Discover Nimba Nature Cure in Gujarat, a nature-inspired wellness retreat offering naturopathy, Ayurveda, yoga, meditation and holistic therapies for a restorative escape from everyday life.

Welcomed by the swaying trees and sunshine, this 100-acre retreat was haven for my tired body. Six months of intensive travel had drained me out. Located on the Ahmedabad-Mehsana expressway, it was the antidote for my painful neck and shoulders.

Well known as the largest naturopathy centre in Gujarat, it offers a blend of Ayurveda, Panchkarma, reiki, yoga, meditation, music, sujok and more therapies coupled with nutritious food.

There are no allopathic medical interventions and medicines, not even herbal.

It’s popular with families, especially NRIs, as I discovered in a chat with a family from Dubai.

Under the vast expanse of sky rest the light-coloured concrete huts. Even the reception area is a soothing red-brick hut-like structure.

It’s best to explore the sanctuary on foot rather than golf carts.

Exploring the Model Village & Natural Healing Zones

During my exploration of the vast greens, I was introduced to a huge lawn with a circle of trees, each aligning with a specific nakshatra. Then, there was the labyrinth where one escapes the web of thoughts. A separate area for havan was the peace space.

With a beautiful landscape, this is where birds find a home. An old temple, an open-air gym, old world swings make this green space a wonderful experience.

I was drawn to the temple by the fragrance of incense and the diyas twinkling at dusk.

Green pathways lead to private gazebos, the swimming pool, yoga hut, a cave for meditation, hydro reflex therapy pool, physiotherapy and shatkriya rooms. There was an organic vegetable garden.

If you step beyond the boundaries, a gate at the back leads to a village set-up. This backyard was lined with aloe vera. We got a short lesson in pottery and a glimpse of the gaushala.

Holistic Therapies

The doctors adopted an integrated approach to healing the root cause. People were being treated for weight loss, endocrine issues, gastro-intestinal issues and more.

After a consultation with the vaidya, a line of treatment is designed along with diet. So, for my cervical pain which was a result of constant travels and constant writing, I was advised Potli massage, Balinese and Shirodhara for my three-day stay.

Potli is a small cloth bag with herbs and oils. This is heated and rubbed all over the body, after a vigorous massage. There are special herbal oils for each massage. I also got a strong head massage and a longer time to relax the knotted muscles around the neck and shoulder area.

A steamer lay in each therapy room, so 10 minutes of steam after the massage was the ultimate relaxing experience.

Balinese is a slightly softer massage with lots of stretching, letting the muscles come back to their original shape and size.

Shirodhara involves pouring warm oil in the centre of the forehead to ease out the stress. This session also involved a foot reflexology session to ease out the pain.

A cool mud pack on my eyes blew away the tiredness. And then, a stream of warm oil ran on my forehead, washing out the stress.

Food and daily routine

Fresh food at Annapurna, the dining space, was the cool reset. The menu even had the calories listed on it.

Each meal matched the person’s individual problem or body constitution. Then, there were common dishes such as the soup, salad.

Diet is adhered to with fixed timings that rules out bingeing. Fruits and juices are the snacky items on the menu. So goodbye to biscuits, tea and coffee.

There were flavourful herbal infusion sachets with jaggery in the room.

A wake up call at 4.45 am and then there is walk, shatkriya, yoga, hydro-reflex therapy and wellness breakfast.

However, on Day 2, I did wake up to join the hydro-reflex walking sessions. With four divisions in the inner circle, and alternating sections of luke warm and cold water, the walk begins with steps on the big pebbles.

Then one goes on to the medium pebbles and finally the smallest ones. With this circular walk, all the acupressure points were duly pressed.

The luke warm water pools and cold water helped in blood circulation. Two rounds were the best way to stimulate the organs.

There was also aqua yoga and aqua zumba but I didn’t try those.

I did take a small session on sujok therapy though.

The day ended with a blood pressure check-up after dinner. Light off at 10pm and I was soon in dreamland.

Digital Detox

With internet connectivity being slow, the time was well spent observing the greens, taking photographs of colourful flowers, listening to the morning chants.

But for those who really need their Internet, there was Wi-Fi in the library.

I enjoyed my dose of raga therapy. Each raga is performed at a specific time. The raga also has to match the patient’s requirements. There were individual as well as group sessions and the calming influence was felt soon enough. Ragas have the ability to cure insomnia and mental stress.

There were more therapies such as acupressure, cupping, reiki, pranic healing. But I didn’t experience those.

Taratak meditation in the cave, soothing mud packs on my eyes and stomach, a vigorous round of reflexology, stimulating massages, special stress relieving oils and nutritious food, I came back totally chilled, realising that unwinding has to be a daily process.

Planning a Visit to Nimba Nature Cure

• Location: Baliyasan, Ahmedabad–Mehsana Expressway, Mehsana, Gujarat.
• Nearest airport: Ahmedabad, approximately 58 km away.
• Nearest railway station: Mehsana, approximately 25 km away.
• Ahmedabad by road: Approximately 60 km. Nimba Nature Cure

This article is based on my visit to Nimba Nature Cure in 2019. Facilities, programmes, personnel and travel information may have changed since then. Please check the centre’s official website for current details.