Vidhi Bubna
21-Apr-2025
Engaging in wellness and prioritising myself made me realise how transformational balance can feel in life.
Having lived in the city for so long, I often feel a sense of lack of focus on my health. Recently, I gained 7 kilos and I wanted to lose weight. Due to lack of workouts, my body also became more stiff and my back had lost its original posture. I found a wellness retreat near Bangalore called Kshemavana and decided to visit to experience it.
My days began with a session of physiotherapy where the doctor suggested exercises for different muscles for my legs and back. Using yoga bands, I tried the exercises every morning only to see a significant shift in my flexibility and pain points. Post the physiotherapy sessions, I experienced acupuncture sessions to help with my PCOS. The doctor said I needed at least 21 sessions so I made it a point to continue my sessions when I came back home.
Over the years, I have realised diet forms a crucial part of health. My weight gain had partly happened due to poor eating habits and excessive eating of junk food. At Kshemavana, I ensured to go on a grain free diet and consume soups with ghee, raw salad or only boiled vegetables.
While the taste of the food was nowhere close to what I have experienced in the city, I still felt a sense of wellbeing and nutrition from the food. I was surprised at how little food I needed to actually feel full. Being on a healthy diet made me feel much better about myself. In a few days I saw I had lost over 2 kilos. And more than the weight loss, my body also felt healthier.
My days also involved a spa or a therapy. I tried various therapies for my skin including mud bath and neem pack. The mud bath had a cooling effect and it took away the tan from my skin. The neem therapy was rejuvenating and made me feel like a fresher version of myself. Beyond these, I also tried the potli massage which involved rubbing packs of potli filled with herbs on my body.
The triphala massage was a unique massage that involved rubbing triphala powder all over my body. It had a refreshing effect on my skin and acted as a scrub too. Infrared saunas are great to strengthen muscles and to flush out toxins. I enjoyed sitting in their infrared room and relaxing.
Each therapy was accompanied with a lighter therapy. For instance, on the day I tried the mud bath, I also tried a kidney pack to flush out any additional toxins. The best part of my stay was perhaps how each morning started with giving more rest to the eyes and belly.
Every morning the doctors would visit and apply an eye pack and belly pack made of mud to soothe and cool the skin. My day started on a relaxing tone. Generally, in the city I try to use my phone as soon as I wake up, read messages and switch off my alarms. But here I was trying to break old habits and build new ones.
Even before sleeping, I tried unique sleep meditations like yoga nidra which helped my body to relax and detox. It was truly refreshing. Generally, when I would hit the bed, I would take longer to sleep, but not here. After the meditations it was easier to fall asleep.
During the evenings, I spent time with the cows and walked around while watching the sunset. My life felt calmer and more relaxed. I felt less stressed. I also tried different forms of meditation including chanting, sound bath, breathing techniques and kirtan which helped to relax and slow down my mind and body. After a while, I felt closer to myself and saw a combination between my mind, body, and soul.
Engaging in wellness and prioritising myself made me realise how transformational balance can feel in life. There is so much to do to engage in self-care and as we grow older we focus so little on ourselves. We need to keep focusing on ourselves every once in a while, to feel like life is good.
