Everything you need to know before your first session — diet, what to expect, and how to care for yourself once the program ends.
Everything you need to know before your first session — diet, what to expect, and how to care for yourself once the program ends.
Banana Treatment is not complicated to receive. But it does ask something of you — a few days of simplicity, quiet, and care. The more completely you can offer that, the more completely the treatment can do its work.
Read this page carefully before your first session.
Avoid heavy, rich, or hard-to-digest foods the evening before. A simple kitchari or vegetable soup is ideal. Give your digestion a gentle head start.
You’ll need white rice, full-cream unhomogenised cow’s milk, and water. Always cook it fresh for each meal — never reheated or prepared ahead. Having the ingredients on hand means one less thing to think about on treatment days. See the recipe below.
The treatment works through subtle channels. Your body will receive it more completely when it isn’t running on empty. An early night goes a long way.
The diet is not a side note. It is part of the treatment. Keeping digestion quiet allows your body to direct everything it has toward purification rather than processing food.
This is the principle. The simpler the meal, the deeper the treatment reaches.
Your diet while on treatment consists of milk rice — white rice cooked with full-cream, unhomogenised cow’s milk. No spices. No ghee. A little jaggery is fine, and pomegranates are also welcome if you feel like some fruit. If you don’t take dairy, plain cooked rice is the alternative.
You do not need to follow a strict milk rice diet. We do recommend eating lightly — simple, warm, easy-to-digest meals. Avoid anything heavy, rich, or stimulating on your treatment days.
For each day you are receiving Banana Treatment — especially if you are following the strict milk rice diet — do your best to favor rest. Sleep early. Keep well hydrated with hot water throughout the day. Move gently. Minimize stimulation where you can.
This is not a time to push through your to-do list or fill every gap with activity. The body is doing deep work, and the more space you give it, the more it can accomplish. Even small things — a quiet evening, an early bedtime, a slower pace — support the purification process in ways you will feel.
Each session follows a simple sequence. The steps below are not complicated, but they matter. Read them once before your first session so you are well prepared.
We only begin the BT process once everyone has arrived, and we want to be mindful of the Vaidya’s time. Stop eating at least 3–4 hours before your appointment, and stop drinking water at least 2 hours before.
Minimal phone, minimal conversation. Let yourself settle. The treatment works at a subtle level, and arriving quiet gives it the best possible conditions.
You will be asked to face east and silently hold a sankalpa, a personal intention for why you are taking this medicine and what transformation you hope to receive from it.
The Vaidya will place a tiny piece of banana in your hand. It is very small, about the size of a fingertip. This carries the herbal medicine and mantras he has prepared.
Take it in one go without chewing, and avoid letting it sit against your teeth. Place it toward the back of your tongue and swallow it down.
No phone, no conversation, no stimulation. Sit easily, walk slowly, and let the medicine land. Silence or meditation during this period allows the medicine to work deeper.
After the quiet period, continue fasting for at least one hour. Your first food should be milk rice.
You will likely feel tired during Banana Treatment. This is not a sign that something is wrong — it is the body redirecting its energy away from ordinary activity and into deep purification. Let it.
Some people feel emotional. Some feel lighter than expected. Some feel very little during the treatment itself and notice the shift in the days that follow — a quieter mind, less heaviness in the body, a period that arrives differently than it has before.
“You don’t need to take time off work or clear your entire schedule. But the more space you create for silence and rest during your program, the deeper the results.”
If you can, treat BT as a quiet retreat within your regular life. The body is doing significant work during these days. Honor that, and it will honor you back.
The purification doesn’t stop when your final session ends. It continues settling for the next 24–48 hours. How you eat and move in the days immediately following matter
Keep things gentle.
A bowl of kitchari is the ideal way to ease your digestion back. It’s warming, simple, and gives the body exactly what it needs after several days of deep work.
After 24 hours, you can gradually reintroduce your regular diet. Take your time. For the first few days after your program, ease back in with:
Ingredients
Method
Always cook milk rice fresh for each meal — it should never be reheated or prepared in advance. If you don’t take dairy, cook the rice in water alone. It is still effective and still the right choice for treatment days.
If anything here is unclear, or if you have a health condition you’d like to discuss, please reach out. It’s better to ask now than arrive uncertain.
