Fremont Wellness Center, A Center for Inspiration

Kerala Ayurveda Academy opened the doors to its first wellness center in Fremont CA in September 2013.

The inauguration was held during the Grand Opening weekend where Dr. Frawley led the ribbon cutting ceremony along with Shambhavi, esteemed Ayurvedic doctors, the CEO, scientists, practitioners, alumni and students.

Many events were held to celebrate The Grand Opening weekend beginning with the first student and Alumni reunion.   An auspicious ceremony of lighting the lamp, chanting mantras and sharing with friends, teachers, and well-wishers was the highlight of the event captured in many hearts and photo sessions.  All those who attended came from many different locations, near and far to proudly support and celebrate this groundbreaking event.

We enjoyed the evening touring the facility and feeling inspired!  Kerala Ayurveda Academy’s vision was to establish a center for Inspiration for the community, students and practitioners to offer the best possible care and to empower individuals where their wellbeing is concerned.  We were truly inspired as we shared in a delicious meal and each other’s company.  We also reveled in the positive energy flowing through the new Wellness Center.

The inauguration led to a planned workshop on Soma and Shakti.  Dr David Frawley, now an advisor with Kerala Ayurveda Academy, discussed how Ayurveda and Rasayana therapies enhance the wellbeing of everyone.  We discussed how Prana is the subtle food or energy for the mind and senses, and its ultimate power of rejuvenation.  He further emphasized the importance of yoga in the modern world and the play of agni and soma.  His talk also went into the essence of balance, purification and revitalization, and also the four light centers in the human body.   He finally conducted an interesting question and answer segment.

Then the beautiful Shambhavi taught us about Shakti and about the 4 “A’s”

• ·      Attention
• ·      Affection
• ·      Appreciation
• ·      Acceptance

And how emotion derives from need. Throughout the weekend she taught us mantras of protection and healing, spoke of Sthira Shakti or the power of stillness, about composure and consistency and depending on the person’s conviction, Compassion and Responsibility.

When Soma is born of Shakti and that soma is held, it makes the person receptive to the grace of the cosmic universe. Receptivity allows us to perceive grace and the bliss of divinity.

In the afternoon of the first day we heard from Dr. Suhas Kshirsagar as he spoke about “Achara Rasayana” (behavioral medicine) and it’s unique concept in Ayurveda. There are certain behaviors that bring about Rasayana in the human body such as truth, nonviolence, personal and public cleanliness, mental and personal hygiene and many more behaviors that are of the same nature. He also discussed Rasayana foods, herbs and herbal preparations.  This information was especially helpful when it was combined with the information of the morning sessions.

The first day of the workshop was exhilarating. Many of us dined together and discussed the presentations and the anticipation and excitement we all felt about the following day.

The final day continued with Dr. David Frawley again as we discussed more Rasayana in connection with Pranayama.  As always the discussion was interactive and interesting. We learned more mantras and enjoyed them together with Shambhavi.  Many of us felt our legs tingling as the energy rose in the room.

The afternoon was a change of direction from what was originally planned. During lunch we had a meeting with the participants of the workshop to find out how KAA can support them in their practice of Ayurveda.  Many topics were discussed and noted.  It is so important to support one another; meetings like this are crucial for the growth of practitioners and their practices as well as KAA in order to improve the curriculum and the experience of the student participating.

Finally, Dr. Jayarajan gave a presentation on his expertise, clinical application of Rasayana for prevention and management of disease.

The workshop covered everything about wellbeing.  All of us came away with a better understanding of Soma and Shakti and it relationship to health.  We learned about the connectivity of our actions, herbs, sounds and techniques that can be used and combined with different methods for a holistic and individualized approach to health and wellbeing.

Blog Post by Shelli Thompson

Whats the Difference between Conventional and Ayurvedic Nutrition ?

 Ayurvedic Nutrition

How different is Ayurvedic nutrition from conventional nutrition?

What is Ahara?

