© 1999 Twin Cities WELLNESS newspaper. All rights reserved. Our archives for articles on your favorite WELLNESS topics.
Exploring the 21st Century's New Medicine
Panchakarma or Ayurvedic detoxifications to improve healing power and balance of our body
By Dr. Sengupta
THE RECENT GLOBAL revival of Ayurvedic medicine has made panchakarma (Ayurvedic detoxification methods) and Ayurvedic herbs more popular to health seekers and alternative medicine practitioners. Unlike present day medicine, Ayurveda places a high priority on eliminating impurities to prevent ill health. Ayurveda thus works to restore health by cleansing both body and mind as the removal of toxins from the body is important to restore and maintain the optimal state of our health. Ayurvedic medicine recognizes that the human body accumulates a lot of toxic waste products due to poor diet, contaminants and pollutants in our environment, and an unhealthy lifestyle. The accumulated toxins in the body create a state of disorder which leads to the onset of the disease and the aging process. A healthy person, according to Ayurveda, is one whose doshas (Vata, Pitta, and Kapha) are in balance. Panchakarma, an Ayurvedic detoxification technique, clears clogged channels in the circulation, digestion, and metabolism of an individual. Detoxification through Panchakarma thus revitalizes the self-cleansing mechanism of the body. Ayurvedic medicine's first goal is to pinpoint the role of diet and lifestyle for a patient's particular body type. The detoxification treatments and lifestyle modifications are based on that unique constitution of body type. The following steps of panchakarma therapy may be used, depending on a patient's constitution and condition: Sneehana: (Ingesting oils) Softens ama and helps to remove it from the body in a liquid form.Swedena: (Herbal steam treatments) Used to make toxins less viscous.Abhyanga: (Herbal oil body massages) Designed to move toxins out of the deep tissues toward the lymphatic channels and the intestines.Virechana and basti: (Herbal laxatives and gentle oil enemas) Helps to remove toxins further.Nasya: (Steam inhalation and herbal preparations administered in the nasal passage) Helps to remove impurities from the sinuses and head.Shirodhara: (A continuous flow of herbal oil on the forehead) Promotes both mental and physical relaxation.Special diets and herbs: Enhance purification and rejuvenation. Panchakarma is very useful for chronic patients with psychosomatic illnesses, digestive disorders, muscular and skeletal problems, arthritis, insomnia, headaches, allergies, and Parkinson's disease. Scientific research indicates that panchakarma reduces negative moods and improves stamina, appetite, and sense of well-being and youthfulness. Research also showed a positive effect on cardiovascular risk factors, including a rise in HDL cholesterol (good cholesterol) and a reduction in total cholesterol, blood pressure, and anxiety.Ayurvedic herbs and detoxification Ashwaganda: The primary benefit of Ashwaganda is rejuvenation. It promotes nervous system function, which in turn enhances the flow of energy and the body's own natural clean-up and maintenance activities.Triphala: A classic formula of three powdered fruits (Emblica officinalis, Terminalia chebula, Terminalia belerica) is traditionally given to cleanse the small intestine, colon, and liver. It can be taken on a regular basis either dissolved in warm water or in capsule form. Sesame oil: Sesame oil is rich in linoleic acid, a substance possessing anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, and anti-inflammatory properties. Research shows the oil may also be useful against colon and skin cancer. Ayurvedic texts provide many prescriptions for this oil, used in enemas and body massages. Tinospora cordifolia: It has anti-allergic properties and reduces bronchospasms. It is also known to be a potent cleanser of microcirculatory channels that carry valuable nutrients to the cells and transport waste products away from the body. Azadirachta indica: One of the foremost blood purifiers. Acne, eczema, psoriasis, ringworm, and scabies are among the many skin conditions that respond well with this Ayurvedic herb.Picrorhiza kurroa: Helps to detoxify the liver, eliminate excess or impure bile, and purify the blood. Deficiency of consciousness first cause of disease Ayurvedic medicine recognizes the first cause of disease as "pragya aparadh," a Sanskrit term for mistakes due to deficiency of consciousness. Sometimes we are even aware of our wrong steps but end up repeating them due to the deficiency of our level of consciousness. For this purpose, Ayurvedic medicine seeks to elevate consciousness through yoga. In yoga, posture and breathing exercises are used before meditation to lower the physical noise. Similarly, in Ayurvedic medicine, prior to the detoxification of the mind, the detoxification of the body is important. Eliminating physical toxins is necessary to minimize the physical disturbances in our body. Sengupta method of Nerve-Muscle Integration and Mind-Body Integration after the detoxification allows the development of a stable mind-body-consciousness axis to improve self-healing mechanism further and remove the cause of our everyday disease.
Dr. Sengupta is the Founder and Director of the Institute of Healing Studies, Alternative medicine consultant, Scientist and internationally known healer and helped many people to find health, happiness, success, peace and fulfilling life. Developed Alternative Cardiac Rehabilition program, Stroke Rehabilitation Program, Neuromuscul Integration and Mind-Body Integration program. For consultation. E.mail healingstudies@yahoo.com. The Institute of Healing Studies is located at 1313 5th. St. S.E., Minneapolis, MN 55414.
