Practices and procedures
43 Ayurvedic procedures, from tongue scraping to pañcakarma, each with what it is, where it comes from in the classical literature, and who may perform it. Grouped by that last question, because it is the one that decides whether a page is instructions or an explanation.
The rest of this reference describes substances. This section describes what is done with them. Every classical citation on these pages was checked against a published translation where that was possible; 22 of 43 are confirmed, and the rest say so on the page rather than implying a certainty they do not have.
Practices you can do yourself 6
Daily-regimen practices described so a person can follow them, with the cautions that go with each.
- Jihva Nirlekhana (Tongue Scraping)
Jihvā-nirlekhana is tongue scraping, part of the classical Ayurvedic morning routine. Caraka's daily-regimen chapter describes a curved scraper withou…
- Kavala and Gandusha (Ayurvedic Oil Pulling)
Kavala and gaṇḍūṣa are two mouth-holding practices from the daily regimen. Warm oil is taken into the mouth and either swished (kavala) or held still …
- Medhya Rasayana
Medhya-rasāyana is the group of rasāyana dravyas Caraka names for medhā, intellect. Caraka Cikitsāsthāna 1.3 lists four: maṇḍūkaparṇī juice, yaṣṭīmadh…
- Mukha Lepa (Ayurvedic Facial Paste)
Mukha-lepa is the application of a herbal paste to the face, left on and then washed off. Vāgbhaṭa's Gaṇḍūṣādi-vidhi chapter describes three kinds, th…
- Mukhabhyanga (Facial Oil Massage)
Mukhābhyaṅga is oil massage of the face: warm taila worked in with upward circular strokes for five to ten minutes. The record names Kumkumādi and Can…
- Pada Prakshalana (Foot Bathing)
Pāda-prakṣālana is washing or soaking the feet, placed in the evening routine before sleep: ten to fifteen minutes in warm water with saindhava lavaṇa…
Given by a trained therapist 20
Clinic procedures, described so you know what a session involves and what to ask before booking.
- Bāṣpa Sveda (Steam-Box Sudation)
Bāṣpa Sveda is steam sudation given in a chamber, with the person seated inside and the head kept outside it. The source record describes twenty to th…
- Choorṇa-Piṇḍa-Sveda (Powder-Bolus Sudation)
Choorṇa-Piṇḍa-Sveda is bolus sudation using pouches of herbal powder. The source record describes Triphalā or Kola-kulattha cūrṇa applied dry and work…
- Grīvā Basti (Cervical Oil Pool)
Grīvā Basti is a localised oil-retention treatment over the neck. A ring of dough is built on the cervical region with the person lying face down, war…
- Hṛdaya Basti (Chest Oil Pool)
Hṛdaya Basti is a localised oil-retention treatment over the chest. A dough ring is built over the precordial area, warm medicated taila is pooled ins…
- Jambīra-Piṇḍa-Sveda (Lemon-Bolus Sudation)
Jambīra-Piṇḍa-Sveda is a warm-bolus sudation made from lemon halves sautéed with rock salt and spices, then applied to the affected area. It belongs t…
- Jānu Basti (Localized Knee Oil Pool)
Jānu Basti is an external procedure in which a ring of dough is built around the knee and warm medicated oil is pooled inside it and held there for ab…
- Kaṭi Basti (Localized Lumbar Oil Pool)
Kaṭi Basti is an external procedure for the lower back. A ring of black-gram-flour dough is placed on the lumbar region, warm medicated oil is pooled …
- Marma-Cikitsā (Marma-Point Therapy)
Marma-Cikitsā is hands-on stimulation of marma points, the 107 vital sites enumerated by Suśruta. The record describes acupressure-style pressure appl…
- Mātrā Basti (Small-Dose Oil Enema)
Mātrā Basti is a small-dose oil enema. The record gives 30 to 60 ml of warm medicated oil, given by a therapist or, once taught, self-administered. Ca…
- Mukha-Abhyaṅga (Therapeutic Facial Massage)
Mukha-Abhyaṅga is massage of the face with warm medicated oil. The record describes a twenty to thirty minute session combining warm taila with work o…
- Nāḍī Sveda (Tube-Directed Steam)
Nāḍī sveda is localised steam fomentation: vapour from a herbal decoction is carried through an insulated tube and directed at one part of the body. T…
- Navara-kizhi (Rice-Bolus Fomentation)
Navara-kizhi is a Kerala bolus fomentation. The record describes ṣaṣṭika-śāli rice cooked in milk with bala decoction, tied into muslin boluses, dippe…
- Patra-Piṇḍa Sveda (Leaf-Bolus Fomentation)
Patra-piṇḍa sveda is leaf-bolus fomentation. The record describes boluses of nirguṇḍī, eraṇḍa and citrus cooked in oil and applied warm in strokes. It…
