A way of life

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Dr Shyam.

Dr V L Shyam, director of Softouch Spa for Kempinski Hotel Mall of the Emirates in Dubai and a regional director for the Kerala-based Softouch Spa brand, is a firm believer in the benefits of healthy living and the healing power of spas.

Although now based in Dubai, Shyam was born in a village in Kerala in the southern most point of India, where he was raised surrounded by lush nature and the traditional Indian philosophy of Ayurveda, which means the knowledge or science of life.

"It traces its roots to the Indus Valley civilization at the period 3000BC, so I can proudly say it's a science tested through 5000 years," says Shyam. "For humans it has two objectives: one is curative medicine and the other is to maintain the health in a healthy person, through daily regiments, seasonal routines, rejuvenation therapy and detoxification, which is what we practice in the spas."

With Shyam's grandfather living to be 105 years old, the benefits of this healing system are clearly evident.

Shyam says: "I just took Ayurveda as a part of my life, but then I started medical school in Kerala. I studied preventative medicine and anti-ageing and I tried to correlate the scientific theories I had studied with the experience I had while growing up."

It was this natural interest that lead Shyam to move away from conventional medicine, despite completing his MD, and towards spa development.

"I'd found the real potential of Ayurveda," says Shyam. "I believe with any system of medicine, it depends on the quality of the people who deliver it. I found a real lacking of good Ayurvedic practitioners, so I thought, ‘I could be a leader in this'."

While working as a part-time consultant for the Indian Tourism Development Corporation during his studies, Shyam met Davis Karadam, the founder of Softouch, an organisation originally based in a health club environment.

"I was responsible for introducing the concept of spa into Softtouch," says Shyam.

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