Panchakarma - Balance from the Inside Out
Ayurveda is India’s 5000 year old system of health and longevity. Ayurveda is the Science of Life. Panchakarma is the traditional Ayurvedic cleansing, rejuvinating and balancing program for your mind, body and spirit.
Panchakarma means “five actions”. According to the Vedic texts, the formula for optimal wellbeing is good digestion, efficient elimination, harmony between your mind, senses and consciousness, and a natural balance of the elemental energies of your being. These elemental energies are called doshas.
Ayurveda explains that your natural state of balance and wellbeing can be challenged by rhythms that occur in nature, like seasonal changes. Progressive changes related to your time of life also contribute to imbalance. Imbalance is provoked by common and uncommon stressors, unexpressed emotions, emotional loss, excessive living, incorrect diet, etc. Imbalance weakens your agni, your digestive fire, and weakened agni leads to the accumulation of ama or toxins. After a time, unchecked stressors will dominate one’s life and ama may become deeply embedded in body tissues clogging your srotas. Srotas are your body’s channels of circulation and evacuation. Excess ama will aggravate your body tissues or dhatus. This is how illness overcomes a body: by eventually impeding the flow of prana, the vital life energy.
“Restore your body, mind and spirit to a natural state of balance.”
Ancient and Modern Panchakarma
We understand, through the ancient Vedic texts, that the holy sages of India perceived methods for purification and rejuvenation to remove the origins of suffering. The practice of Panchakarma was developed originally for royalty to promote their optimal health and long life. Based on this tradition, Ayurveda recommends that one receives Panchakarma during the transition between seasons, so that one can be cleansed and balanced of the prior season’s excesses before the start of the next season. Everyone, especially those who suffer from seasonal allergies, could certainly benefit from this established timetable, however, receiving Panchakarma annually or even every couple of years is a very positive step to ensure balance throughout one’s lifetime. No longer reserved for royalty, Panchakarma is now offered with practical consideration for modern schedules and daily demands.
Disclaimer: This article was written for educational purposes only and is based on the tradition of Ayurveda. It is not intended to treat, diagnose, prescribe or heal any health condition or to replace standard medical treatment or advice.
