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Inner Balance--Purification on the Prairie: Ayurveda offers the king of the cleanses
by Deirdre Shevlin Bell

Alternative Medicine Translate This Article
27 September 2007

On 27 September 2007 Alternative Medicine reported: The Raj Maharishi Ayur Veda Health Center, and the preventive methods of Ayur-Veda, India's ancient healing system, are featured in the September issue of Alternative Medicine magazine. It is a joy for Global Good News service to feature this news, which indicates the success of the life-supporting programmes Maharishi has designed to bring fulfilment to the field of health.

The article explained how Ayur Veda uses the body's own inner intelligence to help keep us healthy or return us to health if we have gotten out of balance.

The article stated, 'In our deepest core ... we instinctively act in accordance with nature's cycles and rhythms, keeping our bodies perfectly balanced and free of disease.'

It gave an overview of the three doshas—Vata, Pitta, and Kapha—which are the three basic fundamentals that govern everything in the universe, including the body; and how, by understanding the doshas, we can maintain a healthy life.

Nancy Lonsdorf, MD, former medical director at The Raj, explained how important it is to help the doshas maintain their optimum functioning level by getting a 'cleanse' (called Panchakarma, or PK for short) at the change of seasons, which serves the duel purpose of ridding the body of built-up toxins and then restoring the body to maximum health and a renewed state of balance.

The Alternative Medicine article quoted Dr Lonsdorf as saying, 'What's really different is that cleansing in other systems is simply cleansing and can be harsh. It's austere and is not balancing the doshas at the same time. The oils used in PK prevent the body from drying out, whereas if you do coffee enemas or fiber to cleanse the bowel, it can be very vata aggravating. After PK, people are not just cleansed, they're more balanced.'

The author then gave her own testimonial of the benefits of taking Panchakarma treatments at The Raj by writing about her personal experience during a week's stay at the Iowa health center.

She explained how the healing practices at The Raj started even before her arrival. On the basis of an extensive before-arrival survey she was given a personal evaluation and home-preparation plan by Mark Toomey, PhD, director of health sciences at the Raj, which allowed her to prepare her physiology for the visit by taking herbs and other personal recommendations, and which resulted in the loss of seven pounds and a much more tranquil disposition.

The author explained, 'After three weeks of home prep, I headed to Iowa seven pounds lighter and feeling I was on the road to balance, both physically and mentally. My normally overactive brain had begun to quiet a bit, and I felt myself moving with more ease and grace. After a comfortable night's sleep in one of the Raj's well-appointed guest rooms, I awoke and met with a Raj representative who explained the schedule for the week: meal times, my treatment plan, daily yoga classes, evening lectures. The week would be highly structured, but it would also allow for down time during which I could meditate, take a walk, or simply rest.'

The author's own healing plan included warm oil massages called abhyanga, a special oil treatment to the head called shirodhara, heat and other treatments.

The article concluded, 'I left the Raj after a week of PK feeling better than I've felt in my life. I shed my mental clutter and anxiety, leaving a clear view of my truest self. With that clarity, I could finally make the decisions that eluded me before. Freed from endless second-guessing, I can now trust the wisdom that comes from my squeaky clean inner intelligence, shining a steady light on the path to come.'
Every day Global Good News documents the rise of a better quality of life dawning in the world and highlights the need for introducing Natural Law based—Total Knowledge based—programmes to bring the support of Nature to every individual, raise the quality of life of every society, and create a lasting state of world peace.

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