I know, I know….I have not posted in a while. To be honest, I have been a little busy with treatments! Remember that Shiro Basti treatment…I have now done 22 days of that treatment. And rather than taking a treatment or two away when adding new ones, Dr. Raju has just kept adding. To the point where my combination of treatments totals about 4-5 hours throughout the day. What has been added, you might ask!

Well, I am now receiving the eye treatment, which involves having the basti dough molded around your eyes and then having medicated ghee poured into the mold and onto the eyes. It is far from relaxing, yet it is good for your eyes. When I first started cancer treatments in the US, I had retinopathy due to a melanoma treatment and the eye treatment completely reversed the retinopathy! 

I am also having red rice treatment on my back, which is good for inflammation. I awkwardly lifted a tool bag out of my Jeep earlier in the summer, and my back didn’t really like the move… and I ended up with some sciatica. After these four weeks of treatments, the tingling is mostly gone at this point, so that is a good thing. I am also getting Shiro Darha, the classic warm oil treatment slowly poured over the forehead. Which is very soothing. Apparently, Dr. Raju feels that I have a Vata imbalance, which he says can be brought on by stress that stays in the body. 

With the treatments taking up most of the day and then getting the required rest, I have had little time to write. I did see a post on Facebook that really caught my attention and which I thought was very appropriate to consider for my newly retired life… and, for anybody really, whether working or not. The post was called Hobbies We All Need. For this post, I want to focus on the five types of hobby activities noted below and encourage you to join me in figuring out how we are already, or can begin to, integrate them into our lives! 

Hobbies we all Need

1. Doing something that keeps you physically capable – This could be tai chi, yoga, weight lifting, cycling, anything really that helps you keep your muscle tone and keeps you moving.  Some of my favorite activities are cycling and hiking….Here are some photos trips taken with the family. Sarah, Jacob, and I are on the tree canopy bridges in Costa Rica during a family trip to celebrate Sarah’s graduation from the Physical Therapy program at SLU . Susan, Sarah and I rode bikes in Berlin on her high school graduation trip. And finally Jacob, Luna and I are on fun trail in Colorado this past July!

2. Doing something that is creative  – This can be some form of art, cooking, learning an instrument, or just building something! Anything that will exercise your creativity. I tend to like to build things….. like coffee roasting systems! This is a picture of my coffee roaster in the basement. I have attached the roaster to a small Raspberry Pi computer that can monitor the temperatures inside the roaster. Also I have the exhaust fan hooked up to a voltage regulator that lets me change the speed of the fan. This was a lot of fun to build and use.

3. Doing something to keep learning – Try studying a new language, take a class, learn a new skill, do puzzles. Just keep your mind sharp and active!  These are some of Susan’s favorites.

4. Doing something that slows us down – Do some work in your garden, learn to meditate, go for walks in the forest preserve with your dogs. Just spend some time where you are not striving.  These are pictures taken for Monet’s garden in Giverny France this spring. Susan, my mother, and I spent a week on the Rhone River and then another several days in Paris. We took a day trip out to Giverny.

5. And finally, doing something that connects us to other people – This can be looking for volunteer opportunities, joining a club or faith group, or just making more time to spend with friends! I bought a jeep in 2022 and have joined a local jeep club. It is fun to go out with the group and use our jeeps as intended! The picture of the Menorah is from a family trip to Paris in 2017 and the Buddha statue is from a trip I took to Taiwan in October of last year.

Susan’s good friend Amy Keller, who recently died, called me a “serial hobbyist”. So I don’t think I will have any trouble finding ways to work this list of five hobbies types into my life.

I invite you to look at how you are spending your time and see if you have integrated any, if not all, of these into your daily activities. Leave me a comment and let me know if/how you plan to do things differently!  

We calculated it has been 13 years since I last visited the Raju Clinic  in Hyderabad. There are a few things that have changed about the experience……and quite a few things have remained the same. So, I thought it would be fun to list a few of these, in both categories, that I have noticed in my first couple of weeks of being here.  

The Same:

We are all still in the capable hands of the Raju family. This is the reason we all come to Hyderabad for our Pancha Karma (PK). The family formulations of herbs and their deep insight into how to heal and improve the lives of their patients makes all the preparation and travel worthwhile. And now there is another Dr. Raju….Dr. Ramya Raju! We see her occasionally when Dr. Krishna is unavailable. She is very patient and explains the treatments very well.  

