Prepare to embark on a transformative journey with me today as I delve into the ancient system of healing known as Ayurveda. In this series, I invite you to join me as I interview individuals who have undergone the rigorous study of Ayurveda at Maharishi International University.

Each episode offers a glimpse into the personal and professional journeys of these individuals, exploring how Ayurveda found them and how they've integrated its timeless wisdom into their lives to enhance overall well-being. My guests share insights and anecdotes that offer a glimpse into the profound impact Ayurveda has had on their lives and the lives of their clients.

But our exploration doesn't stop there. We also delve into the future of Ayurveda and the creative ways these individuals envision promoting its growth as a practical system of self-care. With its focus on eliminating the root causes of conditions and improving overall health, my guests offer innovative strategies for integrating Ayurveda into modern healthcare systems and society at large.

Join me on this enlightening journey as we uncover the timeless wisdom of Ayurveda and its potential to revolutionize modern wellness. Whether you're a seasoned practitioner or new to the world of Ayurveda, this series promises to inspire, educate, and empower you on your own path to holistic health and well-being.

My guest today is Radhika Erving from San Diego, California. Radhika came to Ayurveda after her experience with the autoimmune condition, Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, which she cured by following an Ayurvedic protocol. Her interest in Ayurveda was fueled by her godmother who encouraged her to delve more deeply. Initially, she worked as a panchakarma technician at the renowned Surya Spa in Los Angeles, its founder being Martha Soffer [I interviewed Martha in episode #32]. Although Radhika found the mentorship of Martha and the hands on experience she gained at Surya to be invaluable, she wanted to deepen her knowledge of the healing power of Ayurveda. During the pandemic, she enrolled in the Master's program in Maharishi Ayurveda & Integrative Medicine at Maharishi International University (MIU). While at MIU, she delved into every aspect of Ayurveda, but was struck by the profundity of the program's emphasis on the role of consciousness and particularly, the practice of Transcendental Meditation (TM) on health and well-being. Radhika continues to be connected with MIU as a teacher's assistant in the MS Maharishi Ayurveda program. She also consults with clients privately and offers a variety of services through her business: Ayurveda Ma.

Website: ayurvedama.com
Social: @ayurvedama

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In this episode, I have the pleasure of speaking with Chef Rich LaMarita, a distinguished natural foods culinary expert based in New York City. With over 25 years of experience, Rich has been a chef-instructor at the Natural Gourmet Institute, specializing in plant-based, vegetarian, and vegan cuisines, with a particular focus on Indian and Italian culinary traditions.

A graduate of the Institute of Culinary Education, Chef Rich has worked alongside renowned chefs such as Floyd Cardoz, Dan Kluger, and Ben Pollinger at Tabla Restaurant.

Chef Rich combines his culinary expertise with over 35 years of experience in Ayurveda, having studied under masters like Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. A graduate of the Master's program in Maharishi Ayurveda & Integrative Medicine at Maharishi International University, he currently serves as a teacher's assistant in the program, focusing on the foundational principles of Ayurveda for first-year students.

This is the first in a series of conversations with Chef Rich. He shares insights into how Ayurveda influences his approach to cooking, emphasizing the importance of balancing flavors and ingredients to support health. He discusses practical ways to incorporate Ayurvedic principles into everyday meals, offering listeners valuable tips for enhancing their culinary practices and overall wellness.

Whether you're a culinary enthusiast or someone interested in holistic health, this episode provides a wealth of knowledge on the intersection of Ayurveda and the culinary arts.

To learn more about Chef Rich LaMarita, visit the Institute for Culinary Education's website.

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A graduate of the Institute of Culinary Education, Chef Rich has worked alongside renowned chefs such as Floyd Cardoz, Dan Kluger, and Ben Pollinger at Tabla Restaurant.

Whether you're a culinary enthusiast or someone interested in holistic health, this episode provides a wealth of knowledge on the intersection of Ayurveda and the culinary arts.

To learn more about Chef Rich LaMarita, visit the Institute for Culinary Education's website.

I would love it if you would follow, rate, or write a review for my podcast. What you think matters and I appreciate all feedback!

Get in touch with topic ideas relating to my podcast's categories:

The meaning of health and well-being, personal and collective consciousness, and maximizing full human potential.

My email: plantsroc@gmail.com.

With sincere gratitude,

Noreen

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My guest today is Avanthi Singh from Durban, South Africa. Avanthi faced significant challenges after suffering a traumatic brain injury in an automobile accident, which led her to lose everything she had known. Despite these hardships, her lifelong interest in natural healing and her Indian heritage drew her to Ayurveda. Enrolling in the MS Maharishi Ayurveda & Integrative Medicine program at Maharishi International University, Avanthi has transformed her personal and professional life through her studies and is now in her final semester. In our interview, she shares her remarkable journey to Ayurveda and her vision for bringing its healing principles to the world.

To contact Avanthi: avanthi.singh@gmail.com

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In this episode of The Healthy Peaceful Podcast, I take a deep dive into the world of Ayurveda with Gary Grewal, the founder of Garry N Sun Ayurveda Healing Herbs. From his early days in India to his travels through Dubai and the U.S., Gary shares his incredible journey of launching his Ayurveda business in the United States and his dedication to bringing the highest quality Ayurvedic herbs and products to the American market.

Gary opens up about his mission to increase awareness of Ayurveda’s profound wisdom, the challenges he faced along the way, and his unwavering commitment to providing pure and potent herbal formulas. He discusses his hands-on approach to testing and producing herbs, ensuring the utmost quality in his own production facility in India. We also explore how traveling with an Ayurvedic doctor and 'bringing Ayurveda to the people' helped his business flourish.

Join us as Gary shares his passion for helping others heal through Ayurveda, his vision for the future of the industry, and his personal approach to building a business that truly cares about its customers.

To learn more about Gary Grewal and Garry N Sun, visit garrysun.com.

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My guest today is Kristen Burke from California. Kristen is a former Director of a Forensic Toxicology Lab for the California Department of Justice, with over 26 years of expertise in toxicology. She recently moved into the wellness space and founded a healthcare startup focused on integrative health solutions. Kristen’s personal journey, overcoming fibromyalgia through alternative healing methods, inspired her to explore Ayurvedic medicine and natural health practices. She is also writing a book about her experiences and hosts the "Your Health Is Wealth Podcast," where she shares insights on holistic well-being.

To learn more about Kristen, visit connect4healing.net.

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My guest today is Johnathan Hall from Florida. Johnathan is a former real estate property manager with a bachelor's degree from the University of Florida in health education and behavior. He is also a graduate of the highly competitive International Baccalaureate program. Currently, Johnathan is a student of Ayurveda, motivated to shift towards a more natural and balanced approach to life and health.

Johnathan’s journey has taken him from the pharmaceutical-driven approach of the modern healthcare system to a more holistic practice rooted in ancient wisdom. With his deep academic background and personal experience in overcoming challenges like anxiety and depression, Johnathan is passionate about empowering others to reclaim their sovereignty over health through conscious living.

To learn more about Johnathan Hall and his work, visit https://www.ayurvedahealthretreat.com/

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In this episode of The Healthy Peaceful Podcast, I am joined by Dr. Marc Edwards, an adjunct professor at Maharishi International University (MIU), teaching in its graduate level Ayurveda programs. With an MD, MBA, and over 30 years of experience in healthcare management, Dr. Edwards has dedicated his career to the study and practice of Maharishi Ayurveda since 1984.

Having relocated to Chapel Hill, North Carolina, in 2004, Dr. Edwards has been actively involved in various research programs at MIU. Notably, his research on MIU's MS Ayurveda & Integrative Medicine alumni revealed that 70% of participants joined to improve their own health, with most achieving significant health benefits.

In our conversation, Dr. Edwards shares insights from his recent lecture for MIU titled "Mental Health in Ayurveda," which extended far beyond mental health. We explore essential Ayurvedic principles, including:

Who Needs Ayurveda? Dr. Edwards discusses the universal relevance of Ayurveda.
Food and Medicine: The integral role of diet, digestion, and daily routine in maintaining health.
The Nature of the Mind: How consciousness is a crucial leverage point for improving health.
Ayurveda as a Guiding Principle: Dr. Edwards' perspective on navigating information and decisions with Ayurveda as his "true north."
The Three Gunas: The interplay of Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas in the material universe and their impact on behavior and diet.
Digestion: The importance of Agni (digestive fire) and Ojas (vital essence) in achieving optimal health.
Doshas: Understanding the doshas as the first expressions of consciousness and their balanced state.

Dr. Edwards also addresses common mental health disturbances, such as anxiety, anger, and depression, from an Ayurvedic perspective, providing practical strategies for managing these conditions through lifestyle and herbal remedies. Additionally, he highlights the significance of sleep hygiene, the therapeutic use of herbs, and the foundational importance of proper diet and routine.

Join us for a rich and insightful discussion that bridges ancient wisdom with modern health practices, offering actionable steps for a balanced and harmonious life.

His website: Dr. Marc Edwards

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My guest today is Goral Trivedi from Texas. Goral is a former R&D Scientist for the Pharmaceutical Industry, where she helped bring drugs to market. Currently, she is a student of Ayurveda, driven by a personal shift towards a more natural approach to health for herself and her family, moving away from reliance on pharmaceuticals or over-the-counter drugs for everyday health concerns.

Goral envisions integrating Ayurvedic principles to address the mental health issues in children exacerbated by the overuse of technology and to support the elderly, who increasingly depend on a “cocktail of pharmaceuticals” to maintain their health. She believes in the potential of Ayurveda to provide natural, holistic solutions to these growing concerns.

Join us as Goral shares her journey from pharmaceutical research to embracing Ayurveda, and her innovative ideas for applying Ayurvedic wisdom to contemporary health challenges.

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My guest today is Rakesh Balakrishnan from California. Rakesh is the founder of AdvaitaPrana, a platform designed to connect consumers with Ayurvedic professionals and provide resources on Ayurveda, Yoga, Meditation, Astrology, and more. The platform features:

Ojassattva: A directory to search for Ayurvedic practitioners by area or specialty, along with educational content and information on related disciplines.
Ayursaathi: A clinic management solution for practitioners, offering client and calendar management, video conferencing, billing, and automated Ayurvedic recommendations.
Herb-O-Veda: An application detailing the properties and uses of herbs in Ayurvedic medicine.

You can find more about Rakesh and his work on his LinkedIn: Rakesh Balakrishnan on LinkedIn. For more information about AdvaitaPrana, visit advaitaprana.com.

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Today, I’m joined by Dr. Robert Keith Wallace, PhD, a pioneer in the field of consciousness research. His groundbreaking work on physiology and meditation has earned him recognition as a leading authority on mind-body health. Dr. Wallace's research, published in prestigious journals like Science and Scientific American, has helped establish Transcendental Meditation (TM) as a scientifically validated technique for improving well-being.

Empowering Yourself: A Look at Dr. Wallace's Book, "Self Empower."

In today’s episode, we dive deeply into Dr. Wallace's insightful book, "Self Empower: Using Self-Coaching, Neuroadaptability, and Ayurveda." Here, Dr. Wallace combines his scientific background with the wisdom of Ayurveda to offer you a practical guide for personal evolution.

We'll explore the concept of neuroadaptability, the brain's remarkable ability to change and grow throughout life. Dr. Wallace will explain how self-coaching techniques can be harnessed to leverage this neuroplasticity, allowing you to develop new habits, enhance emotional intelligence, and achieve your full potential.

Ayurveda, the ancient system of wellness, also plays a central role in Dr. Wallace's approach. We'll learn how Ayurvedic principles can be integrated with self-coaching practices to optimize your physical and mental health.

Join us as we unpack the transformative potential of "Self Empower." Discover how to unlock your inner coach, harness the power of your brain, and live a more fulfilling life through the unique blend of science, self-coaching, and Ayurveda offered by Dr. Wallace.

Find Dr. Wallace: biohacklongevity.com

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My guest today is Jamie Bateman from Colorado.

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My guest today is Victor Landival Wong from Ecuador.

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Join me in this enlightening episode as we sit down with Dr. Robert Keith Wallace, PhD, a distinguished scientist and author renowned for his groundbreaking research in neuroscience, physiology, and holistic health. In today's discussion, we explore the profound insights from Dr. Wallace's seminal work, "The Physiology of Consciousness," and delve into the transformative potential it holds for individual and collective well-being.

