What is Panchkarma

What is Panchkarma

Panchkarma is a set of Detoxification and Cleansing therapies. Panchkarma includes five different therapies which eliminate toxins from the body.?The series of these five therapies help to remove deep rooted ?toxins from the body while balancing the doshas .

Panchkarma is? ?the process which gets to the root cause of the problem and corrects the essential balance of ?Tridosha? in body. Panchkarma is not only good for alleviating disease but is also a useful tool in maintaining excellent health. Ayurveda advises undergoing Pancha Karma at the seasonal changes to clean the body, improve the digestion and to improve the metabolic processes.

The series of these five therapies help to remove deep rooted? toxins from the body and? set the natural balance of dosha ( 3 bodily humors ) , dhatus ( 7 kind of tissues) and malas ( 3 main exceats ) are:

1. Vamana Karma( therapeutic emessis);, also known as medical?emesis?or medical vomiting?is one of the five Pradhana Karmas of?Panchakarma?which is successfully used in treating Kaphaj disorders. Vamana is a medicated emesis therapy which removes Kapha toxins collected in the body and the respiratory tract. This is given to people with high Kapha imbalance. Daily treatment involves loosening and mobilizing the toxins in an effort to finally eliminate them. Benefits of Vamana: Bronchial Asthma, Chronic Allergies, Hay Fever, Vitiligo, Psoriasis, Hyperacidity, Chronic Indigestion Nasal Congestion, Edema, Obesity, Psychological disorders, Skin disorders
2. Virechana( therapeutic purgation): is medicated purgation therapy which removes Pitta toxins from the body that are accumulated in the liver and gallbladder. It completely cleanses the gastro-intestinal tract. It is a safe procedure without side effects. Benefits of Virechana help root out Chronic Fever, Diabetes, Asthma, Skin disorders such as Herpes, Paraplegia, Hemiplegia Joint disorders, Digestive disorders, Constipation, Hyperacidity, Vitiligo, Psoriasis, Headaches, Elephantiasis and Gynecological disorders.
3. Nasya ( Cleaning therapy through nose)- Nasya involves administration of medicated oil through the nose to cleanse accumulated Kapha toxins from the head and neck region. Based on the medical condition of a person, it can be given up to 30 days. Nasya benefits include Trigeminal Neuralgia, Bel?s Palsy, improves memory & eye sight, insomnia, elimination of excess mucus, hyper pigmentation in the face, pre-mature graying of hair, clarity of voice, headaches of various origins, Hemiplegia, loss of smell and taste, frozen shoulder, migraine, stiffness of the neck, nasal allergies, nasal polyp, neurological dysfunctions, Paraplegiar and sinusitis.
4. Niruha/ ASTHAPNA VASTI( medicated enema therapy): Niruha or Asthapana Basti (decoction enema) it is mainly enema of water based medical extracts or medicated water. This basti is used for evacuation of vata, nervous diseases, gastro-intestinal vata conditions, gout,conditions, unconsciousness, certain urinary disorders, appetite, pain, hyperacidity and heart disease infertility. Niruha means which eliminates doshas or promotes growth of the body. It is also called as Asthapana which means it stabilizes youthful age or sustains life span.? Administration of basti predominantly consisting of herbal decoction is known as?NIRUHA BASTI ? Niruha? also known as Asthapana Basti? Decoction enema? decoction mixed with salt, honey, ghee etc is administered.
5. Rakthamokshana? To remove impurities from the blood through leech therapy or other methods. Raktamokshana is a procedure to cleanse the blood and is advised only in extremely rare conditions. It is NOT advised during general Panchakarma. Most Ayurveda Centers including ours do not offer Raktamokshana due to the high risk of infection involved in blood cleansing. Raktamokshana is one of the Panchakarma Ayurvedic treatments or the 5 basic techniques of detoxification. It is made of two words ? Rakta i.e blood and Mokshana i.e to leave, and combining both these words makes the word Raktamokshana which means ?to let out blood?.Raktamokshana is an effective blood purification therapy, in which carefully controlled removal of small quantities of blood is conducted to neutralize accumulated Pitta toxins of many blood borne diseases. This is because Raktamokshana decreases the quantum of enhanced Pitta dosha and thus the diseases caused by Pitta are also relieved.

 

Although panchkarma is often thought of as the entire procedure, it really is only one part of a group of therapies belonging to a class of cleansing procedures called ?shodanan?. There is also a group of milder techniques called ?shaman? for those who are not strong enough for shodanan.