Internal and External cleanses

Let us speak about detoxification. Detoxification can be attempted at external and internal layers of the body. By external layers, we mean the skin and related appendages and by internal layers we mean the sinuses, the stomach, the large intestine, the small intestines and the colon. All these areas provide fertile grounds for toxins to accumulate. It is very important to make sure that all these areas are detoxified. 

Toxins can be made inside the body as part of our metabolism and toxins may affect our body from the outside. We breathe air, we drink water and we eat food and all these could be sources of toxins. In modern living, we use toothpaste, detergents, cleaning materials, medicinal products, herbal and chemical products and many other things that could be toxic for the different layers of the body. Not all toxins affect the physical body, some toxins affect our aura, or the software and fields. By affecting the intangible layers of the body they are also affecting the physical body indirectly. so those toxins also should be targeted to fully detoxify the body.

Let us look at the skin. The treatment protocol aimed specifically at skin is called Poorva karma in Ayurveda, and that involves oil application and sweating. Oil is an important aspect of cleansing protocols and it can help remove many fat soluble toxins from the skin. Sweating is a way by which many water soluble toxins could be removed not only from the skin but also from the capillary bed that resides just beneath the skin. Here, steam is applied over the body so that the body temperature or at least the surface temperature of the body gets raised resulting in production of sweat which in turn pushes away many water soluble toxins from the body. This summarizes the external cleansing therapies aimed at the skin and its appendages.

The protocol that is used to cleanse the body internally is called Panchakarma in Ayurveda. These are basically cleansing of the nasal sinuses, cleansing of the stomach, cleansing of the large intestines, cleansing of the small intestines and colon. Some authorities had also included bloodletting as a possible detoxification protocol but it is not practiced everywhere. More on the different cleanses in another blog.