Mahatma Naturopathy course
Dates - Dec 24, 2023 to Jan 7, 2024
I had been to visit a naturopathy retreat for a while. Last year, Kanishka and I tried Udupi but that was a bad experience. Through reference, got to know about Mahatama Nature Cure Centre and utilized my end of the year leaves to plan a 2 week course. I had little knowledge of what goes here. So, a lot of it was new.
My main aim was detox of body and weight loss. Mahatama is known for its fasting therapy. 99% of patients who come here are given fasting therapy. I have never fasted a single day before in my life. It was a scary thought to begin with - to fast for so long. But I was committed to sign up. Their recommended stay is 21 days here with a 14 day fast with 5 day of juice diet. They curated the plan for me for a 14 day stay. Below is the schedule, plan and my day by day activities.
Overall, I am a believer. I would rate this 5/5 - one of the best things that I have done in my life. I would highly recommend anyone to visit.
14 day fasting plan
9 days of fasting
3 days of juice
1 day of fruits
1 day of normal food.
Schedule -
1 hr walk in the morning.
7 am JIRA water
8 am Yoga
9 am JIRA water
9:10 am - Daily doctor visit.
9:30 am - Mud pack treatment - 30 mins
11 am - Coconut water
1 pm - Honey water lemon (honey is used generously, it is sweet in taste)
1:30 pm - Cold pack treatment (Towel is soaked in normal water and wrapped around the chest)
5 pm - coconut water
7pm - Honey water lemon
1 hr walk in the evening.
Day 0 (Dec 23, 2023)
Reached Mahatma nature at around 4 pm. Had roti alu sabji (interesting take on alu sabji
with gravy but without tomatoes. Also had an energy bar and an egg puff :)
Day 1
BP - 120/90
Had a doctor consultation in the morning. He shared the plan. Did 30 mins walk at 10 am
and an hr long walk in the evening. Slept for 2.5 hrs in afternoon and hence could not sleep
in the night. Watched Season 1 of Slow Horses, 5 episodes.
Forced myself to sleep at 6th episode.
Day 2
BP - 120/70
Wt - 1.5 kgs loss from day before
Started Yoga at 8 am. Did a short 20 mins walk at 10 am. At this time, it is quite hot
and you feel VitaminD going inside your body :) Night binge watch had an effect, so I slept at 1130 for 1.5 hrs. Afternoon was difficult - felt headaches and weakness.
At 430, went to Vellikkeel eco park. This is an amazing park at about 4.4 kms from my
stay,. First, I thought to walk all the way but looked risky. Energy levels are not what they
are. So, I took my car and parked it at 2kms before the park. The park was amazing.
Good 90 mins walk.
Came home tired, drank both coconut water and honey lemon water and slept within 30 mins.
Day 3
BP - 120/90
Wt loss- 800 gms
Woke up at 430 am. Finished book 8 of Wheel of Time. Spent most of the day reading the book.
Afternoon was again slightly difficult. DIfficult to concentrate. Mild headaches come and go.
Evening - went to Kavin Munampu Kadavu (jetty point) . Parked my car at about 3kms away and then did a 6km round trip walk.
Took about 90 mins.
Evening long walks make me tired and sleep comes quite early. Slept by 830pm.
Finished watching Transformers Rise of the Beasts - such brainless movies are ok
to watch before going to sleep.
Day 4
BP - 120/80
Wt loss - 1.3 kgs
Started book 9 of Wheel of Thrones. Day 4 was normal. Woke up at 330 am and then
tried to put mys to sleep. Managed to get up again at 5 and then went for a morning walk.
Starting today, moved my moring walk schedule to 530-6am.
Went to Koovede Check Dam for evening walk.
Interestingly there is a trail at the other end of the dam that goes via dense coconut forests.
Walked about half a km on this stony trail. It was pretty and calm.
There were folks who were climbing trees to break coconuts. Hunger wise was manageable.
Day 5
BP - 110/90
Wt loss - 1.4 kgs
Day 5 was tough. In today's Yoga session, it had 30 back to back Surya Namaskara in Yoga.
Felt quite hungry through the day. Morning walk was 55 mins and in the evening
went to Kottakkunnu Hill View Saw sunset from this view point.
Walked only for about 40 mins (~3kms) and then came back.
Did some shopping (toiletries) and petrol+air in car. Binge watched The Test CaseTV series in the night. 4 hrs.
Series is decent. Keeps you hooked though it had potential to be much better. 2.5/5
Day 6
BP - 100/80
Wt loss - No change from yesterday
Woke up late due to the binge watch last night, at 630 am.
Went for an hr walk. Yoga was easy today.
Little disappointed that there is no weight change given that hunger pangs were more
yesterday. Day six was the easiest to handle. Not many hunger pangs, not much cravings. In the evening, did my walk around Vellikkeel eco park and then went to salon for a haircut and shave.
Day 7
BP - 100/80
Wt loss - 200 gms
Slept nicely for 9 hrs. Woke up at 530 am and did a comfortable walk.
Yoga was peaceful today - breathing exercises and meditation.
Had a lot of craving for good Idli Sambhar through the day.
Disappointment for not loosing more weight was there too -
spoke to doctor and he said that it is all part of physiology,
sometimes it will be much, sometimes not so much.
