Tobias Hanzl

It’s mid-September 2019, and I just got back from a 20 km hike up Doi Pui (Chiangmai), and I feel great. Only six weeks ago, I felt tired walking up the stairs to the 4th floor at my home. In between was a month-long treatment program by Dr. Rajeev (AYU Center).

Actually, many more things have improved since the treatment but the main reason for me to visit the AYU Center in the first place was my leaking heart valve and low energy.

A few months earlier I had a revealing experience that made me seek an alternative health treatment: during a Thai massage, as the masseuse was working on my leg, I was able – for a moment – to clearly read a certificate on the room’s ceiling without wearing my glasses (usually I would not be able to recognize a single letter without glasses). The same experience repeated itself a few more times but the masseuse was unable to pinpoint which pressure point caused this sudden improvement in vision. I figured that if a Thai massage could somehow fix my vision, even for a short moment, it might be possible for a skilled “alternative” doctor to fix my leaking heart valve.

When I heard parents at my son’s school saying great things about Dr. Rajeev, I decided to give him a try. As I am living in Chiangmai, I simply drove over to the AYU Center where Dr. Rajeev spent half a day explaining his approach, discussing my health issues, and doing a check-up.

I was already in awe about this doctor spend so much time with me when the health check-up started. I had to lie down in the treatment room and was instructed to relax or even sleep. The way I was lying down, I couldn’t observe how Dr. Rajeev performed the check-up, which lasted about 20 minutes. As I learned later, Dr. Rajeev checked some unknown characteristics of my pulse at various points of my body, along with an evaluation of tongue, skin, etc. The diagnosis was completely different from any I had heard before: my pulse-type was supposed to be “pure fire” but currently impaired… There was an imbalance with much energy being lost in my left chest and shoulder, right hip and left leg, as well as from the head… There was a heat issue with my stomach…

Dr. Rajeev sounded confident in rebalancing the various forces in play, and after having learned much about his holistic approach that day, I decided to give it a try.

The treatment plan that Dr. Rajeev designed prior to my first appointment the next day showed fifteen “marma” oil and herb sessions, each two hours long, four “energy balancing” sessions, a 2-day liver cleanse detox, fifteen Ayurvedic lunches on the treatment days, another full health check-up, and numerous counseling sessions ranging from nutrition to psychological to self-help. In addition, Dr. Rajeev asked me to write down a comprehensive list of all my health issues and keep track of daily changes along with any unusual observations.

The “marma” oil and herb sessions turned out to be a special kind of oil massage of the entire body combined with herbal steam compression. Certain focus areas received special treatment where hot oil is dropped onto the area and held in place by a kind of clay ring. Depending on the treatment plan and refined through observations during the treatment, the focus areas and the oils changed each treatment. All in all those 2-hour sessions were relaxing and pleasant. At times, I observed interesting changes to my mind while oil was dropped on areas like my forehead. Most of the time, I came out of the treatments relaxed and hungry but there were times, depending on the focus area, when I felt exhausted or even confused.

The “energy balancing” sessions were the most interesting. Prior to the regular “marma” treatment, Dr. Rajeev would press certain (acupuncture??) points using either his fingers or a small, rounded tool. Particularly during the first and second “energy balancing” treatment, the pressing of some points was quite painful but the special oils and herbal steam compresses provided instant relief. The points that Dr. Rajeev pressed would turn red within a few minutes and appear to release something through the skin for about 1-2 days. There would be also reactions in other parts of the body. For example, the pressing of some points on my big toe caused my lower right teeth (or their roots) to become slightly painful while the pressure lasted. This happened to be the teeth that I had suspected of a root infection several months earlier.

After the “energy balancing” treatments, I typically felt quite exhausted. Interestingly, Dr. Rajeev also seemed to have used much energy during the treatment.

Looking at the list of health issues and their daily changes, I can now see that there has been an overall improvement starting with the 5th “marma” treatment and one day after the first “energy balancing”.

During the program, I also discovered that an incident that happened 10 years ago had negatively affected my emotional balance. In fact, I realized that several of the health issues on my list were more related to emotion and mind than body, like insomnia and apprehension.

During his daily reviews and counseling, Dr. Rajeev explained how his holistic approach addressed all areas of myself (ie, body, mind, emotion, energy, and spirit). He even taught me how to use some mental and even spiritual exercises that complemented his treatments.

Looking back, I am still amazed at how everything fits together and how it changed my physical and emotional wellbeing.

Another thing that I should mention is nutrition. At the beginning of the program, Dr. Rajeev didn’t set any restrictions on my diet. Then came a nutrition counseling session in which I, among other things, learned how and why certain food combinations could improve or degrade my wellbeing. I started to make some adjustments to my eating habits. The 10 days before the liver cleanse (detox) as well as the following week, the restrictions were more severe but manageable. In fact, I am still eating my breakfast during those ‘restricted’ weeks as it became my very favorite. I also noticed that I still enjoy coffee but the “I must have my coffee” urge has disappeared.

It’s been a great experience and I am very happy with the results.