Ayurvedic Fibromyalgia Program

The Raj Fibromyalgia Program, based on the science of Maharishi Ayurveda, provides the most comprehensive and natural approach to fibromyalgia available today, both in terms of identifying causes and in providing treatment.

Fibromyalgia is a chronic condition associated with the experience of non-inflammatory pain in the muscles, ligaments and joints. It is created by a variety of influences and therefore responds well to the multi-modality approach of Ayurveda.

A foundational cause of fibromyalgia is the buildup of toxins in the body. One of the first effects of toxin accumulation is on the nerve tissue. If toxins continually aggravate the nerve tissue, the result can be symptoms of tenderness, pain and hypersensitivity to stimulation. The Fibromyalgia Program at The Raj addresses three factors: the buildup of toxins and impurities, an imbalance of the nervous system caused by Vata dosha, and stress, which is known to trigger symptoms of fibromyalgia.

At the heart of your program at The Raj are the Ayurvedic detoxification treatments, known as Panchakarma. These powerful yet luxurious treatments help cleanse the body, and open the channels of circulation. They are highly effective in balancing Vata dosha.

Yoga classes and optional classes in meditation support the body’s ability to recover from stress and are an integral part of your fibromyalgia program. In addition, our health experts will design an individualized home program utilizing a variety of time-tested dietary, herbal and lifestyle recommendations to help you continue in balanced health.

With So Many Options, Why Choose The Raj?

Our goal is to help you progress toward balanced health during your stay and to give you the knowledge and tools you need to enjoy continued improvement when you return home.
  • Individualized Programs – Fibromyalgia

    During your stay, our Ayurveda Health Experts will design an individualized Fibromyalgia Treatment program for you, You will leave with specialized recommendations to allow you to continue your progress at home.

  • Boutique Experience – Fibromyalgia

    The Raj offers the highest quality of individualized treatments and nurturing care. Because stress and diet influence fibromyalgia conditions, your restful in-residence experience supports healing.

AS FEATURED IN

“After two days of panchakarma plus daily yoga, I felt I'd entered the uncharted zones beyond relaxation—and could easily get used to the feeling.”

“One of the seven recommended Ayurveda Health Centers in the U.S.A.”

"The Raj is truly a place to regain a radiant state of health, spiritual well-being, and youthfulness."

"One of the four recommended silent/meditative retreats."

"The center is both an enlightening and a therapeutic experience for those who are seeking a better understanding of their body and metabolism."

"By my second day, I began to notice that tension and imbalance seemed to be lifted from my body. I felt renewed, refreshed, with a clearer peace of mind, and it was like nothing I've felt before."

"One of the top seven destination spas capable of customizing an intimate, personalized spa experience that meets individual health goals."

Frequently Asked Questions

Many disorders can occur when toxins build up in tissues. As mentioned above, of the first influences toxin accumulation has is on the nerve tissue. If toxins continually aggravate the nerve tissue the result can be symptoms of tenderness, pain and hypersensitivity to stimulation.

Toxins can also block the channels of circulation to affected areas, thus diminishing the natural cleansing processes of the body and allowing more impurities to accumulate in the tissues.
The Ayurveda purification treatments received during your Fibromyalgia program address the need to cleanse the body and open the channels of circulation by providing the most thorough internal cleansing programs available in Ayurveda medicine. In fact, research has shown that these treatments remove a class of toxins (fat-soluble toxins) that no other purification treatments can remove.

Balancing the doshas is an important step because an aggravation of Vata dosha, the organizing principle for the nervous system, is often involved in the development of fibromyalgia. Vata imbalances are associated with pain and sensitivity. Anything that aggravates, or overly activates Vata, will increase the sensitivity and experience of pain in the body. Fibromyalgia is perceived as a classic example of Vata imbalance. Therefore, an important component in treating fibromyalgia pain is to balance and stabilize Vata.

During an in-residence stay for arthritis, our Ayurveda experts will use the technique Pulse Assessment and other Ayurvedic evaluation tools to determine balance and imbalance in your body’s inner intelligence.

This assessment is not an evaluation of the state of cells and tissues but an evaluation of a deeper level of physiological functioning that controls the healing and self-repair mechanisms of the body. Disruptions on this level are the root cause of disorder.

People can have arthritis for different reasons and need different programs to heal the condition. Our Ayurvedic experts will not be just matching treatments to the condition of arthritis, but will individualize the program to the specific imbalances that are causing your arthritis condition. This is the value of the initial Ayurveda assessment of your state of balance and imbalance at the start of your program.

