worked up to drinking close to 100 ml or more at once, but I don’t recall the exact amount as I have buried this memory, along with the ones of bearing my child, deep in my subconscious.

The doctor at the clinic had warned me about the difficulties inherent in ghee drinking, but I thought it wouldn’t be too bad because I love ghee so much when it’s warmed and spread on chapatis or drizzled into dahl. Clearly I was in denial, because—I am not gonna lie—there’s nothing nice about drinking salted ghee first thing in the morning. By the time I had worked my way up to drinking the full amount, it was all I could do not to throw it all up as soon as I had choked it down. (Pro-tip: hold your nose closed and drink it as fast as you can.)

There is also a special diet to be followed, but after you drink a big swig of ghee first thing in the morning, nothing after that will look like a hardship. The diet is basically kitchari, steamed veggies, and light vegetable soups. If you are not staying in a place where you can do your own cooking, it will be hard to find what you need in a typical Indian restaurant as the amount of spice in practically everything will only provoke the pitta dosha, which is the imbalance virechena seeks to address.

I did pretty well at following the diet, aside from falling off the purvakarma wagon once for an amazing thali on the day we celebrate Thanksgiving in the United States. I also may have taken too much to heart the advice that I could snack between meals on chikki, a jaggery and nut or seed-sweetened snack available in markets (“chikki” may be the Hindi word for “crack”), but otherwise there were no major offenses.

After a week of cleansing, I showed up at the hospital for my treatment, which I was told would take the entire day. During my first visit the week prior, I had been massaged by two women PK specialists (there is no opposite-sex massage in true Ayurved) and treated to a session of svedana in their special steaming apparatus that looked like a cross between a beautiful wooden coffin and a tanning bed. This visit, I was again treated to a massage with medicated oil and steam before I started the treatment. If you’re a California gal like me, you might be tempted to strip down to nothing before you are massaged with oils, but I recommend you wear an old pair of panties because they really do want you to keep them on, as I found out the hard way.

Massaged, steamed, and dressed again, an attendant took me to a hospital room to start the therapy. I had to drink some nasty concoction and then sit and wait for the pooping to begin. Be sure to bring a book, because there’s a lot of waiting. After a couple of hours and a couple more drinks, my bowels were still hanging on stubbornly, but after a third drink served with the attendant’s assurance that “this one will work,” I began to get some results. Finally, around 6 pm, I was pronounced fit enough to take a cab home.

For the following week, the doctor suggested continuing in the same detox diet while slowly introducing foods that are harder to digest. Again, I think I did pretty well, but it’s Bombay, and I’m a foodie, so there was a lot more cheating than during the purvakarma phase.

Did it work? Yes, I think it did. The symptoms of my primary complaint abated significantly, although they returned a couple of months later to a lesser degree. However, that may be due to the diet I followed while traveling in South America in the subsequent months, which mostly consisted of bread, cheese, coffee, and chocolate.

Podar Hospital Pros & Cons

First the good:

Cost: my entire treatment from consult to hospital stay was under rs 20,000, which was about $30 USD at the time.

Ease of use at facility: the hospital is well staffed with English speaking doctors and student practitioners, and they are welcoming to foreigners despite serving primarily to treat locals who are unable to afford more expensive treatment.

Authenticity: if you are from the US or another foreign country, it’s really cool to be able to see a real government-run Ayuvedic hospital from the inside.

Quality of care: as someone who is just starting to study Ayurved, the treatment seemed legitimate to me, although there was no examination during purvakarma to determine the level of oleation resulting from the ghee drinking. I was also impressed with the staff and doctors at the hospital in how I was treated and in the communication I received.

And the maybe-not-so-good:

Ease of use at facility: this is not a spa, and you will have to stand in a queue with other folks to await your treatment. At times there is also a lack of privacy in discussing your medical issues as some consults will take place in rooms with other patients.

I had a private bathroom in my hospital room, but I think it was well known as a place to go pee for the workers there. Twice while I was in the room, employees entered the room without knocking and then went into my bathroom to use it. Being a whiny, uptight American, I complained, but let’s just say I’m glad that I didn’t need that bathroom during those interruptions.

Self-care during preparation: no one is going to hold your hand during all that ghee drinking, and no one will provide your meals. Patients must be prepared to follow the instructions for preparation and post-care or the treatment will not work as well.