Ayurvedic Treatment For Obesity
Ayurveda healing is based on a natural holistic therapy known in India from about 600BC, originating in Kerala, one of the states in the south of India. Ayurveda has been described as an alternative form of healing and is recognised as being a medical healing treatment as well. Whichever description is most apt, Ayurveda involves holistic healing, introducing the harmony of both mind and body to bring about improved health by seeking to re-establish the correct internal imbalances and focusing on preventative healing as well as curative. Ayurveda focuses on the individual, balancing their ‘doshas’, individual compartments involving personalities, as well as the anatomy and physiology of the person’s body, including their body shape.
Everybody has three doshas which, for good health, all need to be in balance. The three doshas are Vata, Pitta and Kapha. To restore these doshas to a healthy balance, various treatments are used, such as the Panchakarma which involves five treatments to restore the body’s balance by purifying the body and eliminating toxins. Treatment programmes such as this can last up to 21 days, perhaps longer. Some treatments involve warm oils poured over the forehead to encourage relaxation, a treatment known as Sirodhara. An all-over body massage, called Abhyangam, is particularly suitable for treating Obesity. Sometimes this is incorporated with herbal balls useful particularly for areas of rheumatic or arthritic pain.
The concept behind Ayurveda treatments for obesity is fatty tissue [medho dhatu] becomes deposited amongst other tissue in the body. In obesity, it is thought that medho dhatu is the only parts that receive nourishment, causing general malaise, increased sweating, fatique, and an increase in appetite. This, coupled with not wanting to exercise has been attributed to the fatty tissue being deposited at various tissue levels. To mobilise the fatty tissue by liquefying it is the focus of Ayurvedic massage. Known as Udwartana, this involves coarse powder being massaged into the body from the feet to the head.
For a whole course of treatment, the first consultation assesses your body composition [Prakriti] and your vital signs will be recorded. From Udwartana to complete rest and relaxation, necessary after a session of Pancha karma which makes you feel exhausted. You will be dieted in accordance with the recommendations of the doctor caring for you during your Ayurvedic treatment. You will be given steam baths and yoga, and plenty of massage. At the end of the designated period of treatment you will be weighed and measured and have all your vital signs again recorded. Hopefully, after all the pleasurable hard work your metabolism will have been stimulated sufficiently for you to carry on losing weight by yourself once all the pampering and attention has been finished.
