Well Being- Ayurveda

I wish I had known Ayurveda when my children were young. How easily I could have cooled and soothed my daughter whose blood often coursed like a heated rage through her. And my sons, one reminding me of a beached whale, the other with a computer brain who always stayed up late into the night.
I would have known their doshas were Pitta the fire element, Kapha-water/earth and Vata, air/ethers.

If I had known the brain, body temperature, metabolic rate, sleep, hunger, blood chemistry and so much more, could be balanced and regulated through Ayurveda we could have all transitioned through the years more smoothly.

In the early 1990's I had the good fortune of meeting and then working closely with a Vaidya named Rama Kant Mishra.
Vaidya Mishra is one of the rare, true experts of Ayurveda still alive today.
He recounted many stories of how his family passed down knowledge from generation to generation dating as far back as the the time of Krishna.
It is told that when Lord Krishna's grandson contracted leprosy he called upon Mandan Mishra an ancestor of R.K. Mishra  to heal him. Mandan Mishra is renowned in Vedic texts for his interactions with the great spiritual teacher Shankaracharya, but that is a different story.

Through auspicious circumstances I came to know and work with Vaidya Mishra. His talent is unsurpassed as he brings the ancient knowledge to work in modern maladies. A continuous circuitry has kept the knowledge of this ancient wisdom intact.

Vaidya Mishra had one complaint about the way Ayurveda was presented to westerners today and that was 'doshas' as the end all of Ayurveda.
Starting with doshas he said, was like starting in the middle of the book. Background knowledge is needed to understand and accept the that these teachings help save lives. An example of how this works in Ayurveda was made clear to me once when I was offered hot chili peppers to eat at a Vedic Temple.
The cook proudly presented the crisp dry chillies on a silver platter offering them to all present. I was against eating them. I am sensitive to spicy food and am all too familiar with the repercussions of spicy food in my system.
These chillies will not hurt you! Eat! She implored. I continued to refuse the chillies until her husband came into the room. He said, she needs to understand how these chillies were prepared, then she will know they are not hot at all. I listened as he explained that the chillies had undergone an extensive process which had transformed their heating qualities to cooling qualities. First the chillies had been soaked in yogurt, then they had been set out at night under the moonlight, then placed in yogurt again, for eleven days and nights. They were then laid out to dry only at night, under the light of the moon. When dry, the cooling spices of cumin, coriander and fennel had been used to season them before they were cooked.
With this knowledge of how the chillies had been prepared I knew they could not harm me. All of the qualities of heat had been leached out of them. They were very tasty and no symptoms of hot chili peppers in my system plagued me.
Similarly, Ayurveda teaches that our bodies can be treated to regulate any aggravations. Using lifestyle, food, spices and the elements of nature, such as the sun the moon, gemstones, aromas....
One of my favorite treatments for an argumentative or heated temperament is a sweet juicy pear. Simple and effective. A cup of warm milk blended with a few dates, sipped at bedtime will help calm the Vata mind which tends to keep spinning through the night. Kapha aggravations can be greatly reduced by eliminating cold, sweet, oily foods.

A few examples of simple treatments follow.

(Check with an Ayurvedic physician or your Doctor before using any Ayurvedic remedies.)

Here are a few simple, safe remedies for common ailments which can be made using water and a few spices. A safe amount is one quart of water to one half teaspoon spice. Drink warm or at room temperature.

-Boiled water:
Water boiled well for five minutes and sipped after it has cooled to room temperature increases agni. Agni is the bodies digestive power. Use a good source of water or bottled water.
-Cumin:
Water, boiled, to which cumin seeds are added balances Vata, helps cool Pitta.
-Coriander:
Adding coriander to boiled water helps indigestion, vomiting and heartburn.
-Ginger:
Water boiled with a few thin slices of fresh ginger increases agni, helps reduce Kapha, helps with conditions of a runny nose, diarrhea, and cold.

The complete knowlege of Ayurveda would take at least a lifetime to completely understand , but many aspects of this science are are easy to understand and utilize.

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