How to Develop a Positive Mental Attitude: Turning Off Guilt
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This space has oftentimes felt decadent and undeserved. Shouldn’t I be working? Shouldn’t I be doing? Shouldn’t I be achieving?
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Ayurvedic Lifestyle
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The most important aspect of adopting an Ayurvedic lifestyle is to live in rhythm with the earth. This includes the rhythm of the day, the seasons of the year and the stages of our life. We need to life in harmony and balance with these cyclical changes in our lives. We also need to live in a peaceful and ethical way that honors our divine self, divine consciousness, all living things including gaia, mother earth.
Read MoreFinding Balance in my Yoga Practice
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Balance is such a central tenet of Ayurveda as well. When I describe Ayurveda to people, the word I always come back to is balance. Ayurveda teaches us to find balance in all that we do. The path to health and overall wellbeing is by finding balance.
Read MoreAyurvedic Food
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I get asked this question a lot, “what is Ayurvedic food?” In its most simplest terms, Ayurvedic food is food that is filled with prana (life-force); food that is balancing to our dosha or prakruti (unique constitution) and our vikruti (current imbalances); and food that is able to be properly digested by our agni (digestive fire). Everything we eat needs to nourish our body, mind and spirit and this is only possible if our body is able to digest, absorb, assimilate, and transform the nutrients in our food.
Read MoreHow to Develop a Positive Mental Attitude: Change Your Thoughts to Change Your Reality
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"Whether you think you or you think you can't, you're probably right." It's my favorite quote and Henry Ford couldn't be more right. I can decide how I feel about something and I can change the way I feel just by changing my outlook.
Read MoreAyurveda Definition
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There are many ways to define Ayurveda, but I think the best is to look at the Ayurvedic definition of health outlined in the Sushruta Samhita: “One who is established in Self, who has balanced dosha, balanced agni (digestive fire), properly formed dhatu (tissue systems of the body.), proper elimination of mala (wastes products), well functioning srotamsi (bodily processes) and whose mind, soul and senses are full of ananda (bliss), is called a healthy person.”
Read MoreDwan Light Sanctuary
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How can you describe this place? Prisms of light producing rainbows in a colorless space. There’s constant noises here, as if to remind me that the wind is just outside the door, rustling the leaves of the trees and sending fruit crashing below. I keep turning around, thinking someone is entering. But it’s just me and the echo of my breath and my pen to the page.
Read MoreKapha Dosha Yoga
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In Ayurvedic Yoga, the yoga asanas are used as a therapy or treatment. Because of this, it is important to choose yoga postures that are most balancing for each dosha both being mindful of the person’s prakruti or constitution and their vikruti or current imbalances. Kapha people will rarely resemble the typical yogi body type (which is not better than or worse than any other body type). Kapha types should love their bodies and not compare themselves to others or try to achieve shapes that are unnatural to them. This makes it very important that Kapha people practice asanas in a warming, stimulating, energizing and releasing way.
Read MoreHow to Develop a Positive Mental Attitude: Stop Expecting to Win
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“Sometimes when you no longer see yourself as the hero of your own drama, you know, expecting victory after victory, and you understand deeply that this is not paradise. Somehow we’re, especially the privileged ones that we are, we somehow embrace the notion that this veil of tears is perfectable that you can get it all straight. I found that things became a lot easier when I no longer expected to win. I tried to put that into the song 1,000 kisses deep, where you understand that you abandon your masterpiece and you sink into the real masterpiece.” - Leonard Cohen
Read MoreYoga for Pitta Dosha
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In Ayurvedic Yoga, the yoga asanas are used as a therapy or treatment. Because of this, it is important to choose yoga postures that are most balancing for each dosha both being mindful of the person’s prakruti or constitution and their vikruti or current imbalances. Pitta people often lose sight of the subtler aspects of yoga and often aren’t in the present moment when practicing. This makes it very important that Pitta people practice asanas in a non-competitive, cooling and nurturing way.
Read MoreImpermanence vs. Permanence
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The transitional nature of life continues for now. The Bardo isn’t over. It can be difficult to live without. Without family. Without friends. Without “stuff”. Without stability. Without permanence. But lack of permanence doesn’t mean lack of purpose. Or at least it doesn’t have to be. And one day my feet will be firmly planted, so I must enjoy all the transience now.
Read MoreVata Dosha Yoga
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In Ayurvedic Yoga, the yoga asanas are used as a therapy or treatment. Because of this, it is important to choose yoga postures that are most balancing for each dosha both being mindful of the person’s prakruti or constitution and their vikruti or current imbalances. Vata people more than any other doshic type will feel the effects of practicing yoga incorrectly. This makes it very important that Vata people practice asanas in a steady, slow and grounding way.
Read MoreHow to Develop Positive Habits
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I’ve been cultivating new daily sadhana practices since my return home from Panchakarma. Each morning I awoke before sunrise and meditated. This is something that I’ve been wanting to cultivate into my daily life since even before I began my Ayurvedic journey. It’s taken me some time to make this a daily practice, but a shift has taken place at Panchakarma, as it always does, and I’m starting to feel the roots of change take hold in the soul.
Read MoreAyurveda Yoga
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Ayurveda and Yoga are called sister sciences; Ayurveda deals with the physical health of a person while Yoga deals with a person’s the mental and spiritual health. The practice of yoga is considered a chikitsa or treatment used in Ayurveda. Thusly, yoga is considered both a preventative and curative practice.
Read MoreHow to Develop a Positive Mental Attitude: Tell Yourself You're Awesome
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It’s hard for me to proud of myself. It’s hard for most of us to be proud of ourselves. And I’m not perfect, I mess up lots of things. We all do. But we’re all good at something and we shouldn’t be afraid to give ourselves props when props are due.
Read MoreAyurveda Elements
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There are Five Ayurveda Elements: space/ether, air, fire, water, and earth. The Five Ayurveda Elements are also referred to as the Pancha Maha Bhutas. Pancha means “five”, maha means “great”, and bhutas means “elements”.
Read MoreHow to Develop a Positive Mental Attitude: Power of Perception
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Sometimes a new path in life isn’t actually a new direction. It’s a change of perspective, a rewriting of the story your telling. During my morning meditations, I’ve been contemplating the idea of perception.
Read MoreTea & Patience
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The simple act of enjoying tea from this pot and cup has taught me to extend that patience and mindfulness into other aspects of my life. Everything will be ready in due time. I might want it now, but I have to wait. And that’s okay. I need to wait.
Read MoreKapha Dosha Diet
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Because Ayurveda treats the whole person and no two people are alike, there isn’t a set prescribed diet for all Kapha dosha people to follow. There are however, some generalized recommendations for Kapha predominate people.
Read MorePitta Dosha Diet
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Because Ayurveda treats the whole person and no two people are alike, there isn’t a set prescribed diet for all Pitta dosha people to follow. There are however, some generalized recommendations for Pitta predominate people.
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