- Patra-Piṇḍa-Sveda, Kerala Specialty Form
A Kerala form of leaf-bolus fomentation. The record describes boluses of nirguṇḍī, eraṇḍa, citrus and tāmra cooked in oil, then applied warm in rhythm…
- Pizhichil (Warm Oil-Stream Bath)
In pizhichil a person lies on a wooden droṇī table while warm medicated taila is streamed continuously over the body from cloths wrung out by therapis…
- Śirodhārā
Śirodhārā is a Kerala procedure in which a warm liquid, usually a medicated oil but sometimes buttermilk or milk, is poured in a continuous stream ont…
- Svedana (Sudation Therapy)
Svedana is Ayurvedic sudation: controlled therapeutic sweating, usually given after oleation and before the main purification procedures. A trained th…
- Talam (Medicated Head Paste)
Talam is a Kerala external therapy in which a therapist applies a medicated paste to the crown of the head and leaves it in place for thirty to forty-…
- Talapodichil (Head Pack)
Talapodichil is an external procedure in which a medicated paste is applied as a cap over the head and retained for thirty to sixty minutes. The name …
- Vātātapika Rasāyana
Vātātapika rasāyana is the outdoor mode of rejuvenation therapy. Caraka contrasts it with kuṭīpraveśika, where the person stays confined to a cottage;…
Requiring a qualified vaidya 17
Clinical procedures described so you understand what they are and why they need supervision. Not instructions.
- Agnikarma
Agnikarma is therapeutic cautery: a heated metal implement applied briefly to marked points on the body, leaving a deliberate burn that is then dresse…
- Akṣitarpaṇa
Akṣitarpaṇa is an eye procedure: a ring of dough is built around the closed eye and warm medicated ghee is pooled inside it while the person blinks. A…
- Anuvāsana-Niruha-Krama
This is the sequencing rule for a course of basti: the oil enema and the decoction enema given on alternating days, repeated to make a course of fixed…
- Asthi-rasāyana
Asthi-rasāyana is a rasāyana regimen directed at asthi dhātu, bone tissue, built in this record around a guggulu formulation, mineral piṣṭis, and milk…
- Bidalaka
Bidalaka is a medicated paste spread over the closed eyelid, one of the netra kriyākalpa procedures of Ayurvedic ophthalmology. The source record desc…
- Brahma-rasāyana
Brahma-rasāyana is a classical rasāyana preparation set out in Caraka's Cikitsā-sthāna 1.1, verses 41 to 57, where two forms of it are given. Caraka's…
- Karṇa-bali
Karṇa-bali appears in the source record as a brief cautery applied to points on the ear. The record gives a single line, no materials and no indicatio…
- Kṣārakarma (Therapeutic Alkali Application)
Kṣārakarma is the clinical application of kṣāra, a caustic alkali made from plant ash, to tissue; in fistula-in-ano it takes the form of a medicated t…
- Kuṭīpraveśika Rasāyana
Kuṭīpraveśika rasāyana is the intensive residential form of Ayurvedic rejuvenation therapy. After full śodhana the person moves into a purpose-built h…
- Kuṭīpraveśika Vājīkaraṇa
Kuṭīpraveśika vājīkaraṇa is the source record's name for a residential vājīkaraṇa course: śodhana first, then a live-in regimen with daily preparation…
- Nasya (Nasal Medication)
Nasya is the pañcakarma procedure in which warm medicated oil is instilled into the nostrils after the face and neck have been oiled and steamed. Cara…
- Netra-tarpaṇa (Eye Oleation Pool)
Netra-tarpaṇa pools warm medicated ghṛta over the closed eye inside a ring of dough, the person opening and closing the eyes while it sits, for around…
- Niruha Basti (Decoction Enema)
Niruha basti is the cleansing decoction enema of pañcakarma: a compounded mixture of kvātha, saindhava, madhu, sneha and kalka, given rectally and exp…
- Pratisarana (Eyelid Medicated Rubbing)
Pratisarana is the brief rubbing of a medicated paste along the eyelid margin, one of the local eye procedures of Ayurvedic śālākya. The source record…
- Sarvāṅga Vamana
Sarvāṅga Vamana is the record's name for generalized therapeutic emesis, a pañcakarma śodhana procedure. It is classed vaidya-only: several days of in…
- Snehapāna
Snehapāna is internal oleation: measured daily doses of medicated ghṛta or taila taken on an empty stomach, escalated until defined signs of saturatio…
- Tīkṣṇa Nasya
Tīkṣṇa Nasya is nasal administration of a strong, cleansing preparation rather than a gentle oil instillation. Caraka's Siddhi Sthāna 9 describes nasy…