The Panchakarma Tell-All
Panchakarma-what? You may be asking?
Dr. K, my Ayurvedic doctor, mentioned that his practice offers Panchakarma and that he recommends this treatment to accelerate the detoxification process of the body. At the time, I'd been seeing Dr. K for a couple months. I was starting down the path of cleaning up my diet and personal products and taking supplements to help my body flush the toxins it had accumulated in my 30 years of being oblivious to their existence.
The price tag was a bit out of my range ($400), but after mulling over the decision, I decided to give it a shot.
I started doing some research and came across the Pancha-basics and was slightly alarmed.
Panchakarma is Sanskrit for "five therapies"
The five traditional therapies of Panchakarma are:
Basti= Herbalized oil enemas
Nasya= Nasal irrigation
Vamana= Therapeutic Vomiting
Virechana= Purgation
Raktamokshana= Blood Letting
Honestly, all of those sounded extremely unpleasant and I was seriously considering backing out. Upon more research, I found that the vomiting and blood letting were phased out long ago and treatments of modern day are much less strenuous. Also, Dr. K had mentioned that I could go straight to work from the treatment, so how bad could it be? Everything I was reading was about people who had attended multi-day treatments in India which sounded much more intense and immersive. I had a 2.5 hour appointment in Westchester, NY - it had to be a Panchakarma "lite" experience overall.
It was a bit of a trek for me to make it to the treatment center from my apartment in Soho. Door to door we're talking about 2 hours. To prep for Panchkarma I abstained from drinking alcohol the night before and drank tons of water to be sure I was hydrated.
The Day of Panchakarma
The first therapy was Abhayanga or Oil Massage. This was definitely the most pleasant part of the experience. For around 45 minutes a technician gave me a full oil rub down from head to toe. The only difference between this massage and your standard spa massage was this one included a lot more oil and the technician touches your boobs (she did warn me in advance so I was prepared).
The second therapy was Shirodhara or Oil-Dripping. At this point Dr. K came in and explained that warm oil was going to drip in a soft stream onto a point on my forehead to activate the anja chakra (or third eye) to promote intuition and circulation to the brain. Dr. K said many people find it extremely relaxing and fall right to sleep. Well, I'm not one of those people. For me, this was what I imagine Chinese water torture feels like. This process goes on for what feels like another 45 minutes, that's right, 45 minutes. This entire time this stream of oil hits my forehead it then proceeds to flow through my hair and into a barrel under my head. So in addition to the discomfort of the drip on my forehead, is the oil slick forming over my hair.
Finally, Dr. K comes back and the oil drip torture is complete! Next up, third steam/ozone therapy. Now, I climb into this little white pod. My head is outside of the pod, and inside I'm sitting at kind of an awkward cramped angle, and of course covered in oil. Here is when I get a little more face time with Dr. K and more background into how exactly these therapies detox the body.
The oils being used throughout the process of Pachakarma were infused with one pound of detoxifying herbs. These herbs are extremely pungent and it would be impossible to ingest more than a teaspoon orally. The Panchakarma process allows you to absorb all of the detoxifying herbs through the largest organ, your skin.
In the third phase of steam/ozone therapy, the intention is to raise the body temperature quickly and open the pores of the skin to allow for maximum absorption of the herb infused oil. It was kind of helpful to have my head outside of the extreme heat, but it still felt pretty overwhelming. Luckily, this part of the process was only about 20 minutes and I was given lots of water to replenish all that I was sweating out.
The fourth step is to trap in the body heat and continue sweating out the toxins and absorbing the oils on my skin. To do so, I'm brought back to original massage room and tucked under a bunch of blankets. After about 20 minutes, Dr. K comes in and says I can get dressed and be on my way. I asked him if there are showers anywhere for me to clean myself up and he casually mentions that I can't shower off this oil until TOMORROW so that the oils can continue to seep into my skin and maximize the detoxification effects.
This was not the response I was expecting.
Does he realize he had told me I could go to work after this??
I mean, thank GOD I decided to take the day off. I get dressed and head downstairs to pay, and I'm fully spiraling about how disgusting my hair feels (and smells). But there is one last curve-ball coming my way.
Step 5 is the Enema, the Panchakarma grand finale. The receptionist hands me a plastic bag filled with more of the herb infused oil connected to a long plastic tube and casually explains that I need to go home, stick this tube in my butt and release the liquid for the final step of cleansing.
So, now I'm trying to order an Uber (there is no cell signal of course) with my oily hair (pictured below) and enema in hand so I can begin the 2 hour trek back to my apartment.
check out that oily mop :/
Luckily, I beat my boyfriend home, because I don't want him to bear witness to this enema situation. Let's just say, it was not a success. I get very squeamish with these types of things and oil ended up all over my floor rather than in my butt. Can't win 'em all.
I took it easy for the rest of the night, since the whole experience truly wiped me out. I made sure to eat clean to aid with the detoxification and maximize the positive benefits. Dr. K also said to drink a TON of water, which I made sure to do as well.
The next obstacle was how I was supposed to sleep with my oil soaked hair. I fashioned a wrap situation with an extra pillowcase, but it was extremely uncomfortable and I had a pretty restless night of sleep. Dr K said I should sleep like a baby after this treatment. Maybe that's true for people with less hair!
The Aftermath
The next morning I was still pretty exhausted and had to wake up earlier than usual to allow extra time to get all of this oil out of my hair (took 4 shampoos to get out).
I had lost 2 lbs on the scale and my skin felt extremely soft.
Pachakarma had absolutely had an impact.
Was it worth it for me, considering the 2 hour commute both ways, I'd go with no. Honestly, even if it were next door I don't know that I'd do it again. But I'm happy I tried it as part of my detox journey.