Thursday, December 09, 2004
Sengupta-Cardiac-Yoga for the management of heart disease
The role of yoga in the management of cardiovascular disease
Dr. S. Sengupta (copyrighted and published material of the Institute of Healing Studies)
IT IS NOW well established that yogic exercises can play an important role in long-term fitness and health. The discipline of yoga systematically addresses the posture, breathing, and programming of the brain. It is very important to find the right intensity and duration of exercise for each individual based on an exercise tolerance test. Exercise itself can be stressful if the exercise load is more than the tolerance limit of the individual. Moreover, using instruments, we cannot do intricate exercise of our entire body. We use only certain specific body parts during walking, running, jogging, swimming, dancing, biking, or any other similar physical activities. These exercises only improve the circulation or oxygen supply temporarily to the specific exercising muscle by increasing the heart rate or respiratory rate. The heart rate or respiratory rate increases due to demand of more energy to the exercising muscle. The relaxation from this exercise is temporary due to no change in the neural network of the brain which generates the thought of relaxation. If high intensity exercise is done without proper evaluation of the physiological state of an individual, it will induce stress and may increase the risk of heart disease.
Yoga Invigorates
In cardiac patients, exercise can be irritating due to the stress and a quickened heart beat. But yoga for them is invigorating due to a lesser cardiac and respiratory work load. Yoga postures and breathing exercises can increase the cellular oxygen supply by improving the function of both the cardiovascular and respiratory systems. This helps burn excess fat without using the anaerobic energy store of the muscle, thus it is much better than other types of exercise. Yoga allows the hypothalamic center to control the level of hunger and thus will help to prevent obesity and risk of heart disease. Since yoga is simple, easy to learn, and the exercise load is less in intensity and duration, it is perfectly safe for obese people and those of a diseased condition. Yoga allows one to lose fat by improving the metabolic efficiency of the individual and by regulating the endocrine function. There are specific yoga postures which will regulate the thyroid function to maintain proper metabolism. But the load for other exercises is much higher in order to burn the same amount of fat. Yogic posture and breathing exercises lower the heart rate, but increase the VO2 max. (VO2 max indicates respiratory efficiency.) The reduction in heart rate following yoga is due to an increase in vagal activity. The change of posture changes the blood pressure and stretches the baroreceptors in the wall of the carotid sinuses and aortic arch to increase the afferent nerve outflow to solitary tract nucleus. This results in an activation of vagul nucleus and inhibition of vasomotor center. Short term aerobic exercise has no effect on the baroreceptor reflex and several studies have shown conflicting results with aerobic exercise on baroreceptor reflex sensitivity in young normotensive subjects. Baroreceptor reflex sensitivity decreases with aging and hypertension. Thus yoga can be very useful for old or hypertensive patients in regulating blood pressure. The pranayama or yogic breathing exercises help to achieve higher work rates with less oxygen consumption and without an increase of blood lactate. This will prevent muscle pain or fatigue in daily life. The pranayama also increases the rate of ventilation and perfusion ratio to improve gas exchange during breathing. This will also help to increase oxygen supply without increasing heart rate significantly and is very useful for cardiac patients.
Yoga Exercises Relax Mind, Body
Posture changes muscle tone, then the receptors of the muscles, tendons, and joints send the message to the brain and spinal cord to activate different reflexes to bring back the normal muscle tone. The sustained muscle contraction in active yogic posture helps to increase the venous return to improve the cardiac output without inducing any stress. Yogic exercise can increase venous flow or cardiac output without any significant rise of heart rate or blood pressure which shows no change of cardiac work load. Yoga helps patients regain better control over autonomic reflexes. Yoga allows one to attain a steady relaxed state of mind by development of brain software. Thus it helps one gain the power of relaxation even when we are not doing yogic exercise. Research shows after six months of yoga therapy, the mean systolic and diastolic pressure falls significantly in hypertensive patients. The requirement of anti-hypertensive drugs decreases significantly and in some cases, may be totally dispensed with yoga therapy. Research also shows yoga induces a state of hypocoagulability of blood which can be very useful in the prevention of thrombotic cardiovascular disorder. Transcendental meditation creates a tranquilizing effect reducing stress, thus also reducing adreno-cortical activity. Yoga therapy is very useful in preventing, treating, and managing cardiovascular disorder and can also be useful in post surgical rehabilitation. But yoga is not just ordinary exercise; it is a complete transformation of mind-body consciousness to explore molecular intelligence. Understanding of this molecular intelligence brings the realization of the subtle regulatory mechanisms of our human body.
Dr. Sengupta is the Founder and Director of the Institute of Healing Studies, Alternative medicine consultant, Scientist and internationally known healer and helped many people to find health, happiness, success, peace and fulfilling life. Developed Alternative Cardiac Rehabilition program, Stroke Rehabilitation Program, Neuromuscul Integration and Mind-Body Integration program. For appointment or consultation e.mail healingstudies@yahoo.com. The Institute of Healing Studies is located at 1313 5th. St. S.E., Minneapolis, MN 55414.
