Banana Treatment for Ladies: Ayurvedic Detoxification and Rejuvenation
Updated: 4 days ago
Ayurvedic detoxification and rejuvenation, known as Panchakarma, is a time-honored practice rooted in ancient Indian medicine.
Ayurveda emphasizes balance between the body, mind, and spirit.
Over time, toxins (ama) accumulate in the body due to poor diet, stress, and environmental factors, leading to imbalance and disease.
Ayurvedic detoxification aims to cleanse these impurities, restoring harmony and vitality.
Panchakarma, Ayurveda’s primary detoxification method, consists of five therapeutic procedures—Vamana (emesis), Virechana (purgation), Basti (medicated enemas), Nasya (nasal cleansing), and Raktamokshana (blood purification).
These therapies eliminate toxins, improve digestion, enhance immunity, and rejuvenate the body at a cellular level.
While I have received this more commonly known Ayurvedic detoxification practice, on my first trip to India in 2012 I discovered a lesser-known Ayurvedic detoxification and rejuvenation program.
For generations, the Raju family in Hyderabad has handed down a "Banana Treatment for Ladies" that purifies and rejuvenates the female reproductive system through herbs, prayers, and rituals.
In this post:
My First Ayurvedic Detoxification and Rejuvenation with the Banana Treatment for Ladies
I had a profound experience with the Banana Treatment for Ladies when I lived in a flat in Secunderabad, India in 2012.
My Canadian friend, Aditi, told me, "You have to go to Dr. Raju's for the Banana Treatment for Ladies!"
I was a bit baffled because, in my Ayurvedic studies, I had never heard of a "Banana Treatment for Ladies" and I couldn't even imagine what it might entail.
She told me that it was a treatment that you received while menstruating to help clear toxins out of the body and rejuvenate the entire system, including the female reproductive system.
Many women receive this treatment when they are trying to conceive to clear out toxins to promote a healthy pregnancy.
Women also receive this treatment if they have difficult, painful periods or if they prematurely stopped menstruating.
It is said to have an effect similar to a 21-day Panchakarma but in only 5-7 days.
What was there to lose by trying it?
This was my first trip to India and I was game for almost anything, especially if it would bring me healing.
My flat was about 45 minutes from Dr. Raju's Ayurvedic clinic in Hyderabad, the sister city to Secunderabad, so I called to find out if I could receive the treatment.
Yes, I could receive the treatment, but I still didn't have a clue what the treatment entailed.
Rather than staying at their clinic, I decided to commute daily from my flat to receive the Banana Treatment.
Off I Go
I remember feeling a bit nervous on my first day, so Aditi accompanied me because she had been to the center before for other treatments and knew the campus.
The lady on the phone had told me that I wasn't supposed to talk for an hour and a half before I got there and then for an hour and a half after I took the Banana Treatment in order to make the effects more powerful.
So, on the first day of my period, my friend and I rode in silence to Dr. Raju's clinic.
When we arrived, we walked toward a house and waited outside with several other women waiting for the Banana Treatment.
The woman who eventually approached me with a small bowl instructed me to pray to Dhanvantari (the father of Ayurveda) and my ancestors for healing.
Then she handed me a tiny piece of banana sprinkled with herbs that were chanted over by the priests.
She instructed me to swallow the special piece of banana without chewing it.
Afterward, Aditi and I silently climbed back into the taxi to return to my flat.
The Rest of the Day
I walked up the three flights of cement stairs to my rooftop studio flat and made milk rice (just rice cooked in milk) on the single burner that sat directly on top of the small propane tank that was my only stove.
The milk rice was warm and soothing and I promptly fell dead asleep until I woke up around lunchtime to eat another serving of milk rice.
Again, I was fast asleep in the most restful sleep I had ever experienced until dinner when I woke up and ate my third serving of milk rice.
At that point, I was awake enough to walk over to Aditi's flat to say hello and tell her about my experience.
Upon returning to my flat I fell asleep and slept soundly through the night.
This went on in the same way for five days.
Each day, early in the morning, I rolled up to the center in a taxi to get my little piece of banana sprinkled with herbs and chanted over by the priests.
Then I would return to my flat, cook milk rice, eat it, and fall fast asleep until the next meal.
There was no way for me to not sleep during those days and it was the deepest, most beneficial sleep I have ever encountered.
I felt nourished and cared for in a way that I'm not sure I have ever experienced, just from that small piece of banana sprinkled with herbs and chanted over by priests.
At the time, I was also studying Pranic Healing and Jyotish (Vedic Astrology) while living in Secunderabad and the combination of the three experiences created the most profound physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual shift in my life.
I believe this Banana Treatment for Ladies plus the additional three 21-day Panchakarma Treatments I received over the past 13 years have had a direct effect on the ease of my transition through perimenopause and menopause.
My Most Recent Banana Treatment for Ladies: Ayurvedic Detoxification and Rejuvenation
Let's fast forward to January of 2025 when I had been dealing with some health issues for two years that I had been trying to figure out.
In the years since my first Banana Treatment, I have received three 21- or 28-day Panchakarma experiences that involved drinking copious amounts of ghee and then doing one of the actions (mentioned above in the introduction to this post) to clear out toxins and excess doshas along with the ghee.
I was already feeling depleted before I arrived in India and I didn't feel strong enough to go through that on this trip because it can be a bit depleting and exhausting.
Don't get me wrong, Panchakarma is great.
It's a wonderful process and, in my experience, it absolutely helps to clear the doshas and toxins out of the body.
But I felt I needed something more nourishing and the Banana Treatment for Ladies that I had experienced so many years ago popped into my head.
