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Prakriti Ayurvedic Natural Rejuvenation Centre owes its
popularity in such a short period of time, to the dynamic trio of
Captain N S Ramachandran, Meena Ramachandran and Sujatha
Ramachandran, who are the moving force behind Prakriti.
 Prakriti,
means 'everything that is your nature'. "It is not
nature as in 'Nature', but it means each person's individual nature",
says Captain Ramachandran, who is from a family of Ayurvedacharyas.
He adds, "Ayurveda as a science originated in India more than
5,000 years ago and lays claim to be the oldest documented system
of medicine. This holistic system of medicine has several
aspects, which distinguish it from other systems of medicine.
Ayurveda lays emphasis on establishing and maintaining a balance,
of 'life energies' within an individual, rather than focusing on
individual symptoms. Each individual is unique and each person
requires treatment that is unique to him or her. In Ayurveda,
we do not treat the illness but we treat the person".
 Prakriti
Ayurvedic Natural Rejuvenation Centre is not just another Ayurveda
clinic; it gives priority to the 'lifestyle' aspect of Ayurveda.
As Meena Ramachandran puts it very aptly, "We are trying to bring
back Ayurveda back into focus as a way of life. Prakriti is
the result of coming together of a team of highly motivated therapists
and doctors. Our roots are traced back to Kottakal.
We thought about this centre because, when it comes to Ayurveda
there are a few curbing factors like, it was available only in Kerala
and even when it was attempted outside, only a few aspects were
touched upon. We approach Ayurveda as the traditional Ayurvedacharyas
in Kerala do. Since Kottakal has no branch here for treatment,
we thought of bringing it to Chennai. But since they run it
as a Trust at Kottakal, we registered ourselves as 'Prakriti' and
it's been a really exciting journey for us since we started".
Another aspect that is to be highlighted about Prakriti is the
homely feel that one gets there. The normal signs and smells associated
with Ayurveda are not prominent. "We chose this house because
we wanted our clients to relax and not be rigid or tense like they
would be on entering a hospital. Also, you will not find a
heavy smell on entering the reception area, because we have separated
the treatment area. There is a faint aroma of the oils that
comes through to the reception area, but many of our patrons have
told us that it is in fact very pleasant", says Captain Ramachandran.
 But
any treatment of Ayurveda is to be performed at an optimum temperature
of 24 - 28 degree celsius for it to be effective. Well don't
worry; Prakriti has a solution for that also. "Chennai
being a very warm place we air- conditioned the whole place.
Because we need to have the windows open when the treatment is going
on, we pre-cool the room to about 18 degree celsius, so that the
room remains at the optimum temperature necessary for the treatment
to be effective. Our masseurs are all from Kerala and have
years of experience and we use only products of Kottakal.
Ayurveda puts off many people, because they feel it is very messy
and dirty. This happens because in Ayurveda we deal with oils
and when oil is involved there is going to a lot of mess.
We at Prakriti take care to ensure that the whole room is washed
after treatment is administered to a person. The room is disinfected
so the next person need not have any fear that he or she is going
to come in contact with any residue left behind from the previous
treatment. We also give disposable cloth towels, which are
for use only once. All this is done to remove the idea 'messy
or dirty' that persons usually associate Ayurveda with", say
Sujatha.
They also have some plans for children in the future. They
have various courses of treatment - a rejuvenation massage costs
Rs 350/- while a complete rejuvenation package lasting for about
14 days would cost around Rs 10,000. The centre also has in
its premises the Vaidyarathnam P S Varier's Kottakal Arya Vaidya
Sala Agency.
Address: Prakriti Ayurvedic Natural Rejuvenation Centre,
AJ - 15, 9th Main Road, 5th Street, Anna Nagar,
Chennai 600 040.
Phone: 620 9052
Author: Joseph Pradeep Raj R
Photographs : V Ganesan |
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