Vata, Pitta, Kapha: The Ayurvedic doshas are part of our vocabulary usually thought of as yet another label we can put on our personalities, body types, and diets. “I’m so vata,” you might hear from your friend who can’t keep a lunch date or constantlyread more
Lokah samastah sukhino bhavantu.… I sit on my yoga mat, ankles crossed in a Half Lotus pose, eyes closed and struggling to form the shape of these foreign sounds in my mouth. Horns blare and headlights shine dimly through the gossamer-curtained window—the thinnest of veilsread more
A warm breeze was flowing through the window of my acupuncturist’s office in Brooklyn, tickling my exposed abdomen. I’d felt this way before—raw and vulnerable under the cold eye and gloved hands of Western medical doctors—and in remembering those appointments everything inside me tensed. Inexplicableread more
If I had had a different sixth grade math teacher (or, while we’re going here, ninth grade biology teacher or twelfth grade English teacher(s)), my life would probably look much different than it does now. It was in Mrs. C’s “honors” math class that Iread more
Earth, wind, and fire—besides being a great musical group, these three elements are part of a beautifully designed system of matter and energy at the core of Ayurvedic teaching and healing practices. Add in water and space (which are effectively the containers of the otherread more
so tell me about your poop… When these words came out of the mouth of my first Ayurvedic practitioner, a sweet, doe-eyed woman whose illuminated presence made up for the awful fluorescent lights of her tiny Wall Street office, I was a little taken aback.read more
“Have fun on your retreat!” I’ve heard this countless times over the past six months during which I’ve been a student at the Kripalu School of Ayurveda. The 650-hour certification program to become an Ayurvedic Health Counselor is split over six ten-day modules, four toread more
Transitions of any kind are moments to pay special attention to habits and cravings, realities and fantasies, routine and instability. They are periods where conflicting desires—attachment to the old and excitement for the new—demand that we pause, reflect before we react, and then move forwardread more
Sometimes studying Ayurveda feels like studying poetry. Given my penchant for a well-turned verse, this is usually more of a draw than a problem for me, but occasionally I wish the authors of these 5,000-year-old texts could have been a little more . . .read more
Ayurveda recommends kitchari, a simple dish of rice and dahl, as part of a regular healthy diet as well as part of a seasonal reset. Whether you’re enjoying it for just one meal or for a monodiet (eating the same food all day), kitchari isread more
