My inspiration for Ayurveda living

It was in April 2008, there was a warning sign that something was wrong with my health. I had itchy rashes all over my body. My facial skin was inflamed, dried and flaky. It was so itchy that I could not resist scratching and that even caused more reddened skin. Worse than that, I remember, at around 8 – 10 pm, I would start coughing. It became the routine because I only coughed at that particular time everyday. It had been going routinely like a month.

I went to see the doctor and he told me that the drop in immune system caused the allergy. My allergy was primarily a function of stress, long-hour work and unhealthy consumption. He told me this allergy was incurable unless I seriously take good care of myself. I must sleep a lot and exercise more frequently. He gave me a lot of medicine. I took them and I got better. In my thought, I started to be scared if I were to die because of overworking. It is not worth because if I die, the company would not die with me. Well, that’s a quick joke I camp up with when I talked with some of my friends about what happened to me. I forced myself to have enough sleep, at least for 6 hours a day but I did not exercise much. Nevertheless, after a few months, the same symptom came back.

I was so frustrated that I consulted with my doctor friend. At that time he took a course about alternative medicine. He shared with me about its concept and I found it very interesting. Basically, it is the way to heal your body without using the scientifically synthesis medicine. It includes wide range of health care practices, product and therapy. He told that it may help curing my severe body condition. I went back home and I quickly search about it on the internet. Along surfing the net, I accidentally found an article about Ayurveda and how magical it was in keeping the right balance of body and mind in order to have good health. I really love the concept because it does not require a lot of effort in doing so. I started to adopt some of the Ayurvedic method and it miraculously worked for me. I do not need to take medicine any more And because it works for me, I would like to share easy Ayurvedic tips that could be easily adopted in daily life and hope that some information might be useful for the readers.

What is Ayurveda?

Ayurveda concept may sound sophisticated and alien to some people. Basically, Ayurveda was originated in India over 5000 years ago. It is holistic science of health that emphasizing on maintaining the physically and emotionally balance states. It focuses on re-establishing balance in the body through the balance of health of mind, body and spirit, lifestyle, diet, exercise and body cleansing.

 

 

 

 

 

Here are some examples of Ayurvedic activities: Cleansing and detoxification(through fasting, enemas, diets, and body treatments), Herbal medicine, Yoga, Meditation, exercise,Massage with medicated herbal oil.

In Ayurveda, it is believed that each person has a unique mix 3 mind and body principles, called doshas, which crates our specific physical and mental characteristics. Each person can have one or two doshas that dominate our traits. The Ayurveda could be personalized according to the dosha. Knowing what doshas dominate you will help you understand the unique way to embrace your customized Ayurvedic lifestyle. Here’s the quiz of what doshas you are.

http://www.holisticonline.com/ayurveda/w_ayurveda-dtest1.htm

Don’t hesitate to try and know more about yourself. And let’s being our easy Ayurvedic journey together!

Ayurvedic Sound Therapy (Gandharva)

The Gandharva means “sound” or “music” in Sanskrit. is based on the ancient Indian tradition of sound healing. It is a unique Ayurvedic therapy that help harmonize the cell in your body and balance your emotion through the use of Tibetan singing blows, tuning forks. Through unique vibration frequency, each cell is maintained. Sound therapy helps harmonizing and balancing body and mind, in addition to other Ayurvedic treatments.

Benefits of Ayurvedic Sound Therapy

• Promotes mental, physical and emotional wellness
• Balances the Chakras
• Reduces stress and improves relaxation
• Increases energy and relieves fatigue
• Increases self-esteem, self-confidence and creativity

Here is how you would experience in the song therapy session:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Q4DyT512nE

Sometimes, the therapist uses the healing vibrations of a crystal singing bowl to restore your body’s balance and release energetic blockages, during a Gandharva massage treatment. You would experience vibrant health and joy when your cells resonate in harmony with your whole being, 

Ayurveda Healing Drink Recipe

It is early Spring and a time for an outbreak for seasonal flu. Here are some Ayurvedic cold and flu formulas that you can easily and quickly prepare at home.

Garlic Honey Cold Remedy

Garlic will help boosting up the immune system. It is good to be consumed when the cold has begun. We can prepare this remedy recipe in advance, as this remedy could be stored in the fridge for up to 1 year

Ingredients:1/2 c honey
5-6 cloves of peeled garlic

Put the cloves of garlic in a clean, glass jar and cover with the honey. Seal the lid and let sit for 3 days. Do not taste it or try it until at least 72 hours have passed.