Informed by his extensive research and expertise, Dr. Wallace sheds light on the intersection of consciousness, health, and human potential, offering practical strategies to enhance our lives on both a personal and societal level. Drawing from his rich background in physiology and his deep understanding of ancient wisdom traditions, he elucidates the profound connections between mind, body, and consciousness.

Throughout the episode, we unravel the mysteries of Maharishi's Vedic Paradigm and its practical application in Maharishi Ayurveda, exploring how these ancient teachings can address the challenges of modern life and elevate our existence to new heights of fulfillment. Dr. Wallace shares insights into the role of practices like Transcendental Meditation in optimizing brain function and fostering holistic well-being, offering invaluable guidance for those seeking to unlock their full potential.

From decoding the levels of mind to exploring the transformative power of soma and ojas, we embark on a journey of self-discovery and healing, guided by Dr. Wallace's profound wisdom and scientific expertise. Touching upon topics such as stress management, habit change, and reaching peak performance, this episode is a treasure trove of practical insights and strategies for personal growth and holistic health.

Don't miss this conversation with Dr. Robert Keith Wallace, a visionary leader at the forefront of integrative medicine and consciousness research. Tune in to gain profound insights and practical tools to embark on your journey towards optimal health, happiness, and fulfillment.

Find Dr. Robert Keith Wallace, PhD: biohacklongevity.com

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Noreen

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Step into the world of neurohacking with Dr. Robert Keith Wallace, a renowned scientist and author, as he shares groundbreaking insights on optimizing study habits and harnessing mind-body energy states for online learning. In this illuminating episode of The Healthy Peaceful Podcast, we delve into Dr. Wallace's latest book, co-authored with Carol Paredes, "Neurohacking for Online Learning: Study and Life Habits Optimized for Your Personal Mind-Body Energy State."

Join us as we explore innovative strategies to enhance productivity, focus, and overall well-being in the digital era of education. Dr. Wallace uncovers the transformative power of neurohacking, offering practical techniques and personalized approaches to unlock your full potential in the online learning landscape.

From defining mind-body energy states to integrating mindfulness and meditation, Dr. Wallace provides invaluable insights into navigating common challenges faced by online learners. Discover the role of technology in shaping the future of education and learn how neurohacking principles can revolutionize the way we learn and work in virtual environments.

In this thought-provoking conversation, we address key questions about creating conducive learning environments, maintaining mental clarity, and balancing screen time with offline activities for holistic well-being. Dr. Wallace shares success stories and case studies, illustrating the real-world impact of neurohacking on individuals' learning journeys.

As we embark on a lightning round exploring phrases like creativity enhancement, cognitive enhancement, mental agility, and performance optimization, Dr. Wallace offers actionable advice for educators and institutions seeking to integrate neurohacking principles into their curriculum. We also delve into ethical considerations and the future of neurohacking in lifelong learning and personal development.

Whether you're a student striving for academic excellence or an educator passionate about enhancing online learning experiences, this episode offers invaluable insights to optimize your journey. Tune in to unlock the secrets of neurohacking and revolutionize your approach to online education.

Join us as we embark on a journey to unlock the full potential of your mind with Dr. Robert Keith Wallace.

Find Dr. Robert Keith Wallace: biohackinglongevity.com

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Today, I have the honor of speaking with Dr. Robert Keith Wallace, PhD, a distinguished scientist, researcher, and prolific author, having penned over 18 books. Dr. Wallace's lifelong dedication to exploring the intricate relationship between mind, body, and consciousness has left an indelible mark on the fields of physiology and holistic health.

With a Ph.D. in Physiology from UCLA, Dr. Wallace's journey into the realm of holistic health began early in his career, sparked by his fascination with the ancient wisdom of Ayurveda and Meditation. Over the years, he has tirelessly advocated for the integration of this wisdom with modern scientific understanding.

Currently serving as Chair of the Department of Physiology & Health at Maharishi International University, Dr. Wallace continues to champion academic programs aimed at bringing Ayurveda into mainstream recognition. He is also a revered member of the university's Board of Trustees, having previously served as its first president.

In today's interview, we will delve into Dr. Wallace's book, "Total Brain Coaching: A Holistic System of Effective Habit Change For the Individual, Team, and Organization."* This groundbreaking work explores the intricate dynamics of habit formation and change, offering a comprehensive framework for personal and professional growth.

Drawing upon decades of research and practical experience, Dr. Wallace presents a holistic approach to habit change that encompasses the individual, team, and organizational levels. From understanding the neuroscience behind habits to implementing practical strategies for lasting change, this book offers invaluable insights for anyone seeking to unlock their full potential.

At the heart of "Total Brain Coaching" lies the recognition of the interconnectedness of mind and body in shaping our habits and behaviors. Dr. Wallace provides actionable guidance for harnessing this connection to cultivate healthier habits, foster stronger relationships, and enhance overall well-being.

In today's interview, you can expect to gain invaluable insights into the science of habit change and practical strategies for implementing Dr. Wallace's holistic coaching system in your own life and work. Whether you're an individual looking to break free from unhealthy habits or a leader seeking to foster a culture of growth and innovation within your organization, this interview promises to be enlightening and transformative.

Join me as I explore the transformative power of "Total Brain Coaching" with the esteemed Dr. Robert Keith Wallace, and discover how you can unleash your full potential for positive change.

*Co-authors Ted Wallace, Samantha Wallace

Find Dr. Robert Keith Wallace:

totalbraincoaching.com

drrobertkeithwallace.com

biohacklongevity.com

I would love it if you would follow, rate, or write a review for my podcast. What you think matters and I appreciate all feedback!

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Noreen

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In this episode, join me as I sit down with Dr. Robert Keith Wallace, PhD, a distinguished scientist, prolific author, and dedicated educator with a passion for exploring the intersection of mind, body, and consciousness. With over 18 books to his name, Dr. Wallace's groundbreaking research on the physiology of consciousness has reshaped our understanding of holistic health practices.

With a Ph.D. in Physiology from UCLA, Dr. Wallace's journey into holistic health began early, drawn to the ancient wisdom of Ayurveda and meditation. As Chair of the Department of Physiology & Health at Maharishi International University, he continues to advocate for integrating these ancient practices into mainstream understanding.

Today, we dive into Dr. Wallace's book, "The Coherence Effect: Tapping into the Laws of Nature that Govern Health, Happiness, and Higher Brain Functioning."* This transformative work explores the profound connection between coherence—mental, emotional, and physiological—and our overall well-being. Dr. Wallace presents a compelling framework that integrates ancient wisdom with modern science, shedding light on how achieving coherence through practices like transcendental meditation can lead to reduced stress, enhanced cognitive function, improved relationships, and a deeper sense of fulfillment.

Join as Dr. Wallace uncovers the keys to unlocking the coherence effect in our own lives and gain valuable insights into practical strategies for achieving greater health, happiness, and optimum brain functioning. Whether you're seeking to optimize your mental and physical well-being or simply curious about the fascinating intersection of consciousness and health, this episode promises to be both enlightening and empowering.

Don't miss out on this enlightening conversation with Dr. Robert Keith Wallace. Visit his website biohacklongevity.com.

Co-authors: Jay Marcus and Christopher Clarke

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In this insightful episode of The Healthy Peaceful Podcast, I delve into the world of holistic health with Dr. Robert Keith Wallace, PhD as he shares his new book, Living in Balance with Maharishi Ayurveda: Practical Therapies for Consciousness-Based Health.

Drawing upon their (Dr. Wallace and his co-authors)* collective expertise and research, the authors introduce listeners to the foundational concepts of Maharishi Ayurveda, emphasizing the importance of balance and harmony in promoting holistic health. They elucidate how Ayurvedic principles can be applied to daily life, guiding individuals towards optimal well-being through tailored lifestyle practices and dietary choices.

Throughout this episode, Dr. Wallace shares compelling anecdotes and case studies that underscore the effectiveness of Maharishi Ayurveda in addressing a wide range of health concerns, from stress management to chronic conditions. He highlights the profound connection between consciousness and health, emphasizing the transformative power of Ayurvedic therapies in restoring balance at the deepest levels of existence.

Listeners are invited to explore the practical strategies outlined in the book, which offer actionable steps for cultivating greater vitality and resilience. From Ayurvedic herbs and detoxification techniques to meditation and yoga practices, the authors provide a comprehensive toolkit for nurturing holistic wellness and achieving harmony in all aspects of life.

Furthermore, this episode builds upon the insights shared in Episode 57, where Dr. Robert Keith Wallace discussed another book he authored, offering additional context and background information on his expertise in the field of Ayurveda. By delving into the wisdom of Maharishi Ayurveda, listeners are empowered to embark on a journey towards vibrant health and inner peace, guided by the timeless teachings of this ancient healing tradition.

As we navigate the complexities of modern life, Living in Balance with Maharishi Ayurveda serves as a beacon, illuminating a path towards holistic wellness and conscious living. Tune in to this enriching conversation with Dr. Robert Keith Wallace, and embark on a transformative journey towards optimal health and well-being.

*The book was co-authored by Dr. Karin Pirc, MD, and Julia Clarke, MS.

miupress.org for book

drrobertkeithwallace.com

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Join me for an enlightening conversation with Dr. Robert Keith Wallace, PhD, a pioneer in bridging ancient Ayurvedic wisdom with modern science to unlock the secrets of longevity and vibrant living.

Dr. Wallace, a distinguished researcher in consciousness physiology, has inspired numerous studies on meditation and mind-body techniques, published in reputable journals including Science, American Journal of Physiology, and Scientific American. With degrees from UCLA and postgraduate research at Harvard University, he served as the founding president of Maharishi International University and chairs its Department of Physiology and Health and serves on the Board of Trustees.

Renowned as a scientist, author, and educator, Dr. Wallace has dedicated his career to exploring the nexus of mind, body, and consciousness. His groundbreaking work on consciousness physiology and integration of Ayurvedic principles has influenced diverse fields. Today, we explore his book 16 Super Biohacks for Longevity where Dr. Wallace offers practical Ayurvedic-inspired strategies for well-being, emphasizing their alignment with modern medical science, notably the microbiome.

Throughout his career, Dr. Wallace has advocated for merging ancient wisdom with contemporary science, particularly in meditation, stress reduction, and holistic health approaches. His research underscores the profound impact of mind-body practices on overall wellness, emphasizing not just extending lifespan but also living creatively and productively at every stage.

Join us as we delve into timeless wisdom and practical strategies for optimal health and vitality with Dr. Robert Keith Wallace, PhD.

Find Dr. Wallace: Biohack Longevity, Dr. Keith Wallace

A sampling of books authored or co-authored by Dr. Wallace:

The Rest and Repair Diet: Heal your Gut, Improve your Physical and Mental Health, and Lose Weight (2019) with Samantha J. Wallace, Alexis Farley
Neurohacking for Online Learning: Study and Life Habits Optimized for your Personal Mind-Body Energy State (2023) with Carol Paredes
16 Super Biohacks for Longevity: Shortcuts to a Healthier, Happier, Longer Life (2023) with Samantha Wallace, Ted Wallace
Quantum Golf, 2nd Ed., Revised (2021)
Gut Crisis: How Diet, Probiotics and Friendly Bacteria Help you Lose Weight and Heal your Body and Mind (2017) with Samantha Wallace
Self Empower: Using Self Coaching, Neuroadaptability and Ayurveda (2021) with Ted Wallace, Samantha Wallace
Dharma Parenting: Understand your Child's Brilliant Brain for Greater Happiness, Health, Success and Fulfillment (2016) with Fred Travis
The Coherence Effect, Tapping into the Laws of Nature that Govern Health, Happiness and Higher Brain Functioning (2020) with Jay B. Marcus, Christopher S. Clark
The Coherence Code: How to Maximize your Performance and Success in Business - For Individuals, Teams, and Organizations (2020) with Ted Wallace, Samantha Wallace
Maharishi Ayurveda and Vedic Technology: Creating Ideal Health for the Individual and World, Adapted and Updated from The Physiology of Consciousness, Part 2 (2016)

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Join me as I interview Marilyn Schlitz, PhD, a social anthropologist, researcher, writer, and charismatic public speaker. Marilyn is a Professor in the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology at Sofia University and has previously taught and/or conducted research at Stanford, Harvard, and Trinity Universities. She is President Emeritus and Senior Fellow of the Institute of Noetic Sciences, an organization she led for more than 25 years. Marilyn is a leader in consciousness studies (over 3 decades). Her research and publications focus on personal and social transformation, cultural pluralism, extended human capacities, and mind-body medicine. She is adept at working with both individuals and organizations, helping them develop the personal and interpersonal skills required for modern leaders.

