In Ayurveda, the root cause of almost all disease is an imbalance in the doshas, or bio-energies. Whether you’re trying to manage or prevent a chronic disease, here’s how Ayurveda may help.

Joint Diseases

According to Ayurveda, vata regulates the movement aspect of the joints, while kapha regulates the lubrication aspect. If vata increases, it causes dryness, friction, achiness, and weakness in the joints. Vata depletes the tissues, weakening the muscles, tendons, and ligaments, and making them more prone to wear and tear. On the other hand, when kapha increases, it associates with AMA (metabolic toxins) and makes the joints swell, causing extreme pain.

Lifestyle strategies: Dry joint conditions need something externally lubricating, like oil, which can be rubbed into the joints and then absorbed through a hot sauna or bath. Abhyanga, or oil massage, is a common treatment for these types of joint issues. However, inflammation-related joint diseases don’t need oil but, instead, a lot of movement and dry heat like infrared saunas and external herbal treatments applied to the skin.

Dietary strategies: For people with dry-joint symptoms, Ayurveda recommends foods that are lubricating in nature like bone broth, moist grains such as quinoa and amaranth, and seeds with good oils such as hemp and pumpkin seeds. For swelling joints, focus on foods and spices that are warmer, drying, and metabolism-boosting, like ginger, cinnamon, turmeric, and cloves, as well as foods that are easier to digest and absorb excess moisture, like barley and millet.

Herbal strategies: Ashwagandha and guggulu.

Related: The Total Mobility Workout

Cardiovascular Disease

Ayurveda considers the heart the center of several important systems. It pumps lymph, blood, and prana (the life force) throughout the body. It’s also the epicenter of the immune system and the mind, sometimes being referred to as organ of contemplation.

All of these connections mean that the heart can be influenced by a number of factors, including a person’s outlook, diet, and level of activity. Because of this, lifestyle is incredibly important when it comes to maintaining heart health or treating cardiovascular disease.

Lifestyle strategies: Ayurveda says that those who know how to breathe well will seldom have heart diseases, so pranayama is recommended. Ayurveda also says that if you have a positive outlook on life, it’s healthier for your heart, so try meditation to take the emotional burden off the heart.

Because those who are more sedentary are also at greater risk for heart disease, regular activity is recommended. As a bonus, regular yoga practice can help manage blood pressure. (It’s important to note that those with high blood pressure should avoid strong inversions, though, as they temporarily cause fluctuations in blood pressure.) Lastly, reduce alcohol intake, and if you smoke, seek out support to quit.

Dietary strategies: Eating heavy meals late at night burdens the lymphatic system. Since the heart pumps lymph throughout the body, Ayurveda recommends avoiding heavy meals at night to avoid putting stress on the heart and causing it to become heavy. It’s also best to avoid milk products like cheese and yogurt at night, as they are thought to clog the pathways of the heart. Other foods to minimize include spicy and oily foods, which are very acidic in nature.

Moist, warm (not hot), freshly prepared foods are preferable for heart health in Ayurveda, which means reheated foods are not ideal. Especially beneficial foods are brown rice, barley, amalaki fruit, mung beans, pomegranate, Himalayan salt, and lime and lemon juice. Try drinking hot water with lemon or lime juice in the morning and a small quantity of fresh pomegranate juice before dinner.

Herbal strategies: Chyawanprash, a multi-herbal formula that contains amalaki, which is known in Ayurveda for its ability to decrease inflammation.

Related: The Health Benefits of a Heart in Balance

Diabetes

In Ayurveda, diabetes is seen as a result of lacking sufficient metabolism. Diabetes is primarily a kapha disease, wherein the body becomes stagnant and starts overusing the kidneys and bladder to dispose of sugar that’s not being processed and is instead accumulating in the body. If you want to prevent diabetes, Ayurveda says improving both your diet and lifestyle are equally important.

Lifestyle strategies: One of Ayurveda’s primary recommendations for diabetes prevention and management is to exercise on a regular basis, whether that’s yoga or some other kind of activity. Ayurveda especially recommends low-intensity walking and swimming. It is also best to avoid sleeping in or sleeping during the day, as this can disrupt your sleep-wake cycles and thus your metabolism.

Dietary strategies: Eat meals at regular intervals and prioritize low-glycemic grains like barley, millet, kamut, and spelt. These foods allow the body to slowly break down the sugar and increase metabolism. Metabolism-boosting spices like turmeric, fenugreek, and cloves (plus herbal teas made from those spices), and dark, bitter greens like kale, arugula, and Swiss chard are other good additions.

Herbal strategies: Guduchi may help with some diabetes-related symptoms, and Madhunashini is thought to help aid in blood sugar control.

The post Ayurveda’s Approach to 3 Chronic Conditions appeared first on Sonima.

As you can probably guess, this is an ancient practice for clearing the body of toxins. In fact, Panchakarma’s literal translation is “five purification procedures.” But what many people don’t know about Panchakarma is that they’re not all safe for everyone. Luckily, there are many different external body work therapies also included in Panchakarma that more gently detox and rejuvenate the body. Here’s what you need to know.

Cleansing Panchakarma Detox

The most classic type of Panchakarma detox involves actually removing toxins from the body through one or more of the following methods:

• Virechana or purging: The patient is prepared for several days, then given herbs that will help them purge through the lower orifice.
• Vamana or emesis: The patient is prepared for several days, then given herbs that will cause them vomit.
• Basti or enema with herbs: An enema with herbs is administered to lure toxins from the colon.
• Basti or enema with oil: An oil enema is administered to nourish the colon.
• Nastya or nasal drops: Nasal drops are administered after preparation to detoxify the head and neck region.

The above methods are used by Ayurvedic doctors who specialize in internal medicine. Those who specialize in surgery may also use bloodletting, with leeches for example, as well.

Contrary to what’s commonly thought about Panchakarma detoxing, it’s extremely rare for someone to go through all five treatments. This would require a minimum of 60 days of supervised Ayurvedic care. Each treatment requires several days of preparation, oil massage, steaming, and in many cases, a special diet both before and after the treatment.

Instead, it’s much more common to undergo one or two of these treatments based on the season, doshas, or a specific health problem.

For example, purging treatments are often done to balance the pitta (fire) dosha, which tends to accumulate in the middle part of the gut. If someone has hyperacidity in their gut, which is seen as a pitta imbalance, purging is appropriate.

Emesis is done for kapha (water) dosha, which tends to accumulate in the upper part of the GI tract and chest. If someone comes to an Ayurvedic practitioner with chest congestion, then the practitioner may choose to undergo emesis with the patient because it is thought to remove the phlegm right from the upper chest.

Enemas are done for vata (wind), which tends to accumulate in the colon and pelvic area. Let’s say a patient comes with back pain. An Ayurvedic doctor may choose enema as a treatment because it’s in that area.

These treatments have total body effects, too. If somebody has arthritis, it’s considered a vata-related condition because of the pain and discomfort with movement, so an enema still may be chosen as treatment.

Nasal cleansing is done for conditions related to the head and neck region, so this could include headaches, sinus infections, and more.

Panchakarma cleansing treatments are also done seasonally because the change of the season automatically increases certain doshas. For example, in the fall, pitta energy is very high, so Ayurveda recommends undergoing purging. In early spring, we do emesis to remove mucus and phlegm. When it rains and the temperature comes down significantly, we have people undergo a course of enemas to control vata.

It’s important to note that Panchakarma cleansing treatments are not recommended for women who are pregnant, young children, the elderly who are weak, or those who have not gone through proper preparation. Because of the intense nature of these treatments, it’s highly recommended that you find a qualified Ayurvedic doctor you trust to administer them.

