Pre-KARMA cleanse

Preparing your body and mind for the Karma Cleanse

Purvakarma literally means 'before' the Karma. This nutrition, diet plan prepares the body for detoxification and is done before Main Panchakarma Therapies. We start with determining your mind-body constitution, followed by current Imbalance. We try to understand your stress triggers. Triggers that set off the imbalance in terms of food habits, daily regimen or lack thereof, seasonal regimen, work or exercise routine.

After a comprehensive two hour consultation, a personalized detoxification plan is then prepared. Purvakarmauses detoxifying and rejuvenating herbs prepared in clarified butterfor lubricating the body externally as well as internally.

Two spoonfuls of Ghee are orally administered on the first day along with nothing else. Ghee enters the dhatu (body tissues) and strotasa (body passages). This ultimately helps in driving impurities out of the body during panch-karma. Snehan mobilizes toxins in the body. Elimination of ama (toxins) becomes easy if Purvakarma is carried out properly, which can otherwise be a difficult task. Ghee (ghrut) prepared from cow milk is the best according to Ayurvedic scholars.

External Massage with Ayurvedic Herbal Ghee

Oleation or Medicated Oil MassageThis comprises all kinds of partial and total body massage done with the help of sneha in a guided manner. Sidhdha ghrut or sidhdha taila is applied to the skin. Our skin, being a semi permeable membrane, accepts some amount of sneha. A chartered program of body massage for 1, 3, 7 or more days as needed, is executed to achieve the desired level of snehan. Lustrous skin is a marker of external snehan. This type of snehan is beneficial for skin problems, for body wasting, for prolonged bed ridden conditions, etc.

Sweat Therapy (Swedanam)

This is generally executed after snehan. Swedan means dry or wet fomentation or heat therapy. Different types of fomentations are possible. These include taking a sunbath, sitting in a specially prepared wooden sweat box, pouring warm water on the body, sitting in a bath tub or taking a steam bath. Variations like swedan for the whole body (below the neck), for the diseased part of the body (e.g. only extremities), sitz’s bath (for perineal region) can be used according to the need of the patient.

Many kinds of warm solids like cloth, sand bags, heat pads and liquids like warm water, water with milk, herbal decoctions and medicated oil can be used for fomentation. Here too, the decision of the Ayurvedic therapist is essential.



To summarize, oiling the body and 'sweat' procedures are Purvakarma (pre-procedures) which help in liquefying the accumulated ama (toxins), in cooling the irritated dosha (basic body elements), in opening the blocked strotasa (body channels) and in lubricating the passages of mala (waste products)

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