Her books include:

Consciousness and Healing: Integral Approaches to Mind Body Medicine;
Living Deeply: The Art and Science of Transformation in Everyday Life;
Death Makes Life Possible (Co-producer with Dr. Deepak Chopra of film by same title).

Marilyn has published hundreds of articles --- including the results of scientific studies in scholarly journals and more popular publications. She has lectured extensively around the world and has spoken before the UN and Smithsonian.

We touch upon:

Her career as a transpersonal journey.
What's resonating for her now.
Her current scientific research and study: exploring the psychomanteum and its impact on grief -- succeeded by its impact on talent & training. Her research includes live and VR studies.
How "absorption" enters into her research: the capacity of an individual to enter a flow state and truly immerse into an experience.
How training, repetition, and practice impact or detract from the experience.
The work of Tanya Lurhmann, author of the book How God becomes Real: how habits, practices, relationships, sensations and stories enable humans to experience God as real. By delving into the differences across faiths and cultures, she makes a persuasive case for what we actually do share in common.
Her audio series on moving through grief.
Death terror: what it is and how we can move closer to our fears.
Death as an opportunity for transformation.
Overcoming cultural taboos around death.
What "being on the edge of a paradigm shift" really means.
How our current "worldview" impacts our experience and how we can expand our awareness to consider/encompass other worldviews.
How uncertainty keeps things fresh: "Whatever it is, I hope I can't envision it from my current vantage point."
Power dynamics in our modern healthcare paradigm.
Why questions enable us to expand our current worldview or paradigm around dying & death.
The meaning of the Tagore quote: "On the day death comes knocking at your door, what will you offer to him?" How do we rephrase so as not to instill fear, but instead encourage individuals to embark on a more fulfilling life?
The role of transformation in all of our life experiences.

Find Marilyn: marilynschlitz.com

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Join me as I interview Dr. James Duffy, MD, a psychiatrist who specializes in: Acupuncture, Body-Mind Therapy, Brain Health, Burnout, Herbs & Supplements Guidance, Huntington’s Disease, Integrated Care, Movement Disorders, Neurocognitive Disorders, Parkinson's Disease.

Multi-faceted, Dr. Duffy guides doctors in returning the healer to their work. He currently focuses on working with individuals (including healthcare professionals) to remediate burnout. He transformed the Institute of Spirituality & Health in Texas – to foster the powerful connection between spirituality and health. He is a student of Tibetan Buddhism and speaks regularly about healing as contemplative practice – a unique opportunity to serve others while expanding one’s own heart.

In this interview, Dr. Duffy touches upon:

The issue of burnout and how it impacts physicians and other medical professionals; how burnout is impacting our collective consciousness.
The significance of Christine Longaker's book, Facing Death and Finding Hope: A Guide to the Emotional and Spiritual Care of the Dying.
The significance of Kirsten DeLeo's book, Being Present through the End. Kirsten helped to pioneerAuthentic Presence, one of the first contemplative-based programs in end-of-life care in the United States.
The impact of the Dalai Lama's response to the question of what constituted the essence of Tibetan Medicine: "To have a good heart," accelerated his professional work and commitment to align with the authentic heart of compassion.
How contemplative practice opens us to the realization that "People do not have ideas, ideas have people," a quote by Carl Jung. It is challenging to wake up to the truth of this and not fall victim to an idea that does not uphold how we aspire to live our lives.
The book he is currently writing tentatively titled: "The Practice: The Contemplative Heart of Healing."
How the pervasiveness of burnout in our culture is surfacing as "the inner climate crisis."
That the healer's job is to identify the shadow of our community and find ways to transcend it through contemplative practice and action.
How burnout results from the belief that "I am not enough," which in turn results from shame which in turn results from trauma. If shame remains in the shadows, it is impossible to be vulnerable, authentic.
How his workshop series (7 sessions) titled The Yoga of Medicine is designed to cultivate enlightened healers. The first session is titled Asana is like the physical asanas in yoga practice, clarity and specificity result from intention. When faced with a choice, intention should be the starting point -- if choices and actions are aligned with intention, everything falls into place.
How modern cultures regularly farm out entropy (including the sick and dying) and indigenous thinking can encourage more holistic and compassionate paradigms. See book by Tyson Yunkaporta titled Sand Talk: How Indigenous Thinking Can Save the World.
His talk on the regenerative mind and its connection to other regenerative mediums: regenerative agriculture, regenerative economies.
How Chinese Medicine nourishes the inner in light of the outer. Books by Lonny Jarrett including Nourishing Destiny: The Inner Tradition of Chinese Medicine. And his website: nourishingdestiny.com -- encouraging healers to awaken the living heart of medicine.

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In this interview, Dr. Duffy touches upon:

The issue of burnout and how it impacts physicians and other medical professionals; how burnout is impacting our collective consciousness.
The significance of Christine Longaker's book, Facing Death and Finding Hope: A Guide to the Emotional and Spiritual Care of the Dying.
The significance of Kirsten DeLeo's book, Being Present through the End. Kirsten helped to pioneerAuthentic Presence, one of the first contemplative-based programs in end-of-life care in the United States.
The impact of the Dalai Lama's response to the question of what constituted the essence of Tibetan Medicine: "To have a good heart," accelerated his professional work and commitment to align with the authentic heart of compassion.
How contemplative practice opens us to the realization that "People do not have ideas, ideas have people," a quote by Carl Jung. It is challenging to wake up to the truth of this and not fall victim to an idea that does not uphold how we aspire to live our lives.
The book he is currently writing tentatively titled: "The Practice: The Contemplative Heart of Healing."
How the pervasiveness of burnout in our culture is surfacing as "the inner climate crisis."
That the healer's job is to identify the shadow of our community and find ways to transcend it through contemplative practice and action.
How burnout results from the belief that "I am not enough," which in turn results from shame which in turn results from trauma. If shame remains in the shadows, it is impossible to be vulnerable, authentic.
How his workshop series (7 sessions) titled The Yoga of Medicine is designed to cultivate enlightened healers. The first session is titled Asana is like the physical asanas in yoga practice, clarity and specificity result from intention. When faced with a choice, intention should be the starting point -- if choices and actions are aligned with intention, everything falls into place.
How modern cultures regularly farm out entropy (including the sick and dying) and indigenous thinking can encourage more holistic and compassionate paradigms. See book by Tyson Yunkaporta titled Sand Talk: How Indigenous Thinking Can Save the World.
His talk on the regenerative mind and its connection to other regenerative mediums: regenerative agriculture, regenerative economies.
How Chinese Medicine nourishes the inner in light of the outer. Books by Lonny Jarrett including Nourishing Destiny: The Inner Tradition of Chinese Medicine. And his website: nourishingdestiny.com -- encouraging healers to awaken the living heart of medicine.

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Join me for a fascinating interview with Barbara Slaine. We dive deep into a topic that is often considered taboo: death & dying. Barbara shares her years of experience as an end-of-life doula, guiding individuals and families through this process. She also touches upon her documentary film project - tracking the impact of training incarcerated and previously incarcerated individuals to care for their fellow inmates as they make their final transition.

Barbara wows us with the resources at her fingertips:

New Realities with Alan Steinfelt on Apple Podcasts.
Barbara's documentary film project, tentatively titled A Ripple Effect.
Dr. Joseph Sacco, MD, Hospice & Palliative Medicine.
Book, Die Wise: A Manifesto for Sanity and Soul by Stephen Jenkinson and Dr. Martin Shaw.
Florence Walt, the founder of Hospice UK.
Fleet Maull who runs the National Prison Hospital Association.
The idea that she should consider writing the book, Death for Dummies.
The end-of-life doula course she runs at her center, liphebalancecenter.com.
The work of Henry Ferako-Weiss, who is an end-of-life doula and a mentor.
Book, Dying to be Me, My Journey from Cancer to Near Death to True Healing by Anita Moorjani.
The concept of how death teaches us to embrace more being, less doing.
Realization of how interacting with death in a real way is currently in the zeitgeist. Barbara attributes this to the pandemic - a call to many to wake up to nature of reality. Barbara: "We want real and death is real."
Book, How we Live is How we Die by Pema Chodren.
The Zen Hospice Caregiving Project in California.

Find Barbara: liphebalancecenter.com

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Join me as I interview prolific writer and healer, Robert Sachs, who encourages us to awaken our hearts in these troubled times -- not by sticking our heads in the proverbial sand, but by cultivating and practicing being awake in our own lives.

Today we explore the concepts raised in his book - PERFECT ENDINGS: A CONSCIOUS APPROACH TO DYING AND DEATH.

Born in the U.S., Robert moved to England while a teenager and embarked on the study of Eastern Philosophy. There, he received a degree in Comparative Religion and Sociology and began his study with Tibetan Buddhist Masters and renowned teachers of the healing arts, Macrobiotics Master Michio Kushi and Shiatsu Master Rex Lassalle.

Desirous of furthering his studies in mental health and bodywork, he attended the Central Ohio School of Massage and earned a Master's degree in Social Work from the University of Kentucky. Deeply affected by his daughter's death during this time, Robert began to study the conscious dying practices of Tibetan Buddhism. He is a member of Sogyal Rinpoche's Spiritual Dying Network and the National Hospice Organization.

Along with his wife, Melanie, Robert has pursued studies in both Indian and Tibetan Ayurveda. Recognized by renown teacher Dr. Deepak Chopra and other physicians of both Eastern and Western orientation, their writings are considered to be some of the clearest and most usable texts available.

With an educational background and training that is as conventional as it is alternative, Robert has worked with physicians, clinics, hospitals, private individuals and organizations, teaching them how to integrate contemporary scientific approaches with the ancient wisdom traditions in the areas of stress management, preventive health care, end-of-life care, and relationship and group dynamics. He has served as an instructor for the Chopra Center for Well Being in San Diego and the Tibetan Medicine for the Sino-American Rehabilitation Association College in Los Angeles.

He is a prolific writer. His books include:

Nine-Star Ki: Your Astrological Companion to Feng Shui ,
Tibetan Ayurveda: Health Secrets from The Roof of The World
Rebirth Into Pure Land
Perfect Endings: A Conscious Approach to Dying and Death
The Passionate Buddha: Wisdom on Intimacy and Enduring Love
Becoming Buddha: Awakening The Wisdom and Compassion to Change Your World
Wisdom of The Buddhist Masters: Common and Uncommon Sense
The Ecology of Oneness: Awakening in a Free World,
Ayurvedic Spa.
The Buddha at War: Peaceful Heart Courageous Action in Troubled Times

His most recent book, The Path of Civility: Perfecting the Lessons of a President by Applying the Wisdom of a Buddha, is a merging of the lessons and teachings of two great individuals: George Washington and the Buddha. This book is indicative of the focus of his recent work: encouraging individuals to engage in these troubled times by applying principles of effective and hence, civil discourse.

Find Robert:

https://thepathofcivility.com/
https://www.diamondwayayurveda.com/

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Today, I have the good fortune to chat with a fabuous guest, Melanie Sachs.

Melanie has spent many decades expanding the healing energy of Ayurveda throughout the world. She is the co-author of 2 books along with her husband Robert Sachs: Ayurvedic Beauty Care and Ayurveda Spa: Treatments for Large and Small Spas.

Melanie's exploraton into alternative healing include years of study with Michio Kushi, one of the forces behind bringing organic foods and macrobiotics to the U.S. She started her Ayurvedic studies with the renowned teacher Dr. Vasant Lad - whose life work is profiled in the documentary, A DOCTOR FROM INDIA.

During the course of her career, Melanie has worked directly with the spa industry to develop ancient Ayurvedic techniques into successful spa services, matching the ancient wisdom of Ayurveda with the modern demand for beauty and relaxation.

Today, we are going to shift to Melanie's interest in permaculture, in growing soil and food for maximum diversity and sustainability. She will introduce us the concept of THE FRIENDLY FOREST and how it relates to the principles of permaculture and Ayurveda and can serve as a model for helping us shift toward a more peaceful, just, joyful, sustainable and supportive world.

