Kaya Kalpa: Key to Autophagy + Stem Cell Regeneration

The world may not need another cleanse, but the cleanse I’m introducing to you is not new—in fact, it is thousands of years old: perhaps the oldest Ayurvedic detox of all!

There is one catch: this cleanse, the LifeSpa Kaya Kalpa Cleanse, is NOT for everyone. It’s more aggressive than our first two cleanses, the four-day Short Home Cleanse and 14-day Colorado Cleanse—but it’s only five days!

After administering panchakarma (in-residence Ayurvedic detox) for 26 years here at LifeSpa, I stopped so I could do more research and writing. To take its place, about ten years ago, I introduced a home panchakarma program (Colorado Cleanse), which has been completed by thousands of cleansers with amazing success. It’s still going strong: 800 people from around the world cleansed with us as part of our Group Colorado Cleanse this spring.

When I started administering panchakarma as the Colorado Cleanse, I had to dial down the intensity from what was traditionally administered in India. Traditionally, doses of ghee were much higher, diet was way more restrictive, and caloric intake was way less.

The Colorado Cleanse and Short Home Cleanse had to be tailored with lower dosages of ghee and three-meal plans to insure folks could tolerate the detox safely and effectively.

Today, with the popularity of intermittent fasting, time-restricted eating, and caloric restriction and with so many of our cleansers ready for the next step, I felt it was time to introduce our five-day Kaya Kalpa Cleanse.

The words kaya kalpa mean body transformation—on a mental, physical, and emotional level. The point of this traditional protocol is not just health and longevity, but a heightened state of self-awareness from which we can change mental, emotional, and physical patterns linked to ill health.

Before I teach you the very simple steps in the Kaya Kalpa Cleanse, let me give you the history and science that back up the regenerative potential of this cleanse.

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History of Kaya Kalpa

In the early 1980s, when I was beginning my studies in Ayurveda, I read a book called Maharaj: A Biography of Shriman Tapasviji Maharaj, a Mahatma Who Lived for 185 Years.¹

This book strongly influenced my desire to study Ayurveda in India with a special desire to learn about Kaya Kalpa, the south Indian Siddha Medicine technique for longevity.

The story of Tapasviji Maharaj’s 185-year lifespan sounded more like myth than reality, but the more I looked into Kaya Kalpa, the more incredible longevity stories I heard—all similar to Tapasviji Maharaj.

Tapasviji: The Man who Lived for 185 Years

Tapasviji was a military man who lost his family in a tragic accident and sought the counsel of a renowned yogi to dedicate his life to spirituality. He lived in a cave for six years, enduring many austerities and extreme yogic practices, such as food restriction, extended exposure to extreme cold, and holding yoga postures for 24 hours.

While such practices were common for yogis in the Himalayas, Tapasviji went further: at age 100, with a very broken elderly body, he found a yogi who offered him the ancient technique of body transformation: Kaya Kalpa.

Please note: none of what you are about to hear has ever been verified, but there is new science that may explain the ancient mystery of Kaya Kalpa and the secret to longevity. Read on!

Tapasviji entered into Kaya Kalpa retreat for 90 days in a dimly lit room of total seclusion. He had minimal food and some herbs, such as amalaki. He would anoint himself daily with oil (a practice called abhyanga, which I highly recommend), and perform special yoga postures, breathing techniques, and meditations.

After three months, Tapasviji emerged looking like a young man of 30, with new black hair growth, youthful skin, new teeth, and a strong sturdy body. The ancient practice of Kaya Kalpa promised cellular regrowth and rejuvenation!

In Search of Kaya Kalpa

In 1986, I moved to India to study Ayurveda and find out what I could regarding such stories of longevity. Whether I was studying outside New Delhi and Varanasi in the north or Kochin in the south, whenever I asked about Kaya Kalpa and extreme longevity, I was told that the herbs and practices for Kaya Kalpa did once exist, but that the herbs were rare or extinct and that the type of extreme practices were not available anymore.

Of course, that made me only more interested in endangered Ayurvedic herbs. After all these years, I am happy to report that our RARE Program (Reviving Ayurveda’s Rare Ecology) is dedicated to restoring ancient endangered herbs.

The best explanation I received during my studies of Kaya Kalpa was that Ayurveda’s panchakarma rejuvenation program was a form of slow and steady Kaya Kalpa. I administered this treatment to my patients for 26 years with great results. During that time, however, no one’s hair fell, nor did their skin peel, nor did they regrow new teeth or a brand new body.

Kaya Kalpa was something quite different!!!

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Modern Science of Ancient Kaya Kalpa: Growing New Cells

In 1991, UCLA longevity scientist Roy Walford and seven other scientists went into seclusion for two years in Arizona in a facility called Biosphere 2. Here they grew their own food and consumed very few calories per day, according to USC longevity scientist Valter Longo, who worked with Walford.

After two years, the scientists lost a significant amount of weight, but what struck Dr. Longo was that their organs (like the heart and liver) also shrunk significantly. Once they came out of seclusion and off a restricted-calorie diet, their organs grew back with new cells.

In the scientific world, the only way organs can regrow (like the claims made from Kaya Kalpa) is with a surge of stem cells, which typically decline as we age!

Dr. Longo started researching stem cell activation and longevity effects of calorie-restricted and fasting diets on yeast, mice, and eventually humans. He found that extended calorie restriction and fasting extended life, triggered the release of stem cells, and prevented disease significantly. ³ This research was shared in his book The Longevity Diet.

Dr. Longo explains in his TEDx talk that the seven calorie-restricted scientists from Biosphere 2 could only have regrown their organs with a surge of stem cells, which are well-documented to restore and regrow damaged tissue.^2,3

Fasting, Autophagy, Stem Cells + Longevity

Nobel Prize-winning science finds that fasting triggers a process called autophagy: a health-promoting self-eating of the body. When the body faces a threat, such as calorie restriction or fasting, it quickly starts cleaning house. Any fully damaged cells are discarded (self-eaten), while ones that can be restored are used to rebuild and repair the body. It is theorized that autophagy is the trigger for release of stem cells: both promote longevity.^3,4

The hallmarks of Kaya Kalpa are much like the parameters of the Biosphere experiment: severe calorie restriction and seclusion. Kaya Kalpa predicts restoration of the body and growth of new cells. Biosphere 2 and follow-up experiments by Dr. Longo confirm that eating less and fasting will activate autophagy and stem cell production.^3,4

LifeSpa Kaya Kalpa Cleanse

Our Kaya Kalpa Cleanse combines ancient wisdom of Kaya Kalpa (or body, mind, and spirt transformation) with Dr. Longo’s longevity and stem cell research.

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Elements of Kaya Kalpa

1. Sensory Deprivation
2. Ghee
3. Kitchari
4. Herbal Rasayana
5. Emotional Self-Inquiry
6. Yoga, Breath + Meditation
7. Lymphatic Massage
8. Circadian Reset
9. Hydration
10. Rest

For more details on the new LifeSpa Kaya Kalpa Cleanse, download the cleanse PDF and Self-Inquiry Guide here: Kaya Kalpa eBook

To get started, order a Kaya Kalpa Kit here.

Suggested Reading

The Longevity Diet by Valter Longo, PhD
The Complete Guide to Fasting by Jason Fung, MD