JAN 8 - 14 BARBERYN REEF AYURVEDA RESORT

BARBERYN REEF AYURVEDA RESORT
One of the most respected Ayurvedic healing centres in Sri Lanka-a beautiful complex with room for 90 or so guests. It was one of the first resorts on the East Coast of Sri Lanka and is still owned and operated by the same family dedicated to providing the most wholesome experience possible in the Ayurvedic tradition. There's a large partly saltwater pool, a great yoga hall, superb vegetarian food. We are here for week. Rob came cause it had one of the best yoga programs in Sri Lanka and some massage thrown in. Mani came cause she couldn't stay away. Rob is a bit worried we might both get spoiled. No cooking, no dishes, no laundry. Every wish take care of. Neither is quite prepared for what lies ahead.

OUR ROOM AND POOL

OUR VIEW

How to describe a typical day. 6 am to 8 am yoga. Breakfast. The first day we have a consultation with an Ayurvedic Doctor. She records our medical history, checks our blood pressure and pulses, and the look of our tongue. Soon she has developed a treatment plan for each of us and we go directly into our first treatment. It takes all morning and is to be repeated for the next 7 days.

THE TREATMENT PLAN
STAGE ONE: AYURVEDIC MASSAGE: Two practitioners work side by side pouring oil over my body and massage it deeply into my skin. Some days they add herbal powder to the oil to give a consistency of oily sandpaper. Unlike anything I've experienced before, the oil is freshly made and has the smell and consistency of thick sesame oil. It is poured on and powerful yet gentle hands delve into every muscle. Those tight shoulders never felt so good. They kneed, and stroke, and press deeply. They massage my scalp. They pound the back and legs with hot herb sacks. After 45 minutes I feel like royal jelly. On to stage two.
STAGE TWO: THE STEAM ROOM: I lay on a bench face down over a hole with a heater below that sends herbal steam into my nostrils cleansing the nadi's. 15 minutes later I am directed to the next stage.
STAGE THREE: HERBAL PACKS: Lying on an outdoor reclining wood slat bed, a number of herbal packs are positioned over my body, the eyes covered with cucumbers and the face with gauze. A sheet covers the body and we lay in squishy warm suspension for 30 minutes while the herbs absorb into the body.

ROBBIE FROM OUTER SPACE

STAGE FOUR: THE TEA BATH: Shown to the bath house, we shower to remove the excess oil and powders and herbal slime and then lie in a tub filled with 3 inches of warm tea water while an attendant pours the water over every inch of your body, massaging the senses. The water stimulates and relaxes and sensuously awakens and refreshes the spirit. Out one comes, dries oneself and is fitted in a cloth wrapped around the hips and led to the last station.
STAGE FIVE: ACUPUNCTURE: Lying on a bed in a room the acupuncturist soon comes and skillfully positions 8 plus needles that stimulate points on the head, chest, arms, belly, legs. Thirty minutes later the energy is pulsing through the points.

That's it. Two hours every day of treatment and then 3 more hours letting the oils and herbs absorb into the body before washing everything down with soap and water. The rest of the day is ours to enjoy or relax with. Lunch, usually one special excursion or activity each day. Yoga or tai chi again from 4 to 6. Dinner often accompanied by traditional dance and drumming, flute music, or the like. Often we are ready for bed by 9 pm ready for a 5:30 am rise the next day.