Kizhi Therapy

Kizhi is a family of therapies rather than a single procedure. Cloth boluses are filled with a chosen material, warmed, and worked over the body in rhythmic strokes. What goes inside the bolus determines the character of the treatment.

Common variants

Ela Kizhi uses medicinal leaves. Podi Kizhi uses herbal powders. Manal Kizhi uses warmed sand and is the most drying of the three. Njavara Kizhi, which uses medicated rice, is offered separately as its own therapy.

What a session involves

A light oil application usually precedes the boluses. They are heated, tested for temperature and applied across the body or over one region, being rewarmed as they cool. Sessions run 45 to 60 minutes.