The technicians that give the treatments…..everyday. And I do mean every day. When you are here, there are treatments every day of the week, Saturday and Sunday included! These guys work very hard and make the treatments feel special. And to end each day they come to your room at night and do a final foot massage before bed. You are assigned two techs at the beginning of your stay and in most cases, you have the same techs for the entire time you are here. My two techs are Sai (on the left) and Aadhiyy.  

The people that come for PK are from a wide variety of countries.  I talk to people from the US, from the UK, from Australia, Netherlands, United Arab Emirates, Italy, Sri Lanka…..It really is an international group!

The pujas that take place in the clinic every morning before/while seeing the doctor for daily consultation. And, now also in a separate building that also houses patients. I like that there is a spiritual/consciousness-based aspect to the healing that takes place here. Having clear intentions in your mind while undergoing treatment makes them much more powerful.  

The dogs. There are many dogs that wander around, and as you will see, sleep around Sahara States ( our neighborhood). Most cities in India have an issue with stray dogs. I just looked up the latest census for the number of stray dogs in Hyderabad and it is estimated that there are over 400,00 stray dogs in a city about the size of Chicago! There are ongoing efforts to immunize and neuter these dogs and the NGOs responsible say that they have reached about 80% of that number…which is impressive. The dogs have never given me any issues, and I usually just walk past them. Makes me miss our pups at home! 

The Business Center still looks the same and could still use a coat of paint 🙂 Most of the businesses are the same as I remember.  And the treatment center is on the third floor of the building. It is a pleasant walk to go from my building, through the neighborhood park and then down the street to the business center. The park is a great place to lounge in the shade during the afternoon or do some yoga in the early morning.  

Motor bikes and scooters are a major form of transportation. A family of four can fit on a motor bike and 3 on a scooter! It helps that in December and January the temperature only drops into the low 60s. There seems to be a scooter…or two in front of every house.  

The food. Here they use food as medicine and what they serve is all easily digestible vegetarian food. This helps clean out the digestive system and then the food, along with the treatments, are meant to help the body to “remember health”. One of my favorites is idli with chutney, which we often have for breakfast. The soups and dals that we have for lunch and dinner are also very good.  

The Different:

There is now a third building associated with the clinic for people to reside in while having PK. This is the building I am staying in, and fortunately it also happens to be where the meals are served! There are 12 rooms in the new building, and I like the fact that it has newer electrical outlets that will take a variety of plug styles, including ones from the US. Ah..the little things. I am happy with my room. Plenty of light, room for my yoga mat, and a nice bathroom.  

The houses in the neighborhood have changed dramatically. Many homes are now 3 or 4 stories high. One or two stories used to be the norm, and the clinic stood out as a tall building. But not any longer. 

We have seen the use of WhatsApp for communications by resorts and travel agents over the past few years. Now the clinic is using it as well. There are three different chat streams. One for communicating about the doctor’s arrival to the clinic or any needs for more herbs, etc.; one for special food needs; and then one for housekeeping. I find this to be a good addition and hope they continue to use this at the new clinic.  

Speaking of the new clinic! It was supposed to open this September, when I was scheduled to arrive, but it isn’t quite ready yet. I know they are hoping to open it very soon and I hope to get a tour of the new facility before I leave! Here is a link to their website that has drawings of the new center. https://www.drraju.com/the-raju-family/raju-ayurveda-centers

So overall, I would say the experience now has much more in common with my previous experience than differences. And that is a good thing given the success I had here some 13 years ago! 

If anyone is seriously considering a future visit to this clinic or doing PK, I am happy to chat with you about it. 

I have been at the clinic for  over a week. Since the Ayurveda techs do not take a day off, that means I have had nine days of treatments! But what exactly does that mean to have a day of treatments? I want to use this post to give you an idea of what a day at the clinic looks like at this point in the treatment cycle.  

In my first post, I mentioned that I am dialing in a morning routine that will serve me well when I go back home. To that end, I wake up relatively early (generally around 5:30 am), do a simple yoga routine, and then meditate for half an hour. By that time the sun is up, and I go for about an hour walk. I like to go early in the morning because it is much cooler than in the afternoon. It has been reaching the mid-to-upper 80’s later in the day and in the morning, it is generally in the mid-70s. So much cooler! 

