Pancha Karma, Purva Karma, Rasayana Treatments and Retreats
My team and me offer regular and on-demand retreats and treatments in Berlin, Malaga, Bali and other places.
Our favourite is the crown of all Ayurveda treatments: the Pancha Karma
As all of these treatments require preparation, please reach out for Your individual guide through this time.
As the dates are flexibel according to Your personal time frames , please inquire early to find Your spot and location.
In general there is a home- stay option of 3-8 days. The preparation phase and the after care will be done under our close supervision either at home at Your location.
Some indications for Pancha Karma
Pancha Karma is the toughest of all the offered retreats, and you have to fully commit yourself for a strict regimen, in person, online, or offline to help you to get the most benefit and no side effects.
I suggest a PK for
fertility
mental stress disorders, anxiety, depression, PTSD
Overweight
asthma
chronic pain syndrome
overall reset
recovery
post and long covid
chronic skin diseases
allergies
rheumatic diseases
Purva Karma
reset for wellbeing
preparation for deeper treatment
letting go of old habits
chronic pain syndrome
prone to infections and feverish diseases
post-covid procedures
Rasayana
refreshing your ideas
waking up from the winter
replenishing after exhaustion
rejunevation
In the following You will read the intro to our retreats:
However, as all treatments are individualised, a long personal inquiry is necessary. These talks will be covering your personal history, needs, circumstances, your medical history and your possibilities to restart, relax and recover.
so, please, send a text message to : 0049 179 73 78 210 and i ll get back to you asap!
The Pippali Treatment for You
(and the Preparation for Purva Karma and Pancha Karma)
The pippali treatment is an intensive activation of your agni (digestive fire)
You can start the pippali treatment only after a documentation of Your food and lifestyle for a minimum of 2 weeks if we not already know You well.
After this You will have a personal consultation, online or offline, in which we decide how to proceed with the treatment. We might change the herbs according to Your very personal diary to mustha, triphala or citrak for better results.
An interruption during the treatment is not advisable!
The dietary and lifestyle plan during treatment has to be followed strictly.
AHARA/ VIHARA
The pippali treatment is an intensive activation of your agni (digestive fire)
You can start the treatment only after a documentation of your food and lifestyle for a minimum of 2 weeks. After this you will have a personal consultation, online or offline, in which we decide how to proceed with the treatment. We might change the herbs according to your very personal diary to mushta, triphala or citrak for better results.
An interruption during the treatment is not advisable!
The dietary and lifestyle plan during treatment has to be followed strictly.
AHARA/ VIHARA
Food and lifestyle
These are general informations. For an individual treatment you have to consult us in person or on zoom, as the requirements might change according to your individual condition.
Please: be honest, this list is designed to help Yourself on Your journey
For about 3 or 7 or 14 days take notes of your life (diary) :
Your habits, your cravings, your mood, your digestion, your foodchoices, your sleep, your energy level, your ways to relax and your ways to distract. It might be your biggest diary since you grew up!
Please, note all medicines and supplements you are taking, including natural boosters or superfoods, what you are drinking at what time of the day, how often you have to go to the bathroom( urine or stool) and what it looks like and how you feel after.
Please, note all physical or mental comfort or discomfort, pain anywhere in the body, headache, increase of tinnitus, sounds or ringing in the ears, sneezing, coughing, discharge, phlegm, bleeding etc, menstruation, pms etc. is a very important subject, too!
The more time you spend for your AHARA/ VIHARA chart, the easier you and I can find out what are the interrelation/ corelation between your food choices and lifestyle patterns and your complain or illness.