Ginger

Ginger helps maintaining overall wellness in body and mind. Ayurveda has used ginger to help relieve colds, headaches, fever and arthritis. It can heal the digestive disorders, menstrual cramps, intestinal gas, nausea, anxiety, asthma, and depression. Also, it shows benefits in tests for heart disease, hypertension, high cholesterol, ulcerative colitis and sciatica.

Garlic Sore Throat Remedy

Place 1 unpeeled clove of garlic in the back of your mouth, behind your molars, and close down on it. Keep it there for 20 minutes, or until the garlic peel is shredded. The juices of the garlic will trickle down your throat, killing bacteria.

Lemon Ginger Cold Remedy

 

Peeled ginger, Raw honey, fresh squeezed lemon juice and
cinnamon

Chop the ginger into small piece and place in a small bowl with raw honey. Put the bowl in a larger bowl filled with hot water for a few minutes until the honey is runny. Remove the bowl and add the lemon juice and cinnamon. Lightly stir to coat the ginger thoroughly.

Take small bites throughout the day when you are sick, or before a meal to stimulate your digestive system.

HONEY

According to Ashtanga Hridaya, Honey is very miraculous, “It has sweetness (madhura rasa) with added astringent as end taste (Kashaya anu rasa). It is heavy (guru guna), dry (ruksha) and cold (sheeta). Its effect on doshas is as follows: It aggravates vata, scrapes kapha and normalizes pitta and rakta. It promotes healing process.”

It is also a natural antibacterial, antioxidant antiviral, that speeds up the healing process.

Honey Ginger Tea

• 1 tablespoon of freshly grated ginger
• 1 tablespoon of freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon of honey

Preparation:

Put the ginger in a tea pot or medium bowl and pour 1 cup boiling water over it and let it steep for 3 minutes. Put the lemon juice and the honey in a large mug. Strain the ginger tea into the mug.

Stir to dissolve until the honey is runny.

Stay healthy and strong in flu season!

 

 

Ayurveda Effective Ear therapy (Karna poorana)

 

Karna Poorana is a specific therapy aimed at improving the functions of ear, and associated parts and functions. Karna refers to ‘ear’ and Poorana means ‘Full.’ It refers to filling the ear canal. The therapy involves putting only from 4 to 10 drops of medicated oil as required and gently filling the medicated herbal oil to ears until the ear canal filled with the oil. It could enhance the functions of the ear to the fullest.

Ear is the major part dominated by Vata and more vulnerable to excess vata, which is made of air and ether. The imbalance in ears is caused by cold and dry breeze, excessive sounds, bombarding noises, etc. It ,in turn, impacts the Vata balance in the body. Vata balance can be retained by stimulating, protecting and cleaning the vital part of Vata dosha. This is an excellent therapy for Vata imbalance and treats the diseases cause by Vata imbalance.

How it is performed:

Karna poorana is something like soaking the ear canals in the medicated oils. Herbal extracts are carefully blended together and the warm oil is poured gently into the ears. In simple terms, the internal ear is given herbal bath. The oil lubricates the ear canal. It is performed generally combined with head and face massage.

Ayurvedic Treatment For Weight Loss

• Increase the quantity of fruits and vegetables and low calorie foods.
• Milk products like cheese, butter etc. and non-vegetarian foods should be avoided as they are rich in fat
• Avoid intake of too much salt as it may be a factor for increasing body weight.

• Spices like dry ginger, cinnamon, black pepper etc. are good for loosing weight and can be used in a number of ways.
• Mint is very beneficial in losing weight. Chutney of green mint with some simple spices can be taken with meals. Mint tea also helps.
• Regular intake of carrot juice.
• Avoid rice and potato, which contain a lot of carbohydrates. Among cereals wheat is good.
• Vegetables like bitter gourd and drumstick are useful in loosing weight.
• Raw or cooked cabbage inhibits the conversion of sugar and other carbohydrates into fat. Hence, it is of great value in weight reduction.
• Exercise is an important part of any weight reduction plan. It helps to use up calories stored in body as fat.
• The gum of Commiphora Mukul called ‘guggulu’ is the drug of choice for the treatment of obesity.
• Walking is the best exercise to begin with and may be followed by running, swimming or rowing.

Honey and weight reduction

Honey is an excellent home remedy for obesity. It mobilizes the extra deposited fat in the body allowing it to be utilized as energy for normal functions

Dosage: One should start with small quantity of about 10 grams or a tablespoon, taken with hot water early in the morning. A teaspoonful of fresh lemon juice may also be added.

