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Pratyahara (withdrawal of the senses) is one of the most important limbs of Yoga but often one of the least understood. Yoga requires that the mind must be focused and drawn within, with the fire of vairagya or detachment of the senses (indriyas) being awakened and mastered. The most famous …

When Ayurveda originated over 5,000 years ago in India, vaidyas (or Ayurvedic physicians) did not have access to the array of clinical tests, as we do in present day. Thus, the vaidyas used the classical method of eightfold examination in Ayurveda. This is known as ashta vidya pariksha in Sanskrit. …

Everyday, I see people who need help managing their health. Often, clients come to me after they’ve tried traditional or mainstream treatments. I’m always happy when people take a more holistic approach to healing, but through the years I have realized something: Most people don’t know how to ask the …

Many modern Yoga teachers promote that Yoga reduces weight, makes you happy, healthy, and keeps you in touch with your “inner self.” Well, they are not far away from the truth. The original Sanskrit Hatha Yoga text called Hathayoga Pradipeeka (1500-1600A.D.), does promise eight benefits of yoga that are rather …

Healing the Mind. What exactly does that mean? Today many of us are familiar with the various psychiatric medications to help our minds feel better. It’s hard to escape all the advertising on billboards, tv, magazines and internet. Feeling down? Try Abilify. Feeling anxious? Xanax can help! Feeling manic? Try …

Among the eight limbs of Yoga, dharana or concentration is one of the higher limbs that precedes dhyana or meditation. Yet today, several Yoga teachers and their students do not develop proper dharana and instead go straight into various meditations and try and control the mind. According to traditional Yoga …

I still remember it like it was yesterday. I was 22, had a great paying job and was in the prime of my life…..right? Wrong. I was 40 pounds overweight, had no energy, and was tired CONSTANTLY no matter how many hours of sleep I got or how many naps …

Save your money. All the high-dollar, big-hype superfoods or energy-boosting foods out there AREN’T going to cure your fatigue. There’s a lot of information out there about what to eat to boost your energy and increase your health overall. What to Eat—Not So Important? I want to cut through the …

Hey! Did you know that the food you choose directly affects your mood? Maybe you did, cause you are so Ayurvedically smart (if so, permission to high kick with pride!). You should know that every morsel we put into our body has energy connected to it. Consider it mood food. …

Pranayamas, or yogic breathing techniques, have effects upon the doshas in the body. Vata – Wind, Pitta – Bile and Kapha – Phlegm. Pranayamas also have specific effects on the mind, as per the four levels of the mind: Chitta, or unconscious mind / mind-stuff Buddhi, or the intellect, which …

My first memory of being a highly sensitive person is from grade school – first grade, to be exact. I watched as the classmate sitting in front of me slowly wet his pants, the teacher oblivious. To me, it felt as though his embarrassment and shame filled the whole room, …

Do you have trouble digesting gluten?  (Or dairy?  Or other types of foods?) While eliminating the “problem” ingredients from your diet—the ever-popular modern way of responding to food sensitivities—can relieve your symptoms, it does nothing to relieve the root problem. The biggest problem isn’t the gluten; it’s your digestion. Gluten …

Ayurvedic approach to cancer: Ayurveda names diseases with infinite possibilities of terminology, yet the word cancer does not exist. In fact, Ayurveda sees the world and the human body in terms of elements or forces constituting it and creating troubles when in imbalance. Here are some key points to understand …

“Ayurveda is all about digestion. The food we eat, the beverages we drink, the sights we see, the books we read, the conversations we have and emotions we feel. How do you digest your life experiences?” One of the Ayurvedic principles that helps digestion is the element of Fire. Fire …

Āyurveda teaches that understanding the components which create human life, allows one to understand what can possibly malfunction and create disease. This allows a healer to distinguish the source of a disorder in a patient and guide them to the most efficient treatments. The components which create life and therefore …

Pooping: it’s one of the body’s most important indicators of health. Not pooping (or not pooping regularly or satisfyingly): it’s one of the body’s most important indicators of un-health. Constipation is a common problem these days. Ayurvedically speaking, that’s often because there is such a great vata imbalance in our …

During the festive season we find ourselves often on the move and out of our normal routine, causing us to feel imbalanced, fatigued or “out of sorts”. Traveling has been a big part of my life, visiting over twenty countries living and working abroad. Travel, especially via air, can be …

Chikitsa Padah literally means “4 limbs of a treatment” and is one of the key points to understand the Ayurvedic approach. Nowadays, it is unfortunately common to see people putting their health in the hands of a practitioner in the hope that he or she would save them from their …

I’m just old enough to remember the good old days when the milkman delivered fresh un-homogenized milk straight to your door every few days. How good was it as a kid peeling off those foil lids and gorging on the creamy tops and the precious liquid that lay beneath?! I …

We are naturally designed to wake up in the earlier hours of the morning. (Yes, that includes you!) If you have trouble dragging yourself out of bed in the morning, it’s an indication that you’re somehow going against nature—in Ayurvedic understanding, that you’re going against health, that something is out …

Following seasonal rhythms is not something that only happens in nature. Our bodies, too, need fall to readjust…it’s the perfect time to slow down, restore and renew ourselves. Although we’ve set the clocks back, some may be having a hard time adjusting to a new sleep routine. A lack of …

The concepts of desa, kala, patra are very informative for the way in which Ayurveda treats imbalance and disease. Treatment needs to be appropriate to the patients’ circumstance/locality (desa), time period (kala) in which he or she lives, season of the year, and to the personality/identity of the patient (patra). …

Do you have difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep at night? If that’s you—to any degree—you’re dealing with insomnia. A main key to Ayurveda’s cure for insomnia is RHYTHM in your life.  And in most cases, your sleep rhythm is off because your foundational biorhythm or circadian rhythm is off. …