Lotus – India’s Most Sacred Plant Lotus (Nelumbo nucifera) is a symbol of spiritual unfoldment. It has many names in Sanskrit, for example Padma, Kamala, and Pushkara. Lotus is good for all constitutions, but it can aggravate Kapha when taken … Continue reading →
What and How Much Should I Drink? Many health practitioners advocate daily consumption of large amounts of water. Ayurveda doesn’t agree with this mechanical approach to the body. Different people have different needs when it comes to fluids. The general … Continue reading →
What is Yoga? Yoga is a common term in our culture today, and yoga classes can be found in every city or neighborhood. Most people identify yoga with the physical postures that are the most evident side of the system. … Continue reading →
Depression – Ayurvedic Understanding To understand depression from the Ayurvedic standpoint, it is necessary to understand how the mind, emotions, and feelings function. The Ayurvedic view is that thoughts, emotions, and feelings pass through the field of conscious awareness in … Continue reading →
Nasya – Therapeutic Cleansing of the Head Region Nasya and Shirovirechana are terms that are used interchangeably. This procedure is a part of Panchakarma main elimination procedures (see Panchakarma, Vamana, Virechana, Basti, Rakta mokshana) but can be applied separately if … Continue reading →
Raktamokshana – Therapeutic Withdrawal of Blood The father of Ayurvedic internal medicine Charaka, describes the five actions (karmas) of Panchakarma as Vamana (emesis), Nasya (administrating medicine through the nasal passages), Virechana (purging) and two types of Basti (cleansing and nourishing … Continue reading →
Nadi Shodhana – Alternate Nostril Breathing Long ago ancient yogis detected what scientists now refer to as the nasal cycle. During the day our nostrils alternate periods of activity, ranging from a few minutes to a few hours. The breath … Continue reading →
The Three Gunas- the Never Ending Play of the Universe Everything in the universe has three primary phases of activity called the three Gunas. Sattva – creative phase – brings life into manifestation. Rajas – organizing, activating phase – builds … Continue reading →
Basti (Vasti) – Purification and Rejuvenation of the Colon Basti therapy is the most powerful of the five procedures of Panchakarma (see Panchakarma). Basti is the introduction of medical liquids into the colon through the rectum. Since colon is linked … Continue reading →
Virechana – Therapeutic Purging Virechana is one of the five procedures of Panchakarma (see Panchakarma) which is specified for Pitta issues. This is a controlled process that gathers ama (toxins) from many Pitta locations in the body, concentrates it in … Continue reading →
Vamana – Therapeutic Emesis Vamana is one of the least understood of Ayurveda’s five elimination therapies (see Panchakarma). Most people associate emesis or vomiting with nausea and sickness and are repulsed by it. However, the emesis procedure used in Vamana … Continue reading →
Panchakarma – Five Actions that Change your Life The miracle of the human body is that it has natural healing intelligence which is capable of constantly rejuvenating itself. However, doshic imbalance and low agni (digestive fire) can block this natural … Continue reading →
Dairy products in Ayurveda Ayurvedic diet is not about eating Indian food. It is about understanding the energy of food. Western food can be Ayurvedic when eaten in accordance with your constitution (Dosha); season; time of day; and in proper … Continue reading →
Why is it bad to work at night? Why is it bad to work at night? Many artists or other people find it a good time to work. Let’s see what happens in our body if we break the nature’s … Continue reading →
All You Need is Love Ayurveda doesn’t consider a person to be healthy if he or she isn’t happy. Happiness is at least as important as the proper functioning of the body. We are trained to be callous and unfeeling … Continue reading →
Why Herbs will never get approved by the FDA There are few mysteries when it comes to our health. Common sense tells us that our basic habits and attitudes in life determine our overall state of health. The quality of … Continue reading →
Do Man Made Supplements Really Get Absorbed? Did you ever wonder why your urine is always so yellow when you take vitamins? Because you are either unable to use or do not need this portion of the vitamin. Do humans … Continue reading →
Lack of Touch Ayurveda points out 10 reasons we get sick (see Ten things that affect our health). One of them is the wrong use of our sense organs which includes overuse, under use, and misuse of senses. Interestingly enough, … Continue reading →
Healing power inside each of us From Ayurvedic point of view all diseases are rooted in our habits. Symptoms arise from the way we live, eat, think, and behave. Ayurveda, the oldest, continually practiced medical system in the world provides … Continue reading →
Are You Special or Just a Number? It takes very little observation to realize that we are all different types of individuals. Why does one diet program work for your friend and not for you? Why one medicine or herb … Continue reading →