My walk is interesting because I do not just do circles here in the quiet Sahara States neighborhood. I go out to the main road and get into the flow of people, scooters, cars, and buses getting a start to their day. People are going to work or school, setting up vegetable stands, or opening their shops. It is really unlike anything we have in the States. There are very few stoplights, and the traffic, driving on the opposite side of the road, just flows organically. I really enjoy these walks.  

I am finished walking by 7 or 7:30 and then I go to the dining hall for breakfast. After breakfast, I head over to the clinic to get in the queue to see Dr. Raju. He takes your pulse and decides whether to prescribe new treatments or to stay on the course with the existing set. Once I see Dr. Raju, it is usually time for me to walk to the business center for the morning set of treatments.  

To start the treatments, I  am sitting in a chair and having a head/shoulder massage and foot bath. Then we move to the the massage table where the tech will massage my face and get things ready for abhyanga. Abhyanga is a massage where two techs move in unison to run the medicated oil over your body. You really must experience the massage to understand how relaxing it is. On a clinical level, the rhythmic strokes begin to release toxins in the skin tissues so that they can be disposed of by the lymphatic system.  

After the Abhyanga massage on the front and back of the body, plus a dedicated back massage, the techs move on to Patra Pottali Sweda. This treatment is a type of sweating therapy where there are boluses filled with fried herbs that are then heated and stamped over the body. Again, two techs apply it in a rhythmic pattern. This is one of my favorite treatments due to the smell of the fried herbs and the feeling of heat on the body. 

The final treatment for the morning is a set of three external bastis. I am given, the Hyrida basti, Chakra basti and Janu basti. For a basti, the techs create a ring of wheat dough and place it on the body in the position called for by the different type of basti.  The Hyrida basti is placed over the heart, the Chakra basti over the navel, and the Janu basti over both knees. The ring of dough is then spread out a little so it creates a seal with the body and then medicated oil is placed inside the ring.  The Hyrida basti supports the heart and calms the nervous system. The Chakra basti supports digestion. And the Janu basti helps lubricate the joint and restore mobility to the knees. At my age…I can use help in all of these areas! After the bastis, I head back to my room and then downstairs for lunch. I am fortunate that the meals are served in my building. In total there are three buildings that house guests.

There is usually one additional treatment after lunch. When I first arrived, the afternoon treatment was Takradhara. For this treatment there is a continuous stream of medicated buttermilk poured over the forehead. The buttermilk is cool and the treatment helps settle the mind. There is a picture of Takradhara at the top of the post.

Today I had a Shiro Basti for the first time  and I feel like I am in slow motion after the treatment…..in a good way. For Shiro Basti a sheet of plastic is wrapped around the head to create a tube. When the tube is in place the techs put basti dough around your head on the inside of the tube. Once everything is sealed they pour warm medicated oil on top of your head and leave you to sit for about 20 minutes. After the time is up they come and take the now cool oil out with a sponge and then replace it with more oil and then…you guessed it, you sit for about another 20 minutes. This is soooo relaxing. It calms the mind and really the time passes very quickly. After the second round, they take the tube apart and then wrap a cloth around your head and send you back to your room. Given how relaxed I felt, I spent the next hour meditating!  My hope is that it will help me sleep better. 

After being here over a week I am still waking up several times a night. Hope that improves soon! 

Hello everyone! I am relaunching this blog that chronicles my time at an Ayurvedic clinic in Hyderabad, India. I originally learned about this clinic when I had melanoma about 15 years ago, and given that I had no other treatment options from western medicine, decided rather quickly that this was the place I wanted to be. Susan joined me for two visits after my first visit in 2011 and also contributed to the blog. I usually wrote about how the treatments were given and the visits we made to local temples. Susan wrote more on the people side of our adventure. To read about the earlier trips, they are available in the blog archive.

Today is my fourth full day at the clinic after arriving Friday evening, 9/18. Looking back to the last time I came to the clinic…could it really be 2013? August of 2013 was my last post on this blog, so I am thinking that must be true!

