Traditional and Innovative
Light and Bryan Miller
Ayurveda is recreated for every age. Dr. Robert Svoboda writes that, “practice has always been a balance between orthodoxy and innovation . . . with every doctor carving out his unique niche in the world of therapeutics . . . and each doctor . . . is expected to tailor a different treatment for each sufferer. Such detailed individualized care does not often happen today and may never have been1, 2 common, but the intent (in the writings) is clear.” This could be the ultimate Ayurveda: evolving therapies adapted to each patient’s needs.
Innovation can even emerge from diminishing choices. Our teacher, Dr. Chotai, related a difficult case of skin cancer, where traditional medical and Ayurvedic approaches had been exhausted. Pulse diagnosis revealed a dry, irregular predominant vàta. Seeking the greatest application of earth element, he intuited that earth burial could be the ultimate delivery mechanism. The patient was buried vertically in the sand of Santa Cruz Beach,
Mumbai, with an umbrella to protect her head from the sun and only fresh coconut water (water element) for consumption. He sat with her for ten days, drifting from light conversation to deep meditation to silent observation of the horizon and sleep. When the patient emerged from the sand, the lesions were resolved and her pulse had achieved balance.
We are both re-born ayurvedic practitioners. We have done this before. It is too easy, too familiar to us not to have been practitioners in a previous life. We have appreciated the traditional methodologies, yet never felt an obligation to stick to them. Our abhyanga massage may have components of cross-fiber, lymph drainage, trigger points, and chiropractics in addition to traditional marma and abhyanga strokes. We use whatever is needed. For example, I like my sirodhàra, heated, temperature regulated, directed and controlled with gentle chanting in the background.
The following are some ways that we have customized our patients’ panchakarma (PK) treatments. We hope there is something here for practitioners in the field.
Abhyanga oil can be created from a small collection of essential oils and vegetable base oils. Essential oils are lighter and more concentrated than traditional medicated oils, which can take months to prepare. With knowledge and intent, the practitioner can instantly blend for a specific dosha reduction or to support any associated conditions or symptoms. For example, in a patient with excess pita and skin inflammation, to a base of coconut oil could be added essential oils (EO) of blue chamomile, yarrow, sandalwood, and lavender for a cooling, calming abhyaïga blend. In addition to promoting localized skin healing, these oils would be absorbed into circulation, calming the nervous system, quieting the mind and even balancing the endocrine system. There is nothing that would preclude the use of traditional medicated oils in your blends.
Sirodhàra oil can be similarly made patient specific, although its direct absorption is reduced since only the top of the head is contacted by the oil. However, smell receptors in the nasal palate directly stimulate the limbic system and can release a stream of withheld memories, emotions and desires. The combination of appropriate EOs with Sirodhàra’s lucid dreaming potential could be well worth exploring.
Steam treatment can also be enhanced with essential oils of eucalyptus, rosemary, juniper, ravensara, cypress, with little regard to doshic influence as the vapors contacting the skin have a local, fleeting, rather than systemic effect. Adding 20-30 drops of a single oil or mixture to the Steamy Wonder or steam cabinet adds herbal energetics to the cleansing power of steam. Patients love to receive a simultaneous head massage with bràhmi oil during steam treatment.
Traditional vasti treatments, for some PK patients, can trigger negative emotional memories from childhood toilet training, early constipation experiences, or negative associations with natural body functions. This can add unwanted tension to a treatment that requires relaxation. The patient can experience anxiety when arising from the floor upon reaching their holding limit, while contemplating the potential for an accident while mobilizing to the restroom.
We circumvent much of this by use of colema board for vasti therapy. This method was brought to the west by Dr. Bernard Jensen, N.D., who rediscovered it on a visit to Nisargopchar Ashram Nature Cure Centre (Uruli) near Pune, India. Coincidentally, this center was founded by Mahatma Gandhi, Dr. Chotai and others to reestablish Natural Treatments post-Independence. Designed for home use, the colema board allows the patient to recline supine, draped for privacy, have their abdomen massaged, and not have to get up. A four gallon tank can deliver gravity-fed triphalà tea or any vasti mixture you desire. For instance, we add Pau d’Arco, neem, or black walnut hull to the tea, if we suspect Candidiasis or parasites.
Additionally, a custom barbed “Y” fitting can be added to the terminal delivery tubing, allowing body temperature sesame oil (one to three ounces) to be injected with a catheter-tip syringe, directly into the emptied colon to prevent post-treatment dryness. This form of vasti takes 30 to 60 minutes. Patients who have experienced both traditional and colema vasti often express preference for the latter. In cases of extremely dry or inactive colons, we still use a traditional retention vasti with four to six ounces of lukewarm sesame oil, with good results.