Raw or Cooked? Yoga’s and Ayurveda’s recommendations about eating raw food seem to be opposed but only at first sight. Ayurveda generally does not recommend raw food for a long term diet but only for short term detoxification. That is … Continue reading →
Sweet or Bitter The Ayurvedic diagnosis of disease is based on the three Doshas (see What is Ayurveda; Dosha test; Portrait of Vata, Pitta and Kapha). In treatment of diseases, the Six tastes are used (see Six tastes). Each taste … Continue reading →
We Are What We Eat According to Ayurveda, the food that is eaten is divided threefold. The gross part becomes excrement. The middle part becomes flesh. The subtle part becomes the mind… The water that is drunk is divided threefold. … Continue reading →
Ten Things that Affect your Health 1. Like increases like. A dosha is increased by things with qualities similar to it. Vata is light, dry, cold, and mobile. That means that dry foods, dry fruit, cold, windy weather, running, being … Continue reading →
Why We Get Sick Disease grows in the body according to a process known as Samprapti, literally ‘the birth of pain’. Ayurveda recognizes six stages of disease: 1) Accumulation; 2) Aggravation; 3) Overflow; 4) Relocation; 5)Manifestation; 6) Diversification. Disease does … Continue reading →
What is Health? Concept of Agni Are sickness and health just a matter of luck, or of which bacteria you happen to encounter in your daily life? Is it possible to maintain lifelong health? Ayurveda has studied those questions and … Continue reading →
Toxic Ama – root of all diseases According to Ayurveda, digestion is the cornerstone of health because good digestion nourishes the body. However, not only material food, but everything we see, hear, taste, smell, feel, and think affects our health … Continue reading →
Portrait of Pitta Pitta = Fire + Water Key word: Intensity People in whom Pitta predominates are intense and fiery, with strong drive, self-control. They are alert and intelligent and have good powers of comprehension and concentration. They are usually … Continue reading →
Portrait of Vata Vata = Air + Space Key word: Irregularity Vatas are as light, changeable, and unpredictable as the wind. They have a light thin build; flexible mind and body and tend to be slim or even underweight. They … Continue reading →
Portrait of Kapha Kapha = Water + Earth Key word: Stability Kapha people are blessed with a strong, healthy, well developed body. Their chests are broad and expanded, and they have strong muscles and large, heavy bones. One of the … Continue reading →
The Four Stages of Life Yoga and Ayurveda divide human life into four stages of twenty five years each. Each stage has its appropriate behavior and activity that is the same for everyone. Stage of life Behavior Period Activity 1. … Continue reading →
Prakruti (Prakriti) – Know Yourself Better Ayurveda is a very common – sense sort of medical system. It uses very simple principles to determinate one’s unique constitution, inborn metabolic pattern called Prakuiti. Prakruti also means Nature, the set of tendencies … Continue reading →
Yoga, Ayurveda and Tantra Every embodied individual is composed of a body, a mind and a spirit. India’s ancient seers (rishis) organized the wisdom, which became the Science of Life, into three bodies of knowledge. Ayurveda deals mainly with the … Continue reading →
New Old Secret Of Chyawanprash Chyawanprash has been around for thousands of years. In short, Chyawanprash is an Ayurvedic herbal tonic that is very high in vitamin C content and helps strengthen the immune system hence protecting the body from … Continue reading →
Kitchari – Your Body’s Reset Button Kitchari (Kicheri, Kichadi, Khichari), a soupy porridge made from rice and mung beans, is used to purify digestion and cleanse systemic toxins. Ayurvedic physicians often prescribe a kitchari diet before, during, and after panchakarma, … Continue reading →
Simple Home Purification (Panchakarma) In Ayurveda the transitional time between seasons is traditionally the time for personal renewal. In never-ending cycle nature shifts from old energy to new energy. Both for prevention and to deal with a specific health problem, … Continue reading →
Three Cosmic Forces Ayurveda has a wonderful practical philosophy of life and healing. It sees the universe as a play of two primary forces, the power of consciousness or what is called the Purusha in Sanskrit, our inner being, and … Continue reading →
Early to Bed and Early to Rise Makes a Man Healthy Wealthy and Wise? Are morning people born or made? In my case it was definitely made. Before learning Ayurveda, I never thought it mattered when you go to bed … Continue reading →
Seasons and the Doshas In the life of everything that exists in nature, there is always a beginning, a middle and an end in regards to time. Ayurveda uses the doshas to designate these three divisions in a way that … Continue reading →
Ayurveda is a holistic approach to health that is designed to help people live long, healthy, and well-balanced lives. It has been practiced in India for at least 5,000 years and has recently become popular in Western cultures. The basic … Continue reading →