A lot has changed in our lives over the past 13 years. Our children are now young adults and are pursing/beginning to pursue their careers. Susan has been building her business and creating new coaching models to help her clients be better leaders. For me, I kicked melanoma and helped build the operational side of the CRSP business, including an index product in addition to its historical database products. Ultimately, the CRSP LLC was sold to Morningstar in February of this year, and I retired in June. I see this visit to the clinic as a good transition into retirement after a stressful work environment over the past couple of years.

This will be a five-week stay for Panchakarma, not my longest stay… but close. After just a couple of days, I already feel like I’m getting back into the flow of things  at the clinic.  For those who don’t remember, the first thing we do each day is see Dr. Raju so he can take our pulse. He uses this information to decide what treatments to recommend or to make any changes to existing treatments. After that, it is a short walk to the business center where the technicians are waiting to start your treatment for the day. Not much has changed with the business center itself, but the treatment rooms are nicer than I remember, and as always, the technicians are very good and kind. I am surprised at how familiar it all feels after such a long time. The aroma of the herbs and the oils are amazing, and the abhyanga massage is very relaxing. There are multiple treatments in the morning and then usually just one in the afternoon. 

In addition to the Panchakarma, I am also using this time to set up what I intend to be my ongoing morning routine in retired life. Rather than getting up and immediately jumping on my computer or phone, I am taking time to meditate and do yoga.  Looking forward to making this a habit!

I will post every few days or at least once a week.  If you have questions about the cleanse, please put them in the comments below and I will address them. 

I am feeling so fortunate to return to this very special place.  I always felt that my remission from stage 4 melanoma was due to a combination of my treatments here, which tremendously slowed down the spread of the disease, and the opportunity to have great health care at home.  I was a recipient of the first immunotherapy for melanoma. 

I will post some photos in upcoming blogs, so readers can get a sense of the clinic.  Thank you for your interest in following my trip. 

The school year has started and our summer adventures are in the rearview window.   I thought an update would be good to close the summer chapter.

The first and most important update is about Alan’s wonderful health report.  Alan had an MRI and PET scan since we returned and the results were completely clean.  The oncologist said that since he has not had a reoccurrence in two years, the odds of having the melanoma return are only 5%!  The other wonderful part of the results is that the small, dead lesion in his brain has dissolved!  The neurosurgeon said this is very unusual – most people have the dead tissue sitting in their bodies after the radiation treatment.   We give the credit to the Indian cleanse plus the focused meditation Alan did for many days, where he saw the lesion leaving his brain.  It worked!

Returning to our life back in the US has been slow for me.  My hormones have been challenged and it has taken me weeks to feel energetic.  They say that it takes the body a few months to process the cleanse because it is so intense.  It has been fascinating; I felt so much better in India.  Of course there is no stress there – no work or kids to manage, healthy meals are prepared and the only thing you need to pay attention to is when you have to see the doctor and get to the treatment center.  I admit that I think longingly of my restful days in India now that my schedule is once again busy and constant.

The kids had great adventures at camp and are now back in the full swing of school.  So far, they have been in school one week but both are very pleased with their schools, teachers and being back with their pals.  I am thrilled to have my work day back without kid management interruptions.

The next adventure chapter on the home front is about rowing.  Jacob is rowing with a gym team and doing lots of early morning and weekend workouts in the gym and on the water.  Plus the boys are enjoying the two man scull (row boat) that Alan bought.  We  visited Alan’s mother for Labor Day weekend with the boat and dog, Ricki in tow.   Jacob has named the boat, White Lightening.  They flipped over in the lake from all the motor boat waves.  They were full of laughter in the telling of the tale.

Here are some photos from fun on the lakefront.  Grandma Rose Mary is a great sport and of course, tried the new row boat as well!  Seems I took all the photos, so I no shots of me.

Sarah’s big adventure this year includes getting ready for her Bat Mitzvah this coming spring.  She will soon start studying weekly; wedged in between her many dance classes!

We are thankful that everyone had a wonderful summer full of adventures.  Alan and I love the opportunity to go to India and have time off the grid.  We realize what a gift the time away has been for our relationship, as well as our physical and mental health.  We appreciate all the support and comments from our wonderful friends and family! We are planning to return to India again next year and would welcome anyone who wants to join us!

This week we are celebrating Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year.  We always like the pattern of looking back with gratitude and thinking about our goals and intentions for the coming year.

We wish everyone a healthy, happy New Year!