Dietary Recommendations during Ama Pacana/ Purva Karma Treatment
Pippali/ Mustha / Citrak cleansing
What You can eat in a nutshell:
basically all cooked food:
cooked or baked sweet fruit separate from meals
boiled or cooked veggies, occasionally eggs, white meat and fish, grains soft cooked cereals, vegetable or meat soup ,
noodles, pasta ( yet no tomato or carbonara sauceJ warm boiled milk with spices
herbal teas such as cardamom tea, clove tea, light ginger tea or simply warm water Use digestion promoting herbs and spices, like cardamom, cinnamon, coriander, cumin, curcuma, fresh herbs
Vietnamese food or good Indian food are excellent options for those who are busy during the day-use ghee for cooking or precious vegetable oil, no coco.
What You can`t eat or drink during the Ama pacana/ Purva Karma:
Drinks to avoid: juice, dairy products (allowed is cow s or goat s milk, cooked!), wine, beer, fizzy drinks, soft drinks, herbal tea, any alcoholic beverage, any caffeine containing beverage (except some black tea occasionally), any drink that is below blood temperature
Food to avoid: raw vegetables, raw fruit, raw or cold salad, uncooked and spicy food, sour food, coconut oil, smoothies, processed food like : tinned food, frozen food, ready made food, reheated food, microwaved food, dried food packages etc, deep fried, red meat, stored food, rancid food, nuts more than 10 pieces, shellfish
Further suggestions:
Drinks: drink plenty of warm water at blood temperature, whenever you feel thirsty but: no fruit or vegetable juice, no smoothies, no carbonated drinks, no wine or beer, no oat milk, no soymilk, no almond milk etc. as these products are not fresh and/or fermented
No Tea / coffee / cocoa/ Mate, Macha! Avoid stimulants during this time and rethink.
Have some Ginger tea (a bit of dried ginger !!!!) cardamom water, clove water, a bit of green or black tea, however, are allowed when you feel you cannot cope with your caffeine withdrawal symptoms, which could be: headaches, moodiness, tension, migraine, tiredness
Do not eat or drink anything cold or under blood temperature: drink warm drinks. No ice cubes.
No raw food: No raw fruit, no raw vegetables, no salad, no nuts. Seeds are allowed: imn small amounts
pumpkin seed, hemp seed, sunflower seeds, or a few cashew nuts, all soaked overnight. Prefer cooked, blanched, steamed food instead of fried food.
Do not eat fermented food as, according to Ayurveda, fermented food is spoiled and old food: therefore, no fermented products, such as soy sauce, tofu products, olives cheese, bread, beer, pickles, yeast products like Marmite
No smoked or sulfurized products. Dried fruits (mostly apricots), smoked salmon or eel, salted meats, smoked meats such as ham or most sausages contain preservatives and often re sulphured for preservation
Eggs: only after consultation with the therapist
Sugar: if possible, do not eat any sweets. Never use agave syrup, reduce cooked fruit. If you crave sweet taste then have some raisins soaked in water, dates or figs.
Milk: if you can digest milk well, then boil it with spices and have not more than one cup in the evening, max .150ml with spices such as saffron, nutmeg, ginger, cardamom, cinnamon
Dairy products: boiled milk- yes, cream, cream cheese, butter. A definite NO to other dairy products like cheese, yogurt, buttermilk etc.
GHEE YES!
No nightshades: tomatoes, peppers, eggplants. Potatoes in small quantities
Food: only warm, cooked food.
Food example for a day:
Breakfast: cooked fruit / cereal / cooked muesli / stewed porridge or vegetables with chapati or rice, millet, buckwheat. Best to change around and see what feels good. Lentils in the morning could be a problem for Vata people and those who suffer from lactose intolerance.
Lunch and evening:
cooked or steamed vegetables / cooked meat or fish / vegetable soups /bone broth/ rice, quinoa, millet, corn, pasta, bulgur, couscous etc. with vegetable sauce, pesto (without parmiggianoJ) oil or ghee with fresh organic herbs. If you digest lentils well lentils have: kidjeree. People who have a genetic lactose intolerance often cannot digest lentils. They suffer from Vata symptoms.