Anything we take-in to nourish our body and mind

 ·      Food

·        Water

·        Breath

·        Information through sense organs

Importance of Ahara

1. Food provides building blocks to create new Dhatus. Dhatus are the reservoir of the energy in different forms. Dhatus are constantly broken down to utilize energy. So replenishing good quality Dhatus is essential. For this, balanced food is important.
2. In Ayurveda, eating food is considered as a ritual as food not only nourishes the body but also nurtures the soul and the mind. Food is called as ‘Poornabrahma’.
3. Food energizes the Mind. It’s Sattvic, Rajasic, or Tamasic gunas depend on the food we consume.
4. Let my food be my medicine. Our health depends solely on the food we intake. 
5. Strength, health, and our life depend on Agni. But Agni is also constantly replenished from the food we eat. So to maintain “Sama Agni” eating balanced food is essential.
6. Strength, energy, clarity of mind, radiance of skin, immunity and sharpness of senses depends on the food we eat.
7. Diet is very critical in disease state also. Many times wrong foods become the cause of the disease and the right foods, the treatment of the disease. So in health or in sickness eating right diet is very critical.
8. An important quote from Dr. Coop: “No disease can be cured unless supplemented by the right diet. About 90% of the diseases can be prevented by right diet alone”.

To Learn Ayurveda and its importance visit www.AyurvedaAcademy.com


 
 

 

Are You Obese? Ayurveda Remedies For Obesity

• Avoid sweets prepared from wheat, cakes, pastries, milk and sugar, cold drinks, alcohol, deep fried foods and non-vegetarian food
• Honey is recommended in minor doses
• Always drink warm water to eliminate toxins
• Use sesame oil or mustard oil while cooking. Spices like turmeric, black pepper, ginger and rock salt are advisedEat vegetables with astringent, bitter and pungent taste; soups made of such vegetables hastens the weight loss process
• An active life is very important to prevent and manage weight. Staying awake at night and sleeping in the day also cause obesity
• Herbs like Amrutha (Tinospora cordifolia), Mustaa (Cyperus rotundsa) Haritaki (Terminalia Chebula), Bibhitaka (Terminalia belerica) and Aamalaka (Embica officinalis) are good for prevention and management of this condition. 
• Drink ‘Takra Arishta’ – fermented buttermilk for active weight loss 
• Include barley, green gram, red gram and horse gram in your food 

Weight loss tips

Dandruff? Switch to Ayurveda

Dandruff – This term has become one of the commonly discussed term or condition with all working age groups today. One of the surveys says that working women and men with in the age group of 20-40 spends as much as 50-100 US $ a month to tackle this issue.

Dandruff is a skin disorders affects the scalp skin. It is characterized by itching scalp with falling of dry white flakes. It is clinically termed as Seborrheic dermatitis, where the sebaceous glands are affected and leads to excessive itchy scalp with high amounts of scales. Dandruff is one of the primary causes for hair fall and early baldness or patchy baldness.

Common causes
a. Hygiene
b. Stress and depression
c. Water and hard shampoo
d. Cold condition and higher hot conditions
e. Excessive intake of salty, spicy, sour, non vegetarian foods and drinks
Understand your Dandruff

1. Understand the allergies. Most of the cases allergic foods lead to Dandruff. Reduce intake milk, curd, butter, cheese, salted, spicy foods and drinks helps.
2. Diabetes usually related to Dandruff and itchy scalp. Check for Diabetes or maintain your blood sugar.
3. Many of the Indians are unaware of food allergies. Many surveys shows that people who are allergic to yeast, bread or backed foods, cheese, vinegar added foods and alcoholic beverages have more prone for dandruff. Avoiding such foods and drinks in diet heals them physiologically.
4. Check the water and shampoo. Most of the times, these two create a false Dandruff.
5. Alcohol can lead to Dandruff. Reduce the alcohol intake.
6. Reduced blood circulation can leads to sluggishness which in turn leads to itch and dandruff. Gentle oil massages can help resolving this issue.
7. Stress and depression are directly connected to itching which in turn leads to excessive scale formation
8. Consult a Physician to different diagnose weather it is just dandruff or psoriasis as most of the times both misunderstood.

Ayurveda remedies for Dandruff
a. Ayurveda texts recommend Sandalwood oil mixture with fresh lemon juice as scalp massage followed by warm water wash. This helps to improve the blood circulation and dead skin.
b. Ayurveda recommends a special therapy for Dandruff – “Shirolepa” which means head pack. Simple head pack with fresh Amla paste is very effective to reduce and prevent Dandruff. This also helps improving hair growth.
c. Application of water over night soaked Fenu Greek seeds as pack does help bringing the normalcy in no time.
d. One of the most effective and highly practiced home remedy is application of fresh Aloe Vera gel. Even today most of the Villagers do practice it for healthy scalp and hair.
e. Many Chinese tribal practitioners recommend fresh ginger processed olive oil before bath as day to day practice for prevention and to improve hair growth.

