I first came across ayurveda when I stayed at the Sivananda Ashram in Kerala in 2011, where I later returned to do my first teacher training. There were things that I learnt back then that I have continued to do to this day. The more I discover about ayurveda, the more it simply makes sense to me.
First visit to Sivananda Ashram in 2011
I have been studying ayurveda for about 18 months now, it’s a major part of the two year yoga therapy diploma I am on with Dru Yoga. I have completed a foundation course in the subject (which is as enormous as yoga by the way), and one day plan to take the Ayurvedic Health Coach Diploma, after which point I plan to host my own ayurvedic cleanses, retreats including yoga and ayurveda, as well as offer advice and consultations to clients.
About Ayurveda
Ayurveda is a health system, or way of living, that dates back 5000-6000 years. ‘Ayur’ means life, and ‘veda’ means wisdom.
Ayurveda is a holistic approach which treats the cause of illness, or disease, rather than the symptom, the very opposite to how we do things here in the western world. It is comprised of a range of techniques including diet, herbal medicines, yoga, massage, meditation, pranayama, mantra and more.
The system is based around the digestive fire ‘agni’. When the agni is dampened, or not strong enough, or sometimes when it is too strong, we may not be digesting our food properly. This can result in toxins ‘ama’ within the whole system, an array of health problems may then begin to manifest.
In ayurveda it is thought that all disease is caused by this build-up of ama in the body, the toxic build-up of undigested food from the colon begins to circulate around the body, affecting the overall health in a variety of ways.
At its heart, ayurveda is based around the energy of 5 elements: fire, earth, water, air, space/ether.
We all have our own unique combination of these energies, called ‘doshas’. There are three doshas: pitta, katha and vata. Physical, mental and emotional issues begin to surface when that energy goes out of balance. This can then have an impact on our agni/digestive fire.
Doshas
The doshas are comprised of the following combination of energies:
Pitta is 90% fire 10% water - Metabolism
Athletic build, driven and determined. Strong appetite and strong digestion, can get ‘hangry’. Pretty static weight. Perfectionist, sees things through. Great leaders, good at motivating others.
Out of balance: quite fiery or angry, prone to stress, inflammation is common, red skin or rashes. Can feel hot and bothered, sweats a lot. Acid indigestion, ulcers. Can hold onto anger.
Kapha is 50% earth 50% water - Nourishment
Heavier build, strong and methodical. Earthy and grounded. Beautiful big eyes and soft oily skin. Don’t stress easily, contented. Nurturing homely type. Loves routine. Slow digestion.
Out of balance: Prone to weight gain, can lack motivation, comfort eating - especially sweet foods. Coughs, colds, mucus, lethargy, stubbornness, over sensitivity.
Vata is 50% air 50% ether - Movement
Very light and airy, slim build and struggles to keep weight on, loves to travel and is very creative, talkative. Intelligent and loves to learn, needs stimulation.
Out of balance: Constipation, gas, bloating. Cracking joints. Restlessness and insomnia. Scattered mind. Prone to anxiety. Feels the cold, poor circulation. Fast talking, rapid eye movement and nervous, jerky body movements.
The 5 Day Ayurvedic Liver Cleanse
The name for this particular cleanse is ‘Ama Pachana’ - to purify ‘ama’ (toxins).
I was quite nervous about undertaking the cleanse, I had done things like this in the past but not for a long while. Did I still have the discipline? I gave up drinking alcohol mid December 2023, so food has since become even more important to me than it was before, and, it has always been very important.
I paid to do the cleanse in a supported way, with the yoga organisation I am currently studying with - Dru Yoga. The cleanse itself was from Monday to Friday. We had daily check-ins every evening and a three hour preparatory zoom meeting on the Saturday morning prior to the start. It was all incredibly supportive and nurturing, with a whole array of recorded content for our use throughout the cleanse, and for a year thereafter.
The recorded content included cookery classes, ghee making, meditations, six yoga classes, guided relaxations and talks. There was also a WhatsApp support group, where we could ask questions and compare how we were all doing. So, plenty of ways to feel held, and accountable too, which works for me.
The nervousness arrived weeks before, it was the abstention I was fearing. For a full week before the cleanse, I cut out processed foods: chocolate, fish and eggs, cheese, caffeine (not that I have a lot these days, but I cherish the little decaf coffees that I do have, with a drop of ghee in it), and, of course, that other addictive little white powdered drug: sugar.
It wasn’t so bad, actually, giving everything up, apart from one night going to the cinema and being surrounded by square crisps and Minstrels. There was me, in the middle, with my herbal tea and dried mango.
On the morning of our first meeting before the cleanse, I woke up at 4am with an axe firmly wedged in my forehead. I had begun drinking what we call ‘tissue water’, or ‘ccf tea’, on the Friday, this is made up from fennel, cardamon and coriander seeds. It’s very detoxifying and I think it was this, in part, that gave me the headache, as well as removing all that other shite from my body.