Vamana (therapeutic vomiting), virecana (purgation), and gall bladder flush are treatments that can be challenging, emotional, and time consuming. They are often not included in PK for these reasons, yet they may be the very thing that the patient needs. We find that one in ten PK patients needs vamana, one in four needs virecana, and one in five needs a gall bladder flush. Pulse detection, with the classic associated symptomatology is diagnostic. These delicate therapies should be learned from a master, practiced under supervision, and applied only where indicated. The ancient apprenticeship method of teaching, gurukula, which means “becoming family to the teacher”, was once the only way to master these treatments and may well still be the best way.
Panchakarma Food and Drink
The diet should be simple and restful to the digestive tract. Tradition holds to the hot water/tea and khichri approach. We have found many easy to-digest additions to add to the basics. Individualized herbal teas are easy to design. The Yoga of Herbs by Drs. Lad and Frawley offers commonly available Western herbs with Ayurvedic doshic classifications for each. Light believes that local herbs have special healing power for the native people. We still use the Indian herbs of great importance that have no Western correlation. We take it a step further and design an herb tea for each day of PK, to target and support a different body system (digestive, liver, nervous, respiratory, circulatory, immune, reproductive, etc.) Each blend has specific rasàyana (rejuvenating) herbs for the target system, with good tasting, complimentary herbs (mint, ginger, cardamom, cinnamon, licorice, anise or fennel) added to improve the taste, where appropriate. This mix of therapeutic and good tasting herbs, exemplifies the art of blending. If it doesn’t taste good, the patient probably won’t drink it. We give each patient a four-cup thermos of hot tea for the day.
We give each PK patient four cups of vegetable/fruit/herb juice each day and a shot glass of wheatgrass juice. These practices also come from our teacher Dr. Chotai and his Aruli nature-cure practice. He is credited by Dr. Anne Wigmore with teaching her much about wheat grass. He was especially fond of giving his patients fresh extracted tulsã (basil) juice and still dispenses wheatgrass at (126 years old). Carrot, celery, beet, cucumber, fennel bulb, apple, pineapple, cilantro, ginger, parsley, and mint are a few of the common ingredients to choose from when designing a juice for a specific dosha or condition. I prefer to serve the wheatgrass separately as it can overshadow any juice blend. These fresh juices are full of pràna, enzymes and nutrients. They can be tasteful, easy to absorb, satisfying and assist with removal of the àma (toxins) stirred up by PK. The chlorophyll found in all greens, and especially in cilantro and wheatgrass, has a chelating effect (grabs and escorts out) on heavy metals like mercury.
Water is Life
We have researched and found what we believe to be the best water in the United States. It rises through a 3000-foot limestone deposit, over a 3000-year period of time, and so will be pure for the next 2900 years.* It is bottled at the source and delivered in five-gallon (and other sizes) glass bottles – no plastic residues for our PK patients. A complete analysis of mineral content and absence of toxics is posted on their website. My research points toward good spring water as preferable to other sources or purification methodologies. I encountered one PK patient who had been hospitalized with seizures and took a year to recover after cleansing (not PK) with distilled water. Between the herb teas, juices, food and spring water, I have never seen drops in the electrolyte levels of our PK clients.
____________________
* Based on the calculations of when modern pollution may show up in the spring’s aquifer.
In the PK food department, we go light for the first three days with fresh organic fruit salads (morning), a nourishing, blended vegetable/herb/seaweed soup (immune soup) we serve with ghee (lunch and dinner). For the last four days, our kitchen goes full on, serving gourmet vegetarian with everything from quinoa khichri and spinach curry sauce to cashew-herb stuffed butternut squash. Patients leave, after their seven days, excited about new healthy cuisine possibilities and with Light’s new 500+ page cookbook** in hand. If patients take their newly learned diet and daily regimens home with them, they will stay healthy. Their friends and family will be asking them about their obvious good changes in looks and behavior.
Tarpana
A final area of PK, where new approaches can be introduced, is the arena of emotional release, relationship reappraisal, and the rewriting of one’s life story. This can all be covered in a therapy called tarpana. *** This healing ceremony was originally directed towards ancestral patterns, which we carry forward consciously or unconsciously. Swamini Mother Mayatitananda writes,
Without realizing it, we often carry the ancestors on our backs. Because their memory patterns are deeply embedded within our vital tissues and cells, we continually re-enact patterns that originate in the history and memory of our family lines. When we do not recognize ancestral traumas, we are likely to ferry them into every aspect of our lives. But we can resolve our karmic history through honoring ancestors; we can trade hurt and grief and illness for celestial guidance.
_______________________
** Soon to be released by Lotus Press.
*** This link references an article by Dr. Robert Svoboda for a detailed description of the traditional ceremonial tarpana: www.hinduism.co.za/tarpana.htm
Mother Mayatitananda offers the following ceremony:
Mantra for Healing Ancestral Memories
Facing in a southward direction, sit in a comfortable posture and recite the following mantra 108 times. Keep in mind your ancestors and the faces and/or names of anyone of them who calls to you. Use a japa-màlà (prayer beads with 108 beads, or rosary) to maintain the mantra count.
om namo vah pit s saumyah
(Pronunciation: oom nah-mow vaff pete-riss saum-yaha)
Light and I came into the field of Ayurveda and PK through our initiation and training in the metaphysical practice of kàyàkalpa. Dr. Chotai taught the release of emotional holding and the thoughts underlying them, without naming the process or breaking down the connections between ancestors, past relationships, thoughts, emotions and kàrmic entanglements, therein. It was simply: do this breath, let the emotions flow, release the thoughts and claim your divinity.