For a more detailed overview of your in-residence program at The Raj, click here

The classic Ayurveda approaches used at The Raj help remove the root causes of arthritis by eliminating toxic buildup, improve metabolism, reducing Vata imbalance and providing relief from stress. These approaches include:

a) In-Residence Cleansing Treatments
The classic Panchakarma treatments are the most important and powerful feature of your Maharishi Ayurveda program for fibromyalgia.

The daily three-hour treatment program of massage, heat treatment, and mild internal cleansing, is the cornerstone of your in-residence stay at The Raj. The combination of these three treatments received every day (for 5 to 21 days) creates the ideal internal environment for healing joint inflammation.

b) Herbalized Oil Massage
Our Ayurveda experts will choose specific herbalized oil that is individually prepared for your condition. You will also be instructed in the technique of Ayurveda massage, which includes using specific strokes over joints, ligaments, muscles, and different parts of the body.

The motion of massage creates heat and friction that enhance circulation and help cleanse the areas of chemical impurities that could be aggravating and hypersensitizing nerve and joint tissues. The various herbs that have been boiled into a base-oil, and the oil itself, are specifically chosen for their Vata balancing influence. The oil allows the herbs to deeply penetrate the tissue beds, thereby balancing tissues in the affected areas.

c) Ayurveda Herbs for Balance and the Reduction of Free Radicals
During your consultation, The Raj Ayurveda Ayurveda experts will select the appropriate herbal formulas for aiding the healing process, strengthening digestion, and helping the body purify itself of toxins and free radicals.

Free radicals are highly irritating to the physiology and their presence creates and worsens many disorders, including fibromyalgia. When appropriate, our Ayurveda experts recommend Ayurveda herbs that research has shown to be powerful anti-oxidants (1000 times more powerful than vitamin C or E) and free radical scavengers. These herbs can also have a holistic influence of balancing and nourishing the entire physiology.

Traditional Ayurveda theory says that herbs are most effective after a person completes an internal cleansing program. The cleansing and rejuvenation treatments that you will receive daily are the main focus of your in-residence stay. Once this program is finished, you are ready to gain maximum benefits from your herbal program.

Stretching exercise is known to have a positive effect on fibromyalgia. During your in-residence stay at The Raj, we offer Yoga classes every day to give you a simple but profound set of postures that can be practiced daily to create a healthy flexibility throughout the body. We also instruct you in individualized Yoga breathing practices that create a state of restful alertness in mind and body.

Our in-residence courses give you knowledge you can continue to apply after you leave The Raj to maintain your progress in alleviating the symptoms of fibromyalgia.

Fibromyalgia can be triggered by, and aggravated through, improper diet. Some foods can make Vata highly active, thereby increasing sensitivity to pain and aggravating fibromyalgia symptoms.
Consultations with The Raj Ayurveda experts, along with daily educational meetings, will help you understand which foods may obstruct circulation and create digestive issues. These foods have the potential to create toxins and need to be avoided. You will also learn which foods are most easily digested, thus creating micronutrients that can be assimilated into the tissues, rebuilding strength and balance. 

As important as what you eat is how well you digest, metabolize, and eliminate food. The Raj Fibromyalgia Treatment Program helps to improve digestion, metabolism and elimination, which will build a strong foundation for your healing process.

The Raj cooking classes will provide you with knowledge of how to prepare foods in ways that create maximum nourishment for the body and that prevent incomplete digestion and clogging of circulation.

While improper nutrition can aggravate fibromyalgia, proper nutrition can go a long way to curing and preventing it.

Various stressors like infection, allergy and mental stress are well known to trigger fibromyalgia symptoms. Enhancing the body’s ability to recover from stress is an integral part of The Raj’s approach to health and well-being.

There are hormonal changes and other biochemical responses to stress that can aggravate the nervous system and the inflammatory response.

The sleep disturbance that is often created by fibromyalgia pain increases fatigue, which increases one’s susceptibility to stress, in turn aggravating the fibromyalgia condition (creating a downward spiral). Enhancing the body’s ability to recover from stress is an integral part of The Raj’s approach to health and well-being. We recommend practice of the Transcendental Meditation® program to remove the stress component of fibromyalgia, pain, and insomnia.

*Please refer to the link at the bottom of the page to learn more about the published articles on the effectiveness of TM practice for both pain relief and insomnia.

If you choose to learn meditation during your in-residence stay at The Raj, trained teachers of the Transcendental Meditation® program are available to instruct you. The TM technique has a wealth of scientific research verifying its effect on reducing many of the mental and stress factors influencing arthritis. Research shows it creates virtually the opposite physiological response that stress does and helps the body recover more quickly from stressful stimuli.

Practice of the TM technique twice a day is an ideal stress management program for arthritis. The TM program at The Raj gets you off to a superb start with your practice and your instructor will help connect you with the local TM program center in your home area for any follow-up that you may desire.

