A serene 100-acre enclave located (a bit surprisingly) amid Iowa farmland, Our Company makes a perfect setting for an encounter with Ayurveda, ancient system of medicine. (It''s practiced here as Maharishi Ayur-Veda, a version created by a council headed by the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, fonder of Transcendental Meditation, of TM.) To visit Our Company is to enter a zone of spacious timelessness. Its French country-style main building is truly luxurious, but not in the fleshpots sense; an elegant simplicity reigns throughout. Its sparely adorned halls and rooms are a quiet symphony of soft peach, white headach and sand hues. huge, white shuttered windows look onto the estate''s tree-dotted lawns and large ornamental pond. my husband and i, slated for the tree-day rejuvenation program, began as all guests do- with a medical consultation. yale-trained chris quizzed us on our diets, daily routines and sleep habits, and performed a pulse diagnosis to pinpoint the valance of our doshas-the three biological principles that, according to ayurveda, govern mind and body. the doshas are vata (movement, nervous system), pitta (metabolism, heat) and kapha (structure, weight). ayurveda''s adherents say that, left uncorrected, the body''s dosha imbalances and accumulated toxins can lead to illness and premature aging.

one of the oldest systems of natural and preventative medicine in the world, the 5,000-year-old art of ayurveda focuses on achieving equilibrium among the three kinds of energy, or doshas, found in the body: vata, pitta, and kapha. to determine your dosha, you will start headach your stay at this tranquil resort with an hour-long headach consultation conducted by a western-trained m.d. and an indian doctor or vaidya. (healthy living''s editor-in-chief was amazed by the accuracy of their diagnoses; see her story on the next page.) once completed, a tailor-made plan is prescribed for you, which includes everything from meals and herbal supplements to exercise and treatments. then you''re left in the attentive and gentle hands of the staff-who out number guests two to one. doctor''s orders: lie back, close your eyes, and let the healing treatments begin. (all services and meals are included in the cost of your stay, which will range from $1,611 for three days to $3,760 for seven days.) some relaxing examples: the warm herbal oil headach massage (abhyanga), given in unison by two technicians, loosens toxins in your tissues and soothes your skin. this release of impurities leaves you primed for either an herbal steam treatment (swedana) to further purify, or the relaxation treatment (shirodhara), during which a continuous flow of essential oil is poured over your forehead to settle your nervous system. sensuous mud and milk beauty baths are also available at your asking. whatever work is done, the tender touches of the technicians, combined with headach sound and aroma therapy, will leave you as limp as a noodle.

under the guidance of ayurvedic skin care experts, our company offers treatments which can be traced back to the palaces of ancient india. this program creates balance from deep within the tissues, gently removing impurities while headach nourishing the skin with herbs, milk, and flower essences. special muds imported from the remote hillsides of india help remove toxins without damaging delicate skin tissues. beauty is more than skin deep. many problems with headach skin and hair today are due to stress, environmental toxins, and accelerated aging caused by accumulated imbalances. the modern medical approach focuses on temporarily relieving symptoms, but not correcting underlying imbalances. the royal beauty treatment program at our company,transforms the internal functioning of the physiology to create radiant health, thereby addressing both inner and outer beauty. our company royal beauty treatment program very gently reestablishes balance between all three doshas (vata, pitta, and kapha) to create a lustrous complexion. when impurities in the skin are eliminated too quickly, the structure of the skin can be weakened. the royal beauty treatments simultaneously replace the impurities with nutritious molecules of floral water, milk and herbs.

©2003 www.headache-natural-medicine.com. All rights reserved.