In March I spent 21 Days in Rishikesh, India doing this ancient cleanse, and I’m still feeling the positive effects. Most days were a challenge, but not due to anything besides the long period of solitude forcing me to go within. No distractions, no one to blame for anything – just me and my 50 years of built up mental constructs and patterning. See what I mean? Hard. There was one day I was so angry that I thought I was going to burst. Then the next day was pure joy. And another day ridiculously anxious for no apparent reason. Staying present is essential during a cleanse like this, mostly to remember that these are OLD emotions and impurities being detoxed.
The toxins – whether mental, spiritual, physical or emotional need to be moved from their hiding places in our body before they can be detoxed, and WOW – do we feel it. ‘Let It Go – the present moment is all that exists’ was my constant mantra. Some days I achieved this better than others! More to come on this…
So why do Panchakarma (PK)? This is an Ayurvedic treatment that helps our body purify itself of ama (toxic impurities) that we have accumulated over the years due to either poor digestion, thoughts, or an imbalance in your own dosha (basically, this your body type).
This ancient science knows that human life cannot be separated from cosmic life; spirit, body and mind are in an intimate dance with everything else in creation – material and non-material. PK cleanses on every level.
Our mouth, anus and the pores of our skin are the three usual routes our clever bodies use to eliminate waste and toxins, and during PK our own dosha is stimulated to gather these impurities from deep within and redirect them to the gut, and then to the 3 main outlets for elimination.
Any PK cleanse will start will gathering up the impurities, and this is done by daily oil massage, a light diet and herbs.