Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Day 8: PanchaKarma - Ayurvedic Cleanse


Bruise marks and vertigo and enemas - Oh My!



Yes folks - last night I experienced my first true enema! I enjoyed it so much I just had to have another this morning! Well... not exactly. Though the actual putting a hose in yer bum part was not as bad as I anticipated - there have been some weird side effects...

One being mild vertigo. I believe this started after my 2nd or 3rd massage - so perhaps not directly related to the enemas - but something about the enemas seems to trigger it and I've been enjoying dizzy, confused moments ever since.

The other is a sort of edgy, overwhelmed feeling. After both enemas I got a little snappy with Peter and even hours after found myself not having patience for things and feeling irritable.

Lastly I've been exhausted! All I want to do is sleep all day. I'm especially tired post enema.

I had to run a bunch of errands today which didn't really jive with my weird, sleepy mood and my need for extra bathroom time.

Here's what I've learned about doing enemas during your PanchKarma:

  • Stick close to home! After you do one of these lil' treatments you're likely to spend some quality time with Mr. Porcelain.
  • Brief your significant other - ahead of time - that you'll be needing lots of alone time and won't be feeling like yourself for a few days.
  • Listen to directions. Not listening may have you keistering way more herbal tea/(basti) then intended.
  • Try to arrange your schedule in such a way so you don't end up at Whole Foods or the bank when a sudden 'urge' comes upon you.
  • Let yourself rest.


Now on to Gua Sha! Here's where I convince you that Vijaya has not been beating me -- 'I just fell down the stairs' -- I promise!



Well it turns out this scraping business is legit - it's a scraping of the muscle tissue technique at the spine- and actually feels pretty good. The only thing is you end up with a back full of hickies. Here's some more info:

Gua Sha is a healing technique used in the East by practitioners of Traditional Medicine, in both the clinical setting and in homes, but little known about in the West. It involves palpation and cutaneous stimulation where the skin is pressured, in strokes, by a round-edged instrument; that results in the appearance of small red petechiae called 'sha', that will fade in 2 to 3 days.

Raising Sha removes blood stagnation considered pathogenic, promoting normal circulation and metabolic processes.The patient experiences immediate relief from pain, stiffness, fever, chill, cough, nausea, and so on. Gua Sha is valuable in the prevention and treatment of acute infectious illness, upper respiratory and digestive problems, and many other acute or chronic disorders.

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