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Panchakarma and Ayurvedic Spa Therapies
Panchakarma means "Five Sense Therapies." These are ancient practices from India to clean and rejuvenate the body, mind and spirit. The therapies are sacred and transformative, helping us achieve greater wholeness, happiness and vitality.
Basic Panchakarma
Enjoy a whole foods, vegetarian – or mostly vegetarian – diet for eight days. Your Ayurvedic Practitioner will design your meal plan. During the course of treatment you will perform various gentle cleansing practices to bring "ama," or toxins, into their site of origin [the digestive tract]. Some examples of toxins include heavy metals, pesticides, plastics, preservatives, environmental pollutants, parasites, processed/refined/canned/boxed foods, refined sugar, trans-fatty acids, non-organic foods, leftovers, artificial sweeteners, chlorinated tap water, soda, caffeine, highly acidic foods, alcohol, MSG, etc.
On the first four at-home days of the cleanse, you will take ghee in increasing amounts to suppress your appetite and then castor oil to purge toxins from and improve functioning of the villi in your small intestine. This will help you absorb nutrients from your food more efficiently and thin your bile so that you can better metabolize fats. On the last three days, you will experience Ayurvedic rejuvenative therapies with your practitioner. Descriptions of these therapies are in this document. In the evening of the last three days you will perform nourishing and cleansing enemas to feed and moisturize your colon. You will let go of physical, mental, emotional and spiritual impurities, creating a space for healing, optimism and longevity. Studies show that people continue to detox for up to three months after panchakarma.
Benefits of panchakarma:
– Eliminates toxins that cause diseases
– Brings you back to your ideal balance of the doshas
– Increases glow and luster of the skin
– Strengthens the immune system
– Reverses the effects of stress and aging in mind and body
– Enhances one's strength, energy, vitality as well as mental clarity and alertness
– After the toxins are flushed out of the system, one feels deep relaxation, lightness and a sense of well-being
– Helps the body to heal itself, thus reducing dependency on herbs and medicines
– Reduces dependence on alcohol, tobacco, coffee and drugs
– Helps one to make positive and beneficial lifestyle changes
– Aids weight loss for those wishing to lose weight and adds weight to those who need to gain
– Alleviates sinusitis
– Alleviates paralysis
– Relieves joint pain
– Alleviates back ache
– Increases fertility
Panchakarma should be avoided in the following cases:
– Lactation
– Menstruation
– Pregnancy
– Active cancer
– HIV or AIDS
– Extreme obesity
– Hypertension
– Congestive heart failure
– Angina pectoris [chest pain]
– Emaciation
– Any infectious disease
Basic Panchakarma includes a consultation with your Ayurvedic Practitioner, instructions on the at-home portion of the cleanse and six hours of an individualized selection of rejuvenative therapies.
$700
Basic Panchakarma plus lunches and dinners for three days
$800
Deluxe Panchakarma
Extend your rejuvenative time on any of the three treatment days to incorporate additional therapies that are specific to your health needs. The cost will depend on the treatments you choose. Consult your practitioner for recommendations.
All treatment products are high quality and food grade with no preservatives, synthetic fragrance or other questionable ingredients. The oils and herbs are all organic.
Abhyanga – Full-body Warm Oil Application
This means "loving hands" and is the systematic and traditional application of herbalized oils specifically catered to your constitution. This lymphatic treatment helps fight off infection and disease, balance hormones and encourage the release of toxins. It is like putting a soothing coat of love all over your body.
$70
Shirodhara – Oil Streaming on the Third Eye
The practitioner pours herbalized oil on your forehead in a continuous stream for several minutes. It assists in curing and preventing headaches, anxiety, depression, stress, insomnia, hormone imbalance, excess sweating, dimness of vision, hemorrhaging, obesity, etc.
$60 for 30 minutes
Nasya and Kavalagraha – Sinus Treatment and Gargle
Nasya is a lovely procedure involving a facial, neck, shoulder and head massage; facial steam therapy followed by application of oils into the nose. It will prevent and treat headaches, gum disease, earaches, dryness of face, premature wrinkling, facial disorders [ticks], jaundice, sinusitis, migraines, epilepsy, facial neuralgia, loss of smell, etc. Kavalagraha is a gargling treatment that eliminates bad breath, dryness of face, dull senses, exhaustion, loss of appetite, loss of taste, impaired sight and sore throats.
$45
Netra Tarpana – Eye Treatment
This is an eye cleanse which improves sight and heals stiffness, pain and roughness around the eyes. It strengthens the eyes and protects them against the sun's sharp rays. It is also helpful for glaucoma, ulcerated cornea, inflammation of the eyes and helps to remove particulates or "floaters" that attach themselves to the cornea.
Eye treatment with dough dams - $35
Eye treatment with eye cups - $25
Karna Purana – Ear Treatment
This is the application of warm oil into the ears. It helps to remove excess earwax, earaches, headaches, neck and jaw pain, tinnitus [ringing ears], nervous disorders, hearing loss, itchy ears, etc. The garlic in the oil boosts immunity [helps prevent colds and flu, and sore throats] and the mullein reduces inflammation.
