Indian Head Massage and Shirodhara - it doesn't get much better!

I came here with an air ticket that gave me 2 months in India, but with accommodation and a programme booked for just the first 3 weeks. My original plan was to do a 3-week detox programme and then go to an ashram, before heading off, maybe to another part of India. The nearby Kurisumala ashram looked ideal and unusual in that it is an ashram that is part of a Benedictine / Cistercian monastery with a fascinating history all described on a very interesting website. Alas, no sooner had I started to get excited than they advised me that they had no space for additional residents over Easter, so I had to rework my plans. 
I will now complete my first 3-week package at Mattindia on Thursday, and then on Friday I shall hop on a bus and head for the hills and the tea plantations around Munnar.After 4 nights I'll bus down to Kollam and then take the ferry on the backwaters to Alleppey. Another short stay there, then I take another ferry to Kottayam before finding a bus that will get me back to Mattindia. Since the past 3 weeks have shown such dramatic results, I have decided that once I return here, I shall take another 3-week package of Ayurvedic treatment to build on my initial progress, before flying home in mid-May.

So last Friday I started the third week of my first package, hoping that things might get a little gentler. The first massage of this part of the treatment was similar to the herb massage, but this time the pommels are filled with seeds and kernels that are heated scorchingly hot in a shallow pan over the gas flame. As long as the pommelling is brisk, the heat is not invasive, but as the therapists find spots to work on, they linger with the pad on the critical area until - once again - I am squealing and begging them to stop and move on. All the while, the aroma of the hot seeds fills the room and adds to the slight drugging effect of the process. Like most treatments, this continues for about 45 minutes, divided between face-down and face-up, and varying between gentle strokes and searing pressure. The final sensation is a cross between a sauna and a work-out, with a similar mix of weariness and elation.

When I learned that my final week would involve Shirodhara, I was delighted. This is one of the definitive Ayurvedic treatments, sublime, exhausting and relaxing to the point of intoxication. At Mattindia it is further enhanced by being preceded by a vigorous head massage.

I followed the therapist through to another treatment room and sat on a stool just inches off the ground. He anointed my head with oil and then started working with the pads of his fingertips. He manipulated my scalp, my neck, my face, my forehead, even my eyebrows. I suppose the whole process was only 5-10 minutes, but when he finished, my head tingled and I was perfectly prepared for lying down and being pampered with Shirodhara,

 A typical Shirodhara set-up

I lay down on the massage table with my head resting in a hollow carved into the end of the board. This was a drainage bowl to collect the liquid being used in my treatment.
The therapist fixed a cotton cord around my head, just above my eyebrows, then covered my eyes with a thick pad, so that none of the liquid would run into my eyes. He then filled the bowl that was hanging above my face with liquid, and this then ran in a slow and steady stream onto the "third eye" spot in the middle of my forehead. 
Shirodhara is applied with different liquids. In past years I have had herbal mixes, medicated oil and even  blend of whey, but whatever medium is used, the sensation is sheer bliss - once you overcome the initial blindfolded fear, and start to relax and trust the process.
The therapist moves the bowl slowly from side to side, so that the liquid strokes across the brow, left to right: right to left. There is perfect silence, apart from the occasional noises that waft up from the street outside, and it is easy to drift off into the most relaxed and euphoric state.
After about half an hour, the session ends and I sit up, very light-headed and slightly dizzy. The therapist gives the usual directive - sit quietly for half an hour, then have a warm shower and then have lunch.
I have a whole week of this. I'll happily put up with the moments of torture, because this out-of-body experience is what draws me back to Kerala to put some sanity back into my life. 
I am still less than half-way through my time in India: It doesn't get much better.