One fast way to overcome a body complex
In a recent trip to India, I found myself on a houseboat. Feet up, not a care in the world. Namaste City to say the least.
We get off the boat, thinking we would be escorted to a prestigious day spa. But in actual fact, it was more like a tin roof demountable. This is ok. Authenticity at its best. No time for bells and whistles. Straight to the point. Straight on the job. And then the relaxation bit. So I thought! This is what happens when you find yourself saying ‘yes’ a lot…. You have no idea where you will end up.
Before I know, a quite mature Indian lady is grabbing my arm and walking, or more like pulling me into one of the rooms in the tin shed.I can’t understand her. And she can’t understand me. However, we have no problems communicating.
I am on the wooden bed if you could call it a bed, with hardly any clothes on. Just a white cloth. The massage starts and ends. Then the continuous oil on the forehead part of the massage takes place. At this stage, I feel like I am in a deep fryer. The term ‘oiled up’ took on a whole new meaning. The oil dripping stops. The lady helps me get up and off the table. Quite a difficult task for both of us. Oil really does change how you physically function. Putting one step in front of the other became extremely challenging.
Insert – A few laughs to cover up the feeling of complete body exposure.
She then says shower… or something that insinuated shower. I follow. She is clearly in charge here. She walks me to the shower. If you could call it a shower. And asks me to sit on the chair. At this moment I am completely unclothed. I am thinking how can I sit in this chair. How many people have taken this seat? Is it clean? How often do they clean it? The mind is having a field day with this. And so I do a casual hand sweep before I find the hand of the lady on my shoulders pushing me to sit down.
And so the washing begins. The lady proceeds to wash me with her very rough (never missed a day of hard work) hands. Good for exfoliation. And in between, buckets of water are being thrown. I am talking in between the buckets of water, commenting on her thoroughness and the fact that no stone is being left unturned… I am talking to myself really. My way of putting myself at ease. This thinking only lasts for a while. I then make the decision to just soak it up (literally) and embrace the moment for what it is.
This is definitely one of those moments where you are living every single second. You can’t get more present than this. Eckhart Tolle would be proud! And during the experience, I actually thought, this could well be the best wash of my life. Despite the surroundings.
Before I knew it. It was over. Clothes back on. I walk out of the shed. See my friend who has had a similar experience. No exchange of words required. We walk back to the boathouse. Sitting in silence. Feeling clean. Also feeling a layer of ‘body hang-ups’ had been lifted. Affirming the teaching of ‘The best way to get over something is to go through it’.
So thank you India… for pushing me further away from overthinking and giving unnecessary attention to the physical appearance of my body.
