Clean Up Ayurvedic Tips for Reducing Your Toxic Burden - Carrie Demers, MD and Shannon Sexton

Our bodies are threatened with toxic overload. Rising cancer rates, together with the disheartening discovery that even breast milk is laced with dioxin and other chemical contaminants, are only two of hundreds of startling reminders that environmental pollution is taking its toll. Now more than ever, we need to support our body’s natural capacity for self-healing. Ayurveda is a good place to start.

For thousands of years this ancient "science of longevity" has championed cleansing as a way to eliminate toxins, bolster immunity, and revitalize our body, breath, and mind. Ayurveda has a name for the toxins in our bodies: The Sanskrit term ama, meaning "undigested residue." Described in ayurvedic texts as cold, heavy, wet, and sticky, ama develops from external toxins—chemicals in our air, water, and food—and from internal toxins generated by poorly assimilated food. Mental and emotional indigestion can also generate ama.

© "Yoga International" (March, 2003) published by Himalayan International Institute, Rural Route 1, Box 1130, Honesdale, Pennsylvania 18431. Website: yimag.org. Reprinted with permission