One of the most important factors for balancing Vata and maintaining stability in the nervous system is to have a lifestyle that does not disrupt natural bodily rhythms. When we eat, sleep, and exercise in constantly fluctuating and disturbing patterns, the body loses its natural balancing cycles and cannot cleanse or heal itself as effectively. Therefore, regularity in our daily routine can be extremely effective in reducing the Vata imbalances at the basis of fibromyalgia.

Our Ayurveda experts will review your daily routine and provide the information you need to create a daily schedule that will actually increase balance in your nervous system and aid in healing your body.

Linda Bradley, an antique dealer from Keokuk, Iowa, came to The Raj for relief from “severe fatigue, mental exhaustion and pain all over.” She had been diagnosed as having fibromyalgia. Doctors didn’t know what brought it on.

“I went to the Mayo clinic and spent $8,500 for them to tell me I had fibromyalgia and I had to learn to live with the pain.”

By March of 1998 Linda was getting worse. Her massage therapist researched alternative medicine. He decided to check out The Raj and was impressed by the depth of knowledge and professionalism he found. “He talked me into trying it.”

Linda’s friends tried to discourage her from coming. “Two friends thought I was going to be brainwashed, that I would come home and not believe in God. But I felt just the opposite. I thought that God gave me the opportunity to go.” She scheduled a seven-day package.

Linda arrived at The Raj on May 24, 1998. “I had been to spas in North Carolina and Texas, but this was totally different than what I had expected. When I arrived, Guest Services helped me in with my luggage, gave me a tour, and then I went to my room and relaxed until dinner.

“At dinner I met the other guests for the first time; some were just starting, and some had been there for several days. I heard all sorts of positive things. The next day before treatment I had an introductory lecture on the Transcendental Meditation program and decided to learn to meditate. It turned out to be much easier than I thought.”

“The first treatment was really wonderful — I can’t even put it into words. By the third day I felt so much better physically that I was able for the first time to walk down the stairs, then up the stairs; then I was able to cut my pain medication in half. Then I was able to take a walk down the road, a huge step for me. The rest of my visit just kept getting better. My mind began getting clearer.”

“When I got in my car to leave, I was actually singing to the radio. It had been years since I felt good enough to sing. When I got home my husband saw the change immediately. He said, ‘I have my wife back.'”

“Seeing was believing to him because he had seen how I had been for years. Now I was getting up at 5 a.m., ready to walk. He couldn’t understand how this change all happened in one week.
“On a scale of one to ten, my energy has gone from a two to an eight. With the increase in energy I was able to start a walking program. I began to lose weight and have lost 67 pounds to date. I’ve never felt better.”

“My doctor said, ‘I wish I could say that it was something I did.’ She has so many people who take pills and medication which don’t help them, and she knows there is another way. She’s been very supportive of me taking the herbs which The Raj recommended.”

“The friends who were very skeptical about me going to The Raj see the weight loss; they see me more active, doing things I haven’t done in a long time. They see me back to my old self again. When I came home from The Raj the second time, one of the most skeptical friends called me on the phone. He said, ‘I cannot believe that you are the same person. If it worked for you, could it work for me?’ He’s now interested in coming to The Raj. When the other friend saw The Raj featured in Country Living’s Healthy Living, she called me for information.”

Linda and her husband are expanding their business, Spider Web Antiques. “I’m traveling a lot more in business because I feel better. Transcendental Meditation seems to help with fatigue. My husband is happier. I’ve seen a positive change in him because when I feel better he in turn feels better.

“The Raj saved my life. It really did. The total amount I spent at The Raj came to the very same amount I spent at Mayo. The difference is, The Raj gave me results and completely turned my health around — it was worth every penny. I know now there is hope. I’m just glad I found it.”

Our Holistic Health Programs

Take control of your health and transform your life at the nation’s leading Ayurvedic health center
Testimonials

My husband and I came to The Raj for 7 days. It is the most wonderful place that I have ever been. It has completely changed my life. I left feeling that I would be able to regain my health and energy for the rest of my life.

Wendy Bartley

My husband and I came to The Raj for 7 days. It is the most wonderful place that I have ever been. It has completely changed my life. I left feeling that I would be able to regain my health and energy for the rest of my life.

Wendy Bartley

Individualized, All-Inclusive Programs

Guests arrive at The Raj with their own personal set of health and wellness goals. Our commitment is to help you understand your unique individual nature, to identify areas of imbalance, and to create a customized treatment program to address your needs. Our all-inclusive packages include everything you need to experience optimal results, and to continue your progress when you return home.

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Call for more info about our programs, rates, location, and anything else you might be wondering.

1 (800) 864-8714