I had the headache for most of the Saturday. The majority of the group hadn’t prepared in the same way I had, and were planning to go cold turkey on the Monday, day 1. Now, I have given up caffeine on several occasions in the past, the cold turkey method for me was excruciating. I would have to write off two days, two full days to be spent on the couch, being very grumpy, negative, lethargic, moody, irritable, zero energy and that afore mentioned axe would be present constantly for two days, always arriving in the early hours when the withdrawal from caffeine kicked in. Kicked in the head!
Sunday, I felt much better, over the hard part of giving up of all that crap that I love so much, and excited to begin, albeit a little concerned about having to get up earlier than usual and constantly eating kitchari, I am no fan of rice, especially white rice. We use white rice in the cleanse as it is easier to digest.
Typical Daily Routine
6.30am - Alarm
10 minutes yoga nidra
5-10 minutes conscious breathing
7.15am
Shower
Followed by lighting a candle
Neti, tongue scraping & oil pulling (I have been doing the first two since my 2011 Sivananda Ashram visit)
Drink of hot water
Drink of hot water, grated ginger and lime juice (for my pitta dosha type, otherwise lemon juice)
Around 8 or 9am Yoga & Pranayama
35-45 minutes of Yoga & Kapalabhati Pranayama, sometimes also alternate nostril breathing and meditation - siting in stillness or guided.
Followed by stewed fruit cooked in spices - 1 apple and 1 pear with ghee, cinnamon, cardamon, star anise and cloves
Between 11.30 - 2pm Kitchari and steamed veg, herb chutney, toasted sesame sprinkles.
Typical meal of kitchari with veg
Day 1 & 5 - afternoon snack of toasted seeds in tamari.
6pm Dinner - kitchari no veg
Tulsi tea, CCF tea and a spoonful of chywanaprash in hot water (or sometimes just off the spoon.
On day 1 and 5 I ate kiwi fruit in the evening, which was permitted as its quite astringent. No fruit or extra snacks, herby chutneys on day 3, a very basic and bland food day.
8.30 or 9pm restorative yoga, meditation or relaxation
Castor oil & Triphala tablets before bed.
Bed between 9-10pm
Lights out 10-10.30pm
Kitchari with veg and herby chutney (pretty much the same as the last photo and every other meal!)
Other:
No TV or videos etc
I listened to a lot of music and NTS Radio (get on this if you haven't already)
I went for a walk in nature or the park every day
Reading and journalling every day
Before each meal I took about half a spoonful of home-made, ginger chutney to ignite the agni
I ate each meal sat at the table, with no distractions, listening to gentle music with birdsong
Variables:
Day 3 was the full detox day so there were no snacks, no fruit, no herby chutneys, no sesame, no chywanaprash. Day 3 only - kitchari for all three meals.
No additional salt other than what was in the recipes (I am – or can I now say was? – a salt fiend?)
Over the course of the five days, I started waking up and getting up earlier and earlier, which was weird to me, since that was one of the things I wasn’t looking forward to. I felt energised when I awoke too!
At the end of the week I had lost 6 lbs. I felt lighter in every possible way: physically, mentally and emotionally.
HERE is a short video with snippets of the 5 day cleanse
Why I chose to do an ayurvedic cleanse:
I am curious about ayurveda, and really wanted to immerse myself in it for a week. I also feel bloated most of the time, I know I eat things that don’t agree with me - like wheat. Since I have been menopausal and having stopped drinking, I have been eating way more bready and sugary foods. I felt ready to do it and my body was actually crying out for it. I also wanted to increase my energy/prana, which, again, due to menopausal symptoms, has been all over the place. This is one of my main goals in life - to increase my prana. I already do daily practices for this.
My reflections:
The first two days my energy was high, especially compared to the rest of the group, most of whom were cold turkeying from all of the things I gave up in the week prior. Many of them were very fatigued, some even omitted giving up coffee completely, which actually dazzled me. I am a bit of an all or nothing girl myself. I am either 100% in, or 100% out.
Every day there was so much food preparation to be done, and yet I felt really relaxed and present during these times. I rather surrendered to it in a way, accepted it. So many spoons, constantly washing teaspoons. Constantly washing dishes.
I loved the morning spiced stewed fruits and have continued with that breakfast option on some days since – delicious.
Breakfast: one pear and one apple poached in ghee, water, cinnamaon, cardomon, start anise and cloves
On day 2, I noticed how mindful I was feeling throughout all of the activities: cooking, meditations, yoga etc. And yet, I noticed I had been spending a lot of time on instagram for the first two days, it was then that I decided to take an additional detox from the phone for the 3rd day too.
I journaled about my pitta dosha and how I am a ‘doer’, and how I have really enjoyed slowing down and being more present. Something I had begun doing anyway as part of my menopause journey.
When I awoke on the 3rd day, the big detox day, I was tired as I had terrible nightmares on the Tuesday night. Today it was kitchari for all three meals, not being a massive fan of rice, I was quite apprehensive about eating kitchari for 5 days, never mind 3 times in one day. It wasn’t as challenging as I thought it was going to be. It was, surprisingly, my favourite kitchari recipe of the week and I have eaten it on a few occasions after finishing the detox.