Related: 5 Essential Ayurvedic Herbs that Heal

Rejuvenating Panchakarma Treatments

In modern times, the word “Panchakarma” has actually come to mean something even broader and more complex than just detoxing. Rejuvenative treatments are also included in Panchakarma.

When you hear that people have undergone Panchakarma at an Ayurvedic facility, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they’ve undergone enemas and purging and the more deeply detoxing procedures. Instead, they might have just done a series of rejuvenating therapies.

Anyone can go to an Ayurvedic center and ask for rejuvenating Panchakarma, and they’ll receive treatments like whole body oil massage, steaming, shirodhara (where an oil stream is poured on you), and more. This is what most people think of when they hear about Panchakarma. Rather than treating a specific set of symptoms, these treatments are mainly health promotive for both the mind and the body.

Because of these treatments, everyone can take part in Panchakarma in some manner. Often, we recommend that these rejuvenating treatments are done seasonally as well, so you can start each new season feeling your best.

The post Should You Try a Panchakarma Detox? appeared first on Sonima.

That’s because we see the brain in a less concrete way. In Ayurveda, the mind is seen as something that’s spread all over the body. It’s located in two main areas: the head and the heart. In a sense, the head is the epicenter of the logical mind, and the heart is the location of the emotional mind. For optimal brain health to be achieved, these two aspects of the mind need to exist in harmony. The brain and the mind are intertwined.

There are three main ways to achieve this balance between logic and emotion: lifestyle, diet, and herbs. Here’s what you need to know about each.

1. Lifestyle

If you’re familiar with Ayurveda, you probably know that daily routine is an important part of the ancient practice. Tongue scraping and drinking water first thing in the morning are examples of routines Ayurveda recommends. These rituals laid out in the ancient texts are meant to be practiced daily for life. They serve a crucial purpose: To make use of our sense organs (like the ears, eyes, skin, and more) in order to establish a connection with our natural instincts over the forces of our minds.

Practices, like oil massage, are great examples of this. Vata, the wind energy, is considered to be the most harmful dosha when it comes to brain health. The best way to reduce the influence of an energy is to do something with opposite qualities. So since vata is dry, cold, and rough, we can use daily oil massage to keep it under control.

Most of these routines relate to physical hygiene, but there are also recommendations about mental hygiene. Ayurveda says that in order to achieve good brain health, people need to behave in a righteous way. This means telling the truth, respecting others, and being pleasant to those around you. Basically, Ayurveda says people should have a positive approach to their life in order to establish a healthy mental routine and boost brain health.

Science supports this idea. If you look at “blue zone” studies, or evaluations of people who live in areas of the world where the population lives the longest, one of the things they have in common is a positive life outlook.

Sleep is also a crucial part of a lifestyle that promotes brain health. A good night’s rest is essential for strong brain function, so building high quality sleep into your routine should be a priority.

Related: A Meditation to Help You Prepare for Restful Sleep

It’s also vital not to suppress natural urges, like needing to go to the bathroom, for example. Ayurveda says that doing so can cause toxins to accumulate in the deep tissues (FYI: the brain is considered deep tissue) and, simultaneously, increase vata energy in the body. So listening to what your body tells you is a key component in establishing a brain-health-promotive lifestyle.

2. Diet

Ayurveda makes specific diet recommendations for healthy brain function. In Ayurvedic texts, brain tissue is referred to as bone marrow. It may sound like a strange way of looking at it, but Ayurveda refers to anything that is contained in a hard bone cavity (like your brain) as bone marrow.

Why does that matter? It is believed that foods similar in structure to a certain type of tissue—brain tissue, for example, which is soft and oily—are beneficial for that tissue. That means the consumption of marrow is encouraged for meat eaters, either in the form of the marrow itself or in something like bone broth.

The use of healthy fat is also highly encouraged for brain health, since that is also considered to be soft and oily. This could be in the form of ghee, nuts and seeds, avocados. Food extracted from a hard shell, like walnuts and coconut, are also considered beneficial.

We also know that many brain issues, like dementia, affect the fatty tissues of the brain, so it makes sense that eating foods high in healthy fats may be helpful. This may be surprising because we have been told low fat diets were so healthy for so long, but this trend is changing, and Ayurveda has recommended healthy fats in the diet for thousands of years.

Related: Guidelines for Eating the Ayurvedic Way

3. Herbs

Herbs are also used in Ayurveda to keep the brain functioning well. There is a classification of herbs called medhya. Meda means “supports healthy brain function.” This has three aspects: intellect, memory, and willpower. Herbs that physically enhance the overall function of the mind fall into this category. Examples include Brahmi, Tulsi, Jatamansi, and Kapikacchu.

These herbs are often consumed as supplements, cooked in ghee, and are also sometimes added to oil and then used for application to the scalp. There is also a treatment called shirodhara, which involves pouring a stream of hot, herb-infused oil onto the forehead. It’s meant to reduce stress and can help bring the logical and emotional minds into harmony.

Lastly, Ayurveda recommends a seasonal head and neck cleansing (NASYA therapy) to keep the brain healthy. This is done by administering herbal oil nasally once every three to four months. There is a procedure for doing this that involves preparing the head and neck region beforehand with massage and steam. This practice should only be done by a qualified Ayurvedic practitioner, not on your own at home.

The post Ayurveda’s Best Advice on Brain Health appeared first on Sonima.

Before we get started, a word of caution: Even the first textbook of Ayurveda, which is from around 800 BC, says that herbs should not be administered or taken without proper knowledge. In other words, even though these herbs are mild and don’t have any major interactions with other medications, it’s better to consult with your healthcare practitioner before trying them out.

1. Amalaki (Emblica officinalis)

Amalaki, also called Indian gooseberry, is a fruit that is deeply connected to Indian culture and has been used for thousands of years for its rejuvenating properties. The Amalaki fruit is a very rich source of vitamin C, so it has the ability to protect the immune system. It’s especially recommended to take Amalaki during the fall season, since in Ayurveda, fall is when the body is most prone to inflammation.

Amalaki and Tulsi, the next herb on this list, are often taken together. Amalaki to calm the body, and Tulsi to calm the mind. Amalaki is also thought to be an anti-aging substance. There is a section in Ayurveda called rasayana, which deals with prevention of disease, promotion of health, and anti-aging. This section of Ayurvedic medicine starts with Amalaki.

It’s wonderful to take Amalaki every day in one form or another, and the most common formula is called chyawanprash, a jam that contains several other herbs as well. It can be taken by people of all ages and is a very mild supplement that can help nourish all seven tissues of the body.

2. Tulsi (Ocimum sanctum)

Tulsi, also known as holy basil, is a very mental and spiritually connected plant, which means that taking it can help calm and uplift the state of mind. In Ayurveda, it’s thought that it can help induce a positive mindset. This is why Tulsi tea is administered to help deal with anxiety. In research, tulsi has shown promising anti-stress and antidepressant properties.

Tulsi has also been shown to have anti-cancer properties and protective properties against autoimmune diseases. While that doesn’t necessarily mean Tulsi will cure or prevent diseases, it may slow the growth of cancer cells and reduce inflammation, which is linked to autoimmune health issues.

Tulsi is also used as a home remedy for cough, sore throat, and sinusitis. By crushing the leaves to make a tea, many people find relief. It can also be taken in capsule form.

3. Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera)

Out of all the herbs on this list, Ashwagandha is perhaps the most famous right now thanks to its status as an adaptogen—a substance that helps the body adapt to stress. It’s not just popular today; the herb is also highly regarded in the ancient texts.

