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| Ayurveda, &
Multiple Sclerosis |
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How
can Ayurveda Retreat help with Multiple Sclerosis?
 The Ayurveda Retreat multiple sclerosis program is conducted under the supervision of our Ayurvedic Consultant and draws on knowledge from Ayurveda, the world's oldest and most complete system of natural health care.
Through its unique assessment of causal imbalances at the basis of a condition and its wide range of time-tested recommendations, Ayurveda provides the most comprehensive natural approach for multiple sclerosis available today.
Understanding the Root Causes of Multiple Sclerosis
While modern medicine understands that the disease is a slow progression of patches of demyelination in the brain and spinal chord, it is less clear as to what triggers this process in the first place. From the Ayurvedic perspective the following types of imbalances play a major role in MS and need to be reversed.
1) Imbalance and deterioration of nervous system strength and stability
This is seen most clearly in the physical demyelination of nerve membranes and the many symptoms of decreased nervous system function that accompany MS. According to Ayurvedic theory, the functioning mode in the body called Vata controls the overall level of balance and activation of the nervous system. MS is a classic Vata imbalance from this perspective. Vata imbalance is responsible for many conditions and symptoms some of which are often associated with MS.
• insomnia
• pain
• headaches
• constipation
• anxiety, worry and fear
• fatigue
• dry or rough skin
• poor digestion
• underweight
• heightened sensitivity
Because Vata is the principle most often disturbed in people there are many Ayurvedic recommendations to help restore balance to Vata and aid in the natural healing process.
2) The build-up of toxins and impurities in tissues
The build-up of plaques around affected nerves with accompanying inflammation that is seen in MS is a classic example of impurities accumulating in tissues and disrupting delicate tissue biochemistry. Cleansing the tissues of impurities and preventing the impurities from being created in the first place, through improvements in digestion and metabolism, is a fundamental approach of Ayurveda for MS.
3) Reduction of immune response and overall healing and resistance ability of the body.
Modern medical theories postulate infection by a latent virus as a possible cause of MS and often use immune function enhancing therapy to strengthening the body's natural immune response. This matches well with the main techniques of Ayurveda that aim at preventing and treating disease through enlivening the natural healing ability of the body.
4) Accumulation of physical and mental stress.
MS fluctuates between remissions and relapses throughout its course. Experiences of high mental and physical stress often are associated with a relapse of the condition and worsening of symptoms. An important component of the Ayurvedic approach to managing MS includes stress reduction therapies. Ayurveda Retreat programs aid in reversing the body's response to stress.
A Natural Treatment Approach to Multiple Sclerosis
The following section describes the classic Ayurvedic approaches used at Ayurveda Retreat to reduce Vata imbalance, eliminate toxin build-up, enliven the healing ability of the body and manage stress.
a) Herbalised Oil Massage:
Our Ayurvedic Consultant will choose a specific herbalised oil best suited for your condition.
Herbalised oil massage provides a deeply soothing and balancing effect to the entire nervous system. The motion of massage creates heat and friction which enhance circulation and help cleanse the areas of chemical impurities that could be causing symptoms of multiple sclerosis. The oil and herbs cleanse and nourish the tissues thereby hastening tissue development and repair.
The various herbs that have been boiled into a base oil, and the oil itself, are specifically chosen for their Vata balancing influence. The oil allows the herbs to deeply penetrate the tissue beds, thereby balancing the nerve and other tissues in the affected areas.
b) Diet, Nutrition and Digestion
Multiple Sclerosis can be aggravated through improper diet. For example, some foods can make Vata highly active, thereby worsening many of the symptoms of multiple sclerosis.
Our Ayurvedic Consultant will help you understand which foods are the most clogging and obstructing to circulation and which are the hardest to digest. These foods have the potential to create toxins that create the inflammation that leads to nerve sheath demyelination.
You will learn also which foods you can digest easily thereby creating the micronutrients that can be assimilated into the tissues for rebuilding their strength and balance. Our Ayurvedic Consultant will provide programs to improve digestion, an important prerequisite for overcoming multiple sclerosis.
Ayurveda Retreat cooking classes provide knowledge of how to prepare foods in ways that create maximum nourishment for the body while simultaneously preventing incomplete digestion and clogged circulation.
In summary, improper nutrition can create and aggravate multiple sclerosis, but proper nutrition can go a long way towards curing and preventing it.
c) Stress Management and Improved Mental and Emotional Function
Many individuals experience a worsening of multiple sclerosis symptoms brought about by heightened stress, anxiety and mental fatigue. This is due to hormonal changes and other biochemical responses to stress that can aggravate the nervous system, create pain and depress the immune response. The sleep disturbance often created by symptoms of chronic disorders increase fatigue, which in turn increases one's susceptibility to stress, which in turn aggravates the multiple sclerosis condition.
A downward spiral is created.
You have the option of learning how to meditate. Meditation has a wealth of scientific research verifying its effect on reducing many of the mental and stress factors influencing multiple sclerosis. Research shows it creates virtually the opposite physiological response to stress and helps the body recover more quickly from stressful stimuli.
d) Lifestyle and Daily Routine
One of the most important factors for balancing Vata and maintaining stability in the nervous system is to have a lifestyle that does not disturb natural bodily rhythms. When we eat, sleep and exercise in constantly fluctuating and disturbing patterns, the body loses its natural balancing cycles and cannot cleanse or heal itself as effectively. Improper lifestyle aggravates the Vata imbalance at the basis of multiple sclerosis and disrupts the body's natural cleansing cycles.
Our Ayurvedic Consultant will review your daily routine and provide the information you need to help create a daily schedule for increasing balance in your nervous system and aid in healing your body.
e) Ayurvedic Herbs and Reduction in Free Radicals
During your consultation, our Ayurvedic Consultant select the appropriate herbal formulas for aiding the healing process, strengthening digestion and helping the body purify itself of toxins, including free radicals.
Free radicals are highly irritating to the physiology and their presence creates and worsens many disorders, including multiple sclerosis. When appropriate, our Ayurvedic Consultant can recommend herbs that contain powerful anti-oxidants and free radical scavengers. These herbs also have a holistic influence of balancing and nourishing the entire physiology.
f) Cleansing therapies: Rejuvenation Therapy
Our Ayurvedic Consultant may recommend a full-scale cleansing program (Panchkarma) which may require daily visits for a period of 7-14 days. Your daily three-hour treatment program of massage, application of herbalised preparations and mild internal cleansing is the cornerstone of your at Ayurveda Retreat. The combination of these three treatments creates the ideal internal physical environment for healing.
g) Exercise and Flexibility Education
Ayurveda considers proper stretching and flexibility exercises to have a positive effect on the body's healing response. We offer Yoga classes every day and teach you a simple but profound set of postures that you can practice daily to create a healthy flexibility throughout the body. We also instruct you in individualised Yoga breathing practices that create a state of restful alertness in mind and body.
Summary
Ayurveda can help with the symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis. The
Ayurveda Retreat program provides the most comprehensive approach
in natural health care to remove the imbalances at the basis
of multiple sclerosis.
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Opening hours : Monday – Friday 9.00am – 8.00pm | Saturday 9.00am – 6.00pm | Sunday 10.30am – 4.30pm.
32 Friar Street, Reading, RG1 1DX, England. Email: info@ayurveda-retreat.co.uk |
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