I had the mini phone detox day too on day 3, I put all of my communication and social media apps in one folder and ignored them all! That felt so good, albeit incredibly challenging. I am, like most of us, addicted to my phone. But I do have regular time out from it, my social and communication apps lock at 8pm each night and don’t come back until 8am in the morning.
I did begin to exhibit some side effects on day 3. I was very dozy; I left the studio in work unlocked, and I also missed an appointment the following day too. Very spacey and floaty.
I started to get some tiredness creeping in on day 3 too. I felt weary and heavy. I even had a rare half hour in bed on the Wednesday afternoon, I hardly ever do that.
Day 1 and 5 were the same, day 2 and 4 were the same and day 3 was stand alone, being the main detox day. The food reminded me of my time in Sivananda Ashram, which was all Ayurvedic. When I left there after my 200 hour yoga teacher training in 2014, it was the best I have ever felt in my life! Full of prana.
Photo of me at the end of my yoga teacher training in 2014
On day 4 I was very tired, I went to bed at 8.30pm, unheard of! It was a challenge teaching my Thursday chair yoga class today.
So, on the Friday morning, day 5, I woke up at 5.30am, again unheard of! I did some practice and read in bed for a while which was luxurious.
On the evening of the final day was my only cheat, I ate a spoonful of honey after my dinner and it tasted sublime.
I loved the whole experience. It was so wonderful to slow down. I still taught my classes, but other than that I was on bare minimum effort in the general life. I went for all of my walks alone and didn’t really see much of anyone for the 5 days. I pretty much kept myself to myself. I feel very content, embodied, and really well rested. I will definitely be doing another in the autumn.
By the end of it I felt the most grounded I have felt in a long time. I felt calm and centered. I still feel this to a certain degree now, certainly much more than before the cleanse. I believe it was the mindfulness and energy practices than made me feel so grounded,
I felt, and still feel clear and focused too. I am less faffy and feel relaxed, in ayurveda we would call this a ‘sattvic’ state, in balance/harmony. What I was surprised by, was the whole sense of mindfulness throughout the cleanse. I loved the cooking, I loved eating without distraction.
I have a pretty low resting heart rate at the best of times, around 52 usually, but it actually went down to a resting heart rate of 44 bpm on the last day of the detox, the Friday. This would have registered as lower still, had I been wearing my iWatch for each night’s sleep too.
I got quite bunged up on a few days, this is normal, all that moong dhal and rice. We added asafoetida (hing) to the kitchari and took cod-liver oil and triphala tablets each evening to combat this, I did have some slightly explosive moments too!
For the first two days after I completed the cleanse, I felt very tired and slow. The Dru team had advised us that the detoxification process would continue for around 4 weeks. By the Monday I felt fully energised and raring to go! I felt so good all week and still do. It’s now almost two weeks since I completed it.
Food wise, by the end of the week I was dying to have an egg and cacao, however I waited a couple of days after completing the cleanse. I slowly reintroduced foods I normally eat but not anything really processed or sugary, still now after two weeks. Apart from when I went on a hen do last Saturday, I had 3 really fancy, sugary non-alcoholic cocktails, I felt totally wired off them, completely high. I also ate some fried rice which was riddled in incredibly salty soy sauce, too salty for me (I am known for my ridiculous love of salt), something has definitely changed for me there.
The morning after the hen do I felt tired and puffy, this is what my hangover now looks like - a food hangover. I ate kitchari for the day and did a mini cleanse. I felt really good again by the end of the day and in the days after.
Many people have told me how good I look, that I look like I am glowing. I feel like I am glowing, from the inside, my prana has increased, my attention is sharper, I am procrastinating less, and more focused.
My friend said to me, just last night, “what has changed, you seem different, lighter?”. I told him “It’s the prana”.
I have still been getting up early, and on many days I wake before my alarm, which is usually set for 7 or 7.30am.
Three days after completing the cleanse - feeling very alive!
My takeaways:
It has been almost two weeks now since I completed the cleanse, I have continued to light a candle every day and plan to always do this while I am in the house, except when sleeping. The light is symbolic of the agni and of our internal light/prana. I do it as soon as I get up or re-enter the house.
I plan to have Ayurvedic days, mini detox days, as I did after the hen do, when needed. I have been eating a lot more Ayurveda foods, less salt, less spices (spices, garlic and onions aggravate my fiery pitta dosha). I have been eating less sweet fruits and more astringent fruits, like kiwi and grapefruits, these are also great for my dosha.
I have continued to make the ginger chutney, taking half a spoonful before meals to ignite the agni (digestion).
I have continued to eat most of my meals sat at the table, either in silence or listening to music. I am chewing my food and eating slower. It’s difficult, sometimes I reach for the phone, just through habit.
I still feel great, I have brought more ayurveda principles into my lifestyle too.
I also feel very contented, with my life, with my lot. I feel blessed to feel this way, as I haven’t always. It does take effort. I felt this before the cleanse however it has become a much stronger feeling of inner peace and contentment since.
I will be running an Introduction to Ayurveda workshop, at least once a year. Click HERE to see when the next one is.
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