Last month I focused on the cleansing of the 5 senses and its effects. This week I’ll look at another aspect of intestinal cleansing, which in Sanskrit is called khavaigunya, otherwise referred to as a person’s weak link.
In a nutshell…the human body is made up of groups of specialized cells, which come together to form different structures in the body. Liver cells form the liver, bone cells form bones, etc. Cells are formed from the essences of the foods we eat. Basically, mastication (chewing) stimulates digestive juices that flood the mouth and stomach. From that point, foods are continually broken down until the foods are turned into juices that flow from the small intestine to the colon. These nutrient-rich juices are assimilated back into the system where tissue creation begins. The excess of foodstuffs is then eliminated by the body, hopefully.
As you can imagine, this process can run into any number of snags. Let’s start at the beginning. If someone is not chewing their food properly, then they will be relying more on the liver to produce the appropriate amount and quality bile to help breakdown foods. If the liver is not functioning optimally, foods will not be broken down sufficiently, and our digestion and assimilation will suffer. As discussed recently, accumulation can happen once digestion is bogged down. This can have a detrimental outcome because of its effect on one’s digestive fire. Digestive fire is referred to as Agni. According to Ayurveda, when our Agni is altered, disease has the opportunity to ensue. When digestive fire is insufficient, food is under-processed and certain nutrients and qualities are missed. If the fire is too high, your food juices are overcooked with a similar outcome. Inappropriate digestive fire creates substandard tissues and recognizable conditions, such as constipation or loose bowels, respectively, for example.
Disease has a process. It does not begin when our symptom(s) arises. Disease begins when our weak link has progressed to a point of cellular deterioration, which leads to cellular failure. According to Ayurveda, there are 6 stages to disease:
- accumulation
- aggravation
- dissemination
- localization
- manifestation
- diversification
It is during dissemination that pre-symptoms begin showing, and during localization that the disease finds its weak link to create a home. The manifestation stage is typically where Western medicine acknowledges and identifies a disease and gives its diagnosis.
It's important to recognize the three major areas of the body that are involved in the disease process:
- The digestive system (origin of disease)
- The circulatory system (site of dissemination or spreading)
- the localization site (the body’s weak link).
The cleansing process is an opportunity to reset the quality of cells produced by the body. What we put into our body determines the outcome. Eating easily digestible foods for an extended period of time while removing complex, processed foods allow for the digestive system to flush itself while we feed the body excellent building blocks for new tissues.
Certified organic food assures us that precautions were taken to ensure the highest quality of care in its production. Small production and local farming have the potential to give the same assurances.
There is a saying, “you get what you give." Give your body subpar food, and you will get subpar cells.
Please see our ad in this issue of the Artful Mind and refer to our column in previous issues for more information on cleansing.
Be well and heal thyself!
Terrel Broussard
Ayurvedic Practitioner, Herbalist, Bodyworker
413-329-5440