DOUBLE THE PLEASURE: Two masseuses work together on a PK patient using synchronized strokes. herbalized oils tailored to your needs. Then a gentle stream of oil is dripped onto your forehead to release mental and emotional strain. These procedures liquefy deep-seated ama in the body’s seven tissues, or dhatus. A daily therapeutic sweat treatment (often in the form of a steam bath) further loosens impurities and dilates the srotas, so the ama and excess doshas can move toward the gastrointestinal tract. Within three to |
After your main treatments are over, your ayurvedic practitioner will guide you through “post-procedures” to help you reap the full benefits of panchakarma. Because your digestive system (agni) rests during PK, it’s important to transition back to your regular diet slowly and carefully. If you overload your agni with heavy foods, you’ll generate new ama and the disease process will start all over again. You’ll also need to protect the delicate state of your nervous system by gradually easing into your regular, workaday life. Your practitioner will send you home with your own road map to healing. As Lad explains, “The purpose of panchakarma is not just to get well but to purify and strengthen the body so that future diseases will not occur.” That’s why he recommends doing rasayana (rejuvenative herbal therapy) once you’ve regained your strength. He offers a metaphor for ayurveda’s philosophy of cleansing and rejuvenation: “If you want to color your shirt, wash it first, then dye it so the color will shine. Your body is the shirt, panchakarma is the |
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Traditionally ayurveda recommends doing PK at the junction between each season to clear out impurities generated during the previous season and help you transition smoothly into the next. Lad says that early spring is always a good time to do PK because it can help reduce your sensitivity to pollen and prevent colds. |
seven days, your ayurvedic practitioner will determine that your excess doshas and ama have become “ripened” and are ready to be released via your main panchakarma treatments. Traditionally, PK comprises five main procedures, or karmas, that your practitioner can choose from, but since Westerners often find |
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Panchakarma removes free radicals, balances cholesterol, regulates blood pressure , and enhances vitality. |
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Panchakarma is a three-stage process that typically lasts for seven to fourteen days in Western ayurvedic clinics. The preparatory phase begins with internal oleation, during which you will drink increasing amounts of ghee (clarified butter) in the early morning and afternoon to lubricate the body’s subtle channels, or srotas. Next, your ayurvedic practitioner will ask you to go on a “sensory diet,” avoiding TV, loud music, drastic weather conditions, strenuous exercise, travel, and sexual activity for the length of your treatment. You’ll also be asked to avoid sugar, caffeine, and alcohol, and to eat light, warm, cleansing dishes like kitchari (basmati rice and mung dal cooked with spices and ghee). As Lad explains, “During panchakarma, your agni, or digestive fire, becomes low. Kitchari is the best food to eat because it is easy to digest, burns ama, detoxifies the body, and balances the doshas.” The next step is external oleation. Each day, you receive a deep ayurvedic massage that softens and saturates your body with nourishing |
vamana (therapeutic vomiting) and raktamoksha (blood purification through herbs or mild bloodletting) too unpleasant to try, only three are common in the States. Nasya involves putting medicated drops of herbalized oil or powders into the nose to treat diseases of the head, including colds, toothaches, and migraines. Virechana uses strong purgatives to cleanse the small intestine and cure excess pitta problems such as hyperacidity, colitis, and skin diseases. But basti (medicated enema) is perhaps the most profound. According to an ancient text called the Charaka Samhita, basti provides a full 50 percent of PK’s benefits. The colon is the seat of vata, and when this dosha is out of balance, it plays a key role in the development of disease. Recognizing that the colon provides nourishment to the entire body, just like roots for a tree, Charaka wrote, “Basti works from head to toe.” It treats all vata disorders, including constipation, back pain, arthritis, osteoporosis, and impotence. |
washing, and rasayana is the dyeing.” Once your body has been purified, it is more prepared to accept these rejuvenative therapies, which nourish the body’s tissues and “enhance spiritual vitality,” writes ayurvedic expert Sunil Joshi in Ayurveda and Panchakarma. Joshi explains the most profound elements of PK: “When the false covering of ill health is removed from the mind, senses, and body, our true nature, or prakruti, shines through and is intimately connected to the universal prakruti.” For this reason, panchakarma can help anyone on the yogic path, whether they practice asana, pranayama, meditation, or all of the above. Over time, the effects of panchakarma will deepen your self-awareness, self-esteem, and self-love. As your body and mind are increasingly purified, your and your life will begin to shine. And that’s what ayurveda, the science of longevity, is all about. YOGAPLUS.ORG MARCH ‘APRIL 2007 YOGA+JOYFUL LIVING 61 |