Healing: Story of a bath in Chiang Mai, Thailand

What follows comes from my erstwhile “Healing Journal” – written/compiled on a foggy meandering journey to various countries visiting all manner of hospitals, clinics and exploring various healing modalities and techniques.

Shared here more-or-less unedited for posterity (whatever that is) and to shed light to those struggling who might come across this riff. Please watch the “Healing Ramble, introduction” video for context on this series.

Chiang Mai, Thailand (3 visits various times between 2016-2018)

Along my healing journey, I’ve traveled to various countries seeking treatment and relief. In my condition with fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome / myalgic encephalomyelitis, my energy is very low and I’m easily overwhelmed by the lights, sounds, commotion… and then i crash and am stuck in bed with pain and delirious exhaustion (which depletes neuro-transmitters leading to mood ummm swings).

All of these conundrums make travel by conventional means very difficult. As such, I strategically rely on quiet, calm rooms with bathtubs for recovery after long periods of travel. And, importantly, I travel with various items to make my self-care more effective and pleasurable, particularly during these hot, therapeutic baths.

These items often include (as described in caption) :

Also common in my kit are:

• Japanese bath salts (from natural hot springs)
• other various soaps and incenses
• tincture of the moskito mushroom (toxic when prepared improperly or in large doses)
• lavender oil (to sprinkle in my bath and also put on various pressure points and by my nose)

I often sit in bath for 2 to 3 hours so having fruit snacks (in this case papaya), and plenty of freshwater and/or herbal tea at hand is very important to stay hydrated.

Note: while i repeat this routine in various location, in this case, the hotel I stay at in Chiang Mai features very large rendered concrete bathtubs (either rectangle or or circular).

Importantly, at this hotel in Chiang Mai, I can be from the airport to the hotel in less than half an hour, making the flights more tolerable knowing I have a safe landing space for recovery.

The hotel is called Rain Forest Boutique, it’s away from the relative hecticness of the rather pleasant but tourist-filled city with related touts and distractions, and also has swimming pools and a breakfast buffet which I can fill a tray and take back to my room to eat in quiet.

It’s also located close to the train station for easy getaway for going to the “allopathic“ modern hospital and traditional Thai clinic in the rather anonymous city of Phitsanulok for hospital tests, treatments, and Doctor consults.

For your bath enthusiasts, a few more snaps: 

Various visits, same bath, different toes.