A variety of preparatory procedures can be used not only to enhance elimination and purification during Panchakarma but to replenish and rejuvenate specific zones of the body. They generally employ some form of snehana or swedana, and often address the functions of a particular dosha. These procedures can also be used outside Panchakarma, by themselves, or in conjunction with other treatments, to achieve a specific palliative or nutritive effect either on the whole body or a localized area.
Shirodhara
The most commonly employed adjunctive pre-procedure is called shirodhara. Shiro means “head” and dhara means “the dripping of oil like a thread.” This treatment drips warm oil in a steady stream on the forehead, particularly on the brow in the region between the eyes. It is often added to the Panchakarma regimen because it pacifies vata, in particular prana vayu, and calms the central nervous system. It quiets both the mind and the senses which allows the body’s natural healing mechanisms to release stress from the nervous system. This, in turn, improves mental clarity and comprehension.
Shirodhara is usually given for twenty minutes, three to four times during a seven-day treatment period. It uses oils made with special herbs that calm and nourish the nervous system and open the prana shrotas in the head. The technician administers the oil in a thin stream which flows from a copper vessel hung approximately 6-8 inches above the patient’s forehead.
Pishinchhali
This pre-procedure is popular in South India, where there is a predominance of zvzta-aggravating weather. Pishin translates as “squeezing,” and chhali translates as “vigorous movement.” Large quantities of oils are squeezed or poured over the body while massaging it vigorously with a bolus of rice wrapped in a cloth. This drives the oil forcefully through the pores of the skin so it can penetrate into the deep tissues. The treatment is both pleasing and invigorating.
Pishinchhali’s most important function is vata pacification. It stimulates the marma points and creates harmony between vata’s five sub-doshas. It works in a specific way to eliminate toxins from the joints and improve their mobility. It provides a powerful tool for reducing muscle spasm and degenerative muscle diseases. But in order for it to be truly effective, it must be administered many times in succession. For this reason, pishinchhali is often structured as its own separate treatment protocol. A trained Ayurvedic massage technician administers this treatment for approximately thirty minutes and then follows it with pinda swedana (discussed below).
Pinda Swedana
Pinda means “bolus,” a soft rounded mass, and swedana, as we learned earlier, means “heat.” During this procedure, a bolus of hot rice that has been cooked with special mta-pacifying herbs is soaked in an herbal milk decoction of nutritive herbs. This hot bolus is then rubbed vigorously over the entire body, focusing on the muscle tissue and joints. It is usually performed after snehana, for about ten minutes in most cases, and twenty minutes for more severe conditions.
Pinda swedana improves muscle tone and nourishes mamsa dhatu and vata. It is highly beneficial for treatment of facial paralysis, or hemiplegia, and other degenerative muscle diseases such as multiple sclerosis and muscular atrophy. As with pishinchhali, the patient cannot expect to gain results from this procedure with only one or two treatments. Like pishinchhali, this therapy is used in conjunction with Panchakarma, but for the degenerative diseases just mentioned, it is usually administered as a completely separate treatment program, and performed in a series over a period of time.