PK Day 6 | Blueprints: Designing Our Post-PK Lives

Friday began the gentle shift toward planning for our transition back to life in the “real world.”

Morning Rituals

I started the day folding origami hearts with two “new-to-me faces” at the front desk: Anthony, who was starting his shift, and Jane, who was finishing hers. I realized Jane had probably been there all week, working at the front desk while I was asleep. I made a mental note to look for the “behind the scenes” people who were invisibly supporting my healing, to give them origami hearts and add them to my post-retreat LEGO gift list.

Just before sunrise, our PK group joined Hannah for a Homa ceremony on the back porch as a storm was rolling in. Hannah asked us to identify a feeling we wanted to cultivate (mine was peace), and a thought that pulls us out of that feeling (mine was stress). Then we learned four beautiful meditative movements that became part of the blueprint I carried back to my at-home practice:

• Touch heart center: fingers of both hands touching at heart center, visualizing light at the heart chakra, imagining the feeling I am trying to cultivate (peace) in that light.
• Mental awareness: gently gathering up senses with our hands as they move over ears, eyes, nose, and mouth, with palms touching at heart center and putting our senses into the light.
• Lifting the veil: pulling hands from our eyes up over our head to release the thought that pulls us out of the feeling (stress), and bringing palms back together at heart center.
• Blooming palms: bringing right fingers together in a point at heart center, inhale to spread them like a wheel over chest, seeing the internal light getting bigger, bringing the fingers back together on the exhale.

The timing was uncanny. Just as we finished the “lifting the veil” movement symbolizing the release of the thoughts that pull us away, the Homa fire went out. It felt like confirmation from the universe that the unwanted thought had been eliminated.

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Shiva and I composed a haiku after the practice:

Storm rolls in

Clouds flowing over mountains

Flame flickering in the wind

Herbal Enema

The Homa ceremony was followed by an in-room enema – a procedure that our cohort had spent the beginning of the week whispering about with a mix of curiosity and dread. In reality, after the intensity of Wednesday’s castor oil protocol, this felt like no big deal at all.

We picked up our warmed herbal tea from the kitchen, returned to the sanctuary of our rooms, and followed the gentle instructions in the AyurPrana app. It was a simple release that allowed us to fully transition into the “blueprints” planning work of the day.

The Origami Garden

I kept adding to the growing origami garden in the kitchen. By lunchtime on Friday, there was a heart, rose, carnation, lily, and tulip. Trinlay told me the staff was “origami bombing” each other with surprise hearts in the lockers in the break room. I decided I would leave my origami flowers book and paper in the SoHum living room for the staff and future guests to enjoy.

The Last Practitioner Check-In

Friday marked my last check-in with Suhanee. She shared the wonderful news that my tongue showed I had cleared my ama, and my Ayurvedic pulse indicated I was back in balance! She congratulated me on doing the hardest work I could’ve done during a PK.

We reviewed the recommendations and insights from Thursday’s check-in with Dr. Lad. I was grateful for her notes from the session, which had enabled me to stay present in the moment and fully focused on the 1:1 time with him as her fingers rapidly clicked on the laptop keyboard behind me.

She gave me a detailed report with transition recommendations for me in each of the seven wellness pillars: nutrition, cleanse, movement, sleep, connection, inspiration, and peace. These recommendations would help inform my personal “going home” blueprint I would create later in the afternoon.

As a thank-you gift, I gave her an origami flower of wisdom, similar to the one I made for Dr. Lad, along with my Noble Serpentine (Healerite) healing crystal. I also filmed a testimonial with her to capture my experience while it was still fresh (I’ll add the link when it’s posted).

Living Well: The Seven Pillars

In the afternoon, Suhanee met with us as a group to help us craft our individual blueprints for carrying the PK feeling back home and integrating Ayurveda into our lives.

My “7 Pillars of Wellness” plan was specific and actionable, starting with making weekly ginger pickles (nutrition) and ending with breathwork (peace):

These aren’t just action items on a page; they are the structural support for a new way of life I am building. By mapping out realistic actions, I realized that the “static” of my “real-world” life doesn’t have to be overwhelming if the blueprint is solid.

My “going home” intention is simple but firm: I protect my peace.

Dinner

We ate our dinner of “kitchari crepes” with soft millet and delicate squash fries with swiss chard at a slow, leisurely pace. We lingered over the conversation since there was no post-dinner activity on the schedule.

We discussed our appreciation for the 80/20 Ayurvedic rule: the idea that we should aim to follow these principles 80% of the time, allowing for 20% flexibility. As an economist with a natural affinity for the 80/20 Pareto Principle, and a recovering perfectionist who has spent years learning that “perfect” is the enemy of “peace,” this felt like the most practical piece of the blueprint yet. It gave me permission to be human while staying committed to my health.

After dinner, we spent some time in the living room discussing how we would hold onto this SoHum feeling in our “real world” lives, and Trinlay indulged us by taking (many) group photos in the library.

As we gathered for those final group photos in the library, the energy was palpably different from what it had been on Sunday. We were no longer just a group of individuals experiencing a panchakarma; we were a cohort of “seekers” who had done the hard work of clearing the static together. Looking at the Ganesha painting on the mantle, the “remover of obstacles” felt like a fitting witness to our evening.

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In my next post: Our last full day together as a group includes outdoor recreation, a celebration dinner, and a looming snowstorm.

Read part 10: PK Day 7 | Celebration: Manifesting a Bonus Day and a LEGO Vision

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