Panchakarma

by Sheela Rani Chunkath

With Ayurveda becoming more popular and attracting the attention of the West, I thought I would indicate what would be appropriate Ayurvedic treatment.

I met a friend of mine recently who said that she had a fantastic Panchakarma session. She said they asked her how many days package she would need. She apparently said she could spare ten days and so the organizers planned a ten-day programme for her. It was basically a feel good package where she was given a massage (abhyangam) with oil for about 45 minutes followed by a heat treatment (nadiswedana). Now while oiling or abhyangam is good for you it cannot be called Panchakarma. You probably will get the same benefits from oiling yourself at home. I have nothing against massage or abhyangam but they cannot be called an Ayurvedic treatment in the same way that ‘beer yoga’ cannot be called Patanjali's yoga.

Now, if you are serious about Ayurvedic treatment you should consult an Ayurvedic physician who will tell you what kind of treatment protocol to follow. In general, if you are trying to keep vata under control (almost all of us need to work on this aspect of our health) you could do what is called a matra vasti. This is the simplest of all vastis. Normally this vasti is preceded by a few days of abhyangam and nadiswedana. This help the ama to collect in the stomach or colon from where it is flushed out by the vasti. The matra vasti is excellent for healthy people who would like to keep healthy.

The matra vasti however is not Panchakarma. The panchakarma is a far more elaborate procedure which is tailor-made to each individual's prakriti.  Abhyanga and swedana are what are called purvakarma or preparatory procedures. Panchakarma is preceded by proper oleation both internally and externally. The Acharyas have given a nice comparison. If you take a mud pot and smear the inside nicely with ghee and then pour honey into it you will find that the honey does not stick to the sides of the pot but rolls around. Similarly if you are oleated nicely externally and internally the ama or toxins (a near English equivalent) will come away from the srotases. I remember the first time many many years ago when I underwent my first Panchakarma treatment. My eyes were tied with a cloth and I was asked to drink a measure of ghee. I don’t know how much was in but I drunk it with great trepidation. If you have ever drunk ghee you will know that you feel quite full and have no appetite at all. And this is the next revelation. You do not eat anything till the ghee is digested. So you sit there doing nothing. All activity is prohibited when you are undergoing treatment. You are allowed to sip hot water with a little sunthi (dried ginger) boiled in it.

This kind of internal oleation continued for a few more days till I said I could take it no more and that if I even heard the word ghee I would probably throw up. The vaidya was quite unperturbed and said “good - that means you are sufficiently oleated “. Apparently everybody has a different threshold and agni and the dosage depends on your “endurance”. Now there was the external oleation the ‘massage’ as we know it followed by vamana, therapeutic throwing up and followed later by a series of anuvasana and kashaya vastis (a series of unctuous and medicated enemas). These oils and kashayas would go into the system and bring out the ama which had come unstuck because of abhyangam and swedanam. The toxins then get flushed out of the system. The medicated ghee to be given, the type of drugs to be used for vamanam, the oil to be used for vasti, the drugs to be used for kashaya vasti are all decided based upon the patient's prakriti and the nature of his ailment.

So the next time you have an 'ayurvedic’ massage please know that it is not Panchakarama but merely a massage like any other Swedish or Thai massage with a temporary feel good factor.

--- The writer is retired Additional Chief Secretary, Government of Tamil Nadu. She can be reached at Sheelarani.arogyamantra@gmail. com. Earlier articles can be accessed at http://arogyamantra.blogspot.com/