I am in a bit of a struggle this week. I leave India in less than 3 days and want to savor the relaxation, the healing energy, and friends here. Yet, I am pulled towards looking forward to my departure and what awaits back in America.  My thought for this post is to state “out-loud” those things I am looking forward to, so that I can focus and maximize the benefits of being here at the clinic in the present moment.

• Family – Jacob and Sarah left for camp the middle of June. Susan left India for Chicago on August 1st. When I arrive in Chicago on the 11th everyone will be back together and I am looking forward to being with them! I will see my mother and go to a family reunion later in August. Sarah has her Bat-Mitzvah in April so there will need to be plenty of preparation and planning for that.
• Our Home – Having been either in a hotel, on the trail, or here at the clinic for the last month, I miss the comfort of our home.
• My Work – My focus at work needs to shift more towards our historical products. We are preparing to reengineer our update processes in this area and I need to help drive that project. In the interim, we need to boost the performance of that team with training and engaging them in how we can make the existing processes better. This will be a good challenge for the coming year.
• Exercise – While I was certainly exercising during the trek, these last few weeks at the clinic have been focused on the treatments with the extent of exercise being the 3 block walk back and forth to the treatment center! Before leaving for India I was rowing with our club and working out in the mornings. I look forward to getting back to that. Also, Sarah needs a new bicycle and she had the experience of a 3 day bicycle trip while at camp. So….perhaps there are a few family bike rides in our future!
• Friends – I want to reconnect with friends and see what they have been up to over the summer.
• Learning – With the importance of the projects at work I am thinking I would like to take a couple of courses this year either at UC or maybe IIT.  I want something that will relate to the current technologies for the type of systems we will be developing . It has been quite a while since I have taken any courses and the technologies have taken quantum leaps. I need to catch up!
• Living In the Present –  During the last year I have gradually stopped looking over my shoulder at that major bump in the road I experienced called melanoma. I am in better shape both physically and mentally.  With all of the things I have outlined above I will need to be grounded and present!

What are you looking forward to over the next year?

Sing along if you know the words! I left the clinic late Wednesday night and have two flights to  Chicago with a short stopover in Abu Dhabi, arriving home on Thursday afternoon. After 4 weeks, I am amazed to say I am a bit sad to leave. I will be leaving Alan behind for another week, as well as some really fun friends we met. And at the same time, I can’t wait to sleep in my own bed and take a bath!

We had such a laugh this morning when the neighborhood cow wandered into the clinic. It was raining and he wanted to get out of the wet. He also seemed to want some TLC, as he gently nudged into anyone who got close, which included me.  It was a little scary, between his size, and he was oozing snot from his nostrils, which went right on my pants. It took several people to get him to leave, as he really didn’t want to be outside!

We did experience real monsoon rains this summer. It rained non-stop for two weeks during the stay. I don’t usually let the weather bother my mood, but this got to be quite a drag. It probably had something to do with the constant, unfixable drip in my room, the corner walls that were “perspiring” rain water and the fact that everyone takes off their sandals upon entering a building and it was quite a wet mess.

I am sitting in the airport lounge in Hyderabad, waiting for my very early morning flight. I am ready to be back in the United States.  These trips to India have been a wonderful adventure and have given us the opportunity to experience a very different way of life.  Also it has been a powerful reminder of what a wonderful life we take for granted in America.  I intend to be more conscious about our world.

HEALTH UPDATE

I am returning once again taking half the thyroid medication I was taking upon arrival.  Doing the thyroid treatment just before departure has been a bit of challenge, as the body needs time to adjust to the lower dose.  I ate my first real meal at dinner before departure, after the week of rice.  I will have to eat very carefully as I travel and return home.  I have three days of home rest before I start working on Monday and am looking forward to some quiet before the kids return in a week.

I have lost at least ten pounds, if not more.  Between an old scale in the clinic, the kilo conversion and my eyesight, it is not clear.  No matter what the number is, it feels good and I hope the extra weight stays in India!

CAMP UPDATE

Sarah is having a really good summer and reports she can now windsurf across the entire lake and is teaching other kids to windsurf.  She reports she will be doing a three day biking trip and we await details on that adventure.  Boys camp has emailed twice to let us know that Jacob’s counselors have called using a satellite telephone to report that trip is going really well and they are having terrific weather!  He returns to camp on Friday, August 2nd  and will have a week to enjoy being back in camp before returning home.