Dr. S. Sengupta (copyrighted and published material of the Institute of Healing Studies)
IT IS NOW well established that yogic exercises can play an important role in long-term fitness and health. The discipline of yoga systematically addresses the posture, breathing, and programming of the brain. It is very important to find the right intensity and duration of exercise for each individual based on an exercise tolerance test. Exercise itself can be stressful if the exercise load is more than the tolerance limit of the individual. Moreover, using instruments, we cannot do intricate exercise of our entire body. We use only certain specific body parts during walking, running, jogging, swimming, dancing, biking, or any other similar physical activities. These exercises only improve the circulation or oxygen supply temporarily to the specific exercising muscle by increasing the heart rate or respiratory rate. The heart rate or respiratory rate increases due to demand of more energy to the exercising muscle. The relaxation from this exercise is temporary due to no change in the neural network of the brain which generates the thought of relaxation. If high intensity exercise is done without proper evaluation of the physiological state of an individual, it will induce stress and may increase the risk of heart disease.
Yoga Invigorates
In cardiac patients, exercise can be irritating due to the stress and a quickened heart beat. But yoga for them is invigorating due to a lesser cardiac and respiratory work load. Yoga postures and breathing exercises can increase the cellular oxygen supply by improving the function of both the cardiovascular and respiratory systems. This helps burn excess fat without using the anaerobic energy store of the muscle, thus it is much better than other types of exercise. Yoga allows the hypothalamic center to control the level of hunger and thus will help to prevent obesity and risk of heart disease. Since yoga is simple, easy to learn, and the exercise load is less in intensity and duration, it is perfectly safe for obese people and those of a diseased condition. Yoga allows one to lose fat by improving the metabolic efficiency of the individual and by regulating the endocrine function. There are specific yoga postures which will regulate the thyroid function to maintain proper metabolism. But the load for other exercises is much higher in order to burn the same amount of fat. Yogic posture and breathing exercises lower the heart rate, but increase the VO2 max. (VO2 max indicates respiratory efficiency.) The reduction in heart rate following yoga is due to an increase in vagal activity. The change of posture changes the blood pressure and stretches the baroreceptors in the wall of the carotid sinuses and aortic arch to increase the afferent nerve outflow to solitary tract nucleus. This results in an activation of vagul nucleus and inhibition of vasomotor center. Short term aerobic exercise has no effect on the baroreceptor reflex and several studies have shown conflicting results with aerobic exercise on baroreceptor reflex sensitivity in young normotensive subjects. Baroreceptor reflex sensitivity decreases with aging and hypertension. Thus yoga can be very useful for old or hypertensive patients in regulating blood pressure. The pranayama or yogic breathing exercises help to achieve higher work rates with less oxygen consumption and without an increase of blood lactate. This will prevent muscle pain or fatigue in daily life. The pranayama also increases the rate of ventilation and perfusion ratio to improve gas exchange during breathing. This will also help to increase oxygen supply without increasing heart rate significantly and is very useful for cardiac patients.
Yoga Exercises Relax Mind, Body
Posture changes muscle tone, then the receptors of the muscles, tendons, and joints send the message to the brain and spinal cord to activate different reflexes to bring back the normal muscle tone. The sustained muscle contraction in active yogic posture helps to increase the venous return to improve the cardiac output without inducing any stress. Yogic exercise can increase venous flow or cardiac output without any significant rise of heart rate or blood pressure which shows no change of cardiac work load. Yoga helps patients regain better control over autonomic reflexes. Yoga allows one to attain a steady relaxed state of mind by development of brain software. Thus it helps one gain the power of relaxation even when we are not doing yogic exercise. Research shows after six months of yoga therapy, the mean systolic and diastolic pressure falls significantly in hypertensive patients. The requirement of anti-hypertensive drugs decreases significantly and in some cases, may be totally dispensed with yoga therapy. Research also shows yoga induces a state of hypocoagulability of blood which can be very useful in the prevention of thrombotic cardiovascular disorder. Transcendental meditation creates a tranquilizing effect reducing stress, thus also reducing adreno-cortical activity. Yoga therapy is very useful in preventing, treating, and managing cardiovascular disorder and can also be useful in post surgical rehabilitation. But yoga is not just ordinary exercise; it is a complete transformation of mind-body consciousness to explore molecular intelligence. Understanding of this molecular intelligence brings the realization of the subtle regulatory mechanisms of our human body.
Dr. Sengupta is the Founder and Director of the Institute of Healing Studies, Alternative medicine consultant, Scientist and internationally known healer and helped many people to find health, happiness, success, peace and fulfilling life. Developed Alternative Cardiac Rehabilition program, Stroke Rehabilitation Program, Neuromuscul Integration and Mind-Body Integration program. For appointment or consultation e.mail healingstudies@yahoo.com. The Institute of Healing Studies is located at 1313 5th. St. S.E., Minneapolis, MN 55414.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)