Surreal, magical, unexpected? I´m not sure how to define my first contact with Tibetan medicine and the KuNye massage…But it definitely was a unique experience that I want to share with all of you!
The Tibetan Doctor
It was seven in the morning in Dharamsala (“Little Lhasa” in India), and I was heading towards the consultation of a Tibetan doctor. After bumping into dogs, monkeys and cows and trying to avoid stepping on the patched-up piping on the streets, I arrived at a half-open door with a sign saying “Tibetan Doctor”. The building was eaten away by humidity and the passing of the years, but its location at the border of a cliff offered spectacular views of the Himalayas. Out from the candlelit room emerged the Doctor, who had a serious face but a friendly appearance.
The Doctor didn´t beat around the bush and started by asking me to take off my shoes, undress and to sit on the stretcher. He took my arms and felt my pulse with both hands, to my curiosity, using almost all of his fingers. Then, in very poor English he asked me to open my mouth and stick my tongue out and observed me for a few seconds. Next, he pointed towards the bottle containing the morning´s first urine that I had brought with me. He poured it in a white cup and stired it with a stick, smelled it, observed it by the only light bulb in the room, and threw it in the drain. After he finnished what I later learned was the diagnostic process used in Tibetan medicine, the shortest hour and a half in my entire life was about to begin, with my first session of the KuNye massage…
Dazed by the KuNye massage
Being a physical therapist dedicated to researching, studying and writing about traditional and holistic medicines and massage techniques, my aim with this session was to absorb and analyze everything I possibly could for future studies. Nevertheless, just a few minutes after the start of the KuNye massage session my body and mind gave up, surrendering completely to the hands of the Doctor.
I noticed that he placed warm bags on different points of my body. They gave off a wonderfully sweet and soft scent that reminded me of the typical Kashmiri tea that is mixed with spices. Suddenly I was surrounded by the penetrating sound of Tibetan Singing bowls that entered not only through my ears but through each and every pore of my body. It was a strange yet relaxing feeling that had a profound effect on me. I had heard so much about the Singing bowls and had even bought a few of them during one of my trips to India, but I had never seen or felt the coherent and professional use of them until this moment. This experience really prompted me to study further about vibrational therapies, but that´s a subject for another article…
Returning to the KuNye massage, unfortunately I can´t describe my first session in much detail as the herbal balls, the sound of the singing bowls, and the touch of the Doctor, transported me to a different universe, to a semi-conscious state. All I can remember is that the Doctor kept placing herbal bags, bathed in warm oil, on different parts of my trunk, arms, legs, and feet, and that his hands worked consistently, treating both my physical and energetical state.
Once the massage session ended I took farewell of the Doctor and left in a daze, unable to speak a word, floating in the clouds…Not even dogs, monkeys, cows, cars nor motorbikes could distract me or wake me up from this blissful state for hours. I had completely failed in my ambition to analyze the KuNye massage as a technique, but I had discovered a whole new world, and there was no way going back now.
Eager to study KuNye massage and Tibetan Medicine
After this experience, I dedicated the next four years to the study of the KuNye massage and published a book about it in 2012, that was presented in the New York book fair as being the first book written about this particular massage technique. The book´s prologue was written by the Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and his personal doctor, the Director of the Tibetan Medical and Astrological Institute Men-Tsee-Khang, an unprecedented honor until this day.
Now we have improved this material and added a lot of videos, interviews, master´s classes, etc in order to be able to provide everyone, regardless of their location, the possibility to study this wonderful technique from their home, in our Tibetan KuNye massage online course.
I hope you enjoyed this post! More to come soon…
Wishing you a meaningful day,
César
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