PK Overview | Releasing Stress, Inviting Peace: My SoHum Panchakarma Journey

In December 2025, I felt completely depleted. I was feeling stressed, burned out, and caught in a never-ending “fight or flight” mode. I knew I needed more than just a temporary escape to a tropical beach; I needed a total reset.

While I felt a flicker of guilt about leaving my family for a solo vacation, I also felt a deep sense of certainty that prioritizing my own health and self-care was necessary. As I shared in my 2026 Vision Board: The Healing Path blog post, my body is the site of my most important work this year – not a broken structure to be fixed, but a temple to be restored.

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Finding the Magic Place on My Vision Board

My search for a calm space to provide the pause, foundation, and presence to help me move from depletion to restoration led me to SoHum in the mountains of Asheville. I wasn’t just looking for relaxation; I was seeking a transformative panchakarma experience to release physical, emotional, and mental toxins (“ama,” in the Ayurvedic terminology).

My intention for the trip was simple but powerful: Release stress, welcome peace.

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The Vacation I Didn’t Need a Vacation From

We’ve all had those trips where we returned home more exhausted than when we left. This was the opposite. At SoHum, I experienced an energetic reset. I learned the difference between “escaping” my life and “equipping” myself for it. I moved from a state of “fight or flight” into a state of deep, sustained peace.

One of my biggest takeaways was the mantra my practitioner, Suhanee, shared: “Care, but don’t carry.” I realized I could care for my friends and family deeply without carrying their stress as my own.

By the time I headed home, I wasn’t just rested – I was recharged. For the first time in years, I had taken a vacation I didn’t need a vacation from.

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The Team Behind the Reset

While the internal work was mine to do, I wasn’t doing it alone. The entire team at SoHum – from my practitioners, Dr. Lad and Suhanee, to the friendly faces throughout the resort at the front desk, the kitchen, the spa, and even maintenance and housekeeping – seemed to move with a shared intention of care.

I noticed it in the way the kitchen team prepared beautiful, nourishing meals that tasted as good as they looked, and in the way the housekeeping team treated the ‘Isis’ room as my personal sanctuary, thoughtfully placing my stuffed frog in different positions on my bed each evening during turndown.

Even the administrative and maintenance teams felt like part of the healing container, handling the logistics and the mountain snow so that I could stay focused on my own reset. It was a rare experience to be in a place where every person you encounter is genuinely rooting for your peace.

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The Power of Community

Healing doesn’t happen in a vacuum. In addition to the caring team at SoHum, I was blessed with a PK cohort that quickly became a tightly bonded family. We were all there for different reasons, yet we were united by a shared vulnerability. There is something profoundly transformative about sitting in a Homa fire ceremony or sharing a meal with people who truly “see” you.

We didn’t just witness each other’s journeys; we held space for them. Whether it was a knowing look or joke across the dining room table or a quiet word of encouragement during the more intense days of the “purge,” these five individuals – Shiva, Sam, Priya, Sri, and Cam – were essential partners in my healing. We learned together that while we must do the work ourselves, we don’t have to do it alone.

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From Depleted to Limitless

This sense of community from my cohort and the attentive team at SoHum helped fuel my shift from feeling “depleted” to “limitless.” As I began to feel more at peace, I found myself wanting to reflect that peace back into the community. This manifested in the most unexpected way – through my daily origami practice.

What started as a quiet, meditative solo exercise became a bridge of connection. I found myself folding paper hearts and flowers for the staff and my fellow guests, including recording a video with Sandy for the SoHum website and gifting a “Flower of Wisdom” to Dr. Lad.

These small tokens were proof of my transformation: I went from having “nothing left to give” to realizing that when I protect my peace, my ability to share love is infinite.

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Inside My Panchakarma Journey

In this 13-part panchakarma series, I’ll take you through my day-by-day journey – from the initial “ghee prep” to the snowy “bonus day” that brought everything full circle.

I hope my path inspires you to realize that prioritizing your own peace isn’t just a gift to yourself – it’s a gift to everyone you love.

Read part 2: PK Exploration | The Search for a Sanctuary: Why I Chose Panchakarma at SoHum

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