Ashwa means “horse” and ghanda means “like.” So, basically, it makes you horse-like with strength and vitality, especially in males. Studies show that Ashwagandha helps increase testosterone in infertile men. It also helps to nourish and rejuvenate muscles, so it’s especially useful to those who are active. This is also thought to extend to joint health. For those who have pain or achiness in their joints, Ashwagandha is a great choice.

Ashwagandha has also been touted for its mental health benefits. It can be used to help ease anxiety and research suggests it may be helpful for those with depression, too.

Ashwagandha is mostly taken in powder or capsule form, but there’s also a jam with other herbs called Ashwagandha lehyam, which is even better for absorption. It’s also taken in a milk formula, preferably with cow’s milk, but any type of plant-based milk will work, too. The herb gets into the body quickly and efficiently in this form.

Related: The Healing Powers of Herbs and Spices

4. Brahmi (Bacopa monnieri)

Brahmi, or bacopa, is an herb that is primarily taken to enhance the mind and is considered one of the best preventative solutions for age-related memory problems in Ayurveda. For this reason, it’s taken by many people of all ages.

Brahmi is thought to enhance all of the aspects of the intellect, and it’s a good tonic to take for keeping the mind healthy and functioning. It’s also sometimes used for children with ADHD with promising results and can help with proper reasoning.

If you have sleep troubles, you may also consider taking Brahmi to help calm the mind before going to bed. Similarly, those with stress-induced stomach issues may find Brahmi helpful to relax the mind and, thus, the digestive system. This plant is taken in the form of either a tea or fresh herbs in a salad, and can be taken by people of any age.

5. Shatavari (Asparagus racemosus)

Shatavari can be used for both mind and body health. In particular, it has a very special connection to female health and fertility. Shata means “many,” and avari means “surrounded with babies.” So just the name of this herb gives us a clue that it is very good for the female reproductive system, encouraging a healthy, regular reproductive cycle.

It’s also sometimes used to increase breast milk in women who are breastfeeding, as well as in women who are going through menopause. Research has also shown that it may help women with polycystic ovary syndrome.

Shatavari may improve gut health, too, and could be useful for treating ulcers. It may ease acid reflux in both sexes as well.

Since Shatavari is a root vegetable, and it’s rich with antioxidants and anti inflammatory substances. So when taken, studies show it can enhance immune function, reduce oxidative stress, and help with lymphatic fluid and blood circulation. People usually take about half a teaspoon of Shatavari powder mixed with some kind of warm liquid. It can also be taken as a pill or in a ghee, the latter of which can improve absorption.

The post 5 Essential Ayurvedic Herbs that Heal appeared first on Sonima.

Considering water’s spiritual significance, it’s not surprising that Ayurveda sees water as extremely important to our overall health. There are three essential things that support life itself: breath, food, and water.

Why You Need Water

Ayurveda suggests there’s a separate system that carries fluids in the body (known as udaka vaha srota). Its main control mechanism is under the upper palate, near where the major endocrine regulating hypothalamus and pituitary glands are located. There are several diseases and health issues that are thought to come from the imbalance in this channel or system, including diabetes, fluid retention, and swelling, like edema, and excessive thirst, to name a few. If someone doesn’t drink enough liquids, or consumes the wrong kinds (like too much alcohol), then damage to these fluid-carrying channels can occur.

Physiologically speaking, Ayurveda says that everything in the body has to move. Fluid is constantly flowing throughout the body. Water also supports two fluid tissues in the body: blood and lymph. If fluid is deficient, both blood and lymph lose their functionality, which causes a whole host of health problems. Lastly, the two waste products our bodies produce, sweat and urine, depend on fluid as well. In short, to sustain life, maintain tissues, and eliminate waste, water is invaluable.

When to Drink Water

Ayurveda recommends a series of morning rituals that should be completed before starting your day. It’s said that if you want to live 100 years, you should complete these rituals each day, without fail. One of them is drinking water—eight palmfuls to be exact. This measure is unique to each person and the size of his/her hand, and is done mainly to improve digestion and cleanse the body.

It’s also advised to keep the amount of water needed in a metal vessel. The type of metal you use depends on your body type. Ideally, you use copper for kapha (water), silver for vata (wind), and then gold for pitta (fire). Many people choose copper regardless of their dosha because it helps remove bacteria from the water.

For the rest of the day, drink water when you’re thirsty and based on the season. In the summer, you might need to drink more, and in the winter, you can drink less, but you should never force yourself to throw back bottles and bottles just because you feel like you should be consuming a certain amount.

Related: Why a Dehydrated Person Might Not Get Thirsty

There are also some specific recommendations about when to drink water in relation to eating food. Ayurveda says that if you want to lose weight, you should drink water before you eat. About 30 minutes before meals, you should drink a quantity of water that quenches your thirst. The reasoning behind this is simple: the more water you drink, the less hungry you will feel.

If you want to maintain your weight, you should sip water along with eating your food. This will help to mix the acid in your stomach with the food properly, and satisfies the volume of your appetite, because it takes a little space in between.

If you want to gain weight, you should drink water after you eat. This way, there’s more room for food in your body, and you won’t give away precious real estate to libations.

How to Drink Water

Drinking water, in general, is considered to be health-promotive in Ayurveda, although it’s very specific about what type of water to drink. Rain-harvested water is best for everyday drinking. The rationale behind this is that it hasn’t been mixed with other elements of the earth, so it doesn’t aggravate any of the doshas in a person’s body, and can easily reach and hydrate all the tissues in the body because it’s so pure.

Right now, most Ayurveda practitioners don’t drink rainwater because it’s a logistically difficult practice to implement. But I’m sure, in the future, there will be an industry for harvested rainwater bottled for people to drink.

When it comes to water itself, research has shown that water from different sources has different qualities. Water from the rivers that flow from the Himalayas to the east has different qualities from the waters that flow to the west. Well water, stream water, and rainwater all have different properties and qualities. Spring water is different from pond water. This is important because certain types of water can aggravate various health issues, and some types of water are harder or easier to digest. Generally, I’d recommend spring or mineral water because it’s the closest in quality to rainwater.

It’s common practice to treat the water you drink, since most people can’t drink rainwater. This can be done by boiling the water to reduce its volume by about half. You let it cool off, and drink it while it’s still warm.

Ideally, Ayurveda says you should never drink cold water. Summer is the only time when you can drink cold or room temperature water—but never ice cold. Why? Warmer water is thought to have metabolism-boosting benefits in Ayurveda, as well as health-promotive effects on the gut and digestive systems, and may help to prevent gas and bloating.

Bottom line: Drink warm or room temperature water first thing in the morning when you wake up, and continue sipping on it for the rest of the day whenever you feel thirsty in order to maintain your overall health.

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Skin, according to Ayurveda, plays a crucial role for two main reasons. It’s very important that we experience the world through all five senses, and skin is the largest sense organ in the body. Even though it is not used as extensively as the eyes or the tongue, it is still the largest. If the skin isn’t properly cared for, then your understanding of your surroundings you will not be complete.

Skin is also an organ that excretes waste material, i.e., sweat. Perspiration happens when toxins need to be eliminated in a timely fashion from the body, and the skin is responsible for that. For both of these reasons it’s crucial to place special attention into caring for your skin.

How Your Dosha Impacts Your Skin

You may already be familiar with the idea that there are three forces in the body, vata (wind), pitta (fire), and kapha (water). You may also remember that each person has a dominant dosha, or body type, that can be seen in a person’s skin appearance. Of course, this can vary, but when someone is at their healthiest, this is, generally, what their skin will be like depending on their body type.

Vatas tend to have dry, rough skin.
Pittas tend to have redder, delicate, and oily skin.
Kaphas tend to have normal skin that’s well-nourished and moist.