Fasting on honey and lime- juice is highly beneficial in the treatment of obesity without the loss of energy and appetite. For this, mix one teaspoon of fresh honey with the juice of half a lime in a glass of lukewarm water.

Dosage: Take several times a day at regular intervals.

Blood Purification and Fat Reduction: Take one glass of warm water and mix 1-2 teaspoonful of honey and one teaspoonful of lemon juice. Take this preparation daily before evacuation. It helps to purify the blood. It also helps to reduce fat and to clean the bowels.

Ayurveda Snack: Homemade Hummus

Today I met my friend who is strictly on her diet plan. Before her diet, she usually took chips and soda whenever she was stressed from reading and school assignment. In the past few weeks, I have also experienced the heightened stress level and felt like wanting to grab 2 big pack of Lay’s chip and a big bottle of diet cokes. During the class break, I shared with this friend about those junkie crave, she nodded her head as if she understood what I was facing and shared with me a very useful homemade hummus that she randomly found from the Ayurveda blog.

In Ayurveda, the chickpea has a higher amount of tryptophan than other legumes. It is an essential amino acid that helps to regulate emotions and sleep. Using chickpeas adds a soothing and give comfort food feeling. In addition, cumin is a stimulating and drying lung tonic.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of chick pea (Garbanzo)
• 1 teaspoon of cumin
• 2 cloves of raw garlic
• 1 whole lemon
• 2 tablespoon of olive oil
• 2 pinch of praprika
• 2 tablespoon of fresh parsley
• ½ tablespoon of salt
• ¼ cup of Tahini
• ¼ cup of Yellow Onion

How to make it:

Prepare the chickpea by soaking the chickpeas overnight and draining and rinsing the following morning. Cook with the onion in 4 cups of water until the chickpeas are tender. Pour off the water. Mash with a potato masher or blend in a food processor. (Tip: using potato masher could give more texture)

Mix the tahini with the garlic and lemon juice in the blender until the color whitens. Pour into the chickpeas and add the reserved cooking liquid. Leave it to cool down for 2 hours. Adjust the taste according to your preference with lemon, salt. Spread onto a plate and garnish with paprika, cumin and olive oil.

 

This homemade hummus goes perfectly well with wholegrain pretzel and baby carrots. Bon Appetite!

Ayurvedic Spring Drink: Refreshing Cabbage, Cilantro and Aloe Juice

I am a big fan of fresh fruit juice. Like taking apple, in my belief, taking a cup of fruit juice a day, take a doctor away. Today, while waiting for a fresh squeezed carrot juice from Jumba Juice, my mind wandered and wondered whether there is any Ayurvedic juice recipe that is easy to prepare and perfectly indulges my thirst in spring. After a quick research, I found this Recipe for Cabbage, Cilantro and Aloe Juice, a perfect green combination of drink that I can try making for my Spring house party.

In Ayurveda, this juice is not only light and refreshing, but also helps calming immune system and preventing spring allergies caused by from pollination. The auto – immune and allergic condition are caused by toxins and heat. Spring season and pollination caused the body will release toxin and heat, leading to auto – immune disorder. Heat can affect the liver and lead to immunity disorder or fever.  This drink gives cooling effect to your body. The cilantro and aloe vera can help cleansing the liver. The Cilantro is also an anti-histamine, which directly calms immune system. The bitter taste cleanses and improves liver performance and decongests the blood.

 

 Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoon of Aloe Vera Gel
• 1 cup of raw cabbage
• ½ cup of Cilantro

 How to make it:

1. Juice cilantro and cabbage in a vegetable juicer. However, if you don’t have a juicer, you can chop cabbage and cilantro, then puree in a blender with 1c water and strain the water into a glass.

2. Add aloe vera gel to vegetable juice. Add 1/2 water (if necessary). Stir.

Enjoy your this perfect green drink and stay healthy in this Spring!

Yoga Practices for Different Doshas

“Yoga is the settling of the mind into silence. When the mind has settled, we are established in our essential nature, which is unbounded consciousness.” The yogic sage Patanjali

Yoga is an extraordinary practice to begin the state of body-focused restful awareness. The ultimate goal of yoga is to connect to your true Divine essence and expand your consciousness. Also, it awakens grace and restores your sense of balance in your body. To attain the greatest benefits, it personalized yoga practice is recommended according to the dosha, the unique mind-body constitution or dosha. The followings are the guideline of yoga for each dosha.

