© Engel Ayurpura Hotel
The Ayurpura was opened in November 2023.
March 23, 2024
Juliane Diesner
Seven days of Ayurveda in the Dolomites: Content creator Juliane Diesner (@styleshiver) shares her experience of the Panchakarma cure at Hotel Engel Ayurpura.
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The sun is low as I arrive in Bolzano by train, enveloping everything in a golden light. Seven days of Panchakarma in the Dolomites. All alone. As I roll my suitcase along the long platform toward the exit, surrounded only by families and couples heading off on ski vacations, seven days suddenly seem very long.
Of course, I've traveled alone for work before, but in the end, I was somehow in a group, surrounded by people, or met people I at least knew distantly.
Everyone, or at least those who have done Panchakarma before, advised me to do it alone. For oneself and without distractions. So here I am with three thick books (you never know) in my luggage.
Panchakarma is a traditional Ayurvedic purification and detoxification therapy aimed at cleansing the body, mind, and soul and restoring the balance of the doshas (Vata, Pitta, Kapha) in the body. The cure is often accompanied by treatments such as detox massages and special Ayurvedic meals to eliminate toxins and deposits from the body.
In addition, the aging process is supposed to be slowed down, and new energy should be noticeably felt. So, in principle, everything you wish for at the beginning of the new year.
© Engel Ayurpura
The drive to the hotel takes only 30 minutes. My first impression upon arrival is overwhelming. Opened in November 2023, the Ayurpura is even more beautiful in nature than in the pictures. My suite is a little dream with its own bathtub, sauna, and view of the snow-covered mountains.
A first little sense of calm spreads within me, even if I might not speak to anyone in the coming seven days, I will feel comfortable nonetheless. After a small tour of the hotel (spotted: large sea saltwater outdoor pool, sauna, infrared loungers for relaxation), it's already time for dinner. I slip into comfortable wide jeans, a cashmere sweater, and grab my book.
© Styleshiver
The bathrooms? Extremely luxurious.
The dining room is quiet, cooking is done in the open kitchen. A few people are chatting, but most sit alone, like me, in front of a book. On the first evening, I get a soup and a portion of spinach with tomatoes.
The food is wonderfully seasoned and delicious, but I'm still hungry. At home, I eat healthily, but I always eat relatively large portions, my friends sometimes joke about how much I can eat.
So I go to bed hungry and then read on an info sheet that if you're still hungry, you can always reorder. Great. I sleep poorly and restlessly that night before someone knocks on my door at 7:30 am the next morning to bring me my portion of liquid ghee to support the cleansing. On the first morning, you mostly just get the ghee and an alkaline broth and skip breakfast.
I therefore allow myself a quiet morning and meet for the first time the Ayurpura doctor Dr. Mishra, one of India's best pulse diagnosticians. He doesn't speak much, asks how I'm doing, and feels my pulse. My Vata is too high and needs to be balanced.
I tell him that I would like to get some protein and he suggests eggs, chicken soup, and fish so that I won't be too hungry. I am relieved. The lunch is ample. There's soup again, rice, and various vegetables in small bowls. I eat everything up.
© Styleshiver
"The food is wonderfully seasoned and delicious," said Juliane Diesner.
I am quite honest. The small portions really bother me at first, especially in the evening, which I hadn't expected. In the evenings, Ayurpura largely avoids carbohydrates to not burden digestion. Since carbohydrates are otherwise my best friend, I go to bed hungry the first few nights.
On the second day, I feel that my body is really going through something. I feel weak, hungry, and in a bad mood. That's when I meet a woman from Amsterdam who is three days ahead and encourages me. 'The first two days are the hardest, I felt really lost at times, but then you get into your routine and it gets better,' she says to me with a wink.
We meet again for lunch and another woman from London joins us. Although I told myself that for someone like me, who doesn't like to be alone, a week would be good practice, I secretly feel happy to be able to pay attention to something other than just my book and myself.
© Styleshiver
Juliane Diesner: "I especially like the Shirodhara, which is the Ayurvedic forehead oil pouring."
And I actually feel better. I suddenly feel that I get full faster in the evening and the constant feeling of hunger diminishes. I enjoy my new routine of going for a swim in the sea salt pool in the sunshine with a view of the mountains after breakfast, enjoying my treatments, of which I particularly like Shirodhara, the Ayurvedic forehead oil treatment.
But the full-body massages, as well as the head massages, which you really get every day for at least two hours, are a dream. On the fourth and fifth days, I regret not booking ten days. I can really savor everything now. My sleep gets better again, I feel absolutely no great hunger anymore and feel lighter.
For lunch and in the evening, I meet with my new acquaintances and we tell each other why we're here and how we feel, and I don't want to sound pathetic, but we experience a kind of sense of belonging that really connects us. I know I would have been happy alone with my books too, but this way it's all the more beautiful.
© Styleshiver
During the spa treatment, herbal teas are drunk.
Just before departure, I almost feel a bit wistful, but I also feel so strengthened and refreshed that it feels okay to leave this small but fine Panchakarma bubble.
On the last morning, I wake up early as I do every day. The sun has just risen behind the mountains, and I open the terrace door and stand there in my bathrobe, with my liver tea in hand, taking deep breaths in and out, feeling more relaxed, balanced, and content than I have in a long time.
Dr. Mishra confirms my good feeling and explains to me after another pulse diagnosis that all my doshas are balanced. I am now truly ready to begin the journey home and will certainly draw on this unique experience for a long time.
For anyone interested in Panchakarma, I can warmly recommend Ayurpura. From the architecture, to the fresh mountain air of the Dolomites, to the perfectly coordinated treatments, everyone can really find their way back to themselves and hit the reset button here.
Juliane Diesner (@styleshiver) founded her company in 2010 and inspires not only fashion fans with her content but also travel enthusiasts, adventurers, and interior design aficionados.
