Treatment recommended duration – 21 to 28 days
Ayurveda recommends Panchakarma as a seasonal treatment for maintaining mental and physical hygiene and balance. Panchakarma will remove the excess doshas and correct imbalances in them as well as eliminate the harmful ama out of your system through the body’s own organs and channels of elimination (colon, sweat glands, lungs, bladder, urinary tract, stomach, intestines, etc). Panchakarma purifies the tissues at a very deep level.
Panchakarma, literally means five actions, is essentially about purification of the body. The five actions of Panchakarma Vamana (induced vomiting), Virechana (purgation), Kashaya Vasti and Sneha Vasti (two kinds of medicated enemas) and Nasya (nasal medication). It is preceded by a preparatory process called Poorvakarma. At this stage the body is prepared for removing “toxins” first through Snehanam which make the body unctuous or oily internally and externally, and second through Swedanam which means therapeutic sweating. Once the preparatory stage is completed, the doctor will prescribe one or more of the 5 Panchakarma cleansing procedures depending on each individual’s condition. The third and final stage of treatment is Samana or Paschatkarma where the patient undergoes corrective measures through medicines, moderate therapeutic treatments, appropriate diet and activities for the body and mind. On completion of the Panchakarma treatment, the imbalances that lead to diseases in the individual is stabilized and brought to equilibrium.
It is a very pleasurable experience that is tailored to individual needs and may involve:
- Daily warm oil massage (abhyanga)
- Herbal steam therapy (swedana)
- Lymphatic massage
- Herbal enemas (basti)
- Nasal administrations (nasya)
- Other special treatments
