Prama Institute — Local services in Marshall

Prama is a beautiful place to go for a juice fasting/detox retreat and to learn more about Ayurveda, the ancient medicine from India that dates back 5,000 years ago. I went to Prama in 9/2024, right before Hurricane Helene ripped through the area, for a 5-day juice fast.

As an experienced water-only and juice-fasting person and living a whole plant food (vegan) lifestyle that is gluten-free (GF) and SOS-free (no salt, oil or sugar), this was a perfect place to come to for a longer, 10-day retreat in 9/2025. Their chefs were able to accommodate my more strict lifestyle of being GF and SOS-free and did a beautiful job recreating the dishes for the other guests who weren't as strict so that mine were compliant with my way of eating.

Not everyone who attends lives the lifestyle that I do. Many come who are omnivores or vegetarians or pescatarians. However, when you are going to juice fast and detox, there is no meat, fish, fowl, dairy, eggs or honey served before the fast and during the refeeding process.

Ramesh and his wife are the owners. Ramesh is a very educated man on the Ayurvedic lifestyle and on eating for health and disease reversal and has authored several books. His wife lead the sound bowl healing events and pitched in whenever needed. There were guest speakers that came in to discuss a variety of things. There were two yoga teachers who did the morning 1.5 hour sessions. Ramesh led the meditations.

There was sufficient down time to have massages on site, sit in the hot tub (coed) or take a sauna (coed). Or, if you have a car, you can go into town to Blue Lotus Ayurveda for authentic Ayurvedic treatments which I did. I had been to India to do panchakarma and I was seeking the treatments used during panchakarma. If you don't want to do the recommended daily enemas, you can also drive into town to Asheville Colonics for a colonic. I prefer colonics over an enema so had two colonics during my stay. Suggestion--book these offsite treatments in advance as Asheville is a very health conscious town and you can find most anything there.

If you're new to the idea of juice fasting and detoxing, I find the 10-day retreat to offer more than their 5-day retreat. At the same time, if you're new to all this, then maybe a 5-day retreat is a great introduction and they you'll go back. I say to take the time and do 10-days to get the most benefit.

The accommodations are varied so pick what you can afford and do that. I prefer private accommodations with private bath and that's what I did both times. However, many of the guests were in shared accommodations and they all seemed to bond more. When I was there, my mom was in hospice, so being by myself was preferable, for me to go through my grieving process. She passed two days before the retreat ended and I was so glad that she was no longer in pain. I was able to leave at the end of the last day and drive 4 hours back to Raleigh for the funeral this Friday and Saturday.

I highly recommend Prama Institute and I hope to...

I attended the “Joy Of Meditation” retreat at Prama March 10th-12th— I was looking to gain new perspective, a way to get back into meditating, and I was looking forward to fasting. I drove 8 &1/2 hours to the retreat from Ohio. When I arrived the staff on board was very nice, one of the ladies I didn’t really care for because of her response to the loose dogs being on the property. (Everybody is not dog friendly) I booked a private room— so I had to drive from the main area to my room. I felt like it was an inconvenience more than anything because I would have preferred to stay in the main lodging. At night time it is extremely dark and hard to see— driving back to the room after a late session. The room was not my typical way of living— it wasn’t clean and the covers had a weird smell. I also requested new sheets that I did not get. I was completely uncomfortable with my sleeping situation but I made it work because I knew that this experience was temporary. After while the meditation/yoga/group meetings became repetitive. Like school—- and I didn’t like the food…. Unfortunately I was ready to go Saturday evening. It seems like what they had to offer me, I already had within myself. I wasn’t running away from anything to fill a void so I was expecting a top tier retreat and I got 5th grade camp vibes. Nonetheless I met some very interesting/nice people on a journey to finding joy! True joy/happiness is within. I’m thankful for what I learned and it showed me what I would do differently. It wasn’t as accommodating...

I have a long history with Prama and Ramesh. I found them about 7 years ago when I had been diagnosed with breast cancer and diabetes. While I used several approaches to regaining my health, the juice fast was the cornerstone for rapid weight loss and decreasing my high sugar and blood pressure numbers. I have fasted with Prama 3 times now and each time is better and better as my health continues to become stronger. The accommodations are beautiful and simple. The grounds are gorgeous and health-inspiring with great views and clean mountain air. The community that gets formed in just a few days is remarkable as we used each other for support, shared resources and just fun comaraderie! The support you receive from the expert staff makes the fasting process really doable. You have plenty of time to rest and rejuvinate, excercise if you want and soak in a hot tub. So, if you are curious about this way of transforming your health, or just need a reset to an already great healthy lifestyle, give it a try, it's...