Initiation: days 2-3
- Eliminate snacking and all processed foods, sugars, meat, fish, poultry, recreational drugs.
- Favor fresh seasonal veggies, whole grains and legumes.
- Wake with the Sun
- Daily Bowl Movement
- Wash face, mouth and scrape tongue.
- Each morning after cleaning the mouth place about 1-1/2 table spoons of sesame oil in the mouth and swish for 5-10 minutes. DO NOT SWALLOW! Spit out and rinse the mouth with warm salt water. This practice assists the body in eliminating toxins.
- Sip warm water through out the day. Stay hydrated. Drink lots of water.
- Have 2-4 cups of Ginger and or peppermint Tea each day.
- Take 2 tablets of Triphala (or ½ teaspoon of powdered Triphala) 1 hour before bedtime.
This herbal remedy promotes rejuvenation of the tissues while also supporting healthy bowel movements. It helps to scrape toxins from the system.
- Daily Self Massage: By placing oil on the body in this particular manner we help the tissue to release toxins, move them to the GI for elimination and nourish the tissue at the same time. Oil application is one of the main vehicles of therapy and treatment in Ayurveda. In fact the sanskrit term for oil, Snehana also means Love. Isn’t that interesting…
- Directios: Here is a wonderful self-massage routine offered by Dr. Claudia Welch. This can be done in the morning or in the evening depending on your time constraints
Put about a 1/2 cup of oil in a 4 oz. squeeze bottle.
Warm the oil by placing the bottle in a mug of hot water.
Sit or stand comfortably in a warm room on a towel. Consider choosing a towel that is dedicated for this purpose because over time the oil accumulation will ruin the towel.
Apply the oil to your entire body.
Massage the oil into your entire body, beginning at your extremities and working toward the middle of your body. Use long strokes on the limbs and circular strokes on the joints. Massage the abdomen and chest in broad, clockwise, circular motions. On the abdomen, follow the path of the large intestine, moving up on the right side of the abdomen, then across, then down on the left side. Massage the body for 5-20 minutes, with love and patience.
Give a little extra time and attention to massaging the oil into your scalp, ears and feet. Apply oil to the crown of your head and work slowly out from there in circular strokes. Oil applied to the head should be warm, but not hot. Put a couple drops of warm oil on the tip of your little finger or on a cotton ball and apply to the opening of the ear canal. (If you have any current or chronic discomfort in your ears, don’t do this without the recommendation of your healthcare practitioner). When you massage your feet, be sure you don’t slip.
Enjoy a warm bath or shower. Minimize the use of soap, and use only where needed.
While in the bath or shower allow the body to break a gentile sweat. This is your indicator that toxins are moving to the colon for elimination. By drinking ginger and peppermint tea and taking triphala you are ensuring that they leave the system rather than linger and cause more damage.
- Nasya: the application of medicated oils via the nasal passage helps to remove residual toxins from the mind and nervous system. Please How to Nasya