Any animal protein should be discussed with your doctor as some fish have a reasonable amount of histamine (Pitta)(salmon is high in histamine, smoked fish in general)
• Sport and movement: exercise gently, best for you are flowing breathing exercises, but without any effort or physical strain. No intense yoga practise- just light and gentle Asana practise without sweating or being physically stressed. Do not do any work out until you a sweat. So: no sex! i am serious.
• Emotions: avoid stress and tension. Postpone conflict resolution to the time after the cure.
General Information on Ama
Unsuitable food combinations: AMA-producing combinations
Milk with egg (for example in pancakes)
• Milk with fruit (for example in cereal), milkshake, fruit cake
• yoghurt, cottage cheese or cream cheese with fruit (for example in fruit yoghurt or in quark dishes), the same rule is for plant based yoghurt as it is the combination of dairy with sour
• fish / meat with milk (carbonara)
• fish / meat with eggs
• Tomatoes with cheese (example: tomato with mozzarella)
. Fruit in combination with Carbs or protein, with other meals
in General Inappropriate Food Rhythms and Products (Ama Producing ):
• Eating larger amounts between main meals, snacking before the previous food has been digested
• Eating fruit directly after lunch or dinner. So: no fruit for dessert! Fruit is a separate meal
• dinner after 8pm and oily snacks before bedtime, particularly crisps, chocolate, nuts and other rich treats ( even organic food)
• Carbonated drinks at meals (fizzy drinks)
• cottage cheese or yogurts in the evening (heating your intestines)
• Salad, raw onions, garlic, soy products after 12 noon, they need a long time to be digested and are Vata and Pitta increasing.
• bread and cheese for dinner
• convenience food: frozen, canned or other ready meals or semi-prepared meals, any reheated and stored food.
General Recommendations
Allow your Agni to digest your previous food and keep at least 4 hours between meals, no snacks.
Alternative: Intermitted fasting, 8/16 (8 hours eating, 16 hours fasting)
Preferably light wok stirred vegetables, stews, roast vegetables, roast, braised vegetables in the oven, braised fish, couscous with broths etc
Kidjeree
Fresh herbs make the food look more beautiful and tempting.
Don t worry: almost all dishes are relatively quick to prepare, with good planning and good initial patience, the preparation is done usually within 30 minutes for an ordinary meal.
Cooking classes can teach you confidence and give you mouth- watering ideas and introduces you to savoury taste. There are also many courses online, on You Tube for instance.
If you want to eat out: Vietnamese restaurants are actually doing everything right (as long as they do not smuggle glutamate into the food, it's often added to the sauces.) Many Indian restaurants are not so good, as they are often reheating the food, mostly in the microwave. A very popular dish is the Indian Thali, which is generally left over food - It increases taste, but eventually will result in Ama. Ask nicely ... and insist on freshly prepared food.
Not every expensive restaurant guarantees the freshest food but a good restaurant can give precise information about the origin and preparation of its used ingredients. go for local and organic, best in season. Everything that is not in season is: either kept in cold place which is energy consuming storage and bad for the environment, harvested too early so it can ripen during it’ s CO2- unfriendly travelling and, after all, it is not in season with you.
The Italian cuisine is often good and definitely enjoyable. Pasta is not generally bad for you, unless tomatoes and cheese are added. Night shades increase pitta, cheese is full of histamine and therefore Pitta increasing, too. Don t be afraid of Gluten, after all there are very few people truly sensitive to gluten- yet the wheat is hardly eaten alone. So most of the described symptoms of people who think they are gluten-sensitive are actually coming from wrong food combinations rather from the gluten.
Korean food, Greek food, most African cuisines are excellent for your Ayurveda start, try them all out! There's more to discover, if you leave the path and look around. Do not go too crazy about Ayurveda coming from India, if Indian food has not been your general meal (and those of your family) for the last 10 years. Try to find local solutions, that is environmental sensitive and guarantees freshness.
