One of the coolest things ever! Miss Rachel Hurst and I have spent 2 days looking for the famous Balinese healer from the book Eat Pray Love. The healer's name is Wayan and she has a small little shop/ house down a secondary road in Ubud, Bali. We each got the "complete package" deal which included a "body reading," "body balancing," a herbal "shower," a massage and a months worth of traditional herbal medicine all for 80ish bucks. Totes worth it!
We spent a solid 4 hours in her home which consisted of a small kitchen and her healthy and vitamin rich foods, multiple medicine cabinets full of jars of herbs and boxes of pills- all natural, and a couple tables where she did her readings and finally the upstairs where she has 2 massage tables where most of the "balancing" happens.
First she asks you for your name, where you are from and your birthdate where she then turns away from you with an offering rice plate (full of flowers and an incense stick) and does a small chant, I can only assume to the gods allowing her and helping her to make a reading of our bodies. She then moves her hands around your head, chest and arms where she "reads" your body. From that and reading my palm and hands she found I had low blood pressure, low vitamin E, low calcium, "bad" blood and poor circulation and that weight loss is on my mind.
Treatment commences! After this reading she makes you swallow random seeds which look like the beads from my many bracelets, chew on some extremely bitter crunchy leaves from China, more soft and fresh tasting ones from India and then I was given some other leaf as well to improve my memory. During all this another Balinese woman is rubbing oils on your legs, behind your ears and sticking leaves down the front of your pants- seriously. That's all from the health perspective, then she does a spiritual reading for you as well. From this she reads your life line, luck and brain lines, marriage/relationship lines. Apparently I will live a long life, I have good luck and it is easy for me to find a job, I am smart but have a terrible memory (SO TRUE), and she pin pointed the majority of my relationships by their length in time. Totally crazy!
Rachel and I shared many of the same ailments but they were also quite personalized so I felt this lady really knows what she's doing. I believe in natural, traditional and holistic forms of medicine which is why I thought this experience was so amazingly interesting and totally one of my favourite experiences of Asia! Gah!
Ok following her body reading comes your herbal "shower" where a small old Balinese lady take these leaves that have been soaking in warm water and she Scrubs you down. Head, arms, face, chest, back then they dump most of the water all over your head and slap it around a bit. Pretty much the whole time we had NO idea what was happening, why or how, but that was the best part! My skin has been extremely irritated the last week or so (since I started wearing sunscreen!) and acne has been an issue-so they took a focus on that and by the end of the 3/4 hours of my being there my skin looked and felt so much better. They scrubbed me down with many different herbal, sweet smelling concoctions.
Off you go to the massage tables after this. Normally this is an exciting and enjoyable activity, nope not this time. I think 90% of the time it was painful as this middle aged Balinese man rubs you down from head to toe. With such strong hands he can grip your skin and pull your muscles every which way and laughs at your discomfort. Guaranteed I will have bruises in my body tomorrow, it even hurt to soap down in the shower this evening because of how hard they work certain parts of your body. The massage tended to focus in my feet, my neck and shoulders and my stomach. With my feet I am unsure of the reasons behind that focus but i know your feet are linked to many parts of your body and that part was quite enjoyable. My neck was uncomfortable for sure where they force your head to face one side and squish your face into the table. They then rub with aggressive force into the muscles in your neck. Finally the stomach work. Wayan spent a tonne of time kneading and rubbing and pushing on my stomach- this was to give me the slimming effect! It wasn't too bad at first but it became painful near the end and to touch my stomach in even the slightest form tonight hurts, bruises are forming! During this treatment she also took a hot glass bottle full of liquid and rolled it over my stomach, the soles of my feet and the nooks of my neck... Maybe to get the blood and circulation flowing? I have no idea haha
I might add at each point during the treatments there are up to 3 people working on you at once. So many hands gripping, pulling, wiping stuff on you it's stimulating everything all at once! So despite the discomfort and the pain during the treatments after your neck feels like it can turn on a swivel, you stand straighter, my skin felt phenomenal, and apparently I was much slimmer haha how accurate that was I don't know but I could feel the effects of everything else without a doubt in my mind.
Tomorrow we go back to get our medicines to cure our ailments and deficiencies. I also asked for something to help my hair grow stronger and thicker-we'll see what she gives me :) I am excited to see what traditional medicines us girlies get!! Such a unique and cool experience for sure :)
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