I am sitting in the sunroom on the fourth floor, where I had a breakthrough epiphany many years ago. It was here that I began transcribing letters from my Inner Wisdom Guide. This sunroom has always been one of my favorite places.
It’s all redecorated now, tricked out with slouchy, lounge-friendly furniture in greens and browns. There are quite a few people here, reading and napping. It has a library vibe.
I am sitting at the end of a green velvet couch, which has an end table, an ottoman, and a scraggly fern. On the wall is a bookcase with an eclectic mix of titles, including Herman Wouk’s The Hope alongside Jacqueline Susann’s Once Is Not Enough.
I got here Monday afternoon after a long, uneventful drive. I’m staying in the Annex in room 214. It’s fine. All the rooms in the Annex have a sort of prison aesthetic: poured concrete walls and floors, beds attached to the floor, a toilet attached to the wall, a narrow ledge for toiletries below a no-nonsense mirror, with ghastly lighting. The beds are rock-hard. There’s a small plastic chair, a couple of luggage racks, and one small rod to hang clothes. No dressers. Bedtables have goose-neck spotlights for reading and a floor lamp for ambient light.
I have a view of the lake, supposedly, but I’m not up high enough to see it. Trees block my view.
It’s so pretty here, and the weather could not be better.
After I figured out which bed was for working and which for sleeping, I worked on filling out the intake form for my Ayurvedic Consultation.
I went to 6:30 a.m. Moderate Yoga in the Shadowbrook Room. I swear every room in this building has a ghost from my former life living in it. I no sooner step across any threshold, and I am sucked back in time. I see Yoganand and Rashmi. I remember every practice teach, every meal, every study session. I was so happy back then, yet so unsure, and so very, very exhausted all the time. I was 50 years old and only then beginning to know myself, only then beginning to grow. What a late bloomer I was!
If my soul can be said to have developmental stages, Springwater was where I was born, but here, at Kripalu, is where I grew up.
Before my Ayurvedic Consultation, I showered and dressed in my best black joggers and a crisp white button-down from Banana Republic. Over that, I put on my long, soft, black cardigan and slipped into my gray Mahabis slippers. Looking at myself in the mirror, I looked like someone who works here. I was pleased.
My consultant was a small, stout woman with a name tag that read Sharon P. She sat at a desk with a large monitor, and I sat in a chair facing her.
I thought she would spend some time looking at my intake form, but she didn’t. She asked me what brought me here, and we started.
In short, here’s what I told her:
- I have no interest in food and cooking.
- I have no appetite.
- My nails won’t grow.
- And for the first time in my life, I have belly fat.
We talked a lot about aging. In Ayurvedic philosophy, when people reach my age, they “go into the hills.” In other words, they retreat, eat little, meditate much, and then return to society and share their wisdom.
Clearly, in this day and age, there is no retreating into the hills, nor is there any desire to, so she gave me some very practical things I can do to increase my prana, my life force, and my energy. I am going to tell you the things she told me so you will have this information, too. Ready? Here goes.
- Wild Yam Cream for night sweats and hormonal imbalance.
- Women’s Natural Transition (tablets) also for hormonal imbalance. 6 weeks on, 6 weeks off.
- Abyhanga with Daily Massage oil every day before bath/shower. Use Greased Lightning to clean tub/shower afterwards
- Castor oil massage around eyes. She recommended this and an Ayurvedic practice called Netra Tarpana which involves putting ghee into the eyes. I could hear my retina specialist shriek when she showed me pics online of this. This will be a hard no, but I’m in for the castor oil.
- Sipping ginger tea with honey all day. (This is not only good for all Vatas, but for me in particular because of my aversion to drinking plain water.)
- A short daily yoga practice of standing postures only: All the Warriors, plus Lateral angle but without the forearm on the thigh. Squeeze muscle to bone.
- Golden Milk before bed.
I really wanted her to declare me one dosha or the other. My Dosha test came back V-8, P-6, and K-3.
She said not to put too much stock in dosha tests because everyone is Vata deranged now because of our screen addiction and because we drive 60 mph everywhere. So unless you are a complete manatee, everyone should follow a Vata protocol.
Makes sense.
I apologize for this lengthy post. I like to keep these to around 500 words, but I had nothing to do this week but write.
What a gift.
Home tomorrow.
Inspiration Location 