“To be taken care of like a royal child for one month seems to elicit the power that lives within every infant. The power that creates a growth spurt that will never be quite the same as we grow older. To not have to think about work or cooking or where to be next for one month creates a certain kind of slowing down that allows creation itself to catch up. Within a few days of being in my own room, deepening my intimacy with my body brought me back home. Before I came there I was suffering from stress, anxiety, depression. I was wondering about the direction in my life and if I had anything to offer this world. Almost overnight I became jubilant, floating, full of gratitude and inspiration. Spirit returned. My soul was calling clarified. Every cell of my body was vibrating with life as if I was a baby again. All of this said, I do want to caution that even though I had a mainly pleasurable awakening and homecoming, the month is a rebirth and for everybody to be born again it’s not all pleasant. Sometimes it feels very tight and stuffy with no place to move. Other times one is thrown into the miracle of life where a breath feels like drinking the elixir of life. And as it’s a very strong focus on your own experience, the lack of social contact can bring an intense loneliness up as well. So it’s not a walk in the park. It’s a commitment to your life and who you really are. If you have the opportunity to take time off and give yourself this month you are giving yourself one of the biggest gifts you can ever give. Time to be well yourself. Time to love but has yet to be loved. Time to see through self deception. Time to pray and devote your life to what gave you life.”

Buster, Sweden

“We are each uniquely wired to interact with the limitless in our limited form and that form—our sentient body—is worthy of a clean slate and a regular, assisted overhaul with each micro part thoroughly cleansed and nourished inside-out, bottom-to-top with the substances of Nature’s macro love for her own.” Umā

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Panchakarma is the Ayurvedic system of holistic cellular detox and rejuvenation therapies serving the effortful quest for life-long youthfulness, health, a clean conscience and the liberating powers earned through conscious embodiment. Panchakarma is a time-tested gift to humanity from the philosopher physicians of India.

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A growing number of modern-day practitioners of yoga worldwide are experiencing Panchakarma as key for the conscious, self-initiated emptying and refilling central to the process of reawakening to one’s fundamental nature and purpose.

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The many types of cleanses and juice fasts that work by stripping the body’s gastrointestinal system and forcing emergency fat-cell detoxification, may put unsupported strain on the system which is already on high alert through the sense of depletion and unstable blood sugar levels.

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The Ayurvedic method first prepares the whole system for a thorough detoxification by prescribing for each patient accordingly medicated unguents ingested to penetrate through softened tissues and to dislodge and methodically disintegrate toxic residues.

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The tenderizing effect on body and mind is continued with warm, medicated oil massage therapies, while the main purificatory procedures intensively process these wastes out of the body.
Lastly, the replenishing phase re-nourishes and stabilizes the lightened, cleansed body, allowing for healing and long-term protection against imbalances. This last phase retrains the whole system to persist intelligently to align with natural cycles for life.

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Overview of Shodhana and Shamana
Elimination and Palliation Therapies in Panchakarma

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Panchakarma (meaning five actions) is Ayurveda’s comprehensive system of purificatory and restorative procedures engineered to dislodge and eliminate deep-seated, disease-forming toxins that have accumulated over a lifetime.

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Panchakarma works to reverse toxic obstruction at the root of compounded disorders—including, but not limited to—disabled elimination, reproduction, digestion, respiration, circulation, disturbed sleep, irregular immune and thyroid functions, allergies, chronic fatigue, cancer, blood and heart diseases, diabetes, rheumatism, arthritis, osteoporosis, psychological distress and other sicknesses common to the modern human condition of restlessness and self-harming lifestyles.

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Panchakarma therapies work to expose and permanently remove impurities from the body and mind, consequently re-establishing original harmony with natural law whilst strengthening immunity, potency and restoration of “basic, utter contentment.”

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While Panchakarma is unique to Indian traditional medicine and unparalleled as a curative and rejuvenative solution, it is rooted in universal principles. Panchakarma’s two-fold nature of purification and management is reflective of universal duality that causes us to analyze what we perceive by means of opposing distinctions, such as hot or cold, heavy or light, etc.

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Likewise, Panchakarma therapies are categorized into two opposing yet complementary functions. These are Shodhana and Shamana. Shodhana is attenuating or lightening (langhana), and shamana is pacifying and bolstering (brmhana).

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Shodhana, the elimination process, uses langhana therapies to “scrape” and expel the pollutants (vitiated doshas) out of the body tissues, channels, digestive tract, organs, sense organs and mental functions. This is attained by the means of five main actions as prescribed in combination and sequence by the physician, according to constitution, condition and capacity:

• Vamana (emesis)
• Virechana (purgation)
• Basti (enema)
• Nasya (nasal insufflation)
• Raktamokshana (blood-letting)

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The Panchakarma method uses the shodhana process to liquefy, loosen and mobilize (through sweat therapies) the vitiated doshas (morbid humors) that have spilled out from their original sites. These aggravated doshas circulate and lodge along with heavy, sticky residue of accumulated toxins at the weakened sites prime for disease precipitation.

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Panchakarma reverses this disease pathway back into the blood and into the hollow gastrointestinal tracts for systematic extraction. Once the expulsion is complete, the shamana (palliative) process restores equilibrium of doshas and heals and rebuilds (bhrmana) weakened tissues, channels and digestive, mental, sensorial and somatic functions.

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This Ayurvedic system of cellular detoxification and replenishment enables the deep tissue nurturance necessary for long-term integration of all benefits to the whole system.

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Grounding and protective measures are taken before, during and following the cleansing. The heightened sensitivity of the nervous system is considered throughout the whole process of Panchakarma.

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The Panchakarma patient will expect to undergo a three-part series of procedures.

• Purva Karma – Pre-cleanse
• Panchakarma – Main purificatory procedures
• Paschat karma – Post procedure care inclusive of diet, herbal aphrodisiacs/rejuvenatives, preventative self-care

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To reap the fruit of Panchakarma, which you may experience as a centered, full-bodied sense of spiritual expansion sustained through fundamental, integral wellbeing, here are the guidelines to be followed throughout all steps of the process.

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Overview of Guidelines

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A general, overarching guideline is simply to do less.
You will experience the greatest benefits from this program if you approach it in the spirit of receiving rather than doing and if, throughout the program, you practice internalizing or integrating rather than externalizing or fragmenting.

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Supporting Your Transformation Through Diet

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According to Ayurveda, a balanced digestive system is key to physical, mental and emotional health. Your diet and regular meal times are likewise central to Panchakarma.

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During the detoxification days of your program, the diet consists of modest portions of selected (sattvic) vegetarian foods that are cooked and seasoned simply to retain soft, moist, warm, light, carminative qualities that will nourish and not tax the digestive system.

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In the days following the main purificatory practices—especially in the days during and following the purgation, emesis and enemas—a plain dish of warm cracked rice gruel (kanyi) is served to gently rekindle the digestive fire and nourish the body tissues without interfering with the sensitized balance of doshas during the healing process following cathartic procedures.

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Throughout Panchakarma and the post-care period, avoid the following types of (rajasic and tamasic) foods and beverages:

– Alcohol
– Caffeine
– Dairy (except ghee and seasoned buttermilk as prescribed to aid digestion)
– Refined sugar, flours
– Fried foods
– Nuts
– Nightshade vegetables
– Root vegetables, especially white potatoes
– Greasy, heavy, spicy foods
– Raw food (including fruits and vegetables)
– Processed, packaged foods

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Read Panchakarma Experiences Here

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For More Information Regarding Application for a Guided Panchakarma,
Please Contact Us

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