Important:
Ayurveda food does not mean that all food should look brownish!:)
Turmeric (Haldi), coriander (Dhania), cumin (Jeera) are praised as digestive and cleansing. Do not overdose, they are spices not food. ( a pinch with the tip of a knife is a good amount)
Each spice has a medical action through its Guna, the faculties and rasa, the taste, even salt, and should therefore be used sparingly.
In our own culinary tradition, we have useful kitchen herbs that we can use instead of Indian spices and it is good to have a change - if there is no intolerance or allergy. In case of pollen allergies to early blossoming flowers and trees, like hazelnut and birch, one should limit oneself to black pepper and salt in the critical phase of late December and springtime. In our European cooking we have ordinary cumin, fennel, dill, anise, bay leaf, marjoram, oregano, mint, spearmint, lemon balm, thyme, poppy.
For more variety go for vanilla, saffron, nutmeg, rose petals, mallow leaves are other spices that make our food interesting.
The daily food should be tasty and varied.
For the lunch break, many prepare their food before they leave in the morning for work. After a few initial problems it works well, usually other employees are getting interested and start bringing their food as well- or the management orders a meal service.
Your family, your children and friends should become curious to what you are cooking, not proselytized.
If you are very curious you can read the following information, but everything for own treatment will be an individual decision on food and treatment
Fats:
It is very important to use Ghee for cooking. Ghee has a very high smoke point, so it can be heated well.
I recommend your own production of ghee, since commercial ghee is often not completely clean, and homemade ghee is also 2/3 cheaper. I recommend organic sweet-cream butter and there are often good offers on local markets of raw milk butter from high altitudes. The taste and the colour of the butter depends on the food and the area in which the cow lives as well as on the cow's race. In some case a lot of protein remains could be in the ghee which has to be carefully removed for best results. Often the milk sugar browns on the bottom of your cooking pot. Don` t worry it just adds a sweetish, caramel flavour. In summer, however, butter from the Allgäu region is very good for the production of your very best quality ghee here in Germany.
Olive oil should be carefully selected.
Italian oils are often sour and very dry. Spanish oils are often not coming in high quality, Cretan olive oil and the oil from the Greek province of Kalamata I prefer, because the soil and the temperatures produce a rich, fragrant and tasty oil.
Virgin oils, first pressing, must not be heated above 60 degrees! Best to use them after cooking.
Rapeseed oil is not recommended, despite its high smoke point, since the base is genetically modified oilseed rape.
Margarine is not recommended at all.
Try different oils as some of them carry a lot of special fatty acids, like poppy oil, coriander oil, mustard oil, almond oil, sesame oil (can be heated), borretsch oil. Contact oil mills if you are living outside the city. Mostly local markets are selling interesting regional oils.
Sweeteners:
No food feels complete without something sweet. (same is for salt). Especially for Vata patients!
Avoid plain white or brown sugar as it disturbs your balance in the body. If you crave something sweet, go for organic dates, date syrup and rice syrup which take long to be metabolised. Agave syrup is a bad sweetener because it pushes your blood sugar level even faster than white sugar. All sweets give a high and then a coming down. The same effect is happening to your blood sugar level even when you are using calorie free sweeteners. Your blood sugar level drops soon after eating and you feel hungry again or even dizzy.
Protein
We have learned that carbohydrates are good for us, and fats are bad. This sounds like a bad echo from the past. Modern nutrition has a closer look to what people all over the world are actually eating and how much our diet has changed. These days we suggest: less carbohydrates ( Kapha building foods like rice, bread, pasta) but more protein (plant sourced preferably) and definitely fat. Fat is an excellent energy supplier. Protein keeps you fit and active and if you look for plant based you won’ t get negative side effects from too much animal protein sources. You can enjoy milk, cottage cheese, almond, flax or hemp seeds, lupine, pea protein, almond flour, walnut flour, quinoa, amaranth and, if your Vata is not too high, lentils, yellow split moong beans and much more. If you do eat animals fish can be eaten moderately. Avoid salmon and shellfish though.
