Panchakarma Detox: Ancient Healing for Modern Burnout

I’ve always been drawn to health and healing. Even in my 20s, long before fasting was trendy, I was doing 5 to 10-day fasts while most people warned me against it.
“You’ll ruin your metabolism”, they’d say. “It’s dangerous.” But I didn’t listen. Something inside me knew.

For me, fasting wasn’t about weight or willpower. It was peace.

It quieted the emotional chaos that had ruled my inner world for years. It gave me mental clarity, a lightness of being, and an unexplainable sense of inner calm. At the time, I didn’t know what I was managing was complex trauma, something no one talked about, or even knew about, back then. But those fasts became a yearly ritual. Every September, when my kids were little, I’d retreat into stillness. Anywhere from 5-10 days later, I’d emerge clear, light, joyful.

Fast forward a few decades and science has finally caught up. Fasting is now a buzzword, praised for everything from cellular regeneration to brain clarity. But for me, it was always about spiritual survival.

After I left my marriage, something shifted. I stopped fasting. Life had piled on. I was deep in menopause. I’d spent years confronting childhood trauma, navigating an emotionally toxic relationship, and holding steady through the intensity of my child’s chronic illness and 18 months of hospital visits. My adrenals were shot. Cortisol ruled my system, and the fasts I once found healing became too much.

But I missed that clarity. I longed for the upliftment it gave me, the sense of reunion with myself.

That longing led me to explore other methods of cleansing that didn’t involve total fasting. Around 2016 or 2017, I stumbled across something that would change everything: kitchari – an Ayurvedic dish made from rice, split mung beans, and spices. It’s known by many names, khichdi, khichuri, kisuri, and in every version, it’s healing.

Due to the mix of rice and split peas it is a complete protein. Easy to digest. Nourishing. My teenage kids loved it, too, amazed they felt full and satisfied without meat (and as a mum – thank god lol!). That discovery opened the door to Ayurveda for me, and soon after, I discovered and began reading about Panchakarma.

At the time, few places offered it, and it wasn’t something you could casually try at home. It required travel, investment, and trust. I was intrigued but hesitant so I shelved the idea for a while – years, in fact. Then came COVID, and plans of any kind were put on hold.

Until this year. I was faced with a choice – go to my dear friend’s 60th birthday in the Greek Islands or finally do what I’d dreamed about for so long: a Panchakarma detox. I couldn’t do both. Luckily, my friend is also celebrating back in Melbourne, so as it turns out I do get to do both.

That decision was more than logistics – it was a recommitment to my own healing and a need to rebalance after the last 5 years of crazy.

As I often tell my clients: you can’t heal emotionally if you’re unwell physically. You can’t restore your nervous system if your body is toxic or depleted. We are holistic beings. Our biology and biography are intertwined. I learned that early in my recovery, and every time I’ve strayed from movement, nutrition, and ritual, I’ve felt it. Deeply.

Now, with all we know from polyvagal theory and somatic healing, this connection is undeniable.
However, it’s not just emotional or physical trauma that creates imbalance. Our environment plays a massive role too. Toxins in our food, chemicals in our air, overstimulation from tech, noise, news, it all accumulates. Panchakarma addresses that. It works on all layers.