A First Hand Experience of the Panchakarma Treatment at The Surya Spa
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Let’s face it, our culture’s fascination with “looking the part” can lead to mild adjustments like hairstyle swaps and highlights and Botox, and to even more extreme measures like controlling one’s weight through “off-label” drugs like Ozempic. If any physical side effects occur, like the well-documented “Ozempic face,” the next best solution might be to head to a preferred plastic surgeon to balance out the visage. But the fact remains, there can and will always be a desire for more if the dominant concern is only what happens on the outside. But achieving optimal inner health is something that cannot be topped. When one feels like they are in alignment inside, those tweaks mentioned above, they feel less necessary. At least my experience.
Case in point: when I was introduced to the benefits of an Ayurvedic lifestyle through its sacred panchakarma experience, I understood how achieving inner balance can put just about everything physical into place for someone, including hair, skin health, and weight satisfaction. While it has been proven that there is no magic pill that can remedy all our physical woes, is starting from within by utilizing Ayurveda a solid solution to optimize our entire self? It’s worth considering, at the very least.
Ayurveda by definition means life balance, encompassing one’s mind, body, and spirit. The practice began in India roughly 5000 years ago, and the lifestyle has become popularized in Western society, namely in the United States in the 1970s. Panchakarma, furthermore, is a 3 to 28-day fivefold intense detoxification therapy treatment that involves procedures and practices such as adopting a specific diet to advance digestion and deep tissue massages from head to toe throughout the week to help the body detox. The goal of panchakarma is to create an internal fresh start.
Martha Soffer, an Ayurvedic guru and founder of Surya Spa in Santa Monica, CA, one of few fully comprehensive Ayurveda spas in the nation, offering true panchakarma, administered my treatments, and along the way, explained to me why Ayurveda’s influence, including many of its therapeutic treatments like panchakarma, can be extremely beneficial for one’s life:“When toxins are removed from the body, the organs can best communicate with each other. When the various systems in the body communicate, your immune system is fortified, your blood flows in harmony, and you feel amazing.” With this level of balance on the inside, getting your body to be at its best on the outside is more efficient and healthily within reach.
On the topic of weight loss, Los Angeles-based integrative wellness doctor, Dr. Sara Koorjee provides a perspective echoing Martha. “No matter what the main driving force is for a person's weight gain or inability to lose weight, detoxification strategies are almost always part of their treatment plan. Everything is connected! When the house (our body) is clean, everything functions better- and this definitely includes metabolism.” She advises that depending on the case, using Ozempic might be used to help jump start weight loss, but that it should perhaps not be the only thing someone depends on to achieve their goals.
Speaking of integrative health, I began panchakarma treatments soon after having my first colonoscopy. While I was given products to clean out my colon for that procedure, I learned that a “deep cleaning” is not the same as detoxification, so my consultation with Martha was perfectly timed. On my first day of this new experience I felt excitement, but for someone who loves food, I was a little nervous about what I would and would not be able to eat. I am also a decades-long practicing pescatarian, so in some ways, my diet was already restricted. I thought, "what else can’t I eat???" But with each day of panchakarma, though I was consuming less, I felt stronger. After a week of following the regimen of light eating that prescribes key food groups in healthier ways— Think: basmati rice for carbs, mung beans for protein, and non-acidic vegetable like cabbage, squash, and carrots— and allowing Martha and another specialist to perform their body work magic, I emerged from the 9 day experience feeling like I never had before. I immediately took a selfie to capture the moment of inner glow. I wanted to see if what I felt was evident on the outside-It was. In just under ten days, my skin, teeth, and eyes were noticeably brighter. There was an extra pep in my step to get the days done, as I did not feel as weighed down. I was lighter in more ways than one.
