Sunrise at Mountain Top Clinic on Day 1 of my Ayurvedic Panchakarma Retreat

Ayurvedic Consultation & Treatment Program

At 7am, in a daze after only 3 hours sleep, my retreat at the Mountain Top Clinic begins with a personal consultation with Dr Sundara. We discuss my case history and my physical, mental and emotional wellbeing in order for him to gain an understanding of my unique energetic constitution (one or a combination of the three Doshas – Pitta, Vata, Kapha) which will determine my body type and current state of imbalance. He also takes my pulses (left and right) and blood pressure and another Dr takes a blood sample, in order that we can physically see any changes to the blood at the end of my personalised Panchakarma treatment.

From this information my individual Ayurvedic healing program will be prepared based on my constitution and any specific health issues. This will be updated on a daily basis following my meetings with Dr Sundara.

The program will include internal and external body treatments, herbal teas and powders and simple, easy-to-digest vegetarian meals, sourced from the freshest natural and locally grown ingredients. All designed to help detoxify, purify and rejuvenate me.

People come to do Panchakarma at Mountain Top Clinic for many different health related reasons, some minor and some chronic. I haven’t arrived with any particular known health issues, apart from a few issues with my stomach and digestion. I also know I suffer from high cholesterol. With this panchakarma therapy I am mainly looking to thoroughly detoxify and rejuvenate my body and learn about how to eat more sensibly to aid my digestion following an Ayurvedic diet and lifestyle.

Dr Sundara is incredibly knowledgeable and so interesting to talk to that I could listen to him for hours. I admit to him that I don’t really knowing anything about Panchakarma, so he explains to me in depth about Panchakarma therapy and the different phases of treatment I will receive.

My trusty hot water flask, copper cup and Ayurvedic Medicines for my first few days

Panchakarma

Panchakarma is the Ayurvedic art of detoxification, purification and rejuvenation of the body, mind and consciousness. It has been utilised for thousands of years for its restorative affect in strengthening the immune system and returning the natural state of equilibrium to the three Doshas: Vata, Pitta, Kapha. It is a complete approach to addressing the root cause of chronic disease, both physically and mentally. Panchakarma is known for its beneficial effects on overall health, wellness and restoring the body’s innate ability to self heal.

Panchakarma is recommended for most individuals, even those who are healthy, as part of a seasonal regime. The doshas accumulate naturally owing to seasonal changes and can cause disease if they are not removed.

Pancha means five in sanskrit and Karma means actions. So Panchakarma is a purification therapy with five types of therapeutic actions. The five main methods of Panchakarma are:

• Vamana – Herb induced emesis (therapeutic vomiting)
• Virechana – Herb induced purgation (bowel evacuation)
• Basti – Herbal enema (cleansing the large intestine)
• Nasya – Nasal drops (cleansing the nasal passages which are the doorways to the mind and senses and the first site where Prana is absorbed)
• Rakta-moksha – therapeutic blood-letting.

All are essential parts of the Panchakarma treatment program in cleansing and eliminating residual toxic impurities (Ama) that have accumulated throughout the bodily tissues (Dhatus), due to a persons experiences, emotions and environmental factors. These impurities create imbalance and ultimately lead to disharmony and disease.
Panchakarma is used to achieve the three objectives of:

• health maintenance
• to treat disease, and
• to prepare for rejuvenation.

This is achieved by removing excess doshas in order to bring the individual doshas into balance. In order to remove these excess doshas from the body, they must be first brought to the appropriate sites where they can be eliminated. The sites are the stomach, small intestine and large intestine.

To achieve this, two preparatory practices are recommended, Oleation (Snehana) – internal or external oil therapy (the dreaded ghee!) and Sudation (Swedana) – sweating. Through these two practices the doshas that are localised in the the skin and tissues are brought to the gastrointestinal tract for elimination. I will write about Swedana (the ghee treatment) and Swedana (the steam bath) further in Part 3 of my blog which covers the days I am undergoing this treatment.

Once the preliminary procedures of Oleation and Sudation are completed, the primary practices of Panchakarma are selected according to the individual requirements of the person. Dr Sumara suggests that I will only need Virechana, Vasti and Nasya which makes me happy as I don’t fancy the vomiting or blood-letting!

Let the healing, detoxification and rejuvenation journey begin

Now that I have a better understanding of the Panchakarma process and what to expect over the next 3 weeks I am really looking forward to my rejuvenating journey (although not so much drinking the ghee!)

This is Part 1 of my Blog on my Panchakarma experience, click below to continue following my journey.

READ NEXT: Part 2: Ayurvedic Panchakarma – Preparation Days 1–5

To find out more about Mountain Top Clinic please visit mountaintopclinic.com