In Āyurveda, Śatāvarī has become a popular herb that is often called adaptogenic. Taking this herb without understanding its innate properties, combinations + methods of use is wasteful at best + harmful at its worst. This is from Caraka Siddhisthāna 2.24-28. The Siddhisthāna is the last book of the Caraka Saṃhitās. Much of this chapter […]
Balanced sequencing is not about the postures alone. The expression of any posture needs to be born from the Kanda. The Kanda is the central axis of the body where the Naḍīs initiate. This can be confusing but the Naḍīs, the channels which carry Prāṇa, they are born at the Kanda which is located about 4 fingertips […]
Vāta’s Domain We’ve discussed previously that Vāta is the King. When we say it this way, it makes the potential of Vāta seem kind of cute. We associate “Vāta’s” with being spacey and forgetful. We discuss having too much Vāta as a cause for an unreliable digestive system and accept that as a norm, to […]
I will of course get into this more once I complete the program in June, but since there are so many kinds of enemas in the world, I thought it would be nice to elaborate on the differences. In Āyurveda, there are many types of Basti – some are cleansing, some are nourishing, some are large in […]
Tantra Yuktis In the workshop on Sunday I referenced the Tantra Yuktis of Āyurveda. Tantra means scientific system on a particular topic. Yutki is the process of thinking that comes from experience related to textual knowledge. Yutki also shares the root with the word Yojana (like Yoga). To apply Yojana to something, we apply organized thought to a subject – in this case, […]
Learn the Personality of the Friends in Your Kitchen! Did you know there are inherent differences between Ginger Powder (Śunṭhī) and Fresh Ginger (Ārdraka)? They might be the “same” substance, but Ginger undergoes a huge transformation when it becomes dry that it does not express when it is wet. Dry Ginger (Śunṭhī) is pungent, sweet, […]
Have You Noticed? I know for me, I have observed in the last few weeks that I have not been as hungry as I usually am at mealtimes and my food is taking longer to digest than usual as well. These are signs that the environment is affecting my interior. This is due to the […]
How To Food… There are so many ways to go with diet, aren’t there? And it is so hard to choose what to eat when with so many different methods. There’s even conflict around something as simple as hydration! Lord! We can actually drink too much liquid and there is such a thing as too much water. […]
I must say though, in a world that continues to cause really intense physical and emotional anguish, I am so grateful for the opportunity to show up three times a week for three hours a day to talk about the artful science of Āyurveda in the 30h course. I wanted to share something we discussed […]
Epistemology – Nidana Parivarjana Nidana means a few things. It can mean the cause of something. This is also called a Hetu. It can also mean the combination of the Hetu and the process of disease manifestation, called the Samprapti. Because it means both things, often we use Hetu to indicate the actual cause for […]
