“If you’re not relaxed, you won’t be able to achieve your goals,” says Ayurvedic expert Dr. Jitendra Varshney

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Varshney designs comprehensive health and wellness programs for guests, incorporating everything from Ayurveda, yoga and meditation to Chinese and Tibetan medicine, acupuncture and reflexology, along with personalized nutritional programs. Masu.

“The goal is to find a balance between the body’s elements, so we believe these treatments complement each other and that having so many different options and experience will improve results,” he says. Masu.

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Programs at this property, which opened in 2014 and joined the Six Senses portfolio in 2023, last a minimum of one to two weeks, but many guests choose to stay for a month or longer, with more I find myself coming back year after year to spend time. . Visitors sign up for a specific theme, such as improved sleep, detox, fitness, or weight loss, and choose from as many free trials, individual treatments, and group classes and workshops as they like.

“Everything is 100% based on counseling, and the doctor finds the treatment that they think is the best treatment for each guest,” says Varshney.

The entire Six Senses Vana experience is designed to promote relaxation and eliminate stressors, including being encouraged to wear a white kurta (a comfortable pajama-like clothing set) during your stay rather than regular clothes. However, this property is no easy stay for monks, with amenities befitting the brand’s reputation, including a rooftop infinity pool surrounded by lush forest.

Varshney points out that while much of the modern world embraces the concept of health, the same modern world also creates one of the biggest contributors to poor health: stress.

“For me, stress is the body’s biggest toxin,” he says. “If you’re not relaxed, you won’t be successful.”

One of the key points he wants to bring to his guests is that maintaining good mental and personal health is the best thing you can do to improve your daily life as well as your long-term health. This means that it is the method of “Prevention itself is the cure,” he says.

Varshney, 45, said: Penta About understanding Ayurveda, how it fits into the modern world of wellness, and incorporating the ideals of Eastern philosophy and treatments into your daily life.

Penta: For the layperson, could you explain the core tenets of Ayurveda?

Jitendra Varshney: There are two things we believe in Ayurveda. The first principle states that the human body is part of the universe. No matter where you are, the universe is the same. There is a universe inside you. There are his five elements that make up the entire system and yourself. They are space, air, fire, water, and earth. Part 2: These five elements he categorizes into three categories and we call them bioenergetics. Space and air become Vata, which is your nervous system. Pitta is the fire element, digestive system, metabolism, and hormonal function. In that case, water and earth are Kapha. Ayurveda’s approach to healing is that your life is built on three pillars: food, sleep, and lifestyle. When I treat something, I focus on these three pillars.

How do you bridge traditional Ayurveda with the world of Western medicine and modern technology?

Ayurveda was the first health science and many things that have come under the name of medicine are derived from Ayurveda. For example, if you have a fever, give paracetamol. The principle is said to activate the part of the brain that produces sweat. As a result, you sweat, your body cools down, and your fever decreases. Ayurveda used spices and herbs in the form of teas and decoctions to induce natural sweating. How this principle is used in Ayurveda and various methods have been developed.

Although some people are not always easily convinced, Ayurveda is more than just a philosophy, it has a proper scientific background. And Six Senses believes in integrated wellness. This means we don’t mind using the latest technology to improve our results. That’s why we do screening and biohacking, and what we’re finding is that by using these tools, this new generation of people who always believe in data, what we’ve always believed in. It means that you are ready to accept the same concepts and principles as you used to. we have this data. Yes, we already know these things work.What do you think about the way wellness is portrayed in today’s culture and media?

As an Ayurvedic doctor, my education was already based on wellness before it became a trend. Wellness is how we describe it. What is a disease? disease. When you say “I,” you are taking on an almost singular number. A singular number means you are dealing with symptoms. I have a cold and have difficulty breathing. One, one. As Ayurvedic practitioners, we recognize this as a holistic system. Actually, replace “I” with “we”. It’s complex. For me, when you replace “me” with “we,” sickness becomes health, so that’s how I describe it.

Now, for us, health doesn’t mean one massage. Must be mentally, socially, physically and emotionally healthy. This is taken from Ayurveda. Because for us, wellness is actually the optimal stage of health, where you feel completely healthy, both mentally and physically. That’s the easy way to understand. Otherwise, he has 1,000 ways to describe health.

Can you explain the relationship between mental health and a person’s overall health?

For us, this is the master. We will never ignore this part. We do not consider this as separate things: your mind and body are different. When I started studying him in 1994, he had two categories of illness: physical illness and psychosomatic illness. I think 85% of it used to be physical, but now that’s completely changed and more and more illnesses are falling into the psychosomatic realm. Especially high stress has always been a top priority for us. For example, our approach to yoga is 100% spiritual. Mindfulness. We will focus more on breathing, an activity that grounds and calms you, which comes from the beginnings of Ayurveda. Mental well-being is more important than simply seeking physical results.

How would you encourage people at home to start adopting Ayurvedic practices?

We say either ignore it now and do extra things later in life, or slowly start taking in a little bit of everything to enjoy the good parts of life. It’s about education, not about specific programs. Small things work better than trying to find a complete solution in one day. We say find the best way to balance your life.

Next, we will talk about two things: daily life and seasonal daily life. You need to incorporate physical activity into your daily life and change your eating habits to suit your system. Track your eating habits. Observe yourself, how are you feeling today? Eat only when you’re hungry. Don’t eat just because it’s breakfast time, lunch time, or dinner time. This is very important from an Ayurvedic perspective. This should help you feel more calm or relaxed during the second half of the day, so you can go to bed and sleep with a calmer mind. If you’re sending messages to your brain to stay awake, you can’t expect your brain to fall asleep. Meditate and take a calming and relaxing warm shower to help you sleep better.

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The change of seasons is a very important time to take care of your body, so you should change your routine depending on the season. This is a time when many people complain of sinus infections, colds, and not feeling well because their internal systems are changing and nature is changing.

What makes the Himalayas such a special region and destination?

Ayurveda began in this region of the Himalayas. You can feel the energy of nature. It supports our meditation. We are in a place full of energy, blessed by the Ganges River and the Himalayas. Energy and people are important and those practices create a positive atmosphere here.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.