Health Vacation at JNI - Day 2

DAY TWO

It’s been a long day today and hasn't got much time to rest and to capture the daily events. The day is about to end in another two hours. I am desperately in need of good sleep as I didn't get much sleep last night and no time to rest in the day as well today, the day was fully packed with activities/treatments.

Today was the actual day (first morning) after coming to JNI. 

The day started at 5 AM. We got up at 5 AM today. Took some time to freshn’up and got ready to start the day. We still had some time to start the activities so utilized the time in walking. At 5.45 AM, it was time for Yogic Kriyas. We started with Ghee drops in nose, Jalaneti with Kapalbhati (using a utensil you pass the water from one nostril and take it out from the other nostril), Vaman Dhauti (drink 4 glasses of water and forceful vomiting), Gargling followed by Eye Kriya (open your eyes in eye tonic water).

The first day it took about 25 minutes but as we progressed we got experienced and were able to finish all these in about 10 minutes. After the Yogic Kriyas, it was time for laughter session. This has nothing to do with Kapil Sharma’s laughter show or any other popular laughter programs on TV. Along with the instructors we would do some simple but powerful exercises along with laughter. Laughing is good for health, even if it’s not a natural laugh. It still makes a lot of difference to laugh. What do you do to get a good laugh? Simply look around you and find some comic personalities. That’s what we used to do. Most of the people laugh un-natural laugh but we would simply look at the comic personalities and get a good laugh. This would be for about 30 minutes. After this, it was tie for Yoga sessions for about 45 minutes. There were two simultaneous sessions of Yoga, one for the new learners and other for everyone else. I did not count but I guess we would do about 15 different Asana, some of them simple and some of them will make you sweat from everywhere. Initially some asana were difficult but gradually over the next 10 days we became expert and our bodies became much more flexible and we could do all asanas with ease (at least better than when we started).

After finishing Yoga, it’s time for some delicious tea along with some snacks. We had many options of tea but you are required to take the one advised to you by your doctor. I was advised Digestive Tea, another friend was advised Tulsi Ginger Tea, the other one was enjoying Black tea. You don’t get these tea outside (it’s very simple, what is healthy is not tasty and that stands true for tea as well). It wasn't the regular milk tea but more of green tea in different flavors. I am used to drinking green tea for some years now and hence was able to adjust quickly. The snacks that I mentioned was soaked fenugreek seeds along with neem leaves and few other such bitter leaves to cleanse your system of impurities. It was difficult but I started liking them in following days and I would take it with lemon juice. Mixing lemon juice will help to a great extent in reducing the bitterness of the leaves and you get the benefits of Lemon juice as well, smart move isn't it!

The two activities we did yesterday, Enema and Mud Pack Eye Pack followed today as well after the morning tea and snacks. After finishing this it was already 9 AM and it was time for breakfast. By now I think you would be able to guess that breakfast also wouldn't be normal as well and you are right in your thinking. IN breakfast I was advised bitter gourd juice (karela juice) along with Ragi porridge.  I have three physiotherapy sessions to be completed in a day along with two other treatments. I thought of finishing my physiotherapy sessions first. By the time I finished my physiotherapy session it was almost 11.30 AM and time for lunch. Well, you read it right it was time for lunch. Our lunch time was 10.45 AM to 12 PM. I wouldn’t want to miss the lunch and hence decided to head straight to the diet center where the lunch was being served.  I got in the queue and took a plate get my share of food.

Me (to dietician and the helpers): Aaj kya hain khane main (what is there in the menu today)

Dietician (to me): Apna card dekhao (show me your card)

Me: Card ka kya karna hai, jo hai de do (why do you need the card, given me whatever you have)

Dietician: Sorry sir, you get only what’s in the card, card nahin to khana nahin (no card no food) 

The card is your entry ticket to all the treatments and diet center, without the card you don’t get either of them. There were lot of people in the queue behind me and they were all staring at me. Before anybody loses their patience, I showed my card and got the stuff I was supposed to.  In lunch, I got 2 chapatis, three different curries (cabbage, reddish, and kadhi (made of yogurt) ), two types of chutneys and one tea spoon of two types of salad. Their formula is simple; you get what is mentioned in your card and about 300 calories worth of food. Whether you like it or not, you don’t have a choice. During lunch, they provide a small piece of bread-Crum which is very tasty (it’s called diet rusk as well). No matter what you don’t get anything extra. I saw one lady talking to the dietitian and saying ‘today is my husband’s birthday, can you give one bread-crum extra’, Dietitian  it doesn't matter to us if it’s your husband’s birthday today or yours, you don’t get anything extra. It’s funny to see people pleading for more and look so innocent, and it’s even funniest to see the dietitians to be extra courteous in refusing. Life goes on and people finish their lunch. After the lunch, there is a break for an hour as that’s the time when the staff goes for lunch. I know what you are thinking, no the staff does not get the same stuff. They get regular tasty stuff in breakfast, lunch as well as dinner. Also, they get regular tea and evening snacks (pakoda etc.). Even though we got an hour of break, I could not sleep or take rest, for no reason. I guess the new schedule was still sinking in and the body was still trying to adjust to it.

At 1.30 the treatment opens again. For me it was a full body oil massage. The massage was for about an hour along with jet water bath followed by steam. I have had similar massages earlier but by far it was the best experience I had. As I mentioned earlier, all the employees are there for a long time and probably that’s the secret of such a good experience. They are all experienced and have been doing this for many years and hence have become experts in their field. The one good thing in JNI is that they maintain enough difference between meals and juices. I think they have something every two hours. At 2 PM, it was time for juice. I was prescribed Aloe Vera juice at this time along with cherry tomatoes (about 6-7 pieces). After finishing that, it was time for me to meet the doctor and discuss next day’s treatment and food. By the time I finished meeting the doctor, it was almost time for aquatic exercises. Instead of Yoga session today, I thought of attending aquatic exercises which is for about 30-45 minutes. As the name suggests these are exercises you do in a swimming pool. Though it takes more concentration and strength to do these exercises, it was fun. We would do about 10-15 different exercise’s. After this, I joined the eye yoga for 30 minutes followed by walk at Reflexology Park. After finishing this, we went for our regular evening walk before dinner. We were able to complete only one round of 2.5 kms as it was time for dinner. At 6.40 PM, after finishing one round, we headed straight to the diet center for dinner. Remember dinner is served between 5.30 PM to 7 PM every day. Today’s dinner menu included a slice of papaya, a slice of watermelon, sprouts and two kinds of raw salad along with a bowl of soup and a glass of buttermilk. Soup and buttermilk is common to all but then the quantity is limited to only one serving, no second serving allowed. I always enjoyed the food being served at JNI as I am always used to eating raw fruits and salads. Hence it was nothing new for me and I was used to eating that kind of food, food was to my liking and it was fulfilling. We watched today, for some time, after the dinner for a change. At 8 PM, it was time for hot milk with jaggery and a slice of bread as usual. With this the day neared the end and just to let you know I have been awake for more than 16 hours today. Before going to bed, I spoke to my family and kids. This has become a ritual, obviously because you are kept busy entire day and hence don’t get enough time in the day for phone calls. Tomorrow is a new day and holds different treatments and experiences for us to explore.