Vata Dosha: Calming and grounding yoga poses are ideal for Vita Dosha. For example, tree pose (Vrksasana) and mountain pose (Tadasana) root your feet into the ground to reduce anxiety and stress. Warrior I and II can also help to ground you while also building strength. Since Vata is prone to constipation, poses, including all forward bends, that compress the pelvis are healing. You should focus on poses that engage the lower back and thighs. To make a Vinyasa more Vata-pacifying, you must move deliberately and slowly. Also you should pay attention to the transitions between poses, performing them with conscious awareness rather than rushing on to the next pose.Finally, Doing a long, deep Shavasana or corpse pose – at least 15–20 minutes can be highly beneficial to Vata Dosha.

Pitta Dosha: Cultivating a calm, relaxed attitude toward the practice, letting go of their competitive tendency benefit Pitta. You should be gentle and patient with yourself and resist comparing yourself with others in your yoga class. Pittas should avoid yoga forms that cause profuse sweating, favoring cooling, relaxing poses. You should also avoid holding long inverted poses, which create a lot of heat in the head. The schedule of your yoga sessions should be practiced in dawn or dusk, during cooler times of day. Focus on poses that help to release excess heat from the body, including those that compress the solar plexus or open the chest, especially the pigeon, camel, cobra, bow, fish and bridge poses. The best ones for Pitta, for standing poses, are those that open the hips, including tree, warrior, and half moon. You should focus on your breath as this will calm your mind and center you in your body and heart.

Kapha Dosha:Kapha types have the most stamina and strength of all the doshas, but when out of balance, suffer from lethargy and excess weight. A stimulating, energizing yoga practice is ideal.You should try maintaining your asanas for up to 20 breaths. Backbends are also heating, helping to open the chest and circulate the life-giving energy of prana throughout the body. Move through your flow sequences quickly to lighten and warm your body.Doing your yoga in the early morning hours of Kapha (6–10am) will help keep you more energized and motivated throughout the day. At the beginning or end of your practice, you can practice bhastrika or bellows breath, which cleanses the body and energizes the digestive system.

Ayurvedic Way to Drink Water

Interestingly, Ayurveda reveals the indispensible guide for drinking water, something that is so basic that we do not even think for a specific method. Like having a meal, there is a particular way to drink water to help physical body thrive and have a happily hydrated body.

Drinking water the right way can be a life-changer. Water can be the most powerful and simplest remedy to our health. In Ayurveda, there are different qualities different types of water. Here are some simple yet effective Ayurvedic methods for drinking water.

Quantity does not matter.

Drinking a lot of water per day is not a right method. Ayurveda recommended that we drink water whenever we feel thirsty. Each person needs different way to drink water, based on the dosha. Vata body types needs more water due to the drying nature of dominant air element in them. Pitta body types need more water thanks to the dominance of fire element in their body. They need more water to keep their body hydrated. For Kapha body types, they need less water because they are dominated by cooling water and earth elements in their constitution.

Take warm Water, no ice.

Drinking cold water, beverages, soda and any cold drink is strictly prohibited. Cold water with ice slows down digestion. Cold water reduces the digestive capability, associated with fire entity that regulates digestion in our body. It dilutes digestive enzyme and could potentially build up the toxic waste (Ama) in our body. Warm water helps balancing 3 doshas in our body. In addition, it promotes healthy appetite, boosts digestion and metabolism. It promotes weight loos and relives pain, abdominal bloating and constipation. Warm water is also good remedy for those who suffer from Rheumatoid arthritis, which is caused by accumulation of undigested toxic metabolites in the body.

Water and food

Do not drink too much of water both before and after meals because it is bad for our digestion. Too much water after excessive intake of water can cause sluggish digestion that could potentially becomes the root cause of many diseases, for example, Indigestion, lethargy, metabolic diseases, obesity, fever, toxin build-up etc. It is recommended you to take small sips of warm water while you are eating in order to soften the food and to prepare the food for digestion. Having water one hour after meal is a good practice.

Pep up your water

The Vata dominance will be benefit from adding a dash of fresh lemon to their drinking water. Lemon grass, crushed cumin and coriander seeds can also make great water fortifiers. As for Pitta dominance, you should add cooling spices like mint, a tiny pinch of fragrant Cardamom or sandalwood to their drinking water. For those with Kapha dominance with a slow digestion, adding a tiny piece of Fresh ginger, a teaspoon of honey or a pinch of dried ginger powder to their water is a way to go.

Ayurveda also recommend adding some spices into your water according to the season in order to balance your dosha and maintain good health. These natural ingredients will give better healing effect of water by many times. They can be just added to hot water or steeped in boiling water for 10 min for more strength. Mostly importantly, you should add the spices that suit you and your doshas.