Be in touch with Melanie: https://www.diamondwayayurveda.com/

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Join me as I talk with James Pace about EMFs (electromagnetic toxins) -- which include the invisible forces emanating from power lines, cell phones, appliances, and computers. Electromagnetic pollution directly causes or contributes to imbalance and disease. From the perspective of SV Ayurveda, EMFs pollute and corrupt the nadis (vibrational channels), thereby disturbing mental, physical, sensory, emotional, and spiritual health.

Highlights:

• What are EMFs (vibrational toxins).

• How EMFs pollute the environment and how they enter the body.

• How vibrational poisoning “writes over” the body’s and the environment’s natural rhythms.

• Eight main gateways through which EMFs enter mind and body.

• How EMFs weaken the pranic energy of the body.

• Signs and symptoms of EMF toxicity.

• Protections and countermeasures for vibrational pollution.

About James Pace:

A SV Ayurveda Health Educator & Marma Therapist, James began studying Ayurveda in 1989 at the Ayurvedic Institute in NM, which led to advanced studies including Maharishi Ayurveda in Spain and the Ayurvedic Institute's Gurukula Program In India.
After meeting Vaidya Rama Kant Mishra, James organized consultations for him in New Jersey from 2004 through 2010. He also served as Vaidya Mishra’s Seminar Coordinator in the New Jersey/New York Metropolitan area. These programs included workshops at the New York Open Center, Arsha Vidya Gurukulam (AVG) Saylorsburg, PA, and other venues.
At Vaidya Mishra’s request, James moved to California in 2016 to assist in a variety of projects, including private health consultations at the Prana Center, Chatsworth, CA. Since Vaidya Mishra's death in 2017, James continues his work with the Prana Center --- in support of Vaidya Mishra’s mission of providing intelligent herbal synergies and access to the wisdom of the Shaka Vansiya Ayurveda lineage.

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Today, I have the good fortune to chat with a fabuous guest, Karin Lubin.

While there is so much that Karin and I can focus on in today's chat, we connected due to my interest in the book, THE PASSION TEST, by Janet Attwood and Chris Attwood and we'll start by delving into how THE PASSION TEST can lead you to a more fulfilling life - actually a life that embodies the very core values that Karin espouses in her work: connection, wisdom, integrity, leadership, and of course my personal favorites: adventure and fun.

But first, a little bit about Karin: Born in NYC, Karin was raised by her Norwegian mother who fought in the Resistence Movement against Hitler and her Jewish father, who was born and bred in Queens. A powerful combination.

Karin currently characterizes her work as that of a Transformational Trainer, Journal Creator and Wisdom Healer. This description however doesn't truly reveal her broad business background. Having received a PhD in education, her business leadership roles have included that of a Public School Education Administrator for a period of 15 years and the Global Director of The Passion Test Facilitator Programs (essentially training the trainer), a role that she has held for over 30 years.

Her real-life experiences working with teams in both the public and private sectors have given her a unique vantage point for the work she is currently focused on: creating teams based on the concept of INTUITIVE LEADERSHIP - of course, a systematic approach inherently yields results and Karin's approach does just that - she has proven that creating invincible, synergistic and empowered teams is not difficult, you just have to have an open mind, be willing to dispel limiting beliefs, and of course, be schooled in the tools required for a green light.

Karin is also a journal creator of two series of wisdom journals, one focusing on the seasons using self-help themes, and another on Internal Family Systems and the 8 characteristics of Self. As in her work with Intuitive Leadership, Karin brings her core values to all of her teachings and programs: *connection, wisdom, integrity, leadership, and again my personal favorites: adventure and fun.

Find Karin: https://drkarinlubin.com/*

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I have the great pleasure of introducing Durga Leela, the founder of the online learning platform and sangha called YOGA OF RECOVERY.

Durga is an advanced yoga practitioner, having completed both the Sivananda Yoga teachers Training Course and an Advanced Yoga Training. She is also extensively trained in Meditation and Vedanta. Durga is a Clinical Ayurvedic and Pancha Karma Specialist, trained both in the US (at CCA) and also in India. Durga serves as the Director of the Ayurveda Programs at the Sivananda Yoga Farm in California, since 2003.

Here is a sampling of Durga's current online programs:

Healing the Habits that Bind
Longing and Relationship - healing the habits that bind
Sweet & love: healing the habits that bind
Prana & progress: healing the habits that bind

Durga also runs a yoga of recovery pancha karma trip to south india- 3 to 4 weeks --every year

There is so much to focus on with Durga - she is unbelievably prolific in helping individuals go deeper into their recovery pathway and to live happy, contented, and productive lives using the tools of yoga and ayurveda.

But since we have limited time today, we will focus on Durga's new book titled Yoga of Recovery – Integrating Yoga and Ayurveda with Modern Recovery Tools for Addiction - which really is an encapsulation of Durga's decades of work in this field.

website: Yoga of Recovery
contact: durga@yogaofrecovery.com

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In today’s interview, we focus on how Tom’s early life experience with Maharishi Mahesh Yoga (he spent 12 years on the Parusha program, a program designed by Maharishi for men who wish to dedicate themselves fully to the most rapid pace of evolving consciousness as possible) led to his later work in the field of helping create not only effective communication but appreciation and understanding across diverse cultures. We discuss how Tom’s current book project – an exploration of the parallels between the yogic path and his work bridging communications across diverse cultures are both based on the same underlying principle: there is a fundamental unity that integrates it all.

Tom Morgan is an intercultural consultant, coach, and trainer who has been helping leaders and employees of global organizations effectively communicate across cultures since 1993. Tom’s current work includes conducting intercultural communications training; executive coaching; diversity and inclusion; inclusive leadership workshops; multicultural and virtual team building; executive relocation and repatriation programs.

Tom has lived and worked in 12 countries outside the U.S. His work includes: consulting with heads of state as well as top military, educational and business leaders. Through these experiences, Tom has developed a deep interest in the study of cultural differences. He received his formal training in intercultural communication from some of the most respected leaders in the field.

Throughout his career, Tom has conducted training and consulting for more than 70 countries and has worked with Fortune 500 companies and other leading companies in virtually all major industries. Tom regularly coaches CEOs and other C-level executives (those who occupy senior positions and impact company-wide decisions) of some of the world’s largest multinational corporations. Tom’s primary area of expertise is helping his clients develop intercultural competence—the ability to shift cultural perspectives, empathize, and read culturally diverse situations accurately, and to exhibit culturally appropriate behavior in a variety of contexts.

Regarding regional and country expertise, the area of proficiency for which Tom is best known is the cultural landscape of India. Tom has lived, studied, and worked on the Indian subcontinent for a total of three years. His family connections with India date back to the 1930s, when his aunt and uncle were associated with Mahatma Gandhi, the Viceroy of India and other historically important figures in pre- and post-independence India. Tom has spent much of his life studying Indian culture, the Vedic traditions, the historic roots of modern Indian culture, as well as modern Indian business culture and trends. He has worked with CEOs and other C-level executives from large western-based multinational companies working in or with India, and with C-level executives and personnel from India working with the West.

website: Morgan Intercultural
contact: tom@morganintercultural.com

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Join me as I interview Dr. Judith Pentz, MD on her presciptive memoir, CLEANSE YOUR BODY, REVEAL YOUR SOUL - SUSTAINABLE WELL-BEING THROUGH THE ANCIENT POWER OF AYURVEDA PANCHAKARMA THERAPY. Dr. Pentz shares her personal healing journey, describing her trip to India where she underwent the 5,000 year-old Ayurvedic detoxification and rejuvenation therapy known as panchakarma (translated as "the five actions"). Through her words, she describes the profound shifts that she encountered during panchakarma -- which led to her making changed in her life that she characterizes as "substantial and sustainable." Tune in for tips and lifestyle changes that will help us all maintain well-being.

Dr. Pentz has practiced psychiatric medicine for 28 years. Recently, she has been appointed as Program Director for the University of New Mexico -- where she supports psychiatrist trainees to integrate the University of Arizona's (Andrew Weil, MD's) virtual integrative medicine module. She is inspired to mentor future psychiatrists who are committed to bring a more integrated, holistic approach to the communities they serve. Dr. Pentz also teaches in the Master's Ayurveda & Integrative Medicine Master's program at Maharishi International University (MIU).

"Health is possible and you are the person to make it happen via holistic, integrative interventions," is Dr. Pentz's powerful message. She is a master collaborator - whether speaking in Spain or Vancouver or leading medical education missions to Cuba or working with prominent healers such as Dr. James Lake, Joan Borysenko, Leslie Korn, and Ayurvedic physician, author and mentor, Dr. Sunil Joshi.

As this episode airs, Dr. Pentz is birthing two other book projects, one exploring the healing power of mantra and sound and the other book celebrating the divine feminine energy that we all possess, the Shakti, including its emerging importance in the world currently.

Find Dr. Judith Pentz, MD:
Site: Dr. Pentz
Facebook: Author Judith Pentz
Instagram: Judith Pentz MD
LinkedIn: Judith Pentz MD

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Join me as I interview Laurina Carroll. Currently based in the Chicago area, Laurina has been a teacher of Transcendental Medication since 1997. She had the good fortune or working as an Ayurvedic Wellness Consultant in one of the Maharishi Ayurvedic Clinic in Germany, known as one of the most reputable in Europe. Inspired by this experience, she moved back to the U.S. and studied Ayurveda more formally, earning a B.A. in Ayurveda from Maharishi University (MIU) and a Master's degree in Vedic Science, also from MIU.

In this interview, we chat about her new book titled Perfect Health for Busy People - A Maharishi Ayurveda Guide to Enjoying a Longer, Happier Life. This book is true to its title. It's an easy to use guide for living a balanced, healthy way, no matter how hectic your schedule. It's really a beginner's guide to introducing you to practical ways to use Ayurveda in your everyday life to improve your physical health and stamina, increase your clarity of thinking, and to feel more energetic and emotionally balanced. I don't think it can get better than that!

Laurina is available as a speaker on topics relating to Ayurvedic Wellness. She offers private nutrition and lifestyle consultations that include personalized recommendations for Ayurvedic diet, herbal products, yoga practices, daily and seasonal routines - all intended to support the optimum health of her clients.

To watch the VIDEO VERSION of this podcast, subscribe to the Ayurveda with Noreen YouTube Channel.

Find Laurina: yourayurvedaconsultant.com

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Join me in this third interview (see Ep . 38 & 41 for other interviews) with John Broome. John is an Ayurvedic recipe and food product developer and recently released his first cookbook, Better Health through Taste: Easy Transformation with Ayurveda. I chat with John live from Mexico where he shares his continuing discoveries and challenges -- as he applies Ayurvedic principles to Mexican cuisine. If you love Mexican food and want to enjoy perfect health, this episode is for you. In Ayurveda, perfect health means everything is flowing the way nature intended -- including your mind. Balance and bliss, that's Ayurveda!

Find John:
https://ayurvedaeasytransformation.com/

To watch the VIDEO VERSION of this podcast, subscribe to the Ayurveda with Noreen YouTube Channel.

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Join me as I interview esteemed guest, Dr. Suhas Kshirsagar -- a world-renowned Ayurvedic physician and medical astrologer who hails from a family of traditional Vedic healers in India. He holds a B.A. in Ayurvedic medicine and has completed a three-year M.D. (Ayurvedic Internal Medicine) residency at Pune University.

Dr. Suhas is a compassionate healer and expert clinician who directs the Ayurvedic Healing and Integrative Wellness Clinic in Santa Cruz, California. He is a sought-after speaker and lecturer -- who travels extensively teaching courses on Ayurveda, training doctors, and providing Ayurvedic consultations for thousands of patients.

Dr Suhas is the author of several books on Ayurveda and optimum health including:

Change your Schedule, Change your Life.
Ayurveda, A Quick Reference Guide.
Enchanting Beauty, Ancient Secrets to Inner, Outer and Lasting Beauty.
The Hot Belly Diet: A 30-day Ayurvedic Plan to Reset Your Metabolism, Lose Weight, and Restore your Body's Natural Balance to Heal Itself.
The Art and Science of Vedic Counseling - co-authored with David Frawley.
AND PANCHAKARMA, THE ART AND SCIENCE OF DETOXIFICATION AND REJUVENATION - WHICH WE FOCUS ON IN THIS EPISODE.

Panchakarma addresses unresolved health concerns that burden many individuals. It is a personalized and systematic protocol for releasing toxins, impurities, and stress. This powerful detoxification enables the body's essential energies or doshas to move toward balance. Panchakarma is unique as it not only cleanses, but rejuvenates the body, mind and spirit.