Vata regulates the gut on the inside, and is also seen in the skin on the outside. Because of this, skin is used as one of the organs that indicates how vata is working in the body. If the skin is dry, cracked, or discolored, then vata is increased and health can be compromised. This is important because vata controls every part of the body, including the other doshas, pitta and kapha. If vata can be controlled, then the rest of the body can automatically reach homeostasis.

Skin sensation is made possible by vata, but pitta is responsible for generating and secreting sweat. Pitta is also responsible for healthy color and complexion. In order to control vata and pitta in the body, Ayurveda uses the skin, so treatments meant to influence vata and pitta may be applied directly to the skin.

The Best Foods for Clear Skin

Diet, undoubtedly, plays a role in skin health. The word twak means “skin” in Sanskrit, and is the derivative of a specific action called twachya. Twachya is anything that you do or ingest that’s beneficial for the skin. Following general Ayurvedic diet principles is a good method of boosting skin health. Also, here are some specific foods and herbs that your outer layer will love:

• Astringent and bitter foods, like mung beans and amalaki (Indian gooseberries), turmeric, and cumin seeds are thought to firm and tighten the skin.
• Anything that’s moist, either with water or oil, is considered to be great for the skin because of its lubricating qualities. Examples include ghee, grapes, almonds, flax, and hemp seeds.
• Shatavari is a rejuvenative Ayurvedic herb is commonly used to boost skin health.
• Sprinkling food with Himalayan salt can be beneficial for the skin.
• Drinking licorice tea is recommended from time to time to promote skin health.

Related: Guidelines for Eating the Ayurvedic Way

Try these All-Natural Topical Treatments

These days, face masks are a common cosmetic treatment. It might surprise you to know that Ayurveda has been using them for thousands of years. All those years ago, people knew that the skin is a surface for absorption. It’s only recently that this has been accepted into Western medicine.

Thirty years ago, when I would tell people that the skin absorbs everything, they would laugh at me because it was considered to be just a barrier. But now we know that it’s a living organ that absorbs and processes everything. In Ayurveda, we use all kinds of pastes and oils to reduce pain, redness, numbness, and more.

When it comes to beauty purposes, there is a completely dedicated category of treatments for healthy skin. Oils, pastes, and scrubs are used to smooth, clarify, lighten, and darken skin. That’s right, Ayurveda introduced the world to self-tanning.

If you’re interested in getting started with Ayurvedic skincare, one of the best things you can do is incorporate an oil into your daily beauty routine. Some of the most popular oils are:

• Almond oil is recommended for all skin types.
• Saffron oil, also known as kumkumadi, is recommended for all skin types.
• Sesame oil is recommended for vata types.
• Coconut oil is recommended for pitta types.

The next step would be to introduce a face mask. Here’s a homemade Ayurvedic skin treatment that you can try on your own, using everyday household ingredients.

A Homemade Ayurvedic Face Mask

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon rice flour
• ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
• A pinch of turmeric
• A pinch of cloves
• 1 ½ teaspoon honey
• Enough water or rosewater (for aroma) to make the mixture into a thick paste
• ½ inch of lemon or orange peel, grated (optional)

Directions

1. Mix the following together, then apply as a mask on the face and allow to dry for 30 to 60 minutes.
2. Rinse with water. This gentle nourishing mask rejuvenates the skin and helps to neutralize the irritants that harm the skin.

The post Ayurveda’s Skincare Secrets that Will Change Your Beauty Routine appeared first on Sonima.

In the sequence of the daily routine, exercise comes after anointing one’s body with oil. One place where we see this practice is a traditional Indian martial arts form called Kalaripayattu, which is practiced in Kerala. The reasoning behind this is that when you anoint your body with oil, there’s more flexibility, which results in fewer injuries.

Even if you’re not willing to oil up before each workout, there are some key takeaways from Ayurveda’s approach to exercise that all active people can learn from.

The Myriad Benefits of Exercise

The first thing Ayurveda says is that exercise makes the body feel light, and can help a person be enthusiastic about the day’s activities. Though exercise is a physical pursuit, Ayurveda acknowledges that it has an impact on the mind and aids in psychological balance. Secondly, the classical texts say that exercise helps muscle tissue in the body become more toned, which, these days, is one of the main motivators to hit the gym for some people.

Exercise also helps people achieve a compact body, so that muscle mass is proportionate to body fat. Ayurveda says this allows people to experience some physical strain without fatigue. So for example, carrying something heavy—such as laundry, groceries or a toddler—or doing some physical labor during the day won’t tucker you out if you’re fit. Exercise also helps burn fat. Ayurveda considers sweat to be the waste product of fat tissue, so the idea is that when you sweat, excess fat gets metabolized and is excreted from the body in the form of sweat.

Regular exercising also aids in efficient digestion of food, absorption of nutrients, and excretion of wastes. Plus, it boosts metabolism in all the tissues of the body. Lastly, and most importantly, exercise allows the body energies, called doshas, to work in their physiological states in a way that does not aggravate or cause imbalances in the body. As a result, people who exercise tend to feel more balanced.

Related: The Unique Release of an Emotionally Cathartic Workout

The Importance of Not Overdoing It

Even thousands of years of ago, Ayurvedic practitioners recognized that people could become addicted to—or at least over-enthusiastic about—exercise. Here’s how they explained it: A person’s strength can be compared to a roaring lion, and exercise is like an elephant. If the two confront each other, the lion will kill the elephant with great difficulty, but the lion will also probably die because of exhaustion.

What they’re saying here is that people can exert themselves to an extremely high degree, but it’s not always worth it to push yourself past your limits. If you do too much, instead of just being toned and having a good bodily enthusiasm, you may become exhausted, and exhaustion can result in disease. In Western medicine, this is called Overtraining Syndrome, which can lead to a weakened immune system, among other ailments. In other words, just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should.

So how much exercise is ideal? If you have an idea of what your maximum output for exercise is, your regular daily exercise should be at half of that amount. For example, if you know you can run continuously for one hour, you should run for a half hour only. If you go beyond that point, you are dipping into the body’s vitality rather than helping the body to become active and strong.

If you’re not sure what your maximum is for your chosen form of exercise, there’s a physical way that you can measure this, too. If you’re sweating on your chest, back, forehead, and nose, then you’ve reached the threshold point where you should slow down and stop exercising. Also, a constant need to breathe through the mouth instead of the nose indicates that you need to slow down or stop.

Exercise According to Season and Energy

Like eating, exercise is also done with consideration for the season in Ayurveda. Colder seasons and climates allow for more exercise. In hotter weather, the intensity of exercise should be moderated because the external environment is causing the body to lose fluids. Doing vigorous exercise can further dehydrate you and cause tissue depletion, so it’s especially crucial not to overdo it when it’s hot outside.

When it comes to body type, there are also some guidelines. Kapha (water) types have the most endurance. They are best-suited to intense exercise, and Ayurveda encourages them to do it because even though they have great athletic capability, they are often less motivated to move. Vata (wind) types should do the least amount of exercise because they have less lubrication in their joints and their muscles aren’t naturally as strong. It’s better for them to not overstrain themselves. Pitta (fire) types fall somewhere in the middle. For example, let’s say a kapha should do 40 push-ups for optimal health, a pitta would do 30, and a vata would do 20. (Related: Learn more about body types here!)

Similarly, there’s a reason why exercise is recommended in the morning. The day is divided into three phases. The first phase of the day is the kapha phase, the second is pitta, and the third is vata. You want to exercise when you have the most strength and endurance, and that’s in the beginning or kapha part of the day. Of course, it’s not wrong to exercise in the evening and you’ll certainly still see some benefits, but according to Ayurveda, a daily morning workout of moderate intensity is one of the best things you can do to achieve optimal health.

