Ayurveda

“Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.” – Hippocrates

In many parts of the country, this year’s transition to fall isn’t being marked with the changing colors of leaves. With hurricane season taking a devastatingly fierce toll in the south and southeast and a heat wave and wildfires spreading across the west and northwest, I’m not feeling the signature crispness and anticipation of autumn just yet.

Healing the Physical & Subtle Bodies

Healing happens on many levels both gross and subtle. We hold the power to heal our bodies with the foods we eat, heal our thoughts with our contemplative practices, and heal our relationships with awareness and conscious action. Medicine comes through many streams, nourishing the journey we walk to live a balanced and healthy life. In Ancient India, the Rishis or seers of the time recognized the range of remedies that support our human experience, and ultimately our path home.

Green tea offers seemingly countless benefits: lowered cancer risk, arthritis relief, fat loss, and improved cognitive function among them.

Turmeric, botanically known as Curcuma longa, has long been revered as a sacred plant for healers of many traditions. Used as food, medicine, and in ritual, this rhizomatous plant holds a well-respected power.   

We don’t pay the tongue much attention. A dominant feature of our mouths, it works thanklessly to help us enunciate our speech and appreciate and consume our food. Many people prefer to ignore this part of the mouth, especially in the morning, when the furry buildup that has accumulated there overnight has us running for the toothbrush.

Athlete’s Foot can be very uncomfortable, embarrassing, and sometimes painful. Today’s walk through Mother Earth’s Medicine Cabinet will lead you down a section of all-natural antifungal and antibacterial healers.

Athlete’s Foot (Tinea Pedis)

Athlete’s foot is a fungal infection located on the skin and underneath the toenails of the feet. In some rare cases, athlete’s foot (so-called due to its prevalence in athletes) can actually spread to the hands. Tinea pedis is fairly contagious and spreads easily to the next victim.

You may have heard the word “ashwagandha” get thrown around the health scene lately, and no…it’s not a cool, new yoga pose…Ashwagandha, also called “Indian ginseng,” is an herb, or more like a root, that is useful for everything from adrenal health to hair growth. And although it’s most famously known as an adaptogen, it’s got plenty more tricks up its sleeve. Here are just some of the ways that ashwagandha can completely turn your health around for the better. 

The body is layered, stacked like a Russian doll. In yogic philosophy, it is explained how the body is actually made up of various sheaths and what each sheath of the body is responsible for. By coming to know the five main koshas, or body fields or sheaths, it is easier to understand what part of us responds to, holds or processes each of our experiences.

The next time your stomach’s a little under the weather, or you’ve just been dining on too many calories and need a filling meal that gives you respite – you need to assemble just two main ingredients – curd and rice – and make a simple yet tasty dish, curd rice! Oh, and curd is just another name for yogurt!