Find Dr. Suhas for consultations, speaking engagements, education, events: ayurvedichealing.net

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Join me as I interview Susan Barney who early in her healing journey discovered the connection between food and healing. Susan became inspired by Dr. Gabriel Cousens's, MD, seminal book (a total of 880 pages) titled Conscious Eating and his commitment to including Ayurveda in a book otherwise focused on living (raw) plant-based foods. What Susan discovered is that food is energy and while nutrients are important, they do not reveal the complete picture required to create perfect health. This is where Ayurveda comes in -- as it takes a personalized approach to food that considers the qualities of the food being consumed as well as the individual's unique psycho-physical constitution and ability to transform food into a balanced body and blissful mind.

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Join me in this second interview with John Broome. John is an Ayurvedic recipe and food product developer and recently released his first cookbook, Better Health through Taste: Easy Transformation with Ayurveda. Now, John is working on another Ayurvedic cookbook - same principles but focused on Mexican food. John joins me on location from Mexico where he shares his discoveries and challenges of applying Ayurvedic principles to Mexican cuisine. If you love Mexican food, but also want to be on top of your game (and view food energetics as a key component), this is an interview you don't want to miss.

Find John:
https://ayurvedaeasytransformation.com/

John's new Ayurvedic cookbook:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B72F5XD3

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Join me as I interview Michele Jersak, who recently completed her Master's degree in Ayurveda at Maharishi University and is in the process of completing meditation teacher training. With a career of over 20 years as a counselor in a community college environment in Minnesota, Michele has had the unique opportunity to see up close the challenges this demographic faces. Many are the first members of their family to attend college and have not been previously supported to excel academically. Michele's approach has been "It takes a village," and she continues to add powerful tools to each student's toolbox with the inclusion of the principles of Ayurveda and meditation. As she refines a prototype at her college, she intends to bring it out there to other college and university students. Wow, a group of students who are willing to embrace the principles of living and working consciously. Now, that's something worth repeating!

Find Michele - LinkedIn

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I have the pleasure of being interviewed by Guy Harvey, producer/creator of the podcast, Soul Family Chat. Here, I share my journey from a legal career and founder of my own law firm to becoming a natural foods chef, traveling the U.S., and returning to wholeness with Ayurveda. I've heard it said that our evolution is in the journey and no doubt, it's been an interesting ride! Thank you Guy for helping to elevate Ayurveda's profile worldwide.

Link to Soul Family Chat with Guy Harvey:

Soul Family Chat on Apple Podcasts
Soul Family Chat on Spotify

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Join me as I interview John Broome, author of the newly released Ayurvedic cookbook titled Better Health through Taste: Easy Transformation with Ayurveda. John is a recipe and food product developer and now also, a cookbook author. He plans to release Ayurvedic superfood powders in a number of products in the U.S. market including superfood cookies and bars. His cookbook is designed to make Ayurveda easy and accessible. He provides you with shortcuts - so that cooking and cultivating radiant health does not become tedious or difficult. John also touches upon his current location - Mexico - where he is residing for the next month and is developing a series of authentic Mexican recipes that embody Ayurvedic principles. John talks about the importance of including all 6 tastes in a meal - in order to create a balanced meal - and its importance according to Ayurveda: a balanced meal creates a feeling of bliss, reduces food cravings, enhances assimilation of nutrients, and provides limitless energy. Wow, sign me up!

John will be my guest in a few weeks from his location in Mexico. He will share his Mexican recipe testing experience - be sure to join us - an episode not to be missed!

Find John: easytransformationwithAyurveda.com
His new book: Better Health through Taste: Easy Transformation with Ayurveda

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Meet Emily Fitz Randolph, founder of Itihas Ayurveda in Los Angeles. Emily describes her journey away and back to Ayurveda. Having grown up in the heart of Ayurveda and meditation in the U.S. (Fairfield, IA), Emily moved to NYC -- ready to conquer the business world and that she did for 15 years. She managed campus recruiting for the top financial service firms in NYC where she excelled in the fast-paced corporate whirlwind that is Manhattan. Her aha moments were incremental, but days of eating lunch at her desk and powering down her laptop at 8 pm began to wear thin. Her early exposure to meditation and Ayurveda kicked in. She started meditating again and began to wake up to the reality that outer appearances do not necessarily make an individual's inner world blissful. Doing a complete 180, she signed up to become a teacher of Transcendental Meditation (TM) and currently runs two TM Centers in Los Angeles (one in Santa Monica). She also recently completed her Master's in Ayurveda at Maharishi International University and intends to marry the two: Ayurveda and Transcendental Meditation. Her passion is teaching - first, meditation and now, Ayurveda - she is sharing these ancient technologies with as many individuals as possible. The name of her new business - Itihas Ayurveda - reflects her approach to encouraging others - the word "itihas" means blossoming of totality. To Emily, it's a reminder that we all have the capacity to reach out full potential, it is just waiting to burst forth.

Find Emily:
itihasayurveda.com
Instagram: @itihasayurveda and @tmwithemily

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Meet Sarah Priya Sookchand as she describes her journey to Ayurveda at the age of 23- which is one of healing from auto-immune conditions (lupus and rheumatoid arthritis). This was after 4 years of conventional medical treatment with some of the top practitioners in the U.S. and a protocol of pharmaceuticals. She accompanied her parents on a trip to Trinidad ( where they were born and later emigrated to the U.S.) and after fainting outdoors, a kind bystander told her that she knew someone who could help her. Hence began Sarah's alliance with Ishtara Centre of Natural Healing in Trinidad. Here, she was introduced to Ayurveda and color/light therapy with gemstones. Within a period of three months, she was able to bring her body to a state of balance by implementing a natural approach to healing. Previously bedridden and unable to hold consistent employment due to her debilitating health conditions, she secured a job with a healthcare company and enrolled in a Master's program in Ayurveda at Maharishi International University. She was determined to learn as much as she could about Ayurveda, a system of self-healing that restores the body's inner intelligence. Sarah also describes her recent experience with panchakarma (an Ayurvedic purification or detoxification therapy) and how this cleared toxins, not only physically - but mentally and energetically. She shares her top tips for starting an Ayurvedic morning ritual that will energize your day and improve the quality of your life. She also shares her method about how to make healthy habits stick. Ladies and gents, this lovely gem is a pitta dosha, meaning she is on-fire with Ayurveda and is determined to share this beautiful wisdom with individuals near and far.
facebook: Sarah-Priya Devi Dasi

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Sultan Salah is an experienced practitioner and educator in the areas of Ayurveda, holistic healthcare, natural healing, and integrative medicine. He has 6 years experience teaching and developing academic curricula and has developed 2 of the nation’s accredited degree programs in Ayurveda at Maharishi International University.

Sultan has studied Ayurveda for over a decade. He's also received extensive training in the following areas: nutrition, anatomy and physiology, herbology, and physical therapy. He is a passionate speaker, teacher, and student of the health sciences - blending practical experience with his breadth of knowledge. He has completed clinical training in India and has earned both undergraduate and graduate degrees in Ayurveda and Integrative Healthcare.

Sultan currently consults as an Ayurvedic Healthcare Specialist though his business, Ayurveda for the Soul (Sultan's current home base is Santa Monica, CA), where he offers client consultations in restoring balance and Vedic counseling and couching. A sampling of his services include:

unraveling abstract mental health issues;
navigating major life decisions;
dharma coaching - how to discover and evolve in your purpose;
trauma work;
support for mental, spiritual, emotional healing and evolution;
teaching and facilitating your direct experience of the subtle forces and energies that are at play in your mind-body.

Highlights of my interview with Sultan:

"Ayurveda is a cosmic science because it was born of the consciousness of rishis or we could say sages or saints as opposed to modern medicine which uses objective scientific research."
"Essentially, you are not your mind or body. You are your jiva, a Sanskrit word for soul. When you incarnate into a human being, you are incarnating into five layers – the pancha maya kosha - which are the five subtle bodies."
"Herbs and diet are a wonderful part of Ayurveda, but the ability to directly perceive and engage with the more subtle dimensions of the client I am working with is much more profound in terms of the healing. To be able to interface with the subtle bodies in one of the deeper aspects of Ayurveda."
"According to the literature, Ayurveda is the Science of Life. There is no implication that this means the Science of Heath. It certainly is one part of it. The majority of the literature of family lines that are still going today speak to health more than anything else. One of the great Vaidyas told me that the literature on Ayurveda and health is very small. In the Vedic literature, it is described that when Brahman (the Creator) finished creating the universe, Brahman remembered Ayurveda. Ayurveda is the blueprint of creation. It is like the software of the hardware of the universe. It is said that when Brahman remembers Ayurveda, he enters into discourse with Lord Shiva and relearns all the nuances and details of this cosmic science. Again Ayurveda is not a medical science and is not even a science exclusive to our planet."
"Ayurveda is very clear that there is one ultimate cause of all disease: pragyapradh, a lack of remembering of who we really are. It essentially means “mistakenly understanding creation as being something other than what it really is.” Pragyapradh – which is essentially lack of enlightenment – really is the cause of all disease. Many doctors, even modern medical doctors, say we have to address the cause. Ayurveda is beautifully sophisticated and also amazingly simple. With this proposition, Ayurveda indicates that there is really only one cause of all disease."

Find Sultan:
Ayurveda for the Soul

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Join me as I interview Amadea Morningstar, a shining star in Ayurveda and Food & Healing for 40 + years. She is the creator of Ayurveda Polarity & Yoga Institute in Sante Fe, New Mexico. She is committed to teaching both Ayurveda in all its holistic and component parts (everything is Ayurvedic!) and polarity therapy, a hands-on healing system designed to enable the body to regain its natural state of balance. Amadea is a prolific author. Her most well-known book is Ayurvedic Cooking along with Ayurvedic Cooking for Westerners. Her most recent book is titled Easy Healing Drinks from the Wisdom of Ayurveda, Delicious and Nourishing Recipes for all Seasons. Her blog has been voted in the top 30 in the Ayurveda category - she marries a variety of topics with Ayurveda including: recipes and food; politics; women's health; inclusion and diversity; sustainability; living by yogic and Buddhist principles. Wow, what a commitment she has made to helping us heal!

In this interview we take a deep dive into two traditional recipes (one is recognizably American comfort food; the other a Middle Eastern dish). Amadea shows us how to play with a recipe and make it a complete Ayurvedic dish and from there, a complete Ayurvedic meal. This exercise is a prelude for Amadea's upcoming course: Dynamics of Ayurvedic Nutrition: Adapt Recipes for Individual & Cultural Needs. What's beautiful about the way Amadea teaches us to how "to play" with a recipe is that it still adheres to its ethnic roots, its cultural integrity with the "add-ons" that Ayurveda deems important: delicious, nourishing, easy to digest, easy to assimilate, easy to evacuate, bringing bliss to your mind-body-spirit.

Amadea also touches on her current interest in racial inclusion and diversity. She recently completed a seven-week "Inclusion as Medicine Course," leading participants through each of the chakras as a pathway to begin healing our biases, subtle and not so subtle.

We conclude with a series of rapid-fire questions:

What do the words patience and persistence mean for you?
Now that our lives have become more virtual – meaning our connections are also more virtual – one suggestion for thriving in this new virtual reality?
What are the top three tips you can offer that are simple, yet profoundly healing?
What does the term “wise woman” mean to you?
Your favorite book on Ayurveda (besides your own)?
You are obviously a big reader. What you are currently reading?
Your opinion on what it will take for Ayurveda to infiltrate our modern life – the way Yoga has – in the U.S.?

Find Amadea: https://amadeamorningstar.net/

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Join me as I interview Dilek Koksal. Raised in Turkey, Dilek has been a student of Ayurveda since 2015 and is currently a teaching assistant at Maharishi University where she is also a student in the Master’s program in Ayurveda. Dilek works in software and has degrees in computer science, finance, and computing. She formerly founded a dance company in San Diego, teaching Middle Eastern dance. She turned to yoga to help heal injuries from dance as well as extend the life of her dance career. She is currently enrolled in an advanced program in Ayurvedic herbology, essentially plant medicine, with Arya Ayruveda, India.