• Spring– Fresh or dried ginger, Cumin seeds, Carom seeds, honey, fresh herbs like mint, lemon grass and tulsi.

• Summer– Mint, lemon grass, lemon juice or lemon wedges, fennel greens, fennel seeds, cardamom, Ayurvedic herbs like sandal wood powder, Musta-coco-grass/purple nut sedge (Cyperus rotundus), Ushir – vetiver grass (Vetiveria zizhanoides).

• Autumn- Lemon juice, lemon grass, fresh or dried ginger, lemon wedges, cinnamon, cumin seeds, carom seeds.

• Winter– Fresh or dried ginger, lemon grass, basil, Tulsi, cardamom, cinnamon, star anise.

 

10-minute Meditation for Stress Relieve

Our fast-pacing and busy lifestyle could make us feeling stressed out. In Ayurveda, stress is caused by too much movement of energy within the mind, which results in feeling tired, irritable, and excessively hungry for sugar. Breathing exercise and hand posture could be of great help to gain back the peace of mind and relaxation. Here are the easy techniques, which you could practice for only 10 minutes per day.

To settle your mind down during the overly stressful moment, a simple yogic breathing technique, called Pranayama, can create to connection between the breath and the mind.  The right breathing takes you back into the present moment and take your mind’s attention away from the endless “to-do” list.  You should take a slow and deep breath to shift the body’s chemistry from a fight-or-flight response to a rest-and-relax state.  It also helps to increase the oxygen content of your blood, bringing more nutrients to every organ in your body. The best part is you can do this breathing exercise anywhere and at any time.

In controlling stress, the hand is also an important instrument. The hands also function as channels for the nervous system. There are energy channels that run throughout the body at the end of each finger. Stimulation of this point on the hand can support brain function, balance the mind and helps reduce stress.

Vayu Mudra Hand Position

In ayurveda, Vayu Mudra is the hand position held during meditation thanks to its ability to settle the mind. You can begin by having a comfortable seating and sit with your shoulders up and back, and chin tucked back so that your neck is in a neutral posture. Your spine should be straight. Next step is to get your fingers in the right position. Basically, you should bend your index finger downward until it touches the palm of your hand just below your thumb then place the thumb directly on top of the back of the index finger in between the first and second knuckle. This forms a lock, or mudra, that shifts the energy in your body.

You should breathe in deeply for 2 seconds and then hold your breath for 8 seconds and then slowly exhale over 6 seconds. This breathing pattern should be repeated for 10 minutes while holding both hands in the Vayu Mudra position. This could decrease stress level will dramatically.

If you could practice this technique daily, after a certain period of time, you will feel a lot less stressful and have a healthy mind state. Definitely, it is never too late to start the meditation.

How to Start a Meditation Practice

Meditation is no simple task. When life is overwhelmed with demands, deadlines, and a whole lot of stress to manage, meditation is exactly what we need. The benefits of meditation are vast and include, reduced stress, balance emotions, lower blood pressure, boost creativity, increase immunity and sharpen your memory. This week I would write about the easy way to start your meditation practice.

1. Create Space and Time. It is helpful to create both a physical space and space in my daily schedule for meditation.  You should find a space in your home that is quite and you are drawn to. Create a simple altar, i.e. candles, rocks and place a few meaningful items on it.  Set aside time in your schedule and dedicate for your practice. Determination and disciplines is key to successfully keep up with meditation practice. You can be flexible when it is needed but you should consistency keep practicing according to your schedule.

2. Find a Comfortable Seat. The mind could be distracted by uncomfortable seating position. It is highly difficult to stay focused. You can sit on a cushion or blanket during the meditation.

3.Just Breathe. Meditation starts with breathing. Taking slow deep breaths into your belly and let them go slowly with ease and your full attention. Breathing deep relaxes the body, slows the heart rates and focuses the mind. This is an ideal way to begin your practice.

4.Start Small. It is important to set a realistic time goal. You can start with 15 minutes a day and then slowly increase the amount of time you spend in your practice.

5.Find Community. When you are not alone, it is easier to maintain momentum in establishing your practice. As a beginner, the community provides you an opportunity to ask questions and share your experience. You could simply ask a friend to commit with you or explore the many options in your community.

6.Experiment and Explore. During the early stage, there are countless ways to meditate and many different styles and traditions.  Try listening to CDs, MP3s, podcasts or read books or articles. Keep exploring and experimenting until you find a practice that works for you stick with it.