PK Encore | Life Happens in the Pause: A Return to SoHum

My first Panchakarma (PK) experience at SoHum Mountain Healing Resort in February 2026 was a complete nervous system reset that inspired a transformative shift in my daily life. At the time, I envisioned revisiting PK annually.

However, as summer arrived, the fast-paced rhythm of family, work, and travel didn’t seem to slow down as it had in prior years. By mid-June, I realized I didn’t want to wait a full year for a PK recharge. I finessed my calendar and booked an August stay. Exactly six months after my winter PK, I returned to the nurturing cocoon of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

For anyone wondering what it’s like to return for a second Panchakarma, and whether a repeat visit has the same impact, this is the story of how my “encore” experience unfolded.

Why I Went Back: Proactive Prevention

I work in health policy. In our healthcare system, we often reactively treat disease instead of proactively investing in prevention and a healthy lifestyle. During my first PK, I was in full reactive mode, recovering from the deep, accumulated depletion that comes with living in fight-or-flight mode. This time, my goal was proactive prevention and realignment.

I didn’t wait until my battery was completely drained to seek support. Instead, I recognized the early signs of fatigue and turned to PK to refill my energetic cup. Returning to SoHum was a deliberate decision to honor the power of the pause, step out of the daily noise, and refine my self-care tools in a familiar sanctuary.

The Exhaustion of “Everything’s Fine”

My journey back to the mountains was a perfect microcosm of the chaos I was trying to escape: a two-hour flight delay reflected weeks of similar travel delays and other unexpected barriers that drained my energy reserves.

On the plane, I watched a movie called Don’t Say Good Luck, where the main character sang Sara Bareilles’ “She Used to Be Mine” from Waitress:

“She’s imperfect, but she tries / She is good, but she lies / She is hard on herself / She is broken and won’t ask for help / She is messy, but she’s kind / She is lonely most of the time.”

Those lyrics brought me to tears right in my seat. I had been sweeping my true feelings under the rug, putting on a brave face, and pretending to be fine while carrying a well of disconnection and burnout.

What Was Similar: The Comfort of Home

Stepping back onto the mountain felt like a true homecoming. Knowing the rhythm of SoHum and settling into the same “Isis” room from February allowed my nervous system to drop into rest-and-digest mode almost immediately.

• Warm Welcome: Reuniting on Sunday with my driver from February, Jenny (All In Transportation WNC), and SoHum team members like Cami, Misha, and Vivian, felt like rejoining family. Vivian greeted me with the traditional Aarti welcome ceremony, and Cami led our group’s breathing meditation and orientation.
• Nourishing Food: The familiar menus followed an almost identical pattern to February, with slight modifications to embrace seasonal produce. The food was delicious, simple, and nurturing.

• Sacred Structure: Daily homa fire ceremonies, traditional Ayurvedic spa therapies, restorative yoga, and group sessions provided the same grounding structure that made my first stay so effective, often with the same practitioners.
• Tactile Gifts: I brought LEGO bricks to build “Kimpossibility SoHum hearts” and folded origami gifts for the community. Learning that some staff members have their February LEGO and origami gifts from me in places of honor, such as their altar (Anthony) or hanging from the rearview mirror in their car (Melissa), was a touching reminder that true connection can remain long after we leave.

What Was Different: Guests, Seasons, and Internal Memory

While the foundation was familiar, my second experience also yielded remarkable differences.

• A New Cohort: While it was strange to be at SoHum without my February PK friends, I was blessed with another delightful group of like-minded souls: Bob, Ellen, Mary Jo, Nikhil, Sandeep, Sangita, and Smitha. Based on my recent SoHum PK, I offered gentle insights for those unsure what to expect. Similarly, Mary Jo shared her early 2024 SoHum experience (before Hurricane Helene reshaped the mountain’s landscape), while Sangita, Ellen, and Nikhil regaled us with tales of PK experiences elsewhere over the years (effective, but less “luxurious” than SoHum).