Dilek shares:

How her family's health conditions impacted her experience of Ayurveda.
How Ayurveda and the Transcendental Meditation (TM) technique can help us grieve the loss of close family members.
How ancestral karma brought her to her life's purpose, her dharma: to bring health and healing through Ayurvedic herbology.
How we can transcend our karma through the regular practice of meditation.
The importance of her Ayurvedic teachers and mentors to her journey.
How others can more quickly discover their dharma and what it takes to manifest your dreams.
How her teachers have opened her to the creative flow of the Universe while teaching her how discipline, action, and hard work are necessary ingredients for accomplishment.
The significance of her website www.warriorgoddessayurveda.com - invoking the strength, power and courage of the divine feminine.
How it is essential for the Ayurvedic Practitioner to live a life of balance in order for the channel of healing to remain open.

And a few rapid-fire questions to conclude:

Your greatest teacher of Ayurveda?
Your favorite book on Ayurveda?
What you wished for in your life that you are grateful did not occur?
The first thing you do when you get out of bed in the morning?
Healthy habits are easy to start, but difficult to maintain and Ayurveda is all about healthy habits. How do you maintain healthy habits in your life?

Find Dilek:

www.warriorgoddessayruveda.com

facebook: @warriorgoddessfarm

Instagram: @warriorgoddessayurveda

dkoksal619@gmail.com

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Join me as I interview Martha Soffer, owner of Surya Spa (an Ayurvedic spa), located in Los Angeles. Martha is a graduate of Maharishi International University and a practitioner of Ayurveda for over 30 years. Her specialty is panchakarma, an Ayurvedic detoxification protocol designed to restore radiant health. She is also the creator of a line of Ayurvedic personal care products. We explore how Martha brings Ayurveda into our modern life.

Martha’s goal is to help individuals tune into how Ayurveda can enhance their daily lives. “’How am I feeling today?’ is the first question to ask when transitioning to an Ayurvedic lifestyle. Ayurveda can feel very foreign or inaccessible to Americans. Starting small is important. If you incorporate certain foods and align with how your body actually feels, your life will significantly improve.”

Ayurveda helps us cope with modern stress. For an overstressed nervous system, Martha recommends abhyanga (self-massage with oil) every day. "Oil massage calms vata dosha, which can become aggravated by stress and anxiety.” Martha also considers meditation a critical component. Martha learned Transcendental Meditation in 1988 and has been practicing every day since.

I ask Martha to describe panchakarma (detox) and how it helps the body/mind regain balance. Martha recommends panchakarma at the change of each season. “This is a time when our health is more delicate as the qualities of the previous season have accumulated in the body. Panchakarma enables the body/mind to release toxins.”

Martha compares Ayurveda to an umbrella. Its spokes (the ribs of an umbrella) are akin to the many modalities that Ayurveda offers. Martha decides on the appropriate treatments based on the ancient science of pulse diagnosis. Clients can do panchakarma at Surya Spa for 7, 14 or 28 days. She recommends at least 7 days because Ayurveda identifies 7 different tissues in the physiology. Home preparation is required before the client starts panchakarma.

Surya Spa’s ethos is “We love to heal.” "We know that love and attention accelerate healing. In panchakarma, there is an emotional component. Emotions are stored in the liver and when they start to release, anger or sadness can result. Letting go of these emotions will also take diseases away. Emotions are carried in the body’s tissues. Old traumas reside in the body. Panchakarma enables an emotional as well as physical release.”

Other modalities (like spokes or ribs of an umbrella) of Ayurveda include: yoga, jyotish (Vedic astrology), vastu (Vedic architecture), aromatherapy, and Gandharva Veda (coherent flow of sound). “Ganharva Veda, divine music, calms your nervous system.” “Vastu is architecture that complies with the Vedas. It is like feng shui.” Martha is building a retreat center in Kaui that adheres to the principles of vastu. She will also hold retreats in Bend, Oregon.

One of main principles in Ayurveda is “to eliminate the root cause.” I ask Martha to share the obstacles she encounters when working with clients on this aspect of Ayurveda. Essentially, she has learned to meet clients where they are and to nudge them into the direction of perfect health.

Website: www.suryaspa.com
Instagram: @suryaspaayurveda
Facebook: @suryaspaayurveda

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Join me as I interview Gau Bodepudi, the creator of awakeninnerfire.com - where he is creating community around the practice of agnihotra in Austin, Texas. Agnihotra is an ancient Vedic technology; its purpose: to heal individual and environment by attuning to nature’s rhythms.

Gau, a patent attorney, has taken on a new role: documentary filmmaker. His project is titled The Sacred Fire: A Journey into Agnihotra. Gau is setting forth to prove this ancient wisdom with modern science. His purpose is to help individuals and planet with this powerful technology, to contribute to healing and sustaining the planet.

Gau describes the elements of the agnihotra practice and why it must be performed at the most powerful intervals of the day: sunrise and sunset. "At these juncture points, a quantum entanglement occurs. When the sun's rays flow into the agnihotra pyramid, the elements of the agnihotra practice create a powerful resonance."

"Ayurveda can teach us about agnihotra. In Ayurveda, a balanced agni (digestive fire) is a key determinant to optimum health. If agni is weak, ama (toxins) can result. Thus, when nature’s agni is weak, pollutants (toxins) accumulate. The practice of agnihotra bolsters nature's resilience and its ability to process environmental toxins."

“The potential of agnihotra is mysterious, but not random. We find ourselves with this pyramid technology that creates healing effects. Essentially, agnihotra harnesses nature’s elements and amplifies their effect. Pollution, for example, impacts us on a subatomic level. It creates a dissonance in our cells. The Vedas report that pollution can destroy a civilization. Material life is mutated down to its molecular structure. Food and rain no longer hold the potential to nourish. Agnihotra impacts relationships at the subatomic level. In essence, it harmonizes dissonance from the ground up."

“In the documentary film project, you are marrying the ancient wisdom with modern science. Why is that important to you?” “It really is a balance. While it is important to respect the wisdom cognized by self-realized teachers, it is also important to ground it in scientific study. The master who shared agnihotra with the world was a messenger, sent to plant the seeds – to bring us where we are right now. He taught us that the Vedas are a warehouse of scientific knowledge and that we should not hesitate to test this knowledge. He also said that grace is with modern scientists who are willing to test agnihotra. He told us that whatever challenge you present to agnihotra, it is fully equipped to meet that challenge.”

“For those listening who have not experienced agnihotra or who have and felt a connection, my recommendation is to keep coming back until your communication with the fire is real. There is a deep, deep wisdom within the agnihotra fire itself. You can receive guidance when you connect with the flame – including answers to who and what you are and the wisdom to move deeply into the path. Keep coming back until your inspiration grows, until you want more of the sacred fire presence in your life.”

Find and support:
awakeninnerfire.com
agnihotradocumentary.com
upcoming: agnihotrafoundation.com
gau@agnihotradocumentary.com
Instagram: @awakeninnerfire
Facebook: @awakeninnerfire
Facebook: @agnihotradocumentary

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Susan Weis-Bohlen began her career as a journalist in Israel. There, she was introduced to yoga and meditation - for her, precursors to Ayurveda. Upon return to the U.S., she soon became the owner of a New Age bookstore in her hometown, Baltimore. Back then, Ayurveda occupied a small section of her store. Exhausted and 50 pounds overweight, she dived into the Ayurvedic detox called panchakarma. She never looked back, eventually becoming an Ayurvedic practitioner and bestselling author.

Her professional life has been a series of ten-year journeys. And her most recent transition: author of bestselling books on Ayurveda. She describes her first book and how she initially thought she was being scammed along with lessons learned. She weaves her personal voice into her writing and unabashedly celebrates her Jewishness. No matter what her vocation, community has been essential to her success. Currently, she is offering writing salons on the Gateless Writing Method, a method that uses creative brain science, ancient Zen, and highly-effective craft tools + resources to move the writer beyond the conditioned, critical mind to a place of limitless creative potential.

We touch base on the current change of seasons – late winter to early spring – and what’s important for people to keep in mind from an Ayurvedic perspective. "Our health is at its most
vulnerable at the juncture point between seasons." Susan shares her top takeaways on how to make this seasonal transition smoother and healthier.

Susan’s own path with Ayurveda has evolved. She is no longer so hard on herself. If she strays, she knows she has the tools to once again, rest, repair and create balance. “Once you have
created a baseline of health, your body is more forgiving.” She approaches her clients the same way: “Ayurveda is not an all or nothing proposition. It’s important for each client to look at his or her lifestyle and determine how Ayurveda can fit into his or her world. If it’s not practical, it’s not useful.” We touch upon the habit change principles that have most effective for her clients. Hers is a 21-day approach. First and foremost, she is determined that her clients start experiencing good quality sleep. “Amazingly, when they wake up refreshed every day, they are ready for anything!”

Susan discusses emotional eating and how our cravings are inextricably related to taste. She encourages her clients who often crave the sweet taste to consider where they can gain more sweetness in their lives. “Cravings and emotional desires are interconnected. Ayurveda helps
clients initiate a gentle decoupling.”

Her thoughts about the growth of Ayurveda in the U.S.: while she hopes Ayurveda will experience the same exponential growth as yoga, she counsels consumers to do their homework. “Take time to ensure that the practitioner is knowledgeable. Start by reading the top 10 or 20 bestselling books on Ayurveda. They all have blurbs from other Ayurvedic practitioners – then read the books of these recommenders and so on. What I mean is: look carefully before you leap.”

Susan's books: Ayurveda, Beginner’s Guide and Seasonal Self-Care Rituals.

Find Susan:
breatheayurveda.com
Instagram: @susanweisbohlen
Facebook: @susanweisbohlenayurveda

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Welcome to my first solocast - it’s a prelude to an upcoming interview with Gau Bodepudi, the creator of AWAKENINNERFIRE.COM – essentially cultivating community around the practice of agnihotra in his hometown, Austin, Texas. Agnihotra is an ancient Vedic technology, its purpose to heal individual and planet, the environment near and far, by attuning to nature’s rhythms. Examples of personal healing include: reducing stress levels, releasing negative habit patterns and addictions. Examples of planetary healing include: enhancing food production, replenishing soil nutrients, reducing atmospheric pollution including nuclear radiation. The word “agni” means fire; “hotra” means healing. While Gau’s day job is that of patent attorney, he has taken on the role of film producer and is currently producing a documentary titled “Awaken the Inner Fire.” (Its website is agnihotradocumentary.com.) His aim: to prove this ancient wisdom with modern science. He has already filmed one clinical trial, documenting the benefits of agnihotra in Baltimore and is planning to document another at UC Santa Barbara. Gau’s purpose: to highlight the benefits of agnihotra in healing individuals and planet, creating a sustainable world and ultimately, saving the planet.

In this upcoming interview, we will touch upon the elements of agnihotra and how it is performed including the timing. Agnihotra is performed at the junction points of the day – sunrise and sunset - both powerful touchpoints that allow us to attune to nature’s subtle vibratory energy. We will touch upon how he started to practice agnihotra and why it is important to his life purpose, including the importance of his spiritual teacher. I was struck by what his teacher told him: “You cannot escape from the responsibility of being a leader because you know more than the others.” It was then that he realized he was trying to escape from such responsibility - as leadership requires stepping up and being exposed, vulnerable. Along with responsibility, leadership requires risk – and hence, vulnerability. We will touch on the importance of community around the agnihotra practice. I’m jazzed about exploring with Gau how he conceived of the documentary film; his trajectory from patent attorney to documentary filmmaker and what this journey has been like for him: its purpose; how he tracks progress; why scientific studies are important.

Gau used the term “scientific humility.” I want to ask him what he means by this. I also want to explore his journey as a novice filmmaker: what he considers his biggest challenges and accomplishments. The text of one of his posts: “I have come to admire what filmmakers do.” I am wondering what exactly he admires (maybe everything!) Also, where does he get the energy and drive to mount and sustain a project like this – one which would overwhelm many. If inclined, you can support Gau’s project on the website: agnihotradocumentary.com

I really love the three blog posts he wrote connecting Ayurveda and agnihotra. His intention was to explore how Ayurveda can help us better understand agnihotra. Again, “agni” means fire and “hotra” means healing. He describes how Ayurveda views agni: agni is the digestive power in our physiology, but also means the power of life, the power to transform. In Ayurveda, agni is the single most important marker of our personal health. If agni is balanced, our overall physical health is balanced. The main agni is jathar agni in Ayurveda and it really is pivotal. The question is whether this can really help us understand agni’s role in nature. From a Vedic perspective, the microcosm is reflected in the macrocosm and vice versa. Essentially, this means the human being is a reflection of the ou

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Join me as I interview Anna Noxon, the owner of Anna B. Nana Products, a company that produces personal care (mostly bath) products – based on the integration of the principles of Aromatherapy and Ayurveda. Anna is currently a student at Maharishi International University (MIU) – she is enrolled in a unique Master’s program that combines the healing principles of Ayurveda with Holistic Aromatherapy. In this interview, Anna shares her a-ha moments:

• How Ayurveda is truly a system of self- healing;
• How eating at a table with her family offered more nourishment than dining in front of the TV;
• How essential oils have a profound impact on her physiology.