Alcohol
Alcohol is not forbidden in Ayurveda. However, it is suggested to know when, how, why to drink.
When: during detox treatments, of course, it is advisable to take the chance and reflect on your alcohol consumption. In case of Vata disorders it might be very helpful to have a sip of Ashvagandha Arishta before bedtime.
Signs of vata that might be: cold hands and feet, sluggishness, distracted, scattered mind, sleeplessness, waking up at early morning hours, nervousness, light headedness, constipation, slow digestion, gas
Contraindications for alcohol consumption during ama pacana:
Feeling of heat in the body, hot feet and hands, heat on the palms and centre of the chest. Irritability, lack of patience, anger, sadness, grief, loneliness.
Charaka, the great thinker and first physician in Ayurveda suggests to drink alcohol: Have a nice bath, put on your best clothes and jewellery, meet your friends for a happy evening and have one glass of alcoholic beverage.
If you prepare for ama pacana, make sure you stopped alcohol at least a couple of weeks before to optimize your liver function. As the liver builds protective fat around itself and finally replaces healthy functional liver tissue with dysfunctional fat tissues a lot of problematic metabolic waste issues might appear. For your own safety follow the instructions. As you made the decision to start ama pacana you can use this moment to rethink and evaluate decisions that you make.
After You finished the Ama Pacana treatment
the rules are the same: stick to the general suggestions from Charaka. Parties should be avoided for the first 2-3 weeks after any strict medical procedure.
If you wish to continue with a Pancha karma treatment, you can start right away after ama pacana or wait for a couple of days, but stick basically to the dietary rules and al other recommendations, although sport, yoga or any other body movement is allowed if you feel like it. some people just enjoy the deep relaxation and subtle feeling of body.
Mind you, the retreats are for your own good.
Take care of yourself and you can enjoy the benefits fully. Health is a precious good that guides the mind into a happy state.
I am sure, you find your way around it and you will become creative and thoughtful with the food that forms your body and your mind and contributes to your well- being. Food is medicine. Enjoy it.
Good mood, good company and a happy heart are the most important ingredients.
AMA PACANA, eradicate Ama
13 days of purity
In case you are recommend to take pippali churna (powdered Pippali): morning and evening dosage: please, use a fine scale!
!
Day 1 1g 1g
Day 2 2g 2g
Day 3 3g 3g
Day 4 4g 4g
Day 5 5g 5g
Day 6 5g 5g
Day 7 5g 5g
Day 8 5g 5g
Day 9 5g 5g
Day 10 4g 4g
Day 11 3g 3g
Day 12 2g 2g
Day 13 1g 1g
Suggested supplier for Germany and most of Europe: Ayurveda Handelsgesellschaft Hamburg, Mr. W. Keicher:
info@ayurveda-handel.de
How to perform the Amapacana:
- mix the amount of Pippali Churna as in the above list with forest honey and warm water into a paste and keep it in your mouth as long as possible ! (3 blinks of your eye is great as a timing)
Swallow with some hot water.
Take the mixture always before food! In rare cases of discomfort you can take it during your meals or even after.
Avoid: ( this is really, really important!)
Active sweaty exercise or sports emotional stress
- No sports or great effort (no sweating), even your regular Vinyasa flow yoga class is now off the list
- Do not get stressed or maintain a bad mood, avoid all extremes! Tell your boss, family, kids and friends that you are undergoing a treatment, therefore you are not available for their extra needs for the next 2 weeks. If their problems are still there you will definitely look after it all.
- No SEXXXXXXXXXXXXXX. Yes! I mean it.
Registration form/ AGB
Dear friend,
You are signing up for a medical procedure. Therefore, make sure, that this fits into your current abilities.
It is not advisable to interrupt or end a medical procedure so sit down, breathe, and sign when you are ready.
seeing you soon then on your road to recovery and healing and happiness.
