I started doing a palliation cleanse 4 days ago as part of my assignment for my Ayurvedic training and it couldn’t have come at a more perfect time.  I’ve been thinking about doing this since my kapha dosha is out of balance along with my vata dosha.   How did I know?–weight gain, sinus congestion, drying skin, feeling a bit exhausted (fall activities will do that).  
Palliation cleanse is a gentle purification process to bring ama or toxins in my body back into my digestive system where it can be eliminated. 
So what does this look like?
I eat a very clean diet.
 Eliminate processed foods, bread, meat, sugar, soda, coffee, black tea, alcohol.
Avoid or minimize dairy, nuts, fruit, ghee, and other fats.
What I get to eat!?
Eat food with high prana-energy, freshness. 

Eat vegetables, spices, fruit, whole grains to pacify kapha and vata dosa.
Eat a mono-diet of Kitchari.  Add fresh vegetables and spices to it.  You can have warm whole grains in the morning. Kitchari is a well balanced, easily digested,  complete food which provides all the nutrients one needs so you are not depriving yourself of essential nutrients.  

Drink herbal teas to support digestion such as Cardamom, Cumin, Fennel (CCF) tea and ginger tea. 
This is not super hard as it sounds.  It was a bit tough the first 2 days without my cup of coffee in the morning but I drank Teeccino Chicory Herbal “Nocoffee” with a splash of homemade hemp milk.  An added bonus is that chicory has many beneficial properties such as being a prebiotic to help stimulate growth of healthy bacteria in my gut-good for digestion.
I felt very satiated and when I felt hungry, I ate a small portion of vata pacifying fruit such as banana, stewed sugar free apples, and persimmons in between my meals when necessary.
Meals were eaten 3-4 hours apart to allow for complete digestion. 
All day long I drank warm CCF tea and ginger tea to keep my agni-digestive enzymes working optimally to help eliminate the ama or toxins that were drawn back into my digestive system.
Time to Slow Down a Bit~
The first two days I was tired. I even had thoughts of quitting because I felt so tired.   I knew I would feel this way before I started my palliation cleanse so I made sure to clear my schedule to take time for rest.  I did indeed rest and did some gentle yoga, took a few leisurely walks, did several mediations, and decreased my time on social media and tv. 

Other Lifestyle Practices~
Other supportive lifestyle practices is setting a daily routine of getting up in the morning and doing tongue scraping-to rid of ama, abhyanga oil massage, daily meditation, eating regular scheduled meals, gentle exercise, talking with people that are supportive and giving thanks daily for all my many blessings.  
On Day 3 and  Day 4 my schedule has returned to its normal busy activities, but I feel energized!  I was fully awake in the morning and didn’t have the desire for that coffee to pep me up.  One of my goals this year is to meditate every morning, and during this cleanse, I find this to be easier.   I feel much more focused during the day and didn’t feel my usual 3pm low energy slump.  Also I have lost 2 lbs. 

I’m glad I’m sticking with it.  I have one more day to go.  I might keep going….
  
Betty’s Kitchari
(there a many recipes out there but I’m enjoying this one.  It’s a hybrid of several other recipes.  I’ve also linked some recipes items  to Banyon Botanicals, a great Ayurvedic resource,  if your looking for place to purchase them)

Rice/Bean/Vegetables:
¼ c brown basmati rice
½ cup split yellow mung dal
1 small bok choy chopped
1 med carrot diced
1 small zucchini diced
2TBS raw pumpkin seeds
4 cups of water
Place above ingredients in a medium pot and bring to a brisk boil.  Reduce heat to low and cover until rice and mung dahl has cooked completely~ about 30-40 min.
Spice Mixture:
In another pot place these ingredients in this order and simmer for 10 minutes:
1 Tbs ghee
1/4 tsp each of ground coriander, cumin, fennel, fenugreek, cardamom, cinnamon, turmeric, cloves, black pepper
1 Tbs Braggs amino acids
1 Tbs lime juice (or lemon)
½ tsp maple syrup,
1 diced scallion
¼ cup water
After Rice/Bean/Vegetable mixture and Spice mixture has finished cooking, mix together.  Serve warm. 


Nutrition for 1 cup of Betty’s Palliative Kitchari Recipe:
My Teeccino Chicory Herbal “Nocoffee”