Panchakarma in Chattanooga, Tennessee
While a trip to India is exciting and soul-stirring, international travel can disrupt sleep and stability. Stay local and have your panchakarma in Chattanooga, TN.
What is panchakarma?
Pañchakarma is an ancient, holistic detoxification program.
Pañchakarma uses techniques from Ayurveda, India’s ancient system of health and healing, to bring balance to the body’s doshas or five elements.
Those techniques include Ayurvedic massage and body therapies, Ayurvedic herbal formulations, and specific food and drink regimens, all of which are personalized for your health goals.
For at least seven consecutive days, you undergo a sophisticated cleansing process. The panchakarma process may help reduce discomfort from chronic conditions and restore balance to the body and mind.
The word ‘pañchakarma’ is a conjunction of two Sanskrit words: ‘pañcha’ and ‘karma’. ‘Pañcha’ means five and ‘karma’ means action. During pañchakarma, some combination of five therapies are used to alleviate discomfort caused by the buildup of impurities within the body.
Pañchakarma can be likened to a detoxification process or a cleanse; however, panchakarma is an advanced, systematic procedure that should only be done with a qualified professional.
At Perimenopause Massage Therapy & Ayurveda, you receive an authentic, classical version of this ancient restorative process, ensuring your specific health goals are addressed holistically with caring attention.
Pañchakarma in Chattanooga, TN is overseen by Āyurvedic specialist, Vaidya Jennifer Maklan, LMT. A New Hampshire native, Jennifer has resided in Chattanooga, TN since 2016. Her classical Ayurveda training allows her to provide you with the best Ayurvedic care outside of India.
Panchakarma Benefits
Participating in a pañchakarma program along with appropriate changes to your lifestyle may provide the following potential benefits for three to six months post-treatment.
- Improved digestion and elimination
- Relief of symptoms of discomfort
- More energy
- A sense of calm, a feeling of ease and a peaceful mind
- Improved experience of overall health
You will also learn about the contributing factors to ill health and good practices you can use for staying healthy after pañchakarma.
Please note that pañchakarma alone will not necessarily make lasting changes to the physiological processes that underlie some chronic medical conditions. Most people need to make some changes to their food and lifestyle habits after pañchakarma to realize significant and lasting improvements to their health.
How to Prepare for Panchakarma in Chattanooga, TN
It is important to prepare yourself and your body in specific ways before starting pañchakarma. We will guide you through that process before your pañchakarma begins. We will make recommendations for at-home adjustments to your meal regimen and we may encourage you to take some Āyurvedic supplements or formulations for one to four weeks prior to your start date. This is important for several reasons, including:
- To lighten and prepare your body for pañchakarma.
- To optimize your metabolism.
- To help you digest any undigested food waste or impurities that may affect the outcome of your pañchakarma program.
We may then recommend that you add ghee to your diet. The intake of ghee or another fat is an important step in pañchakarma. Ghee is clarified butter. It has been heated until the milk solids separate from the oil and turn brown. It has a nutty flavor and is used in Āyurveda for its medicinal properties. Ghee can lubricate your body internally to help mobilize impurities, called doshas in Ayurveda. External body therapies soften the ligaments, tendons and muscles. Both practices allow the impurities or doshas to release from the tissues, bind to the fat and be carried out of the body.
Panchakarma Therapies
When undergoing pañchakarma you may receive some combination of these body therapies daily. These therapies provoke or excite the impurities in preparation of cleansing.
- Two or four-handed massage oils and relaxes the body
- Steam and heat treatments induce sweating
- Oiling the nasal passages soothes the sinuses
- Controlled pouring of oil over the forehead calms the mind
Panchakarma Cleansing
After the preparatory steps are complete, pañchakarma therapies called virechana cleanse the body. These therapies are methods of biopurification which aid the body in eliminating stored pollutants from tissues, organs and channels.
Everyone naturally experiences varying amounts of waste buildup in their bodies over the course of normal life. These accumulated waste products are called doshas.
Doshas are a peculiar concept because they can support health or be a source of disease, depending on many factors that influence them. Essentially, doshas are the things that are most likely to bother you.
The goal of pañchakarma is to cleanse these built-up waste materials from the body.
When undergoing a thorough cleansing process like pañchakarma, it is important to work with a properly trained qualified professional.
Why Panchakarma is Necessary
Discomfort can be managed to some degree with daily corrective measures and Āyurvedic formulations, however these measures may not produce significant results or they may only help temporarily. Panchakarma on the other hand may help you achieve significant improvements in health over a shorter period of time.
Pañchakarma uses internal preparatory steps along with body therapies and a special meal regimen to release impurities or doshas from the tissues and cleanse the body.
Follow-up consultations evaluate your food consumption, lifestyle and health experience for optimal health moving forward.
Pañchakarma can be done yearly or seasonally depending on your health goals and state of health. Talk to a member of our team today.
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FAQ's
What is Āyurveda?
Āyurveda is India's traditional system of health and healing. It is a holistic approach that uses temporary adjustments to your food choices, lifestyle recommendations, therapeutic massage, and body treatments, to restore health. Āyurveda offers a wealth of sound knowledge to maintain health throughout every season and every stage of life.
I've tried changing my diet and lifestyle and it didn't work. How is Āyurveda different?
Āyurveda is personalized to each individual. It utilizes the qualities of foods, drinks, and activities to establish balance. Āyurvedic herbo-mineral formulations are selected for you based on your state of health. Formulations along with appropriate changes to your food choices and lifestyle ensure that you get back to your natural state of balance.
How is Āyurveda practiced online? Isn't pulse assessment needed?
Āyurveda is quite conducive to online practice. In classical Āyurvedic assessment, questioning and visual clues provide a wealth of information. Pulse assessment is actually a somewhat modern addition to classical assessment methods. It is not a necessary component for a quality assessment.
How is Āyurveda different than other holistic healing methods?
Āyurveda is time-tested. It's speculated to be thousands of years old and probably the oldest health system known to man. The classical practice of Āyurveda holds to the time-tested methods that existed thousands of years ago.
Unlike other modern approaches to holistic medicine, Āyurveda utilizes a detailed framework for the measurement, assessment and management of health. It is an extensive practice that is studied rigorously and is effective when applied with precision.
Āyurveda is personalized to each individual. Your day, diet, health history and so much more are taken into consideration to create your Care Plan.