The post What Ayurveda Says About Exercise appeared first on Sonima.

The three main aspects, or working parts, of the mind from the Ayurvedic viewpoint are:

• Dhi or Buddhi: Intellect, or the ability to analyze information
• Druti: Willpower, or the ability to make decisions
• Smruti: Memory

Before thoughts effortlessly pop up into your head, they are first processed through these three “livers” of the mind―intellect, willpower, or memory―and then they take expressions in the psyche in whatever relevance they might have. Thoughts may trigger a memory, pique your intellectual interest, or manifest themselves as desires or decisions through your free will.

The most important of these three is the intellect. If your ability to analyze information is in good shape, then you’ll make good decisions, practice a mindful way of living, and have the potential to advance spiritually. This translates into both a healthy mind and a healthy body.

One of the reasons looking after your mental health is so important in Ayurveda is that diseases and imbalances often start from the mind. The term we always use to describe this phenomenon is prajna aparadha, which means ignoring your consciousness or mindful ability. This is seen as the cause of all diseases, both physical and mental. When we overrule our mindfulness or consciousness, we will make erroneous choices. As a result, our sensory organs are motivated toward less-than-ideal objects, and the choices made trick the body into accumulating disease-causative factors. It’s no surprise that modern science has linked stress and anxiety to conditions like heart disease, gastrointestinal issues, and type 2 diabetes.

While the body is controlled by the doshas (vata, pitta, and kapha), the mind is characterized by two main forces: rajas and tamas. Rajas is the aspect of the mind that activates and intrigues it. It’s all about action, movement, and change. Conditions, like anxiety, can come about as a result of too much rajas. Tamas is the opposite; it slows the mind down, making it more ignorant and inert. When these two aspects are balanced, a person can achieve sattva, which is characterized by intelligence and harmony. This state promotes wellbeing and keeps us on the spiritual path. So, one who is in the sattvic state of mind seldom errs in physical aspects or mental, and thus, is less likely to develop physical or mental health issues.

How Ayurveda Manages Stress

Working toward sattva is one of the best things you can do for your health, and there are several avenues Ayurveda suggests for dealing with stress and achieving optimal mental health.

Routine

Ayurveda always supports routine for a good reason: When each day has a set pattern, there is less distraction for the mind, and the mind can elevate itself toward spirituality or a spiritual state. That’s why we have both daily and seasonal routines. When you know what to expect, it can be a good, stress-relieving factor. Even if you can’t have a set routine for your entire day, try creating a morning, afternoon, or evening routine for yourself to allow your mind to have some time to rest.

Related: 5 Morning Rituals to Help You Rise and Really Shine

Yoga

Exercise, in general, is good for the mind, but from a historical point of view, yoga is the main physical activity for Ayurvedic practitioners. There were also other modes of exercise, but yoga is one that they always promoted. Practicing yoga on a daily basis opens the channels of prana (life force), and encourages a deeper relationship between mind and body. I’m certain some Sonima readers may have already experienced this phenomenon. (If you’re new to yoga, however, check out our yoga pose tutorials as demonstrated by Ashtanga lineage-holder, Sharath Jois.)

Food

What you eat plays a very important role in balancing out the whole body and mind. The main aspects of food nourish the body, but the more subtle aspects of food affect the mind. The quality of food—whether it’s dry, oily, light, heavy—can have an impact on our mental state. For example, if a food is light, it promotes a rajas state; if it’s heavy, it encourages tamas. So when you eat in accordance with the Ayurvedic diet, your food is balanced in terms of these qualities, and it’s healthier for your mind.

Foods that are known to enhance the mind in Ayurveda include: ghee, honey, brown rice, mung beans, Himalayan salt, and barley. These should be incorporated into the diet in one way or another due to their qualities and their impact on the gut. There is a very low chance of these foods creating metabolic toxins, which can in turn affect the mind.

Intellect-promoting herbs are also a great option for everybody. The most commonly available ones are gotu kola, also called brahmi, licorice, and amalaki fruit. By incorporating these and the other methods discussed above into your lifestyle, you’ll be well on your way to a healthy mind and, ultimately, a healthy body, too.

The post Ayurveda’s Approach to Mental Health appeared first on Sonima.

To put it simplistically, the well-being of the universe has a direct impact on the well-being of humans, and vice versa, according to Ayurveda, but that’s just one of the many ways our bodies and nature are intertwined.

Wind, Water, and Fire

If you know a little about Ayurveda already, you are probably familiar with the three body types: pitta (fire), vata (wind), and kapha (water.) Obviously, these types come directly from nature and demonstrate how deeply linked humans are to the earth itself. The Charaka Saṃhitā, the first Ayurvedic textbook, says that the body is made functional by three essential entities: soma (water), surya (fire), and anila (wind). It further explains that nature and the human body are so closely related that the fire, water, and wind control the body. For humans, food is the carrier, or channel, that brings these three natural elements into the body, which is one of the reasons the Ayurvedic diet is so specific.

A Symbiotic Relationship

What is perhaps most fascinating about the our relationship with nature is that even the ancient texts acknowledged that it’s a two-way street. We have a profound impact on nature, just as it does on us.

Food is the sustainer of life in Ayurveda, and the six tastes actually come from the six seasons in nature. Each season brings about one taste as an expression in food. So for example, sweet is the taste of spring. What’s more, the hot and cold states of nature (also known as seasons), which are due to movement of the sun, are reflected in food. This means that foods are either considered hot or cold in potency with relationship to the human metabolism, either speeding things up or slowing them down based on their inherent properties.

Beyond that, the Ayurvedic advice about which foods to eat is highly in tune with nature: Whatever is grown, or available, in your area will be best for your body. So for example, if you live in California, whatever can grow in this climate is what you should be eating. By eating seasonally and locally, you not only nourish your body and prevent disease, but also promote the cultivation of the land around you.

Related: Guidelines for Eating the Ayurvedic Way

Medicines are also collected directly from nature in Ayurveda. There are three types of sources: herbal, animal, and mineral. And while humans can cultivate herbs and substances from the earth that can heal, this is a prime example of how the relationship definitely goes both ways. With reference to epidemics or viral contagious disease, the Charaka says that they are caused due to imbalance of the collective consciousness of the people living in that region. An overall negative collective consciousness impacts all things in the vicinity. The Charaka says that a wise practitioner of Ayurveda should collect the herbs and other medicinal substances used to treat these diseases from other regions.

Our impact on the environment also comes in more concrete forms, such as pollution and reduction of green spaces. Our surroundings are still undoubtedly influenced by our collective consciousness, so working toward a positive state of mind is very beneficial for the physical world at large.

The Power of Rejuvenation

The last topic I want to touch on is perhaps the most important. Ayurveda has an established tradition of investing in the rejuvenative powers of nature, and has long acknowledged what happens when we lose our connection to it.

The Charaka tells a story about rejuvenation that involves two groups of sages: One group lived in their huts in the forest, and the other ventured into society. Eventually, those sages who lived in society got all kinds of diseases. The text explains that the civilized way of living caused these diseases, which could be characterized as “lifestyle diseases”—certainly something we see frequently today.

To address those lifestyle diseases, the sages, who were living in cities and towns, went back to their original lives in huts in the forest. They realized that the pollution of thought, food, and water innate in civilized life caused them to become ill.

The moral of the story? Of course, it’s not that we should stop living in cities and towns—that would be impractical. But when when it comes to the civilized way of living, we should recognize that there’s an inevitable stress factor. That stress factor plays a significant role in producing these unique diseases that didn’t occur when people were living in their natural surroundings.

