Traditional Balinese Healing Center: A visit with Wayan of 'Eat, Pray, Love'

If you read the hugely popular book Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert, then you know about Wayan (pictured above). She's the healer who runs the Traditional Balinese Healing Center in Ubud. While Gilbert is living in Bali she visits Wayan with a banged up knee and the two quickly become friends. When Gilbert learns that Wayan desperately wants a house, the author raises money through her friends back in New York--and by the end of the book Wayan has purchased a plot of land.

We visited Wayan--because I read the book and was curious to meet one of the main characters, and even more so because my 5-year-old daughter, Paris, broke out in a rash on the trip.

Big red sores that oozed thick yellow liquid popped up all over Paris's face on the second day of our vacation. They didn't itch or hurt but they looked frightening. Like any mother, I got nervous--especially since we were a full day's worth of traveling from home. So we brought Paris to a traditional doctor who assured us the sores weren't serious. The doctor prescribed an antihistamine and a steroid cream. Paris's rash didn't improve. It got worse.

I decided we should track down Wayan, who tells Gilbert that "when she's healing her patients she becomes an open pipeline for God's love." Sound far out? Well yes, but Gilbert says on her Web site, eliabethgilbert.com, "I would trust Wayan with any illness whatsoever."

Because of the book's popularity, I suspected that Wayan would have spruced up her place. Not so. The storefront was exactly the way Gilbert describes it in her book--"small and modest with potted plants in front."

We sat down at one of the two dining tables. A lady greeted us and we ordered the "vitamin lunch" (pictured). In her book, Gilbert says it's the best meal in Ubud.

Wayan, with a beaming smile and shiny black hair down to her waste, walked in. Before saying anything, she walked up to Paris and looked closely and carefully at the welts on her face.

"I can help. I can fix this. You wait," said Wayan. And then she disappeared upstairs.

And wait we did. We waited for some 30 minutes for our lunch. Finally, the lady carried a tray with our meal. Small piles of vegetables topped in herbs and chutneys were carefully arranged on a plate--each labeled identifying the food's healing properties.

Red rice: healthy heart
Grilled coconut: rheumatitis
Tomato chutney: healthy gums
Mutabilis leaf: stomach gas
Bean sprouts: weak muscles
Bean sprouts--to strengthen weak muscles

Paris and Dante were reluctant to try the food, so Wayan's daughter Tutti (another character from the book; pictured below) encouraged them and Tutti actually hand-fed Paris her entire meal.

Wayan finally returned and she and her assistant (pictured below) spent about 30 minutes washing Paris's face with hot, wet leaves that smelled like eucalyptus. I also allowed Wayan to give Paris pills (I can't believe I did this) but Wayan told me that Paris's rash was something that was hurting her inside and I totally believed this woman, who barely spoke English and was completely spacey and New Agey--though warm.

Honestly, the rash disappeared before our eyes. Her large welts faded.

Next, Wayan tried to remove the water from my husband Anthony's ear. Poor Anthony was nearly going deaf after he spent a day jumping into the pool with the kids. She wasn't successful but she told him that he needed to have someone remove wax from his ear and that she had a friend who could do this. We were leaving so we didn't take her up on it but when we got home Anthony had a doctor do this and it solved the problem.

We spent four hours relaxing at her clinic, chatting, eating, sipping turmeric tea. We could have gotten a massage. It was such a comfortable, healing experience--so different from a visit to a doctor in the United States.