I decided to contact Dr. Raju and see if it would be possible for me to come just for the Banana Treatment as a postmenopausal woman and not for a full Panchakarma.
They were very accommodating and I made a plan to travel to India at the end of January to re-experience this treatment at a different time in my life.
Off for My Second Banana Treatment for Ladies
When I met with the doctor on my first day he checked my pulse and told me what he thought was wrong with me, just from the pulse and no other conversation.
He suggested that while I was there and doing the Banana Treatment for ladies, I could also receive Panchakarma treatments, although not the Snehapana (ghee drinking) or Virechana (purgation).
Again, what did I have to lose?
I'm so glad I did it because it was the most decadent series of treatments that I have ever received.
The mornings started with visiting the doctor who checked my pulse every morning to see how I was progressing.
An hour later, I would have the first treatment in my long list of decadent treatments for the day.
The Treatments
Foot Soak and Head Massage
One "technician" sat me in a chair and put a basin of hot water on the floor for a foot soak while she gave me a deep, indulgent head massage with warm oil.
Abhyanga
After moving to the table, two "technicians" gave me Abhyanga--hot, herb-infused oil specific to the individual applied all over the body and rubbed into the skin in deep rhythmic strokes.
Unlike the way that we typically think of massage in the West (focusing on individual muscles), the focus of Abhyanga is to get the herb-infused oil to penetrate into all of the tissues to nourish them and remove toxins.
This treatment opens the channels of the body, while it relaxes and strengthens the entire body.
The two "technicians" who worked on me were excellent as they were in sync during the entire treatment, which is difficult to do (trust me, I know from experience).
Patra Potli
Immediately after this came Patra Potli, hot herbal boluses used to pound my body to continue to open up the channels and flush out deeper toxins.
It helps move stagnation in the lymph or anywhere in the body while removing pain and stiffness.
External Basti
Immediately after that treatment, I was given what's called external basti.
Reservoirs made of dough were filled with warm oil to allow it to penetrate deep into the tissues.
One was applied to each of my knees, my navel, and my heart center.
Yoni Picchu
Yes, the treatments kept coming.
Yoni Picchu involves a small cloth soaked with a special herb-infused oil being inserted into the vagina (I did this myself after the cloth was handed to me).
This treatment is excellent for women who are postmenopausal to keep the vagina from being overly dry and to prevent atrophy.
With the Yoni Picchu in place, I received the next treatment,
Takradhara
Takradhara is a treatment similar to Shirodara, but cool buttermilk is drizzled over the forehead instead of warm oil.
This treatment works on reducing emotional stressors as the buttermilk streams over the third eye point and stimulates and strengthens the hypothalamus.
It is one of the most soothing treatments I have ever experienced.
I tend to have a lot of heat in my body and my head, and it amazingly allowed the heat to just drain out of my head so I felt refreshed and cool.
Parishek Swedana
On the final two days, I had an extra treatment, Parishek Swedan.
Hot herb-infused water in stainless steel vessels is poured all over the body by two "technicians."
This treatment creates sweating so the toxins and excess doshas dislodged during the previous day's treatments will be flushed out while it also removes blockages.
Internal Basti
Every night I had an oil enema which calms Vata dosha, lubricates the body, and clears out toxins.
Ayurveda tells us that the colon is the main site of Vata dosha and by soothing the colon with oil, Vata dosha is reduced.
One day in the afternoon, they also came and gave me an enema made of milk and oil.
I have never had so many Ayurvedic detoxification and rejuvenation treatments in one day.
These treatments are all excellent for reducing Vata dosha which is the dosha that goes out of balance the easiest for all of us and is also the dosha that is most predominant in all of us from menopause (50 or 60 for men) onward.
The Diet
The food is a simple diet.
This time around, I took the Banana Treatment at 5 pm because the mornings were too busy with the doctor's consultation and the treatments.
Immediately following the Banana Treatment each evening I ate milk rice.
Because I was not having my period during the Banana Treatment, I didn't need to eat milk rice for every meal and could eat simple, non-spicy food for breakfast and lunch.
The foods varied from day to day and included idli (a South Indian steamed rice cake), upma (dry roasted semolina with spices), dal (lentils and other legumes cooked with spices), chapati (flat bread), rice, buttermilk (for lunch), milk (in the early morning), and vegetables.
I loved all of the dishes they offered which are super easy for the body to digest so more attention can be given to removing toxins.
Conclusion: Ayurvedic Detoxification and Rejuvenation with the Banana Treatment for Ladies
How do I feel this time after receiving the Banana Treatment?
This time around I did not experience the sleep of the dead that I did the first time, but I did sleep well at night considering I should have been jet-lagged from my 20+ hours of travel over 10 time zones (I had some delayed flight issues).
I arrived in the middle of the night so my first day I was groggy until I received my first round of treatments and then I perked up until bedtime when I fell asleep at a normal time.
My health issues seem to be abating between the treatments and the take-home herbs that I have been religiously taking.
I had been quite exhausted and weak for the past year, but now two weeks after the Banana Treatment for Ladies and the other Ayurvedic bodywork treatments, I feel much more energetic.
I'm in the Himalayan Mountains on the Indian side right now and can climb the 100 steps up to the road twice a day without exhaustion and hike through the forest.
My legs and knees feel stronger and more flexible.
My gut, which had become quite bloated and distended with gas, has returned to normal.
Overall, my digestion has improved considerably and keeps improving daily.
This experience was exactly what I was looking for--an opportunity to clear out toxins and excess doshas in a way that was nourishing and supportive rather than stripping and depleting.
Keep a lookout for a future trip that I'll be offering to allow you to join me at this center or you can email me to let me know that you are interested in advance and I'll keep you in the loop.
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