Kerala Ayurveda Retreat: 10 Days of Treatment in Kovalam and Kumarakom

Arrive and meet your Ayurvedic physician

Fly into Trivandrum (Thiruvananthapuram) and transfer to your retreat on the cliffs above Kovalam, with gardens running down towards the Arabian Sea.

In the afternoon, meet the resort's Ayurvedic physician for your first consultation. In Ayurveda, India's traditional system of medicine, each person has a unique balance of three doshas, or energies, called vata, pitta and kapha. The doctor asks about your health, sleep, digestion and lifestyle, reads your pulse, and sets a personal plan of treatments, diet, yoga and rest for your stay. Bring a list of any medicines you take and mention allergies, injuries or recent illness, so the plan can be adjusted around them.

Treatments usually begin the next morning, which gives you time to recover from the journey. Settle in, unpack loose, light cotton clothes, and take a slow walk around the grounds as the sun sets over the sea. Dinner on the first evening is simple and vegetarian, often rice, a mild vegetable curry and herbal water, and most guests are ready for an early night.

• ArrivalTransfer from Trivandrum airport to your retreat
• AfternoonConsultation with your Ayurvedic physician
• EveningSunset over the Arabian Sea and a light dinner

OvernightKovalam, 5 nights, at a cliffside Ayurveda retreat overlooking the Arabian Sea.

Treatment begins

Your programme starts this morning. Before breakfast, join a gentle hatha yoga class in the open-air pavilion, where the teacher adapts the postures to your level; complete beginners are welcome.

Most plans begin with abhyanga, a full-body massage with warm herbal oils chosen for your constitution, given by two therapists working in rhythm, followed by a herbal steam bath. The massage usually lasts about 45 minutes to an hour, and the oil is left on for a while afterwards to soak in before you wash it off with a herbal powder. Therapists usually advise avoiding strong sun and cold water for a few hours after treatment.

Meals follow your physician's advice: light, freshly cooked vegetarian food, often with herbal teas and Kerala red rice. The rest of the day is unstructured. Most guests rest, read, swim or sit on the sea-view terraces. Early nights are part of the programme.

• SunriseGentle hatha yoga
• MorningYour first treatments: abhyanga massage and herbal steam
• AfternoonRest
• EveningLight dinner and an early night

OvernightKovalam.

Treatment and rest

Your daily rhythm settles in: yoga at sunrise, treatment in the morning, rest in the afternoon. Your therapists may add treatments such as shirodhara, a steady stream of warm oil poured over the forehead, traditionally used for deep relaxation. You lie on a carved wooden treatment table while the oil flows for around half an hour, and many guests drift into sleep. Afterwards, it is usual to keep the head covered and rest quietly for the remainder of the morning.

In the late afternoon, if you feel like a change of scenery, take an easy walk down to Kovalam's Lighthouse Beach, or join a short session of pranayama, yogic breathing, which uses slow, controlled breaths to calm the mind.

Many guests find the first few days bring tiredness as the body slows down; this is common, and your physician will adjust the plan as you go. Herbal drinks are served through the day, and the kitchen can explain what goes into each dish.

• SunriseYoga
• MorningTreatment, perhaps shirodhara
• Late afternoonOptional walk to Lighthouse Beach or breathing practice

OvernightKovalam.

Treatment and meditation

Continue your daily treatments and yoga. Depending on your plan, you may have podikizhi or elakizhi, warm herbal poultices pressed over the body, or njavarakizhi, made with medicinal rice cooked in milk. Some plans include udvartana, a brisk massage with dry herbal powders, or nasya, in which herbal oil is applied to the nose after a gentle face massage and steam.

A guided meditation is added in the late afternoon, as your body adjusts to the programme's rhythm. Sessions usually begin with simple breathing and a body scan and need no experience. The retreat's library and gardens are good places to spend the quiet hours in between, and the sound of the sea carries up the cliffs.

Dinner is light and early, following your physician's advice. Many retreats serve it on a terrace as the sun goes down, and it is a good time to compare notes with your fellow guests.

• SunriseYoga
• MorningTreatment: herbal poultices or as prescribed
• Late afternoonGuided meditation

OvernightKovalam.

A review, and a last day by the sea

Your morning follows a routine that now feels familiar: gentle yoga as the light comes up over the sea, a light breakfast chosen with your physician's advice, then your daily treatment. By this point many guests notice that they are sleeping more deeply and that the rhythm of warm oil, rest and simple food has started to feel natural.

After treatment, a consultation reviews your progress and adjusts the plan for the second half of your stay at Kumarakom. Your physician may change the oils, add or drop a therapy, or adjust your diet. Mention anything that feels uncomfortable as well as what is working, so the plan carries over smoothly.