• A Landscape in Bloom: In February, snow dusted the emerging outline of the backyard garden, which was just beginning to take shape. In August, the garden was vibrant and flourishing. Emma gave me a tour and explained the intentional design she was curating, which included medicinal and culinary plants, dedicated dosha and ceremonial sections, native plants and pollinator areas, a future shaded ancestral walk to the west, and open space on the east to greet the sunrise.

• An Effortless Release: Back in February, the Wednesday-evening castor oil release was the most challenging part of my stay. This time, my body remembered the process and made it easy for me. On Monday, my body recognized the therapies and purged effortlessly two days early, completely bypassing the need for castor oil.
• A Faster Reset: When Suhanee checked my Ayurvedic pulse on Monday, I was only slightly out of balance (V2.5 P3 K2+ compared to my baseline V2 P3 K2). By Friday, it had dropped to V2+ P3 K2: tangible proof of how quickly the body regulates when given the space to recharge in a supportive environment.
• Pressure-Free Creativity: During mantra chanting and art therapy, instead of feeling self-conscious as I had in February, I participated joyfully without judging my vocal skills or artistic talents. I doodled a simple, abstract bookmark and enjoyed creating alongside my cohort without expectation.

The Final Celebration

During our final Homa ceremony, Melody shared a truth that framed my trip:

“Life happens in the pause. We think life happens when we take action, but it happens in the pause.”

When she asked us to notice what felt different from when we arrived, I wrote down three words: peaceful, grounded, intentional. We offered Brahmi to the fire, repeating, “I offer this to the sun, and this is not mine.” It was a profound release: a realization that the heavy stress, expectations, and burnout I had been carrying simply weren’t mine to hold, and a gentle reminder that even this body is a borrowed gift to care for, not overwork.

Other quotes from the week that I want to remember:

• On Tuesday during homa, Rachel asked us, “Can you experience the life surrounding you?” It prompted me to reflect on how often I attempt to escape life’s pressures instead of interacting with the presence around me.
• On Wednesday, Megan led our Homa ceremony, offering Tulsi to the fire with the intention: “I forgive myself and others and accept things as they are. I release that which does not serve me.”
• During yoga, Megan called pranayama breathwork a “pharmacy of healing,” a phrase that particularly delighted me, given my healthcare background.
• Megan’s class closed with a beautiful practice that I’ve since incorporated in my own yoga classes: bringing palms together at the third eye (“May I think the truth”), then to the mouth (“May I speak the truth”), and finally to the heart center (“May I be the truth”).

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That night, we celebrated over a flower-filled dinner table. Bob shared some wisdom from his 87 years of life: set achievable goals and “enjoy the heck out of them” instead of aspiring to impossible grand plans that lead to inadequacy. He also shared that being in community helped lessen his sorrow from losing his beloved wife; for me, it helped refill my energetic cup with meaningful connection.

Carrying the Calm Home

When transition day arrived on Sunday, I said my goodbyes to my cohort and the SoHum team, exchanging hugs and repeating Melissa’s gentle reminder of “last time this time,” knowing I would come back again.

Jenny picked me up in the afternoon and took me on a wonderful exploration of Elijah’s Gem Mine and Looking Glass Falls (an excursion I look forward to sharing in a follow-up post) before heading to the airport.

In some ways, my journey home mirrored my arrival: another long flight delay and landing at an airport with no available gate. I arrived home extremely late, but this time, I remained relatively peaceful and non-reactive. I shared origami hearts with my fellow passengers and harried airport employees, and I told them I appreciated their efforts. Eight days prior, I was crying in my seat; now, I had the resilience, groundedness, and energy to truly connect.

I didn’t return to the mountain because I had forgotten how to pause. I returned because I remembered just how powerful the pause is, and I knew in my soul that I needed to create the space for another one. By stepping back into the sanctuary, lowering my walls, and letting myself be held in community, I reconnected with that stillness and found my way back to myself.

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Read my full panchakarma series: www.kimpossibility.com/SoHum

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