Bodhimed

Do you ever feel like you're walking and thinking in a mud bog?  Can you relate to feeling sluggish or stagnant, less vibrant than you know you can be?  Maybe you suffer from extra weight or allergies? All of these are symptoms of your system being clogged. Before doing my first Ayurvedic detox, my "normal" was congested, lazy, and bloated.  But after the cleanse, I experienced such a heightened level of mental clarity and physical vitality that I've made it something I do several times each year.  It's actually pretty easy, and totally worth it, to take 8 days of your life and do everything in a different, clean way.

The Root Cause of Disease

According to Ayurveda, the root cause of all disease is the accumulation of toxins produced by improper digestion.  The traditional method for removing deep-seated toxins is a seasonal cleanse called panchakarma.  Nowadays you can go to Ayurvedic spas and clinics worldwide and spend significant time and money receiving this 2500-year-old detox treatment.  You also can adapt these ancient principles and receive huge benefits by doing a home version on your own schedule.

Besides being our largest organ, our skin is our best protection against the ravaging effects of the external elements.  Therefore we want to do everything we can both internally and externally to keep our skin functioning optimally.  Long before there were hundreds of different lotions to choose from at the local market, the people of ancient India consulted the wisdom of Ayurveda to care for their skin.  Traditional methods using plenty of oil are still the perfect way to keep your skin, and your whole body, hydrated and healthy. 

Ayurvedic Herbs and Clay

Women in rural India today can still be seen fetching mineral clays from the riverbeds to use as skin cleansers. Many natural foods stores in the West now sell purified clay in the beauty aisle.  When combined with Ayurvedic herbs such as neem, turmeric, and sandalwood, you have an ideal cleanser and exfoliant that gently removes toxins from the skin.

 When considering weight gain, weight loss, and digestion issues, it is important to remember what the oldest medical systems teach about the real solution to weight imbalances.  According to the ancient medical science of Ayurveda, the root cause of all disease is improper digestion. That is why Ayurveda strongly recommends eating a diet appropriate to your particular constitution to treat any imbalance.  In traditional Chinese medicine as well, the first line of all of treatment is diet.  Most people think of acupuncture and Chinese herbs as the main pillars of treatment, but in the ancient texts, food cures are the top priority. With optimal digestion and overall balance as the goals, it’s possible to enjoy a healthy, sustainable weight you truly feel good about.

These days just about everyone I know in Santa Fe is either suffering or just recovering from a nasty stomach flu.  It seems these little buggers have become stronger and more obnoxious because hardly any adult or child seems to be immune to it.  When this type of virus strikes, what can you do to shorten its duration?  Here's some natural health tips from various traditions to ease the suffering and an excellent Ayurvedic recipe for your first meal when you're ready to start thinking about food.

Probiotics To The Rescue

One of the most important things you need to do when you come down with a stomach virus is to take a high quality probiotic supplement.  We are exposed to harmful bacteria and viruses all the time, but they only "win" when either they are super-strength bugs, or when our own intestinal immunity is low.

Rheumatoid arthritis is an extremely painful and debilitating condition that in the U.S. affects over one milllion adults and 1 in every 250 children.  Ayurveda classifies rheumatoid arthritis as Ama type of joint pain.  I'm excited to discuss this last segment in the series because this Ama type can be so difficult to treat in conventional medicine. I'll also present the Kapha type of joint pain as we finish this series on keeping your joints healthy with Ayurveda.

Kapha Type of Joint Pain

People of Kapha (earth + water) constitution or imbalance tend to experience this type of joint pain where there is stiffness and dull achiness in the joints.  There is likely to be swelling due to edema, or water retention.  The affected area, or even the whole body, may feel heavy and cold.  This type of pain is more pronounced in damp, cold weather as the attributes of Kapha are cold, dense, heavy, and slow. 

Part One of this series on keeping your joints healthy with Ayurveda focused on Vata type of joint pain.  Moving on to Pitta type, I'm sure many of you will identify with this category because almost every joint or muscle injury results in the Pitta type of pain.  The pain may or may not become chronic, but certainly in the initial stage following an injury, Pitta rules and causes swelling and inflammation. Let's discuss how to diagnose this type and then how to treat it.

Whether you're a yogi, an athlete or a couch potato, it's likely that you occasionally suffer from some type of joint pain.  Joint pain is so common that sales of the best-selling natural remedy for joint pain, glucosamine/chondroitin, are estimated at $2 billion! I'm happy that helps some people, but I find the traditional Ayurvedic herbal formulas and oils for joint health to be more effective and more healing of the root condition.  Here's Part 1 of the Ayurvedic breakdown of the different types of joint pain so you can determine which one you have and what you can do to keep your joints in optimal condition.  Part 1 will cover Vata type, while Parts 2 and 3 will cover Pitta and Kapha types.