I guess this part of the program is the trying part - to go through with it.
Did local walk in the evening. Finished book 9 of Wheel of Time -Winter’s heart.
Day 8 - Dec 31
BP - 120/80
Wt loss - 550 gms
Kind of a difficult day. There was no Yoga given it was a Sunday.
In between the two walks, time went slow. Unable to focus and felt quite hungry today.
Watched a bunch of reels that had some food things and that made it worse.
Slept early at 845 after watching a couple of episodes of Modern Family.
Day 9 - Jan 1
BP - 120/80
Wt loss - 400 gms
Last day of fasting. Good to see that weight loss momentum has picked up.
But at the same time, getting bored of this place.
Had a big feeling about quitting and going home most of the day. Survived somehow.
Most of the day was spent wishing new years to family and friends.
Watched The 36th chamber of Shaolin and that was good fun. Truly a cult movie.
Day 10 - Jan 2
BP - 120/80
Wt loss - 500 gms
Went to Vellikkeel eco park for a morning walk this time. Walked close to 4 kms near a water
body, with no people, perfect calm and on a well tarred road.
Good experience to begin the day. Yoga teacher was on leave so bailed out.
Did early mud pack treatment instead. Evening walk was local only.
Juice schedule
11 am - Grape juice
1 pm - Aamla juice
5 pm - Hot kashaya (coriander coffee per them)
7 pm - Pineapple juice
Day 11 - Jan 3
BP - 120/80
Wt loss - 100 gms
Spoke to doc today for a Saturday release. Agreed that I can leave after 11 am breakfast/lunch.
It rained mid-way when I went for my morning walk.
Got drenched and eventually sat on a bench with a roof, next to a small rivulet.
It was serene. Calming. Must have sat for about 30 odd minutes.
Came back when rain stopped and there was no Yoga.
Day was mostly writing peer reviews with a break to attend a doctor session on naturopathy.
I really liked the session, I am now a believer in naturopathy. She explained how it works,
what happens after 18, 24, 48 hrs in the body. Why do we get cravings?
What to expect when you go back? All this was useful.
What I truly like about naturopathy is that it is from within.
Nature, in this case the body, has many self healing properties. So, fasting is body getting
time to heal and fix many things. Also, largely scientific process.
Went for a local walk in the evening.
Today it was Grape juice at 11, Pineapple at 1 and Mosambi at 7.
Mosambi without salt was not that fun :)
Day 12 - Jan 4
BP - 100/80
Wt loss - 450 gms
It was raining like anything this morning. So, sat on my balcony and read book for 2 hrs.
Good relaxation. Wot 11 is definitely getting better in 2nd half. Skipped walk and did Yoga
Also, had requested for a massage and today was massage day.
Full coconut oil, almost bathed with it. Good to try out.
Day 13 - Jan 5
BP - 100/80
Wt loss - no change
No change in weight. Did a nice long walk in the morning. Followed by some office work. After the massage, it was some TV. At breakfast, there were 5 small bananas - my stomach was stuffed after eating 5 bananas. There was another doctor session where they explained about some common symptoms that folks face while doing fasting like headaches, acidity, loose motion etc and why they happen. They have a tradition of giving a goodbye present and I got one - a mug. (Interestingly, why would they give a mug given they discourage tea coffee :) )
In the evening, I went to Talipramba market to get my shave and visit a bakery.
Did my evening walk in the market onlyI broke my food fast by having Kerala Idli.
After eating only 2 idlis, I felt that I have eaten a whole sadya.
Restaurant guys were sneering when they saw that I could not have my 3rd idli.
It was unbelievable. Idli was delicious - typical Kerala taste sambhar and chutney.
Back at Mahathama, at 7, they had a large bowl of cucumber salad which I managed to eat
only 50% since my stomach was full.
Day 14 - Jan 6
BP - 100/80
Wt - 300 gms
Total wt. loss is 7.5 kgs
Last day today. Did my regular walk of an hour followed by Yoga. Skipping the mud pack today.
The emotion associated with leaving a place is something that everyone should experience.
Whether when you checkout from a hotel after a 2 night stay or leave an apartment
after 2-3 years. There is a joy of new things to come, while a nostalgia of good times spent here.
A two week stay will be a memorable one. A very unique experience. A bragging experience.
Looking back, the challenges of a day to day are not what I recall.
It is a positive feeling and even after losing weight, I feel I have more to loose :) .
The environment nearby is green, with lots of birds. Vellikkeel eco park is my favorite.
But, I also see a lot of houses, lot of construction going on.
I wonder how this would evolve after 5/10 years. But at this point, it is serene. Good for walks
More importantly, I liked the process a lot.
Natural things are what I believe in and this naturopathy program aligned with me.
I was more impressed that so many things are scientific here,
it is largely a study of your body.
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Good things I packed -
Running shoes, shirts, socks - Very helpful in long walks. I feel prepared.
Car - Having a car makes it very easy to get any missing items or go to interesting places for walks.
Water bottles - Makes it easier for me to take them for walks.
Odomos - there are mosquitos here.
Small towels
Thankful that Airtel connection is decent enough to run internet here.
Things that I should have packed