Enjoy a free afternoon on the retreat's terraces. If you would like a short outing, the red-and-white lighthouse above Kovalam's Lighthouse Beach can usually be climbed for a long view along the coast, although the beach below is busier than the retreat. Otherwise rest, read and watch a last sunset over the Arabian Sea.

• MorningYoga, treatment and mid-stay review
• AfternoonFree; optional visit to the Kovalam lighthouse
• SunsetLast sunset at Kovalam

OvernightKovalam.

To the backwaters of Kumarakom

After breakfast, drive north from Kovalam to Kumarakom, a cluster of islands and villages on the eastern shore of Vembanad Lake, Kerala's largest lake and the heart of its backwater system. The road passes through the densely settled countryside of southern Kerala: coconut groves and paddy fields, churches, temples and mosques side by side, and small towns that seem to run into one another. After several days of treatment, keep the drive easy. Your driver will stop whenever you like, and many guests doze for part of the way.

As you near Kumarakom the landscape flattens and fills with water. Canals run between the fields, and nearby Kuttanad is one of the few places in the world where rice is grown below sea level.

Check in to your lakeside resort, set among coconut palms and canals, for a change of scenery and pace. Meet the resort's physician, who continues your plan from Kovalam, then spend the evening quietly by the water.

• MorningDrive north to Kumarakom
• AfternoonCheck in and meet your new physician
• EveningRest by the lake

OvernightKumarakom, 4 nights, at a lakeside resort.

Treatment by the backwaters

Continue your Ayurvedic treatments in a new setting, with the still backwaters replacing the sea views of Kovalam. Yoga sessions are held by the water at sunrise, when the lake is often glassy and the only sounds are birds and the occasional passing canoe.

Depending on your plan, the day's therapies may include abhyanga, a full-body massage with warm medicated oil; pizhichil, in which warm oil is poured over the body while it is gently massaged; or a herbal steam to open the pores and help the oils work. Meals stay light and are matched to your constitution, usually rice, vegetables, lentils and mild Kerala curries.

In the late afternoon, take an optional sunset cruise on Vembanad Lake in a traditional country boat, past fishermen casting nets from small canoes, egrets on the banks and village houses at the water's edge. Back at the resort, an early night helps the treatments do their work.

• SunriseYoga by the lake
• MorningTreatment
• AfternoonRest
• SunsetOptional cruise on Vembanad Lake

OvernightKumarakom.

Treatment and the bird sanctuary

Start with yoga and your morning treatment, then rest for an hour or so before going out, so the oils have time to settle.

In the late afternoon, take an optional, gentle walk through the Kumarakom Bird Sanctuary, 14 acres of mangroves and wetland beside the lake. In winter, migratory herons, egrets and storks join resident kingfishers, cormorants and darters; early morning or late afternoon is the best time to see them. Paths are mostly flat and shaded. Wear light, long sleeves and use insect repellent, carry water, and walk quietly. Your driver or a local guide can point out nests and roosts, and binoculars make a real difference.

The rest of the day is free to rest by the lake. If your diet allows, try karimeen, the pearl-spot fish of the backwaters, cooked gently in a banana leaf; otherwise the kitchen can prepare a lighter version of the same flavours. Spend the evening on a veranda or in the garden, watching the lamps come on along the far shore.

• MorningYoga and treatment
• Late afternoonOptional walk in the Kumarakom Bird Sanctuary
• EveningFree by the lake

OvernightKumarakom.

Closing consultation

Start with a last yoga session, then your final treatment, followed by a closing consultation with your physician, who reviews how you have responded and gives you dietary and lifestyle recommendations to take home. Ask for them in writing, along with any simple yoga or breathing routine you would like to keep up.

Physicians often suggest easing back into ordinary life gradually: keeping meals light and regular for a while, adding rich food, alcohol and caffeine back slowly, and not rushing straight into a heavy schedule. If you are continuing your trip, tell the physician where you are going next so the advice fits.

Spend the afternoon enjoying the grounds one last time. Many guests buy the oils and herbal preparations used in their treatments from the resort's dispensary to continue at home. Pack any bottles in your checked luggage, as liquids over 100 ml are not allowed in cabin bags, and check the import rules of your home country for herbal products.

• MorningYoga, final treatment and closing consultation
• AfternoonFree; the dispensary for oils and herbal preparations

OvernightKumarakom.

Fly home from Kochi

After a final breakfast by the lake, and a short morning treatment if your flight time allows, drive to Cochin International Airport, about 1.5 to 2 hours away, for your onward or departing flight. Kochi has direct flights to the Gulf, Singapore and major Indian cities. Keep your physician's written advice with you, pack any herbal oils or liquid medicines in checked luggage (liquids over 100 ml are not allowed in hand luggage), and keep up the routine on the journey: drink plenty of water, eat lightly and walk around during long flights.

• MorningOptional short final treatment
• DepartureTransfer to Kochi airport