Five years post my kàyàkalpa training; I had undergone training in emotional release work, rebirthing, dabbled in the mind-body connection during bodywork and stumbled on Dr. Svoboda’s book Prakruti: Your Ayurvedic Constitution regarding tarpana. After a failed, self-administered gall bladder flush, which left me with a bitter taste of refluxed olive oil/lemon juice in my mouth, I had the thought, “Where is my bitterness coming from?”
What ancestor was bitter? Ah Ha, my maternal grandmother!” Small, crooked, nagging and vàta predominant, she was my least favorite ancestor and I was much like her, especially regarding anything I didn’t like or approve of. Could I ever complain and whine? Remembering Dr. Svoboda’s tarpana ceremony, I spoke my feelings to her, looked for her innocence, looked for her gifts and claimed my divinity. My gall bladder symptoms disappeared. Emotions released were bitterness and disgust. Relationship reappraisal: I appreciate my grandma’s vàta creativity in me and release the judgment about her. Life story rewrite: I am not a victim, I am creator in my life!
Soon thereafter, we began applying this ceremony systematically with our patients, guiding them to the releasing breath (in through the nose/out through the mouth with a sigh – aaahhhh). Advanced yogis could add a mulabandha or contraction of the root chakra (at the height of the inhale), visualize the energy rising to the third eye and place the tongue on the roof of the mouth. Speaking to each ancestor, our patients spoke their unspoken thoughts, screamed their unexpressed rage (sometimes preceded by primal-scream, breath of fire), cried their withheld tears, identified the patterns experienced, claimed the lessons learned, accepted the gifts bestowed and declared their ultimate divinity. Sealing the deal with a ritual gift of the ancestor’s favorite food, they often found release from karmic entanglements.
One distraught mother of eight spoke out her pain about her missing son, released him to his path, blessed him to whatever he did, and found relief from months of insomnia, arthritis, and acid heartburn. Had we stumbled on a new cure to a myriad of symptomologies? Can the ancestral entanglements go both ways? One week later, she received a phone call from that son and a ticket to visit him in Europe. How did he know that she had let go? Are we all really that connected? Her symptoms had been caused by her attachment to his action (of disappearing).
We began to extend the tarpana ceremony to our patient’s other relationships . . . friends, enemies, rivals, business associates, lovers and spouses (past and present). With the intention to create freedom from all earthly attachments, we found body associations to specific conditions: anger with dad locked in the right shoulder, molestation in the inguinal ligament and adductor muscle, fear of speaking in the throat muscles. We added balancing breath to the end of the ceremony (breathing through the nose quietly/six seconds in/six seconds out). We added affirmations (I am peace, I am love, etc.). We have taught this new tarpana to over 60 PK trainees and sent them out into the world.
This had become a PK, unlike any from traditional training or literature, and yet, we had found our niche.
Opening Caraka, I found discussions of how various conditions could arise from fear, anger or grief, with each requiring a different curative approach. The lines between orthodox and innovative blur. In the “wow moment”, there is only God doing PK on God, being present, meeting a need, serving a tea, oil gliding across skin, breath matching breath, observed and observer one. We hope all possibilities open for you.
Namaste,
Light and Bryan Miller AP
(ayurvedic practitioners)
Endnotes
1. R. Svoboda, Ayurveda: Life, Health and Longevity, Arkana, Penguin Books London, 1992.
2. http://www.drsvoboda.com/ayurveda_life_health_longevity excerpt.pdf
3. http://www.nisargopcharashram.org
4. Video: http://www.colema.com/setup.html
5. http://www.colenz.com
6. http://www.annwigmore.org/about.html/wigmore
7. Spring water can be found at www.mountainvalleyspring.com
8. http://www.wisearth.org/bulletin.html, Oct. 2010.
9. ht tp://www.wi s e a r th.org/WE_Honoring Ancestors%20(1).pdf
10. https://ayurvedichealers.com/kayakalpa.html
11. R. Svoboda, Prakruti: Your Ayurvedic Constitution,GeoCom, Albuquerque, NM, 1989.
Drs. Light and Bryan Miller perform kàyàkalpa and panchakarma treatments in Hollywood, Florida, and in the world, where called. They are highly experienced for in-classroom and Gurukula training toward AP (ayurvedic practitioner) certification, hold Pancha Karma trainings for practitioners, are distributors of essential oils, doshic reduction packages, and are authors of Ayurveda and Aromatherapy, Ayurvedic Remedies for the Family, The Ayurvedic Home Study Course (900 pages/4 volumes) and Cooking with Light. Contact at: ayurvedichealers.com 954-923-4444
