Consultation comes first
Nothing of consequence is administered until a physician has seen you. The consultation establishes two things: your prakriti, the constitution you were born with, and your vikriti, the state you are in now. Treatment is the distance between them.
Includes pulse diagnosis, reading of body constitution, and lifestyle and diet advice with our Ayurvedic physician. Recommended before any treatment.
This is why the same complaint in two people may call for opposite therapies — why one is given heat and another cooling, why one is oiled and another scrubbed. The therapies below are grouped as our physicians group them: those that may be taken without consultation, and those that should not.
Durations and prices are given so that you can plan. They are typical. Your own protocol may combine several therapies, extend across weeks, or omit most of them entirely.
Pre-Consultation Therapies
These treatments are restorative rather than corrective. They may be taken by anyone, at any time, without a physician's prescription — though we would still rather you saw one.
Relaxation Massage
Warm oil applied over the body, concentrating on the shoulders, neck, lower back and calf muscles — the places the day collects. 45 minutes · INR 1,500.
Rejuvenation Massage
A full-body massage with scented oil, for the body and the mind together. 45 minutes · INR 1,500.
Hand and Feet Reflexology
Work upon the pressure points of the hands and feet. Improves the circulation of energy and settles the whole body from its extremities. 45 minutes · INR 1,000.
Shirodhara शिरोधारा
The third-eye therapy. Warm oil is poured upon the forehead in a continuous, unbroken stream, in the manner the texts prescribe. Nothing about it is dramatic; its effect is cumulative and quiet.
Helpful in insomnia and disordered sleep, in the relief of stress, and in the settling of an overactive mind. 45 minutes · INR 2,000.
Skin Nourishing Treatments
Ayurveda reads the skin as an organ of the body's inner state, not a surface to be decorated. These treatments nourish it accordingly.
Royal Massage
Massage with a special skin-nourishing oil, which rejuvenates the senses as it feeds the tissue. 45 minutes · INR 1,800.
Ayurveda Face Pack
Cleansing and massage of the face with pure Ayurvedic medicinal herbs and oils. 45 minutes · INR 1,700.
Ayurvedic Fruit Massage
A full-body massage with a blend of fruits and milk, prepared for the nourishment of the skin. 45 minutes · INR 1,700.
Post-Consultation Therapies
These are the classical therapies proper. They act upon the doshas and the tissues, and they are given only after the physician has read your constitution and named what is to be corrected.
Abhyanga अभ्यङ्ग
The traditional full-body Ayurvedic oil massage. Good for the circulation of blood and for the settling of the whole body. It is the foundation of most protocols at SWAN, and the preparation for everything deeper. 45 minutes · INR 2,000.
Marma Massage मर्म
Work upon the vital points of the body — the marma, where flesh, vessel, ligament, bone and joint meet. Tones the body; good for energy and for the circulation of blood. 45 minutes · INR 2,000.
Udvartan & Svedana उद्वर्तन · स्वेदन
Massage with herbal powders, worked against the grain, followed by fomentation. Known for the cleansing of the skin, for rejuvenation, and for the reduction of weight. Where the oil therapies soothe, this one scours. 60 minutes · INR 2,200.
Kizhi कीझि
Massage with a bolus bag of assorted herbs, applied warm. Very useful in back pain, joint pain, and the stiffness of accumulated cold. 45 minutes · INR 2,000.
Njavarakizhi नवरकीझि
Tissue-nourishing fomentation with a bolus of cooked navara rice, milk and herbs. The rice both heats and feeds — fomentation that nourishes rather than depletes. For wasted tissue and recovery from long illness. 45 minutes · INR 2,000.
Basti & Localised Therapy बस्ति
Matra Basti · Oil Enema
Enema with medicated oil, useful in the cleansing of the intestines. INR 700.
Kashaya Basti · Decoction Enema
Enema with a special Ayurvedic herbal decoction, likewise for the cleansing process. INR 1,000.
Local Basti
A dam is built of flour upon a chosen part of the body, and a suitable warm oil is poured within it and retained: at the neck (Manya Basti), the lower back (Kati Basti), the heart (Hrid Basti), the knees (Janu Basti), or the chest (Uro Basti). 45 minutes · INR 700.
The Head & the Senses
Ayurveda treats the head as the seat of the senses and of prana. Disorders above the collarbone are approached through the openings of the head itself.
Nasyam नस्य
Nose treatment, performed by instilling medicated drops into both nostrils. A very useful process in sinusitis, in blockage of the nose, in cold, and in the various disorders of the head. Nasya is also one of the five actions of Panchakarma. 30 minutes · INR 700.
Karnapooranam कर्ण पूरण
Warm oil poured into the ears and retained — a part of the classical Indian daily routine. Clears the ear pathway, softens the wax, and allows the smooth functioning of the ears. 20 minutes · INR 700.
Tarpanam तर्पण
A reservoir of specific ghee is held over the eyes. Helpful in the relaxation of the eyes and in the various eye disorders — and in the fatigue of long hours before screens. 30 minutes · INR 1,000.
