Panchakarma is an Ayurvedic body detox and can be translated as “five actions”. The 5 main therapies include: Vaman (stomach cleansing/rejuvenation), Virechan (cleansing/rejuvenation of the GI tract), Basti (cleansing/rejuvenation of the lower GI tract), Nasya (nasal cleansing/rejuvenation), Raktamokshan (blood cleansing/rejuvenation). Pre-therapies include Snehan (oleation, internal and external), Swedan (sweating, usually in a steam bath).
*CAUTION: A lot of Panchakarma treatments should only be done under a professional’s supervision. If you are interested in learning more and/or speaking to a professional check out The Ayurveda Institute.
There are, however a few techniques that are suitable to do at home regularly, on a schedule, or every once in a while. An easy one would be to follow, as closely as possible, a healthy diet that has been customized to fit your individual needs and goals.
Don’t worry to much about “cheating” every once in a while, we do live in the 21st century. Other panchakarma techniques that can be done at home include: steam rooms (or hot baths, dry sauna, sweat lodge, etc.), yoga, meditation, fasts/juice fasts (if able), laxatives and/or enemas when needed (try aloe juice!), certain herbal teas, regular sleep schedule, etc.
I will be posting the detox program that I myself follow in the next few days…
Natural, body detox techniques are a great way to cleanse the body of accumulated toxins. In today’s world we get bombarded with a whole plethora of toxins from water, food, air, chemicals in the fabrics we wear and sit on, pharmaceuticals, electromagnetic frequencies (EMF’s), noise pollution, stress, etc. which allows amma to build to a level that the body has a hard time dealing with.
Luckily we can easily prevent a majority of problems by simply developing some good habits and dropping some bad. For instance; eating local/organic food (or, better yet, plant a garden), taking up a regular exercise routine (may I suggest yoga?), taking a few minutes of quiet time each day and read something inspirational or meditate or pray or just sit with a clear mind and awareness.
I look forward to sharing my adventures and discoveries of the panchakarma world. Stay tuned for more posts…
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