Written by Tina Gaudoin (TimesOnline UK)

I have never been tempted to try an Ayurvedic treatment before. This is strange, first, because I began my career as a beauty editor and, second, because I have a fascination with all things alternative and Indian – and India is, after all, where Ayurveda began.

Ayurvedic medicine has always seemed to me to be non-specific – a blurry panacea with no direct causal links to symptoms or cures. In any case, the fact that Mrs Thatcher was a fan was reason enough for me to dismiss the entire discipline. If anyone was going to persuade me that Ayurvedic medicine worked, though, I’d been told it would be Rajeev and Suchada Marwah, the two (married) doctors in residence at the Mandarin Oriental Dhara Dhevi in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

“Do you have a specific complaint to deal with?” they asked. No, but lately I’d been aware that something was not quite right – I was off kilter. Although I wasn’t any nearer the verge of a nervous breakdown than usual, I was grumpy and tired most of the time, and prone to colds and sore throats that, after a bout of glandular fever, were becoming monthly occurrences. Could Ayurveda sort me out?

Before we begin our Ayurvedic journey, a word about the resort itself, because, readers, if you are going to go somewhere for a cure, then let it be here. The Mandarin Oriental Chiang Mai is like nowhere else – a luscious, dream-like resort created from scratch on 40 acres of Thai paddy fields. A real sense of Thai and Burmese history is evoked: ancient Thai houses have been transported here and restored, the Mandalay Palace has been re-created in painstaking detail by local craftsmen, and each set of villas built into the rice paddy has been modelled on the architecture of a particular Thai era. The two swimming pools – one Art Deco, the other a verdant infinity pool – seem always to have been there. All in all, there is a surprising air of authenticity about the place – impressive, as the resort did not exist ten years ago.

My favourite place at the MO was the spa – its magnificent entrance pavilion and wood-lined treatment rooms were built to the Marwahs’ specifications. Before Dr Suchada and I meet in the airy, marble lobby she has studied my lengthy questionnaire, in which I have answered questions as varied as whether I am cold all the time (yes), whether I am easily irritated (always) and whether I have any aches and pains (where do I begin?).

The loose translation of Ayurveda is the science of living. The process uses detoxification and purification techniques alongside herbal remedies, massage and yoga to restore the body’s outer and inner balance. Ancient texts suggest that Ayurveda originated in India 5,000 years ago. Many of the principles were co-opted by the Chinese and form the foundations of Chinese medicine.

According to Ayurveda, the body or life force is made up of five essential elements: ether, air, fire, water and earth, otherwise known as prana. These elements pair up to form three forces, or doshas: vata (air and ether), pitta (fire and water) and kapha (water and earth). Each of us has a blend of the three, with one or sometimes two predominating. In Ayurvedic terms, a diseased body carries the wrong balance of the three doshas, which can be influenced by everything from chemical pollution to stress and diet.

The job of an Ayurvedic doctor is to suggest treatments and therapies that rebalance the doshas. My body type is vata with an imbalance of pitta. “Pitta types tend to be fiery. If they are not in balance, they are impatient and argumentative,” explains Dr Suchada. She suggests calming exercises, such as yoga; a diet of non-spicy foods; frugal consumption of fruit (and never with other foods) and no fruit juice. There’s to be no caffeine or red meat either; and a couple of calming, grounding Ayurvedic treatments, one called Pottali Abhyanga which uses herbal rice compresses dipped in warm, fragrant oil to massage the body. Another, called Tok Sen, involves rhythmically tapping the body with a special stick made from the bark of the tamarind tree. Not sure I like the sound of that.

I’m deeply cynical. How can a doctor figure out the source of your problems by staring at your tongue and your eyes and studying the answers to a questionnaire? According to Dr Suchada, there’s a lot I could do differently, and she diagnoses borderline exhaustion. “You are running on empty,” she says sternly. “You need to slow down and refuel.” I bet she says that to all the girls.

I am convinced, however, by Dr Suchada’s experience. A trained GP, she took an interest in Ayurvedic remedies as a complement to Western medicine. She clearly knows what she is talking about. To counteract my cold hands and feet (I wear socks in bed even during the summer months – sexy) she suggests eating warm foods, such as soup and stews. She says my stress would be calmed by doing slow, intense yoga (in direct contradiction to the fast-paced yoga in which I normally indulge). And the worst thing I could do is run (which I do at least four times a week). Certainly, after a few days in Dr Suchada’s spa, I feel much better (who wouldn’t?) and the yoga sessions she prescribes with the resident yoga teacher are among the best I have ever experienced.

When I get home to chilly Blighty, I resolve to make a few changes to my diet – eating hot broths and eschewing the pounds of grapes, apples and bananas I normally consume. I slow down my yoga and cut back my runs to a couple of miles three times a week.

Did it work? Until I fell off the wagon during the summer months and turned to Diet Coke, yes. I had more energy, fewer colds and was generally more upbeat. Now all I need to do is find a doctor as good as Suchada in the UK. Somehow I don’t think that will be so straightforward.

Click to reserve your room at the Mandarin Oriental Chiang Mai.

For more information on the Ayurvedic treatments, visit www.mandarinoriental.com

Ayurvedic body types, or doshas

Vata: thin, prominent features; cool, dry skin; vivacious, moody, imaginative and enthusiastic. Prone to anxiety.
Pitta: average build; fair, thin hair; warm, moist skin; intense, quick-tempered, articulate, loving. Perfectionist tendencies.
Kapha: large build; wavy, thick hair; pale, cool, oily skin; relaxed, compassionate, slow and graceful. Tendency towards procrastination.

Source: Times Online UK