MayaShakti Ayurveda Pvt. Ltd. presents

with Niika Quistgard and the staff at Rasa Ayurveda

October 23rd - November 5th, 2009

Retreat activities written and designed
by Niika Quistgard and Sanjeev Kumar S.

Note: All scheduled activities are subject to change of content and timing. Changes are usually improvements.
Expect to experience the delightfully unexpected!

This healing women's retreat offers introduction to basic Ayurvedic nutrition theory, hands-on preparation instruction and exploration of Ayurvedic and Kerala-cuisine food sources. We'll have a chance to make kitchen medicines, as well as travel to sacred places and connect with local Malayalee women in the spirit of oneness.

This transformational retreat includes a personal Ayurvedic diagnosis, treatment plan and seven days of traditional therapies. (Participants may extend their stay for longer residential treatment.)

Each morning begins with simple yoga, breathing and meditation.

After breakfast, we'll head out to explore the local spice, vegetable and fruit bazaars. We'll meet farmers raising organic food, and visit the home of a local woman for a cooking demonstration. On other days, we'll be in more relaxed mode, taking traditional Ayurvedic therapies, enjoying cooking classes and learning to make powerful remedies from simple kitchen ingredients. We'll learn to recognize the sight and qualities of many medicinal plants and spices too, and cook with them!

Evenings will be our chance to connect with each other and digest what we are learning. One night, we'll enjoy a traditional Carnatic classical concert. Another night, we may visit a sacred temple, dressed in saris if you like... And although our fare will be mainly vegetarian, one night we'll have to visit the fish market, just to see the beauty of the fish-monger women's faces, illuminated by oil-lamp light.

Cooking in the paradise that is Kerala is quite a lot of fun, as many dishes are made truly "by hand," beginning with cracking the coconut... (Our coconuts, by the way, are harvested from Rasa Ayurveda's very own back yard...!) Since we want you to have the knowledge you need to make great decisions about which foods are best for you, together we'll explore the basic concepts of Ayurveda that reveal our relationship to food: the 6 Rasa (tastes) the other special qualities each food possesses the vital importance of excellent digestion, and how to support digestion thru Ayurveda and more, per your curiosity...!

We'll study the culinary and medicinal value of spices, and learn about Kerala's vital role in the spice trade. Did you know turmeric reduces pain and inflammation? Or that garlic can reduce cholesterol?

We'll learn about prasaadam – sacred blessed food– and experience it's effects.

We'll shop for vessels in the local metal mart, so you can take home all the implements you'll need to whip up the nutritious and delicious traditional fare you've learned to make during the retreat, like:

• doshas (so many kinds of high-protein, gluten-free crepes)
  
• idlis (soft dumplings made from rice and tiny, tender beans)
  
• puttu (tasty steam cake)
  
• appam – a Kerala favorite!
  
• curries, rasams, sambars and torans
  
• medicinal kanyee and kitcharee
  
• healing spice waters, chai
  
• easy home remedies, and more!

If you don't recognize half of these words, don't worry! You'll love the taste, nutrition and preparation experiences that await you here at Rasa Ayurveda, and by the time you leave, these words will be rolling off your very happy tongue...!

Join us for this trip of a lifetime!

Trip Fee:
Single Occupancy (single room with bath) $2,850
Double Occupancy (shared room with bath) $2,550
Fee includes airport pickup and drop-off, accommodations, All participants stay in double occupancy accommodations when the group travels away from Rasa Ayurveda.)

Registrations are accepted with a completed registration application and a 50% deposit.

Special Note:
We welcome you to stay on at Rasa Ayurveda Traditional Healing Centre for personal Panchakarma or other personal therapeutic programme, please inquire about availability. A very special all-inclusive rate of $108 applies to additional treatment days thru December, 2009.

info at ayurvedatrip.com | US Phone 011-908-998-1146 | Fax 011-908-292-1093