Former Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews posts update on ‘healing journey’ in India

Nineteen months since he last played an NHL game, former Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews still has not officially announced his retirement from hockey.

However, Toews posted an update on his “healing journey” Thursday on Instagram, describing his latest efforts to rejuvenate himself after long COVID and chronic immune response syndrome wreaked havoc on his energy levels and overall health during his final Hawks seasons.

“I’ve had many ups and downs, brief moments of hope working with a whole bunch of different doctors and modalities, followed by doubting if things would ever improve,” Toews wrote Thursday. “But I recently spent five weeks in India undergoing an Ayurvedic detox called a Panchakarma, and I’m happy to say things are trending.

“It’s been almost five years of searching for a way to heal the inflammatory and immune system issues that took me out of hockey. The wisdom of Ayurveda has taught me that everything I experience, I am responsible for. Not only did it teach me better diet choices specific to my body type, it has deepened my intuitive relationship with myself and the world around me.”

Toews slipped completely out of the public eye during the 2023-24 season but quietly resurfaced somewhat this past summer, doing a few impromptu autograph-signing sessions around the Chicago area and attending the Burning Man festival in Nevada.

He seems to be following through on what he said before his final Hawks game in April 2023: “It’d be nice to just let your guard down and just see where life takes you.”