April/May 2003
Waging
Peace Through Global Conversation
Lynne Twist
Confronting
Empire
James Twyman
The
Empire Needs New Clothes
Thom Hartman
Sharing
the Spirit of Peace
Congressman Dennis Kucinich
Confronting
Fears So We Can Contront the Empire
Robert Jensen
War
Dances and Media Complaints
Danny Schecter
Sharing
the Air Waves
Suzi Aufderheide
Wild
Grace: Nature as a Spiritual Path
Eric Alan
Recognizing
the Voice of Healing in the Twenty First Century
Dr. Darryl Pokea
Walk
In Peace
John Darling
A
World To Be Born Under your Footsteps
Debi Smith
You
Just Can't Imagine It Unless You See It
Rachel Corrie
A
War Without Balance
Steve Niva
The
Shining Stars Festival
Annette Rasch
School
of Interbeing
John Darling
Ayurvedic
Cleansing and Rejuvenation Practices
Myrica Morningstar
The
Movie Mystic
Stephen Simon
The
Yearly Round
Richard Moeschl
Cosmic
Calendar
Salina Rain
A
Citizen's Response to the National Security Strategy of the United States
of America
Wendell Berry
Ayurvedic Cleansing and Rejuvenation Practices
By Myrica Morningstar
Ayurveda is both a science and an art of living in harmony within Natural Laws. It is one of the oldest healing traditions in the world, often called the Mother of all Healing Arts. The principles embraced by Ayurveda are Universal in nature and many similar practices are found in other indigenous healing systems. Born in ancient India, Ayurveda (“knowledge of life”) predates and directly influenced both Chinese medicine and Greek medicine, which is the foundation of today’s allopathic medicine.
Ayurveda has survived the test of time being thousands of years old (some texts say as many as 12,000 years) and was almost lost as a healing art when the British took over India thinking it was unsophisticated folk medicine. It survived the British attempt at suppression simply because it works, and it is now reemerging as one of the most comprehensive healing arts on the planet, and is practiced all over the world.
My focus as an Ayurvedic practitioner is to understand the principles of this gentle art that transcends time and culture, making it a system that is practical and applicable to who we are now.
As we enter into the Spring season all of nature supports our purification and renewal. Fresh green shoots and bitter greens are the first foods that creation gives us in the spring. These are the foods that will aid our cleansing and lightening after the heavier foods that have helped keep us warm throughout the winter months.
The Ayurvedic gentle cleanse and rejuvenation practice, called Pancha Karma, is considered appropriate for most healthy people to use at the turn of the seasons—Spring, Fall, and Winter. Pancha Karma refers to the five different cleansing practices chosen for the individual’s needs and the seasonal influences.
There are three stages to the Pancha Karma practice. The first is called purva karma, the preparation phase. During purva karma we soften and warm the body and quiet the mind to prepare the tissues for release. We use diet awareness and modification, snehana, oiling the body to loosen toxins that are stored in the tissues, and svedana, heat therapies used to liquify the toxins and allow them to move back into the digestive tract, where they will then be released.
The second phase is the purification practice, called pancha karma. Ayurveda uses very gentle techniques like fasting or specific cleansing foods, cleansing herbs, chanting, yoga, pranayama, purging and herbalized enemas during pancha karma for cleansing toxins out of the body, mind and emotions.
The third phase is called rasayana which means rejuvenation. Now the body is clear, open and ready to gain optimum benefit from nutritious foods and healing medicines. Rather than supplements, Ayurveda focuses on building the body with the highest quality whole foods, super foods like seaweed, bee pollen, royal jelly, almonds, dates, honey, and tonic herbal preparations. This is a very important part of the whole process which is sometimes overlooked.
Many people go through profound healings on the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual levels of being following a Pancha Karma cleanse which has been specifically chosen for that individual’s constitutional nature. This may include imbalances that are being experienced, and the seasonal and environmental factors of the time/place.
Pancha Karma works on all levels of ones being—removing physical impurities, raising awareness of destructive patterns of thought and behavior, and releasing the samskaras, patterns held in consciousness, that keep us in a holding pattern. Many also go through a week of silence, becoming aware of the mind’s endless chatter, then sinking into a quieter state of being. Cleansing, healing food chosen specifically for an individual’s particular needs, with ample time for rest, reflection, and recommitment support the release of old patterns.
Pancha Karma is Ayurveda’s most profound practice. It was first developed for the royalty of India to prolong life and health. For those who can commit the time for this even once a year the benefits are many and ongoing. Pancha Karma is said to eliminate the root cause of dis-ease even before it manifests symptoms. I have personally witnessed over and over again both subtle and deep transformations in individuals who have given themselves the gift of this profound practice.
If you simply cannot afford the time or the money for a Retreat Pancha Karma (which comes at a queen’s price) you can learn to take yourself through a simplified version of PK with the guidance of a practitioner. It’s also wonderful to do with the support of a group of people who are going through it together. A guided self PK is a wonderful thing to do for yourself as a part of a complete health and wellness maintenance program.
Simple practices you can do on your own to start cleansing your system are drinking hot water throughout the day and giving yourself a daily massage with warm oil before a hot shower or bath. Over a period of a few months this will cleanse the body of ama, a sticky gray substance that accumulates as a result of undigested food, thoughts or experiences. A way that you can check for ama in your system is by looking at your tongue. If you have ama in your system you will have a coating on your tongue in the morning. Use a tongue scraper or a spoon to clean the tongue each morning.
Myrica
Morningstar, CAS, (Clinical Ayurvedic Specialist) /Ayurvedic Sadhaka, is an
Ayurvedic Practitioner offering Ayurvedic care in Ashland, Oregon. “Sadhaka”
refers to one who practices sadhana, our everyday activities done with heightened
presence as a spiritual path. A “Guided Self Pancha Karma Cleanse”
is offered seasonally in Ashland and Grants Pass. Visit Myrica’s website,
www.ayurvedabliss.org, or call her at (541) 552-0411.