”The program is experiential. In our Ayurvedic training, we learn how to take our own pulse to determine our state of balance or imbalance. In class, we have the opportunity to sample different essential oils and then take our own pulse. We then share our observations with our classmates and teachers.”

“Your business is Anna B. Nana Products?” “Yes.” “What made you start this business and when did you start?” “I started it two years before enrolling in the Master’s program in Aromatherapy and Ayurveda Wellness. I produce bath bombs and shower steamers. I also sell lip balms, sugar scrubs and salt soaks. I am currently developing a lip scrub due to customer demand.”

“Are you using single oils or blends?” “Both.” “Customer favorites?” “Easy Breathe Shower Steamer.” “Do you attribute this to Covid?” “No, it has always been our most popular blend.” “And its components?” “Peppermint and eucalyptus.” “Their properties: mucus-reducing; anti-inflammatory; anti-bacterial; anti-viral.”

“When you started your business versus now – two years into an academic program combining Ayurveda and Aromatherapy - how has this transformed your business – in terms of your ability to deliver products of greater therapeutic value?” “I am working on that right now with the sugar scrub I am developing. It is a body scrub for local areas. I designed this product for my eczema, for my own healing.”

“How about your top-five tips for individuals who are considering a similar business to yours?” “Have your game plan in mind and make it part of you.” “Do you mean that you are encouraging people to be their own authentic selves?” “Yes, for sure. Own who you are first and be realistic about what you can do at each stage.” “Anything else?” “Always be open to learning something new.” “Anything else?” “Never give up.” “What do you mean by that?” “I primarily sold at vendor events. Due to Covid, the venues dried up, so how do you sell? Being able to say – it is going to be hard – but just keep going.” “It sounds like having faith in your purpose is a good takeaway, but being willing to adapt and change when required is also important.” “For sure.”

“How has studying Ayurveda enhanced your experience of studying Aromatherapy? At first it can be a bit overwhelming, but as you progress in your education – you can see how they weave together.” “It sounds like just allowing (sometimes we push something away when we feel overwhelmed) the process to happen and eventually, connections begin to emerge.” “Yes, you do have to work at it however.”

Find Anna:
www.annabnanaproducts.com
Instagram: @annabnana422

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My guest today is Kate Ostheimer who shares how Ayurveda found her. Originally from Peru, Kate spent many years working in the hospitality industry, primarily for mega-luxury hotel chains. “While they aimed to bring a sense of well-being to their clientele, the essence of wellness was missing.”

Currently, Kate is a student and teacher in the Master’s Ayurveda & Integrative Medicine program at Maharishi International University (MIU). What she has discovered is that studying Ayurveda is not just about gaining knowledge, but learning how to apply it in your own life. “If you want to have good digestion, you have to eat well every day. If you want to reduce your stress level, you have to practice stress-reduction techniques like Transcendental Meditation (TM) every day. Ayurveda allows you to integrate the knowledge on your own terms. Unlike many wellness protocols, it is not an all or nothing proposition. Ayurveda is a lifestyle that supports both your physiology and psychology.”

Through Ayurveda, Kate has shifted her lifestyle from one of high stress, burnout – feeling so tired at the end of each workday that the only thing she could do in the evening was get under the covers of her bed as soon as she arrived home. After two years of practicing Ayurveda, she reports having boundless energy.

As a student and teacher of Ayurveda, Kate has discovered the body’s power of self-healing. She quickly became aware that everything we consume (not just food) has to be digested by the body-mind – some will lead to sattva (feeling peaceful and balanced) and some to rajas (overstimulated) or tamas (dull, lethargic). A regular practice of meditation has enabled her to enjoy the moment, whatever it may bring, instead of striving to meet goals or live up to someone else’s expectations. This has brought great freedom into her days.

Most of all, Kate views Ayurveda as “the science of getting to know yourself.” “As your self-awareness grows, you no longer struggle to make healthy choices. Healthy choices become easy.”

And the question: “Ayurveda is an ancient system of self-healing. In what way is it relevant to your modern life?” “In every way. That’s the magic of Ayurveda. It improves every aspect of your life.”

And the question: “Your favorite Ayurvedic product?” I like the Vata and Pitta teas sold by Maharishi Products International (mapi.com). The Pitta tea cools me down and the Vata tea relaxes and grounds me. I also like the herbalized massage oils sold by MAPI – I use them for my daily self-massage -abhyanga – which is the ultimate act of self-care.”

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Join me as I interview Nicole Windenberger. A self-described multi-potentialite (someone with many interests and pursuits), Nicole supports individuals and groups – helping them harness their full potential through the mediums of food, architecture, education and culture and on a more subtle level - meditation, yoga, integrated brain functioning and higher consciousness. Her work: https://econico.org. Nicole is also developing a new website recipesforbliss.com intended to give people an Ayurvedic roadmap to their food choices and lifestyles.

Nicole grew up in Fairfield, Iowa (nicknamed “Sili-Corn Valley”), a unique small town with an international community due to the presence of Maharishi International University and its reputation as the epicenter of Transcendental Meditation (“TM”) in the U.S. Living in tune with the laws of nature (a key component to adopting an Ayurvedic lifestyle), Nicole was comfortable from a young age observing the impact of the outer world on her inner world – her physiology and consciousness. In other words, the world was her laboratory.

To Nicole, “idea synthesis” means designing your life to meet your goals. “Many people live by default in ways that hinder them.” Lifestyle design synthesizes architecture, lifestyle science, environment, and manifestation or the power of intention in to your daily routine. “Your daily routine is essentially a structure and with some tools, you can organize this structure to support your goals. You want to tune in to the laws of nature and flow with them instead of against them.”

Designing a business class for airlines with a focus on Ayurvedic principles is on Nicole’s radar. “There are so many passengers who would benefit from a few tweaks. For instance, coffee and alcohol imbalance the vata dosha (the one most closely allied with the air and space elements), yet they are the most commonly served beverages on airplanes. Instead, airlines could serve a tea that would calm vata. There is a market for organic, high vibe, sustainable elements. If one airline adopts this approach, others will soon follow suit. I would like to see Ayurveda come to the helm in the hospitality sector, in general. There is a luxury hotel brand called Six Senses. They combine a luxury vibe with sustainability. In the past, people associated sustainability with a new age, hippy vibe. That perception is changing however and there is a demand for this approach – especially from high-powered execs. Most execs have discovered that if they adopt a sustainable lifestyle, they can maintain the high level of energy that their career demands.”

“Creativity is what I am all about – the ‘life by design’ work I do is all about helping clients structure their environment for maximum creativity. Creativity is always present at the very subtle level of the mind, but we have to bring it up to the surface level in order for it to manifest. The process of bringing the creative thoughts to the surface is very delicate. Your environment has to support this process. Regular practice of TM restores the liveliness, the vibrancy of creativity. The mind is a treasure house of impressions and TM enables us to make connections at a very refined level.”

“Your video presentation – ‘Quality of Food = Quality of Life’ – it’s currently on YouTube – you said you originally gave it in French to a French audience.” “Yes, my first presentation about food was in French – because the French are very much into food.” “But are they into wellness or Ayurveda?” “This group was, yes.” “The French appreciate food and recognize that it is integral to their quality of life. When I re-tooled the talk for an English-speaking audience, I realized I wanted to go deeper into the qualities of food. I approached the

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Join me as I interview Dr. Robert Graham from NYC. Dr. Rob is the founder of FRESH MED [https://www.freshmednyc.com/], an integrative health and wellness center. The FRESH model of healthcare combines the best of conventional medicine with complimentary therapies. Dr. Rob envisions a new paradign for healthcare, one that adheres to the principles of F.R.E.S.H: food, relaxation, exercise, sleep, happiness.

Throughout his 15-year medical career, he has advocated for "food as medicine." We've all heard about the dearth of nutrition education in medical schools, but Dr. Rob took it one step further, he enrolled in the Natural Gourmet Institute's professional chef's training program . When he realized that doctors who "lived wellness" were more likely to impart that lifestyle to patients, he started teaching them culinary skills. Dr. Rob goes beyond the precept, "Practice what you preach!"

Dr. Rob's journey is not linear, but all of the component parts are important to the paradigm he's currently developing. His undergraduate anthropology degree afforded him the opportunity to study processes of cultural change and social transformation. No doubt, this is a catalyst for the work that awaits him as one of the key changemakers, moving us in the direction of personal and planetary health. In addition to his medical degree, he received a Masters in Public Health from Harvard University. The link is clear: there is no personal health without public health, unless we were to subscribe to a myopic view that it is not our responsibility to make life richer for future generations.

We also touched upon his 2015 TEDx Talk titled, "Fare Wellness: Back to our Roots." Dr. Rob emphasized the importance of being rooted in wellness on all levels: the traditions of our anscestors and the realization that "the fare" we digest contributes to or depletes our health. I asked him how his views have evolved over the last six years and he shares his current projects and upcoming plans. He is currently working with a food company, developing personalized meals that are reimbursable by insurance - designed to target our most pressing chronic conditions - which are mostly lifestyle-based.

I asked him to comment on some of my favorite quotes by anthropologist, Margaret Mead:

--"Success is measured by contribution. Yes, I agree. I also think it is important for each of us to really look at our personal self-care routines. We don't have the capacity to give without adequate self-care. "
--"I agree. We can't rely on governments or institutions to implement change. We have to willing to 'become the change' and hope we have a few good men and women following us. If we are willing, we can create momentum."
--"What I demand for other, I demand for myself. Yes, I live the F.R.E.S.H. prescription. How can I expect my patients to do what I am unwilling to do?"
--"We are continually faced with great opportunities which are brilliantly disguised as unsolveable problems." "Yes, the current medical model seems to be unsolveable: prescribe a pill for an ill and chronic disease continues to escalate. There is an opportunity for change; there have to a few who are willing to work at a policy level."
--"If the future is to remain open and free, we need people who can tolerate the unknown, who will not need the support of completely worked-out systems or traditional blueprints from the past." "Yes, everything is accelerating and we have to be willing to think and act in daring and creative ways to tip the trajectory towards greater health and vitality."

https://www.freshmednyc.com/
Follow on Instagram: @freshmednyc and @farewellness

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Join me as I interview Durga Leela, creator of Yoga of Recovery , a platform where she introduces the ancient healing traditions of yoga and Ayurveda to bring you along a truly practical healing pathway. In her program, "Between the Mat and the Meeting: Ayurvedic Healing for all Addictive Tendencies", Durga reframes our understanding of the problem of addiction as well as the solution from an Ayurvedic perspective. "The goal of recovery is not a narrowly constrained model of symptom reduction, but a quality of life process of ongoing growth."

"People have a lot of low-level addictive behaviors that are largely ignored, i.e. food, relationships, Internet, shopping. We're trying to get on the outside what we can only get on the inside. At the heart of all addictions is the craving for connection, with Self, with other."

Ayurveda brings the concept of the individual ("this unique body-mind") into restoring our health versus the Western disease-based medical model. Yoga and Ayurveda offer us the opportunity to live up to our true potential. We are empowered to become something more than our ailments.

In her 12-week course, "Beyond the Mat and the Meeting: Ayurvedic Healing for all Addictive Tendencies", Durga introduces some of the following concepts:

The cause of addiction according to Ayurveda.
The role of the gunas (the qualities of the mind) in our lives.
The interplay of the elements of nature - how the macrocosm reveals itself in our mind-body - the microcosm.
A new operating system - how can we live a truly fulfilling life?
The importance of our constitution - our unique mind-body system - to our evolution.
How different mind-body systems react to stress - the importance of cultivating awareness.
How to begin to identify signs of imbalance in our lives.
Making time our ally - the role of time in our recovery and evolution.
Everything we digest (mind, body, spirit) contributes to our prosperity or decline - how to restore our body's innate intelligence and remembering our true nature.
Recognizing the addictive tendencies of the doshas.
How to interact with or counsel different dosha-types under stress.
Healing from early traumas. Considering detoxification therapies.