In order to combat this, spending more time in nature can provide some level of rejuvenation. Modern science has shown time and again that there are real, tangible benefits to being outside and connecting with your natural environment, from reducing cortisol levels to reducing inflammation and even lowering blood pressure. With this in mind, it seems logical that we begin to see the environment as a part of the solution to the health problems that come along with modern life—one that’s worth protecting.

The post How Nature Impacts Our Health appeared first on Sonima.

Within para-ojus, there are exactly eight drops, which are located in the heart and the great vessels surrounding the heart. These eight drops are with you for your whole life, and their purpose is to keep the the body free from diseases. The textbooks say that if this ojus is reduced, the person’s life is threatened, so it cannot be replaced or refilled. Once lost, it’s gone for good.

The second kind, apara-ojus, is present at the time of birth, but also keeps accumulating as you grow. This quantity is said to be about one palmful of your own hand, depending on the health of your tissues. In Ayurveda, we have seven classifications of tissues: plasma, blood, muscle, fat, bone, bone marrow, and reproductive. Each of these tissues—when functionally, quantitatively, and qualitatively healthy—contributes to the formation and maintenance of this second type of ojus. Ideally, if you’re healthy, you’re collecting apara-ojus just by living, and it’s always working because you are fighting diseases throughout your entire life.

How Modern Science Factors In

There are some interesting parallels between what modern science and Ayurveda say about the immune system. The thymus gland, located right in front of the heart between the lungs, is very large when we are in the womb. The cells that are important to immunity are produced in the liver and the spleen. These cells, called lymphocytes, migrate to the thymus gland, get “schooled” into knowing what is the body and what is not, and become T lymphocytes, also known as T cells. That means these cells are able to recognize anything in the body that is abnormal, like foreign bacteria or viruses. There are a limited number of these cells because after the first year of life, the thymus gland becomes completely rudimentary. This makes sense, because in Ayurveda, we also know that there are a finite number of para-ojus cells and once they’re gone, we die.

The other types of immune cells are distributed all over the body and are made up of several different subtypes, such as B cells and natural killer cells. They’re not quite as intelligent or trained as the T cells, but once the body recognizes something as a foreign material, these types of cells attack and destroy it. They are much higher in quantity, so in a sense, they parallel the apara-ojus.

Enhance Your Immune System Naturally

In Ayurveda, there are three main ways to strengthen the ojus for optimal health.

1. Lifestyle Choices

Since you can only improve the functionality of the para-ojus, not replenish it, lifestyle choices seem to be the most critical for keeping it well-functioning. What depletes the para-ojus is either physical or mental overexertion. So how you physically behave and your mindset are vital. The more integrated and self-controlled you are, the more vibrant and strong your ojus will be. Additionally, exercising regularly (but not overdoing it) is very important for immunity, because the more vibrant and active your tissues are, the more vibrant and active your ojus.

2. Herbal Options

Amalaki, also known as Indian gooseberry, is one the most important herbs that keeps the ojus in tune. It’s one of the world’s richest sources of vitamin C, which is very important for immunity. Research indicates that amalaki reduces oxidative stress on the body. It is often put into a preparation called chyavanaprash for daily consumption. This poly-herbal formula includes more than 35 other ingredients and is meant to increase the metabolism of all the tissues in the body. One herb cannot address all the immune requirements of the body. So they have made it into this jam, which has the primary herb as well as some secondary herbs to enhance its actions.

You can buy chyavanaprash many places, but you want to make sure that it is from a good source. Amalaki is expensive, so sometimes it’s substituted with other ingredients. So it’s always a good idea to check and confirm that it actually contains amalaki. Some companies claim it’s organic, but that might just indicate it’s missing key ingredients because not all of them can be sourced organically.

Related: 4 Ways to Stay Healthy Through the Season

Another major immunity herb is ashwagandha, which is very popular right now. Traditionally, this is used for males in a poly-herbal formula called ashwagandha lehyam, which is another product Ayurveda recommends to take daily. Many Ashtanga yoga practitioners will take chyavanaprash before their yoga practice, and ashwagandha lehyam after their practice.

For women, shatavari is the main female ojus-building herb. It’s usually administered in the form of a ghee because it’s better absorbed with fat.

3. Food

Fresh fruits and vegetables, especially ones that are in season, are considered to be the best source of ojus-enhancing nutrients. Other foods that are highly praised for immunity include almonds, dates, pistachios, raisins, ghee, raw unpasteurized honey, mung beans, barley, rice, raw cow’s milk, and lean meat. Eat one or more of these on a daily basis for an immune system boost.

The post Ayurveda’s Answer to How to Improve Your Immune System appeared first on Sonima.

In Ayurveda, we have daily routines, including abhyanga and tongue scraping, that are designed to promote good health. These routines serve to systematically awaken your consciousness, sensory body, emotional body, and physical body. It’s a multi-level process meant to enable you to perform at your best and improve your day-to-day life.

While tongue scraping enhances your digestive and oral health, abhyanga, on the other hand, works with the skin—the largest organ in the body—and, as a result, affects the body as a whole. Modern science has proven that the skin is deeply connected to the nervous system and brain. So just as stress can impact your skin, what you do to your skin can influence your brain.

For example, abhyanga may increase cognitive function. People who have dementia, and similar medical conditions in their family, would benefit from this massage, which can impact the nervous system and improve memory function. Abhyanga also increases compactness of the body, keeping the skin elastic and joints flexible. Consider adding abhyanga to your daily routine for radiant skin and better sleep quality, too.

Related: 6 Self-Massage Tools to Restore Your Body at Home

Abhyanga has also shown to prevent or slow down premature aging. The reason is obvious: Skin plays an important role in the aging process. Abhyanga also calms the nervous system, which can reduce fatigue. I work long hours and sometimes have physically strenuous days. However, I start and end each day with the same amount of energy. How? I completely attribute my sustained energy to my daily abhyanga practice. It’s wonderful how it takes care of any fatigue that may creep in.

All vata (wind energy) diseases can be addressed with abhyanga as well. For instance, this form of therapy can reduce anxiety, joint issues, and muscle aches. If somebody had Bell’s Palsy or a stroke, it could also help them recover more quickly. Also, in Ayurveda, we believe your feet have a direct channel to the eyes. Therefore, by massaging the feet, you can improve your vision and maintain good eye health.

How to Practice This Self-Massage at Home

Ideally, abhyanga is practiced daily on oneself. The fact that you can do this in the privacy of your own home for free and without any assistance is one of its many advantages.

The process is simple: All joints and body parts are massaged with oil in a circular motion in the direction of the hair, which mostly means going away from the heart (this is one of the key differences between regular massage and abhyanga). Massage your head in a downward motion so that you go from the crown toward the ears. For the ears, go from the top to the lobe. For the feet, rub from the heel to the toes.

Any part of your body that you are massaging should be rubbed until it becomes warm. To do your whole body should take a maximum of 10 minutes once you get accustomed to the practice. If you’re pressed for time, just do your head, ears, and feet, which should only take 2 to 3 minutes.

It is suggested that you perform abhyanga before taking a shower because generating body heat is a crucial component. According to the ancient sages, when you rub on oil and your body temperature changes, the pores of the skin open. As a result, the oil can get into the body. You don’t have to worry about the oil getting washed off because if you’re doing it on a daily basis, your body will gradually absorb the oil. When taking a shower, I recommend not using soap (except on sweaty parts) and just scrubbing with your hands, so that the film of oil stays on the skin and continues to diffuse into the body.