Today is my 28^th day of treatment, I will have the final treatment tomorrow morning, which involves a deep steam and nasal drops from the doctor.  I am on the 6^th day of the thyroid treatment and have had many meals of rice with various spices. Today’s meals are best; the rice is topped with cumin seed sautéed in ghee.  I will have my last of the 18 rice meal in the airport lounge!

The trip has been a delight on so many levels.  I am so pleased to have given myself the time to:

1. Focus on my well-being
2. Move my attention from an external to internal orientation
3. Be without constantly “doing”
4. Treat the thyroid
5. Balance the female hormones
6. Clean out bodily toxins
7. Release fears
8. Hang with Alan outside of our fast paced life
9. Ponder what is important to me
10. Connect emotionally and spiritually often during treatments

I have so much respect and admiration for the Raju family and their ayurvedic approach to healing.  I am so pleased that Alan and I happened onto their Panchakarma cleansing treatment, it seems to work wonders on both of us.  Alan looks fresher and calmer than I have seen in a long time.  All the treatments have been easier for me than last year.  I am a bit off at the moment, as I go through the thyroid treatment, yet so much stronger than when I arrived a month ago.  Amazingly, I would say it would be great to stay for another week!

I have not come to love India.  I am probably more accepting of how different it is than my last visit.  Just yesterday, I said to Alan, “wouldn’t it be ideal if this clinic was in Italy, Spain or France”.  Bottom-line, it is worth the challenge of the overwhelming traffic, the Indian time (slow or never) and the very different level of cleanliness.  I wish the clinic was managed more like we do things at home, but I find if I am very proactive on what I need, things do get done.

Yesterday, Murity took Alan and me to the mall to shop for gifts.  We drove over an hour each way in excessive heat, pollution and masses of cars, motor scooters and endless humanity.  I sat with my camera on my lap with the intention of capturing the fascinating surroundings and decided an aerial photo from the web would do a better job than a single shot could replicate.

At one point there were 5 huge water buffalos lying in two lanes of busy road, happily having a snooze.  The scene came and went before I could snap the photo. Here is a web shot of water buffalos strolling down a street to give you a sense of the size of these animals.  Try to imagine five of them lying down in the road, while the traffic slowed to pass them.  One even had his head on the another’s back for his snooze!

My good pal, Kim left yesterday and the clinic is considerably quieter without her presence.  This visit we continued our unending conversations about healing insights and sharing our client tools.  Her friendship has been a lovely gift.  Here she is dressed in her travel clothes, looking very western for the first time in a month.  Alan is helpfully weighing her suitcase in the background.  Pal Andrew will be here through the end of Alan’s trip and is wonderful company.  Andrew does traditional Chinese medicine and is a professional chef, so he has lots of interesting insights about the food and healing approach.

Last Wednesday evening Andrew (a friend here at the clinic) and I left with our driver/guide Murty for the Temple of Narasimha Swamy.  Narasimha is known as a healing deity and Dr. Raju often recommends a visit to this temple.

They also do head shaving at this temple. Having your head shaved at a temple is a way to put the past behind you and signify a fresh start. Given my health challenges a couple of  years ago, I am more than ready for a fresh start! So….off with the hair.

Another advantage of having my head shaved is that I started the Shiro Basti on Thursday. This is a treatment where the technicians use a rectangular sheet of plastic to create a cylinder around my head. They then use a dough to create a seal on the inside of the 

cylinder and fill it with enough warm oil to cover my scalp.  They leave the oil on the top of my head for about 40 minutes. It is very soothing and according to Dr. Raju it calms the mind and makes it so that it can more readily absorb other medicines. I am hoping that it will help shrink that dead lesion on my brain. Which at 3 millimeters is half the size as it was two years but I am looking for more progress on that front.

After the head shaving we go to our hotel and settle in. Andrew and I go out for a walk around the village and then head back for dinner and some sleep. We have to be up at 3:00 am to get ready for a puja at 4:00am and then a second one at 5:30am.  The puja takes place inside the temple and Narasimha is offered water, milk, dressed in flowers and offered incense in return for his blessing. After the puja we head back to the clinic and are there for breakfast!