At the advice of a friend, I have become one of many who has benefitted from the satisfaction of this uber-reset of the inner workings of my body. It is no surprise that Gwyneth Paltrow is a client of Martha’s, as are Julia Roberts and Kate Hudson. Even Kourtney Kardashian has incorporated Surya and its Ayurvedic therapy into her lifestyle. For the guru who runs the calmest ship in Los Angeles, a chance encounter with Ayurveda while receiving an advanced degree in computer science at the Maharishi International University in Iowa enlightened Colombia-born Martha to its power. Martha’s interest in Ayurveda quickly evolved into her passion and purpose, and she transitioned from her promising career in technology at IBM to opening Surya (meaning Sun) in a house on the bluffs of the Pacific Palisades.
It was only a matter of time before Martha’s healing hands attracted loyal clients from friends and those who they referred around the world. One such referral was Kelly Wearstler, Los Angeles interiors master, who, after one treatment at Surya, declared, “I just had the best night’s sleep of my life.” Kelly and Martha’s mutual friends Chris and Lisa Bonright, owners of Cafe Gratitude referred Kelly, knowing that she and her husband Brad Korzen were building a hotel in Santa Monica. After Kelly’s initial experience, the bond was sealed: Surya Spa opened in the Proper Hotel in 2020. Kelly designed the space to the specificities of Martha’s choosing. Every stone, tile, wood, and room configuration are in an alignment that adds to the Ayurvedic healing tone within the space. Says Kelly, “I wanted to create a serene ambiance that harmoniously echoes the holistic wellness experiences offered at Surya, combining an earthy palette with the tactile allure of organic materials, including exquisite Moroccan zellige clay tiles sourced from India. The warmth of oak wood and mirrors are inspired by its architectural heritage.”
Spending time within the walls of Surya, which resulted in this fresh start through panchakarma, put me on a path to a heightened level of consciousness about my body. I have implemented an Ayurvedic way of living into my daily regimen, and have no intentions of stopping this very sustainable and attainable gift to my life.
For those who are at a distance from the spa, there is a cleanse kit with full instructions on how to prepare a variety of meals for the nourishing diet, which includes mung beans, basmati rice, deliciously seasoned ghee, and a kind-to-the-body CCF tea. Certain dishes from the cleanse kit have become a weekly staple that I serve to my own family. First introduced to black lava salt by Surya, I have even replaced my usual pink Himalayan sea salt with the Icelandic treasure. Whole foods well spiced will always attract willing diners, my lot included. Even my younger ones love when I prepare a chosen Ayurvedic meal, not fully realizing how they are fortifying their growing bodies.
Ayurveda encourages the act of stillness, and this is a concept also not foreign to my lively household. Conversations can be enriching and replenishing when we have time to truly reflect before discourse. As well, we’ve all upped our motivation to use our feet more to get us where we need to go. With so much going on in the world around us and much of it that is beyond our control, keeping things as simple as we can as much as we can elevates every aspect of my family’s life. There is a positive internal impact. We look better, too. I am very careful about what I consume in all ways because I don’t want to stray away from my newfound feelings of healthy abundance.
I now know certain ways to help bring myself back to center should I need. Martha has sourced from her garden over 40 different Ayurvedic herbs, and uses things like sesame oil, coconut oil, jasmine, roses, ghee, honey, camel’s milk, nectarine flowers, ylang-ylang flowers, and water, and she adds, “infused with the moon and sun” that can keep you on track during and post-panchakarma. Any of Surya’s incredible offerings from food to therapy treatments feel like they are enhancing you from the inside out in a magical way. There is even a skin-tightening collagen cream so rejuvenating and nourishing that it puts you at ease simply from the aroma it emanates.
Right after my panchakarma therapy, I referred Surya to a friend, and when she emerged with the “glow,” I could fully relate to the perspectives of those who commented on how refreshed I looked after my first major step on a new health journey. Panchakarma is a fabulous way to start a new year, a new career, or new anything. Based on the feeling you have at the end, if your experience is anything like mine, you won't have anything you ant to improve—you will only want to maintain it.
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