Generally, sesame oil is best. To prepare it, just add one or two drops of water, then heat it. Once it boils, turn off the heat and store it for later. There are also certain classical oils that can be used with the most famous being mahanarayana thailam. This oil has many ingredients, and greater health benefits compared to regular oil.

As you can see, the process of performing abhyanga is not difficult, especially once you get used to it. Its advantages are plenty, and you don’t have to go to a spa or massage therapist to get the benefits. If daily is too much of a commitment for you right now, try it once a week to help deepen your mind-body connection and improve your overall health.

The post The Daily Massage You Really Need appeared first on Sonima.

How Ayurveda Views the Menstrual Cycle

It’s helpful to understand how this ancient holistic health system sees the reproductive stages of a woman’s life. In Ayurveda, a woman’s lifespan is divided into three sections, each dominated by a different dosha, or biological energy. The first stage, from birth until the first menstruation, is dominated by kapha, the energy of water and earth. The middle part of life, or the childbearing years, from around ages 15 to 50, is ruled by pitta, the fire energy. The last stage of life is governed by vata, or the air energy. Of course, the exact ages vary from person to person, but these are the three general stages of life.

A healthy menstrual cycle runs like clockwork. This can only happen if, primarily, the pitta energy is healthy since it’s the energy that generally most influences the menstrual cycle. Ayurveda says the nourishment that the female body receives is divided between two secondary tissues—breast and uterine—before reaching the rest of the body. When a woman is reproductively active, these two tissues are nourished based on her conception or non-conception.

When a woman conceives, more nourishment material in the form of lymph and plasma is directed to the breast and uterine tissues. When a woman is breastfeeding, most of the nourishment goes to her breasts for milk production. When she stops breastfeeding, the body resumes sending most of the nourishment to the uterine tissue, which, in turn, is converted to blood and moves out of the body via menstrual flow at the end of the cycle. This whole process of transformation is regulated by pitta, while vata is responsible for moving out the blood from the uterus. Most PMS symptoms are due to aggravation of pitta and vata.

Prevent PMS Before It Starts

In general, the best way to treat PMS is by regulating your cycle. It’s actually more beneficial to address the issue throughout your monthly cycle (meaning every day) than only when you’re experiencing the symptoms—such as bloating, digestive issues, skin breakouts, and mood swings—associated with PMS. Living a healthy lifestyle daily with a well-regulated diet, quality sleep, and consistent exercise habits is truly the optimal plan to treat, or better yet, bypass these symptoms altogether.

Menstruation As Detox

It is also worth noting that Ayurveda looks at menstruation as a natural detox process for the female body. It says that a woman should facilitate the process of letting go all of the menstrual blood to an extent where no physical strain is exerted. That’s why if you look at Ashtanga yoga, during the women’s menstruation days, there’s no yoga practiced. The reason: they don’t want women to exert any physical energy when the body is undergoing a detox process.

In order to facilitate the process, you might just do pranayamas and very light stretching instead of intense yoga. This concept applies similarly to all areas of life, from physical exercise to your job. Ideally, you’d have some lower stress days at work during menstruation in order to facilitate detox. In short, mental stress and physical strain should be avoided when menstruating, if possible.

For some women, it is also consoling to know that the detox process is not always easy and can, occasionally, be painful. This is why menstrual cramps are to be expected. Sometimes, knowing and accepting that a small amount of pain is normal during menstruation can lessen its impact.

What About Western Medicine to Ease the Pain?

Nobody should have to suffer, if you can help it, which is why so many people reach for over-the-counter pain medicine so quickly. OTC painkillers, in the long term, are not particularly healthy because they have a significant amount of side effects, including an elevated risk of heart attack, reports a new study published in the British Medical Journal in May. One should avoid taking them as much as possible. Of course, if the pain is not tolerable, then it’s fine to use OTC medications sparingly. Just make sure you’re taking the proper steps before your next cycle to mitigate these symptoms more naturally.

Related: 5 Natural Remedies for Period Pain and Symptoms

Natural Ways to Manage PMS

If you’re on top of your diet, sleeping patterns, and overall lifestyle, this is the ideal way to regulate your cycle. However, not all life situations are the same. If it’s not possible for you to make lifestyle changes, there are some things you can do while you’re menstruating to make yourself feel better. You’ll notice that most of them are related to the digestive system since all three doshas are regulated there. The Ayurvedic approach is that if you can control the doshas at the level of the digestive system, they will not disturb the menstrual cycle.

1. Stay hydrated. If you want to limit your prevention plan to just one tactic, make it this: Drinks lots and lots of water. Lack of fluids in your body will exacerbate PMS. You need to facilitate the elimination of heat from the body, which can be done through urination.

2. Keep your digestive system on track. Another way to eliminate heat from the body is to have regular bowel movements. This can be done in a number of ways, from taking triphala capsules to making a soup with dark leafy greens, which can help kickstart your digestion. You can also try drinking milk with coconut oil at nighttime with a little bit of turmeric and saffron. When the bowels are regular, the pitta and vata are naturally balanced.

3. Spice up your diet. Cumin is great for removing excess pitta from the lymph or plasma and keeping it from getting deposited in the uterus or sweat-carrying channels. It also helps eliminate heat by promoting urination. Dill is one of the of the best remedies for lower back pain during the cycle. Also, the plant fenugreek can reduce swelling and cravings. Soak it in water overnight until it becomes soft and fluffy, then chew and swallow it first thing in the morning with some hot water. Lastly, here is a recipe for a commonly-used tea that women drink on their menstrual cycles in India.

Ingredients:

1 tbsp cumin seeds
1 tbsp dill seeds
1 tbsp coriander seeds
1.5 teaspoons fennel seeds
1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
1 teaspoon molasses, coconut sugar, or coconut nectar (optional)

Directions:

Dry roast the seeds on a pan until aromatic. Once they are roasted, use a coffee grinder or mortar and pestle to crush them into a coarse powder. Then, heat up 16 ounces of water and put the seed powder into the water. Boil for two minutes, and while boiling, add the ginger. Turn off the heat and strain the mixture. Add molasses or coconut nectar/sugar, mix, and then drink in the morning after breakfast.

The post Ayurvedic Remedies for PMS That Really Work appeared first on Sonima.

The Basic Principles of Eating According to Ayurveda

For this reason, food is a celebration in Ayurveda. Nourishment is given the utmost respect, especially considering that what we consume influences us on three distinct levels: there is a 1) physical effect on the body, 2) a psycho-emotional effect, which is experienced through the sense organs and the mind, and 3) a spiritual effect that has the power to uplift our consciousness and spirit.

Today, food is something that is often taken for granted in certain parts of the world. In the U.S, for example, Americans eat anywhere and everywhere without giving consumption much thought. This way of eating does not correspond to Ayurveda guidelines, which are largely based on one key rule: You should not approach food with greed. This is a fascinating concept because every time you ingest food, greed innately takes over. Ayurveda says that you have to check yourself mindfully to take away that greed and attachment to food. When you eat, you should be in a very peaceful state of mind and atmosphere.

Related: 7 Realistic Ways to Approach Mindful Eating

Another vital rule is that you should completely focus on the act of eating. You should sit, settle down, and give respect to what you’re about to consume. Then, you can bring your attention to utilizing all five senses while you eat. The tongue is the most important because it tastes and mixes the food. Sight is equally valuable, so take a moment to study your meal. Is it colorful? It should be. Also, use your hands to eat instead of utensils. Touching the food is crucial for having the complete experience. Lastly, smell the food and listen to the different sounds that are made while eating. In this way, all five sense organs are put into play.