$20
Swedana – Sweat Therapy
This is sweat therapy using the "Steamy Wonder." The receiver lies on the massage table while steam is funneled into a tent that rests over her/him. The head remains outside of the tent with a cold cloth around the neck to prevent the brain from overheating. This treatment fosters beautiful skin, weight loss, cellulite reduction, detoxification, relief from pain, allergies, asthma, inflammation, sore muscles and more.
Udvartana – Full-Body Herbal Exfoliation
Udvartana is a deeply penetrating herbal paste lymphatic massage. This powerful exfoliating treatment softens and smoothes the skin while moving stagnant lymphatic toxins so they can leave the body. It is helpful to kick-start weight loss.
$70
Pinda – Full-Body Massage with Rice Boluses
This is a luxurious treatment in which the therapist rubs the receiver with rice boluses the size of an orange that are dipped in a blend of coconut milk, milk and saffron. This awakens cellular memory through intense stimulation caused by heat and sweating. It is helpful to treat and prevent M.S., paraplegia and polio. It improves muscle tone, increases circulation, improves complexion, restores vigor, helps move toxins out of muscle and fat tissue, helps move old, deep-seated pitta, relieves stress and regulates appetite and sleep patterns.
$115
Uro Basti – Heart Treatment
This is the placement over the heart of medicated oils into a dough dam. It relieves pain in the sternum and strengthens the physical and emotional heart. It is helpful for those who have lost loved ones or who have grief of any kind.
$45
Kati Basti – Low Back Care
Like the Uro Basti, a dough dam is created over the lower spinal area and filled with warm oil. Kati Basti is used to relieve muscle spasms and rigidity and strengthen bone and nerve tissue in the lower back and legs.
$60
Adrenal Dam
This adrenal treatment uses a dough dam to hold warm oil over the adrenal area, easing the demand on adrenal resources and inducing deep relaxation. The adrenal glands play a significant role in supporting our daily vitality. This treatment reduces stress and anxiety generated in this area of the body.
$60
Thyroid Dam
The thyroid dam uses a dough dam to hold warm oil over the thyroid area. This treatment nourishes and stimulates the thyroid and encourages natural glandular activity.
$45
Navel Dam
This is a dough dam on the abdomen and benefits those suffering from digestive disorders, irritable bowel, colitis and female reproductive disorders.
Leppa – Poultice Therapy
Leppa is an application of an external herbal paste on the skin, which dries and this is removed. Herbal paste applied to affected areas treats pain, heaviness, drowsiness, itching, toxicity, weight gain, fibroids, inflammation, swelling, skin imbalances and more.
$30
Marma therapy/Pranic Healing
Marmas are pressure points on the body that are areas of concentrated prana or life-force energy. Proper massage of these points and light healing touch combine to balance the flow of prana through the muscles, joints and organs of the body. This is a subtle therapy that has delightfully noticeable physical, psychological, emotional and spiritual benefits including proper functioning of all the organs, reduced health problems due to electromagnetic exposure [cell phones, computers, T.V.s, microwaves...], lowered anxiety and depression and increased joy and optimism.
$60 per hour
GENERAL MEAL GUIDELINES
Breakfast [moderate]
Grains – Oatmeal, oat bran, rice bran, cream of rice, quinoa, barley, whole grains
Fruit – Stewed apple or pear with clove, cinnamon, cardamom
Dried fruit in hot cereal – Raisins, cranberries, apricots, etc.
Nuts and seeds – Almonds, pumpkin seeds, flax seeds, pecans, walnuts, pine nuts, etc.
Liquid – Herbal teas, almond milk, rice milk, cow's milk [for Vatas and Pittas]
Lunch
Grains – Alternate grains [rice, quinoa, couscous, barley, millet, amaranth, buckwheat]
Veggies – At least one in each of the following categories:
Cruciferous: broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts
Colored [sweet] – carrots, yams, sweet potatoes, parsnips
Dark, leafy greens – kale, Swiss chard, collards, spinach, dandelion
Other – zucchini, green beans, okra, etc.
Special veggies – daikon, cilantro, bitter melon
Proteins – chicken, fish, small beans, lentils, dahl, paneer
Dinner [Lightest meal of the day]
Similar to lunch. Can eat flat bread instead of grain.
Soups
Salads [raw foods O.K. in the summer months, cooked foods in the cold months]
Supplement your cleansing week with the following:
Personal Spice Mix
Personal Herbal Tea Blend
Yoga
Deep breathing
By Meditation – Helps unravel negative emotions that are stored in the fat cells of our body that cause us to unconsciously repeat unwanted behavioral patterns
Neti – saline nasal wash
Nasya – oil application to nostrils
Dry Brush
Self-Massage
Sitz baths
Rose mist
Shopping List
Split mung dal – small organic yellow beans
White basmati rice
Spices:
Miso for soup [1 tsp. per cup of hot water]
Fresh ginger root
Purified or spring water
Sesame oil for abhyanga at home
Home Health castor oil from health food store [not drugstore]
Hot water bottle
Bulb-type enema – Patricia will provide this
Sanitary pads/liners
Triphala [if constipated in first few days – 1/2 tsp. nightly]
Dry brush
Neti Pot
Nasya Oil
Tongue Scraper
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