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April 10 - May 7, 2018
Ayurveda recommends drinking a little dry red wine—a few ounces at most—in the winter to improve digestion and circulation. Draksha
At the end of the day, rub a small amount of sesame oil on
For example, panchakarma is highly recommended, to clear the system of accumulated kapha dosha and help prevent allergies, hay fever, colds, and sinus congestion.
Good herbs for spring include ginger, black pepper, pippali, and a tea made of cumin, coriander, and fennel in equal proportions.
seafood, crab, lobster, and duck are not recommended during spring season.
Ayurveda says that breathing is the physical part of thinking and thinking is the psychological part of breathing. Every thought changes the rhythm of breath, and every breath changes the rhythm of thinking.
By controlling the breath, we can control mental activity.
breathing better through the left nostril activates the right hemisphere of the brain, and breathing better through the right nostril activates the left brain.
SHITALI PRANAYAMA (COOLING BREATH) Curl your tongue into a tube. Inhale slowly through the curled tongue, swallow, and then exhale normally through the nose, keeping the mouth closed. You will feel the incoming air cool your saliva, your tongue, and the oral mucous membranes. This form of breathing is helpful for pacifying high pitta. It lowers the oral temperature, makes the saliva cool, helps to quench thirst, and improves digestion, absorption, and assimilation. Shitali is effective for high blood pressure, burning throat or tongue, and a burning sensation in the eyes. It cools the entire
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When sound, breath, and awareness come together, it becomes light.
As just one example, eating bananas with milk can diminish agni (gastric fire) and change the intestinal flora, resulting in toxins and causing sinus congestion, cold,
Chew a bit of fresh ginger (sprinkled with salt and lime juice if you like) before meals to stimulate digestion.
MELONS EVERYTHING, especially: “Eat them alone or leave them alone” Grains, Starches, Fried foods, Cheese
Indian philosophy classifies human temperaments into three basic types: sattvic, rajasic, and tamasic.
Sattvic foods include fruit, steamed vegetables, and fresh vegetable juice. Milk and ghee are sattvic foods that build up ojas and give vitality to prana.
Vata is approximately 75 percent rajas, 20 percent sattva, and 5 percent tamas. Pitta is 50 percent or more sattva, 45 percent rajas, and up to 5 percent tamas. Kapha is maybe 75 percent tamas and 15 to 20 percent sattva, with very little rajas.
Find out the person’s prakruti (constitution). 2. Find out the vikruti (the present altered state of the doshas in the body). 3. Find out the cause or causes of the illness, such as diet, lifestyle, emotional patterns, quality of relationships, genetic predisposition, and so on. 4. As the first line of treatment, remove the cause. 5. Provide the proper regimen (diet, exercise, pranayama, etc.), according to the person’s prakruti, vikruti, seasons, climate, age, and so on. 6. Provide a detoxification procedure: either palliation (shamana) or elimination (shodana, such as panchakarma). 7.
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Avoid spicy and fermented foods, salt, fried foods, and citrus fruits.
USE THESE HERBS TO BALANCE PITTA. The following formula is excellent for pacifying the excess pitta that causes acne: kutki guduchi shatavari
A helpful tea, made from common household herbs, is cumin-coriander-fennel tea. After each meal, steep ⅓ teaspoon of each of these three seeds in hot water for 10 minutes, strain, and drink. Use this tea 3 times a day.
DRINK BLUE WATER. Fill a clear glass bottle or jar
BREATHING EXERCISE. Breathing through the left nostril only, for 5 to 10 minutes, will help to reduce pitta. (This is called the Moon Breath and is said to be cooling; breathing through the right nostril is called the Sun Breath and is heating.) Simply cover the right nostril with your thumb, and breathe normally through the left side. If the nostril is blocked, don’t force it; try again later.
CLEANSING. To effectively handle the problem of addiction, it is important to do panchakarma, an effective Ayurvedic cleansing and detox program.
Ayurveda suggests a bitter wine made of aloe vera juice. (It is called kumari asava.)
because they have a low appetite. Unless they have a drink, they never feel hungry. In such cases, instead of alcohol, they can have some ginger tea to stimulate their appetite (see also “Appetite, Low
The common Western herb burdock is also an effective blood purifier; you can make a tea from ½ teaspoon burdock per cup of boiling water and drink it 2 or 3 times a day.
Kapha-type allergies occur when excess kapha collects in the stomach and lungs. One way to relieve this congestion is purgation therapy (virechana). Use flaxseed oil (available in most natural food stores), and take 1 teaspoon 2 or 3 times a day for 2 or 3 days. This will be quite effective. Or you can use triphala (see below).