The Age-old Battle: Quality vs. Quantity

The fundamental difference between Ayurvedic diet principles and modern dietetics is that we give a lot of significance to quality opposed to quantity of food. What I mean is that we don’t use calories as the governing principle of food. In Ayurveda, we don’t eat to achieve a certain number of calories per day, but rather, we eat food for its physical and, more importantly, for its psycho-emotional effects. Think about it this way: If you eat chocolate, you’re probably not eating it because of the number of calories it has. You’re eating it because of how it makes you feel. Quantity is given importance, but the whole networth of food has to do with certain attributes like taste, texture, and temperature—not how many calories are in it.

Other food qualities to consider are location and season. Ayurveda says that food needs to be consumed seasonally because your body processes food differently depending on the time of the year. Preference is also given to whatever is available in your local region. Ayurveda says that whatever is grown locally is very well-understood by the body. Funnily enough, the “eat local” movement is very Ayurvedic.

The Classification of Food

There are several ways that Ayurveda divides foods into groups. One is by physical qualities, such as whether a food is dry, oily, heavy, light, hot, cold, soft, or hard. Every sensory input is measured in terms of the physicality of a substance, and these physical traits have physical impacts on us.

Taste, on the other hand, goes beyond the physical. There are six different tastes that food can have in Ayurveda: sweet, salty, sour, pungent, astringent, and bitter. These six tastes are given a lot of importance because they go a layer deeper. Whereas the physical qualities of food have an impact on the body, taste has a physical impact and can influence the mind.

For example, if someone is having a stressful week at work, they may want to eat something that’s heavier and more grounding. That means they may gravitate toward something that’s sweet, salty, or oily. Oily is a physical quality that creates a sensation of being taken care of or consoled, whereas sweet and salty tastes ground nervous energy and, in turn, the mind. So when people are stressed out, they gravitate towards these qualities and tastes because it helps to balance them. In this way, you can see how food is deeply and subconsiously connected to emotions. Below is a guide to the different tastes, which may surprise you.

Sweet: Rice, wheat, milk, fruit, honey, sugar

Salty: This category only contains salt, but there are different classifications depending on where it comes from, i.e., Himalayan pink salt, sea salt, mineral salt, and lake salt.

Sour: Lime, lemon, sauerkraut, fermented foods, yogurt

Pungent: Cumin, oregano, cayenne pepper, chiles, black pepper, ginger, wasabi

Astringent: This taste is often confused with sour, but it really means anything that makes your mouth dry and pucker. This includes lentils, green leaves, and turmeric.

Bitter: Arugula, escarole, bitter melon

How Digestion Works

Food should be consumed when there is enough hunger to warrant it. This is difference between consuming food for physical and emotional needs. Ayurveda says that food should always be consumed for physical needs. When you are physically hungry, the agni, or ability to digest food, is stronger. When the agni is weak and food is just consumed for the sake of eating, then food becomes toxic to the body. When your stomach is growling and you can feel your own peristalsis (the movements your digestive system makes), then the wind energy, or vata dosha, is dominant. It’s almost like a nervous energy, which sends a signal to the brain that says it’s time for food.

If you’re very hungry, you should start your meal with a little bit of something sweet, because it satisfies this wind energy. Dessert comes first in Ayurveda, but instead of a cookie or cake it’s just a small piece of date or apple or something similar. After that, you consume something salty and sour, usually food that is fermented, which always brings a sour taste. Then, the main course of the meal you eat something mildly sweet, astringent, and pungent and salty like some grain with lentils or meat with vegetables. Lastly, you might want to eat something slightly bitter and astringent, like a salad.

This approach is for when a person is really hungry, and this order is reversed when a person is not very hungry. Then, activating the physiology of digestion is given more importance than appeasing it. As you can see, the rules of Ayurvedic eating are flexible; nothing is totally mandated.

Any Food Can Be Ayurvedic

One major misconception is that Indian food is Ayurvedic food. In fact, every food is Ayurvedic (even Lean Cuisine) as long as we apply the right principles. The fundamental difference is that most food, including Indian cuisine, is driven by taste and pleasure. Ayurvedic food is driven by taste and health. Health is given a lot more importance than pleasure in the Ayurvedic diet. Of course, this doesn’t mean that you can’t enjoy your food when you eat in an Ayurvedic style, but rather, you acknowledge that what you eat has the power to nourish your body, mind, and spirit, thus, helping you achieve your best possible health.

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Why have humans been tongue scraping for so long? In Ayurveda, we say that life is what you experience. What you experience is based on the sense organs (ears, skin, eyes, tongue, and nose), which engage in sense objects (sound, touch, sight, taste, and smell). Each of these give you different impressions or feelings of pleasure or pain. These impressions are registered by your mind, and then the mind conveys them to the soul. This is how experience is seen in Ayurveda. Your life is completely shaped by your experiences, and these daily self-care rituals, as outlined in the Charaka Samhita, are meant to systematically cleanse and evoke the sense organs to perform at their best.

Tongue scraping accomplishes this goal via two key ways: sensory and motor aspects. The tongue is a dual-sense organ thanks to its ability to both taste food and provide the motor function to communicate. Taste plays such a huge part in our lives, but enjoying the flavors of our nourishment is only half of it. All foods offer six different tastes, and each one has its own psycho-emotional impression on your body and mind. The tongue helps to reveal the taste of the substances you eat. Your tongue gets coated with food material and all kinds of bacteria, so when it’s not clean, the level of sensory perception decreases, which then increases your risk of overdoing eating.

Related: Is Your Relationship with Food Actually Harmful?

For example, if you’re nibbling a donut and your tongue is covered in debris, two bites will not saturate your tongue fully with the taste that you crave. As a result, you may be inclined to eat more than necessary, like a whole donut (or two), to get the sensory satisfaction that you desire. In this way, tongue scraping can help to properly unveil the taste of food with minimal input. In other words, a clean tongue can improve satiety and, therefore, reduce the risk of binge-eating.

The tongue also enables us to speak and relate to other human beings. Back in the day, at the dawn of this ancient practice, people believed that a clean tongue promoted positive speech with a heightened ability to communicate. These are the two main reasons that this practice continues to be important in Ayurveda today, but modern science has proven that there are some other benefits, too.

Research has shown that this practice has the power to protect against several oral hygiene issues. A study published in the Journal of Periodontology found that tongue scraping is more effective at reducing halitosis (bad breath) than brushing the tongue with a toothbrush. Other studies have shown that it can reduce levels of potentially harmful bacteria, like streptococcus and lactobacillus, both of which can colonize elsewhere in the body. Streptococcus is behind strep throat and both bacteria can cause other damaging systemic infections. Lastly, this practice has been linked to minimizing the presence of plaque in children’s mouths, which could, in turn, lower the risk of developing cavities.

If you’re ready to start subscribing to this daily ritual, the good news is, the recommended procedure is short and simple. In the past, when the sages used to live in the forest, they employed plant leaves bent in a certain fashion. Later, instruments were created from inert metals like gold, silver, and copper. I recommend a silver scraper because of its antibacterial properties and neutralizing property of acid. It’s a one-time life investment.

The scraping should be done from the back base of the tongue to the tip three times. First in the center, then on the left, and lastly on the right. That’s enough. You don’t have to keep scraping forever! We tend to think that more is better, but in this case, three times is perfect. And no need to do it twice a day because some amount of bacteria in the mouth is good for the gut biome. Aim to do it every the morning since bacterial colonization in your mouth takes place at night while you’re not eating or swallowing.

Lastly, I usually discourage people from using a brush on their tongue. While it has some benefits, it also has some harmful effects, as it may damage the taste buds. It’s better to just stick to the basics. After all, people have been doing it this way for thousands of years.

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