Ayurveda medicines like Dhoor doora patradi coconut oil, Karkunthal, Eladi coconut oil etc are very effective to improve the scalp health. In chronic conditions medicines like Khadira Arishtam, Loha asavam, Chandana asavam, Gandhaka Rasayanam, Bakuchi capsules, Keshmani Capsules, Haridra Kanda Choornam etc are prescribed.

Conclusion
Ayurveda medicines and therapies with changes in the lifestyle and food habits can cure this problem permanently. The results may be slow but it is without any side effects and permanent. Instead of using chemical based products for symptomatic relief, better use natural home remedies for prevention and easy permanent cure. 


for more details visit http://www.ayurvedaacademy.com

Wonder fruit Banana !

Indian traditional foods and Ayurveda recommends Banana as part of everyday meal for health and wellbeing. Unfortunately middle time researchers and modern medical systems opined that it is bad for health and most of the modern medicine doctors advise not to take banana. 

This article analysis the health benefits of banana subject to its nutritional availability factors

a. Modern nutritional researches shows that the Bananas are four times richer than proteins, twice the carbohydrate, three times the phosphorus and five times the vitamin A and iron when compared to the so called healthy fruit “APPLE”

b. Bananas are filled up with natural sugars like sucrose, fructose etc which when taken gives a immediate boost on the energy levels and brings psychological happiness. Many fitness related researches suggest that hard 45 minutes work out requires just Bananas. That’s why in sports world banana is one of the highly recommended fruits.

c. Bananas are rich in Vitamin B. Vitamin B is usually responsible for calmness of mind and strengthening the nervous system. Traditionally bananas are recommended as a part of the diet to Children and aged to pacify the psychological irritability and to strengthen the nervous system

d. Ayurveda recommends Banana for Pre and post menopausal syndrome as diet. One of the researches have shown the maintained the glucose levels through banana intake reduces the mood swings in the PMS women by 82%

e. Most of the women disorders starts with menstrual problems to bone health are usually related to poor iron levels. Most of the times the iron supplements have somehow fail to get assimilated in the body. One of the researches done at Stanford University has shown the positive results banana and iron deficiencies. Take 2 Banana a day and keep your iron supplements away- the researchers say

f. Depression is becoming one of the commonest disorders. Many researches now been done to find ways to prevent it. One such research has reviled that the tryptophan in the banana is one of the naturally driven chemical most effective in keeping the mind happier. They advise just take two Bananas a day to keep the depression away.

g. According to World Health Organization, High Blood Pressure is one of the deadliest conditions affects the humans. Many researches are now directed to the prevention and natural management ways. Since the bananas are high in potassium and low in salt which makes a ideal diet to maintain or prevent the higher BP bouts. This is one of the reasons why US FDA has allowed the banana industry to make a official claims for the fruit’s ability to reduce the High BP and stroke

h. Lifestyle changes bring many bad health results. Hangover is one among them. In India, centuries it is practiced that Banana processed milk or milk shake can bring down the hang over in short time. Many researches have shown the physiological results of Banana milk shake for hangover. It fills the stomach, rehydrate the system and improves the blood sugar levels in no time – Experts say

i. Morning sickness has become a part of life to all especially the late night working software engg. One of the nutritional psychological researches shows that intake of banana helps in maintaining the blood sugar levels which in turn help prevent morning sickness.

j. Improving IQ: One of the biggest challenges currently we face as doctors. Children with less IQ have increased numbers in every society. Credit goes to the working parents unable to concentrate on the children diets. Many parents just jump in to the nutritional supplemental diets but that too sometimes fails to create the desired results. Surprisingly many pediatric results have shown positive effects of banana taking children. Children who eat one banana perform better in exams than who not take it.

k. Well known benefit of Banana worldwide for constipation. Higher fibers help relieve constipation in no time.

l. Ayurveda recommends Banana as a diet for stomach and duodenal ulcers. Current day researches do agree on this. The hyper acidity simply gets neutralized by the banana fibers which in turn help to heal the ulcers faster.

m. Banana does have a positive help on bringing the smoking down – researchers say. The B6, B12, Potassium and magnesium helps to remove the nicotine levels faster which help in the withdrawal.

Ayurveda and most of the traditional systems recommend Banana has part of the diet for all seasons and for all age groups. Since it is not native to Europe, the proverb says apple as a important diet. It is time to change it as “A Banana a day keeps the Doctor Away”


To get more information visit http://www.ayurvedaacademy.com