USE TRIPHALA. For all three types of allergies, one can take ½ to 1 teaspoon of triphala at night. (See appendix 2 for instructions for preparing triphala.) Triphala acts as both a laxative and a purgative. It consists of three herbs: amalaki, bibhitaki, and haritaki. Haritaki works on vata dosha, amalaki on pitta dosha, and bibhitaki on kapha dosha.
BLOCK THE ALLERGENS. Generally, the respiratory passage is open to dust and other allergens. One way to minimize the effect of allergens that you can’t avoid is to lubricate the nasal mucous membrane with ghee.
FOR PITTA-TYPE ANEMIA. For pitta anemia, Ayurveda suggests shatavari ghee. (The shatavari and the ghee are cooked together. Directions for preparing herbalized and medicated ghees and oils appear in appendix 2.) Take 1 teaspoon of shatavari ghee 3 times a day, before breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
EAT IRON-RICH FOODS. Iron is a good blood builder, so foods rich in iron, such as beets, carrots, grapes, raisins, and currants, are used in the Ayurvedic treatment of most anemias. Figs, dates, and date sugar are also
Chlorophyll is also a good source of iron, and many times Ayurveda does suggest using chlorophyll, generally in the form of spinach, chard, and other fresh green vegetables.
COPPER WATER. Vata and kapha individuals may find copper water effective. Fill a genuine copper glass or cup with water and let it stand overnight, then drink it in the morning (see appendix 1).
DIET. Perhaps most important, a person who becomes angry easily or often should follow the pitta-pacifying diet (see chapter 8), especially avoiding hot, spicy and fermented foods, citrus fruit, and sour fruit. Favor simple, bland foods and cool drinks, and avoid alcohol and drinks with caffeine.
OIL MASSAGE. Rub some bhringaraj oil or coconut oil on your scalp and on the soles of the feet.
Drink chamomile-tulsi-rose tea. chamomile 1 part tulsi (holy basil) 1 part rose petal powder 2 parts Steep ½ teaspoon of this mixture in 1 cup of hot water, cool it, and then drink. You can drink it 3 times a day, after each meal.
You can use an even simpler formula. Take ½ teaspoon of chamomile and 1 teaspoon of fresh, finely chopped cilantro leaves, and steep them in 1 cup hot water for about 10 minutes. Allow this tea to cool before you drink it.
GHEE NASYA. Dip your little finger into a jar of brahmi ghee (or plain ghee if you haven’t made brahmi ghee), and lubricate the inside of your nostrils with a small amount. (Make sure your nails are trimmed so you don’t scratch yourself.) Then gently inhale the ghee upward. This sends a calming message to the brain. You will become quite tranquil; anger and hostility will dissolve like a cloud in the sky.
DO BREATHING EXERCISES. A cooling pranayama to help dissipate anger is shitali pranayama. Make a tube of your tongue; breathe deeply through your mouth down into your belly; hold the breath for a few seconds; exhale through your nose. Do about 12 repetitions.
If you are not hungry even by lunchtime, take some fresh ginger, chop a little into small pieces, add some lime juice and a pinch of rock salt, and chew it up. That will kindle agni and stimulate the appetite.
To accomplish this, if you do not know positively whether it is vata, pitta, or kapha arthritis, taking triphala at night (1 teaspoon) with some warm water (½ to 1 cup) will be effective for all types.
Then, after each meal (generally after lunch and dinner), chew about 1 teaspoon of roasted fennel and cumin seeds (mixed half and half). This will improve digestion, which indirectly helps to detoxify the colon.
Drink ½ cup of aloe vera juice twice a day until freshness is restored to the breath.
Slowly chewing one or two cardamom seeds also helps to minimize bad breath. Cardamom aids digestion and helps to reduce ama.
After each meal, drink a cup of cumin-coriander-fennel tea (equal proportions) as a digestive aid. Steep about ¼ to ½ teaspoo...
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Eat a handful of white sesame seeds every morning. One handful of these small seeds contains about 1,200 mg. of calcium and magnesium and is a good source of nourishment for your hair.
Drink the juice (use 2 teaspoons 3 times a day), and apply the pulp locally to the skin at the affected area. It will instantaneously pacify the itching, burning, and hives or rash created by the sting or bite.
DRINK COCONUT WATER. One can drink ⅓ cup of coconut water (the “juice” inside the coconut) with about ⅛ teaspoon kama dudha added. Drinking this mixture 2 or 3 times will help heal the reaction to the sting bite.
PREVENTION. Neem oil is a much-used insect repellent in India and around the world. It contains a natural chemical compound that repels insects. Rub a little onto exposed skin before going outdoors.
A simple and effective liver cleanser is aloe vera gel. Take 2 tablespoons 3 times a day.