Indian Head Massage
The traditional head massage, which relaxes the head, the neck and what they carry. 20 minutes · INR 700.
SWAN Special Packages
Where several therapies are indicated together, they are combined into a single session and given in sequence.
Sensory Bliss
A combination assembled for the senses: Abhyanga, Nasya, Shirodhara, herbal scrub and Manjishtadhara. 120 minutes · INR 3,000.
Saundarya Vardhini सौन्दर्य वर्धिनी
A complete package for the beauty of body and mind: milk cleansing, Abhyangam, papaya pack, Thalapotichil and Ksheeradhara. 120 minutes · INR 3,500.
SWAN Bliss
Our own combination: Abhyangam, Kizhi upon the joints, hand and feet reflexology, and foot massage. 150 minutes · INR 4,000.
Panchakarma · Purification पञ्चकर्म
Every therapy above is, in the classical scheme, either Shaman — pacification, subduing the disturbance where it stands — or a preparatory stage of something deeper.
When the doshas are vitiated beyond the reach of pacification, they generate toxins that lodge in the minute channels. These cannot be subdued. They must be removed. That removal is Panchakarma: five actions, undertaken in sequence, after the body has been prepared by oleation and fomentation.
The five main actions are Vamana (induced emesis), Virechan (induced purgation), Basti (medicated enema), Nasya (nasal medicine) and Rakta Mokshan (bloodletting). Which are indicated, in what order, and for how long, is decided by the physician and by no one else.
Panchakarma is residential work, conducted in stages across a fortnight or more, with a graduated diet on either side of it. Done properly it resets the ground on which health stands. Done carelessly it harms.
Seasonal Panchakarma ऋतुचर्या
Panchakarma may be administered at any time of the year. But the scriptures suggest which treatments are best taken in which season, for those who wish to keep their health rather than repair it — because each season aggravates its own dosha.
| Season | Weather | Dosha Aggravated | Panchakarma | Diet & Behaviour |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spring | Cool | Pitta | Internal and external oleation (Snehapan, Abhyanga) — powders for Kapha, oil for Vata. Induced emesis (Vamana) and purgation (Virechan). Strong nasal therapy (Nasya). | Light food; more pungent, astringent and bitter in taste. Avoid cold weather. |
| Summer | Hot | Kapha | Internal oleation (Snehapan). Diaphoresis (Swedana), less hot. Shirodhara with cooling herbs. Medicated enema (Kshira Basti, Netra Basti, Kati Basti). Bloodletting (Rakta Mokshan) and purgation (Virechan). | Warm food and drink; more sweet, bitter and astringent. Avoid excessive heat and hot baths. |
| Fall | Windy, cool and dry | Vata | More emphasis on medicated enema (Basti Chikitsa). Diaphoresis (Nadi Sweda, Pottali Sweda). Nasal therapy (Nasya). | Heavier food may be taken, if digestion is strong. More sweet, sour and salty. |
| Winter | Cold and dry | Vata and / or Kapha | External oleation (Abhyanga) with medicated oil. Diaphoresis (Swedana). Purgation (Virechan). Nasal therapy (Nasya). | Hot food and drink; more sour, salty and pungent. |
Full price list
All prices in Indian Rupees. Therapies marked with a dagger (†) are given only after consultation.
| Treatment | Duration | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Consultation | 20–30 min | 1,500 |
| Relaxation Massage | 45 min | 1,500 |
| Rejuvenation Massage | 45 min | 1,500 |
| Hand & Feet Reflexology | 45 min | 1,000 |
| Shirodhara | 45 min | 2,000 |
| Royal Massage | 45 min | 1,800 |
| Ayurveda Face Pack | 45 min | 1,700 |
| Ayurvedic Fruit Massage | 45 min | 1,700 |
| Treatment | Duration | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Abhyanga | 45 min | 2,000 |
| Marma Massage | 45 min | 2,000 |
| Udvartan & Svedana | 60 min | 2,200 |
| Kizhi | 45 min | 2,000 |
| Njavarakizhi | 45 min | 2,000 |
| Nasyam | 30 min | 700 |
| Karnapooranam | 20 min | 700 |
| Tarpanam | 30 min | 1,000 |
| Indian Head Massage | 20 min | 700 |
| Local Basti | 45 min | 700 |
| Matra Basti (oil enema) | — | 700 |
| Kashaya Basti (decoction enema) | — | 1,000 |
| Package | Duration | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Sensory Bliss | 120 min | 3,000 |
| Saundarya Vardhini | 120 min | 3,500 |
| SWAN Bliss | 150 min | 4,000 |
What to expect
Treatment is not an appointment you keep between other appointments. It occupies the day, and the day is arranged around it.
Therapies are given in the morning and again in the afternoon, at the hours the texts prescribe. Between them the day holds asana, breath, silence, study and food cooked for your constitution. Yoga runs alongside the treatment because the two address the same person.
Most protocols ask for a minimum of seven days. Panchakarma proper asks for fourteen to twenty-eight. Shorter visits are possible, and useful, but there is a limit to what the body will do in three days — and we would rather say so than sell you the difference.