"Recovery from addiction requries a shift in awareness, a realization that you have the capacity to create something new." In her heart-full programs, Durga Leela offers us the opportunity to shift our awareness, to awaken to the realization that we have the capacity to create something new in our lives.

www.yogaofrecovery.com
Facebook: @YogaOfRecovery
Instagram: @YogaOfRecovery

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Join me as I interview Kerry Loeb, the founder of Kerry Loeb Health Trainings (kerryloeb.com). Kerry teaches a 9-session program (no worries, it's virtual) designed to help you release blocked energy and revitalize your body and mind. He does all this by teaching you how to practice the art of self-massage (called Do-In, a form of Japanese energy massage). If your "Qi" (the vital life force) is flowing, everything in your life flows. If energy is not flowing freely in your body, the early symptoms of imbalance (fatigue, general feeling of malaise) start to manifest. If these early signs are ignored, more serious health conditions can develop.

Kerry had the good fortune of spending over seven years with his primary teachers, Shizuko Yamamoto and Patrick McCarty, learning all aspects of holistic healing, primarily macrobiotics, self- massage and a form of partner massage - Shiatsu. Shizuko is best known for developing a method of shiatsu called "barefoot shiatsu"; she would literally release energy blockages with her bare feet. Like other committed macrobiotic teachers, she shared her pearls of wisdom with Kerry. In this interview, Kerry responds to the following lessons learned:

--Why do people make health their last priority?
--How does a strong body and mind make it possible to transform less than optimum circumstances in your life?
--How does nature serve as our guide toward healing and wholeness?
--Why are solutions to health conditions often simple, but not easy for individuals to implement in their lives?
--When we have perfect health, why do you think it becomes natural for us to want to help others?
--What do you think about Shizuko Yamamoto's statement, "The essence of shiatsu (substitute any healing modality) is love, which is infinitely available"?
--Shizuko Yamamoto refers to "the reverberation of health," meaning when we change ourselves from within, we project more health and positivity into the world and contribute to creating a better world - your thoughts?
--Your top-three list for individuals to kickstart their own reverberation of vital energy and optimum health into the world?

If you want to kickstart your own precious health, join Kerry in one of his Kerry Loeb Health Trainings (kerryloeb.com). His self-massage course is "A 9-day deep dive into a way to increase your vitality, strengthen your imminity and transform your overall health." A priceless gift, for sure.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/search/top?q=Kerry%20Loeb%20Health%20Trainings

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Join me as I interview Dr. Nancy Lonsdorf as she describes how she came to write her recent book titled "The Healthy Brain Solution for Women over Forty." Dr. Lonsdorf has integrated Ayurveda and functional medicine into her medical practice for 30+ years. Cited by the Chicago Tribune as one of the top Ayurvedic physicians in the country, Dr. Lonsdorf integrates Ayurvedic principles first introduced by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi (founder of TM) almost 30 years ago. In this interview, Dr. Lonsdorf describes her multi-faceted approach to treating patients with cognitive issues ranging from mild cognitive impairment to Alzheimer's disease. Trained in Dr. Dale Bredeson's (author of the bestselling book "The End of Alzheimer's) ReCODE protocol, Dr. Lonsdorf introduces a multi-facted approach to successfully treating cognitive decline. Her decades of practice in the arena of women's health led her to examine how women's brains age differently than men's and how, with a plan and action, women can retain mental acuity and sharpness through their forties, fifties, sixties and beyond. Dr. Lonsdorf emphasizes the importance of assessing and adressing imbalances as early as age 40 and views the decade between 45 and 55 to be critical. The information she shares empowers women to take responsibility for their brain health, which is closely linked to inflammatory markers, the microbiome, blood sugar, nutrient deficiencies, hormone levels, and even environmental toxins. Dr. Lonsdorf offers a self-directed course titled "My Ageless Brain" on her website https://www.myagelessbrain.com/. You can also find Dr. Lonsdorf on https://drlonsdorf.com/ and http://drnancyhealth.com/ Her practice is located in Fairfield, Iowa, and Pacific Pearl La Jolla, San Diego, California.

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Join me as I interview Divya Alter, chef and co-founder of Divya's Kitchen NYC, the only Ayurvedic restaurant in NYC. Divya is also the author of the Ayurvedic cookbook The New Ayurvedic Kitchen, What to Eat for How You Feel and the founder of the Ayurvedic culinary school Bhagavat Life, also in NYC. Divya's Ayurvedic journey started decades ago when in her teenage rebellion, she decided to become a yogi. Her yogic journey continued as she lived and studied in India for five years. Her interest in cooking and food as medicine deepened as she contended with her own health challenges. Trained as a chef in yoga ashram(s), she came to the U.S. and continued her Ayurvedic studies with Vaidya Mishra (SK Ayurveda) and energy healing with the acclaimed Barbara Brennan. Our conversation reflects Divya's commitment to the study and practice of Ayurveda and in particular, Ayurvedic principles as they apply to food. She shares her knowledge and passion for the subject with a generous heart.

Through Bhagavat Life, Divya leads a course titled Ayurvedic Nutrition and Culinary Training (ANACT), which is a certification program. This course is appropriate for any individual who wants to improve his or her health personally as well as for professionals who are guiding others toward optimum health and vitality.

Offer for podcast listeners - 15% off your first purchase at Divya's Kitchen. Promo code: HealthyPeaceful15

Find Divya:
https://bvtlife.com/
https://divyaskitchen.com/
http://divyaalter.com/

Instagram:
@divyaalter
@divyaskitchennyc
@bvtlife

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Welcome to this presentation by Poornamurti (Greg Stein) as he reveals the connection between Ayurveda and music therapy. Poorna is a music therapist and teacher of Vedic astrology (Jyotish). A passionate proponent of holistic health since his teens, he utilizes the power of music along with the depth of understanding that Vedic astrology offers to help individuals experience greater well-being in their lives.

The ancient wisdom and science of Ayurveda leads us to discover what is conducive to our happiness and unhappiness. We come to view music therapy (or any therapy for that matter) through an Ayurvedic lens. In Ayurveda, we learn about the gunas – the qualities in nature that describe our experience. The twenty gunas are composed of ten qualities and their opposites. With the gunas, we encounter the principle of “like increases like.” For instance, if you are feeling spacey and drink coffee which has the qualities of light and dry, it will increase your spaciness. The therapeutic principle of "opposites balance" may be more effective.

When you learn about the gunas, you start to view your life through “guna goggles.” The gunas impact us through our sensory experiences – our tanmantras. The tanmantras move from gross to subtle. Music therapy relates to the tanmantra of sound. For instance, heavy metal music may may have a hot quality. When something is hot, it can agitate our nervous system. Ayurveda is not a black or white science, our subjective experience is important and we can be creative with it.

The idea is how to create more balance in our lives thorugh music – by becoming aware of the qualities of a particular piece of music in relation to our own nature. If a client is depressed, Ayurveda identifies the quality of slowness. Lively, stimulating music may be effective in bringing the client out of his dullness - an example of the principle "opposites create balance."

The music therapist formulates goals for the client after completing an assessment and music is applied therapeutically to create a shift. In yoga, we talk about personal goals or different things we want to cultivate. Music can be used to cultivate the same qualities.

Poornamurti was inspired to share a quote by Swami Satyananda Saraswati. “Music has a great power. It is the greatest power that man has discovered. You should make use of it. Through kirtan, you can reach the highest pinnacle of spiritual experience, neither by yoga nor any other means. By kirtan, you can have the vision of the divine, the vision of yourself, the vision of God, the vision of Christ, the vision of Mary, the vision of Krishna, the vision of Rama. It is possible. Music does the important groundwork by taking away the “self” (meaning ego self) from you.” The yogis are always speaking of the importance of music. Because of its subtle nature, they consider it to be very powerful.

When you meet the client where he or she is, there is more opportunity for progress. Not judging and practicing unconditional positive regard – both are important - for clients and ourselves. “Unconditional positive regard” means seeing the client at his or her best. When you listen to rap music with teenagers, they feel accepted. If it’s a song that is reinforcing aggressive behavior, however, the first step is to help them understand if this is something they want in their lives. While they may resist a different style of music, they may accept rap music with a more positive message. Ultimately, they have to come to their own understanding.

Find Poornamurti at https://vedichealing108.com/

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Join me as I interview Kamalesh Ginger Hooven regarding the relationship between Ayurveda and yoga. A Tennessee native, she currently lives in Guatemala (in the city of Antigua), where she has resided for decades. She is the proprietor of the successful restaurant, Café Condesa, and the Bed & Breakfast, Café San Juan. She teaches yoga and Ayurveda and hosts retreat groups at Cafe San Juan. For her 50th birthday, a friend inspired her to start a daily yoga practice. From there, she completed her 700-hour yoga teacher training with yogic scholar Georg Feuerstein and studied with yogi master Baba Hari Dass. She is a teacher of yoga and Ayurveda at Mount Madonna Center, a yoga ashram and intentional community located in Northern California.

Many individuals come to yoga for the asana practice and from there, become acquainted with Ayurveda. These sister sciences go back millennia. There is no separation between the two – both believe all of creation is composed of five elements. Yoga brings us to the recognition of true immortality. In India, all yogis were familiar with the basic principles of Ayurveda. All Vaidyas (Ayurvedic doctors) definitely knew yoga. Yoga and Ayurveda are complementarities. There are differences, however. Yoga is the seeking of liberation. Ayurveda is too, but the emphasis is creating the foundation of a healthy body and mind. The practices of yoga can be approached with a lot more austerity.

Kamalesh teaches advanced yoga studies currently via Zoom at Mount Madonna Center. In spite of the limitations imposed by the pandemic, she finds that there is a lovely cohort of spiritual seekers. “The space and time we have created are just that – creations – they are not reality. If I really believe that, I can go across space and time and check in.”

“And the mind in Ayurveda – we dedicate a lot of our time focusing on the state of our body – whether we feel healthy and energized. We don’t seem to mentor the state of our mind, at least in the U.S in the same manner. From an Ayurvedic and yogic perspective, how should we be thinking of our mind, how should we be shifting to balance and what tools do you consider important?” "Through yoga, we realize that our mind is not our thoughts, but is beyond thought. We come to realize we are not our thoughts, we are not our body, we are eternal wisdom. We often forget our original nature, however. Yoga and Ayurveda give us the tools to come back to a sattvic or balanced state.”

You can find Kamalesh and join her free yoga classes (currently Tuesdays and Thursdays) and peruse other free offerings on the Mount Madonna website: https://www.mountmadonna.org/online-offerings

You can also find links to her Zoom and YouTube yoga classes on her Casa San Juan website:
https://www.casasanjuan.com.gt/yoga.htm

Check out her YouTube Channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTmj-r5dBbEN0CfPT_48OSg

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Join me as I interview Maha Lakshmi of the Sivananda Yoga Farm, Grass Valley, California, as she describes her recent week-long course, introducing a January reset and gentle cleanse to participants. The distinction between a reset and cleanse? A reset or reboot is a new concept, how it unfolds is important. The start of each year is a wonderful opportunity to reset our intention for the year to come. It can be starting out on a work note, meaning the opportunity to pose the question: “How can I do the work that will enable me to transform habits that no longer serve me?” During the reset, participants engaged in a gentle food cleanse with kitchari (split mung dal and rice). Why a mono-diet of kitchari? “It’s easy to digest. Digestion consumes a lot of our energy. A kitchari fast along with greens, ghee, cilantro, and CCF tea (more to come on this) frees up our energy for the mental work that is required to effectively reset our intentions at the start of the year.” And the purpose of ghee? “Ghee oleates the joints, unlocking the body’s natural fluidity.” The reset included a daily asana practice as well. CCF tea – cumin, coriander and fennel - promotes sweating, gently releasing toxins and improving digestion. Abhyanga, Ayurvedic oil massage is also another example of the self-care she recommended. “Self-message is a beautiful way to oleate the body, again moving energy. In yoga, the nadis or energy channels can become clogged. Oil massage opens up blockages in the body.” And the niyamas and yamas, their purpose? “In yoga, there are restraints and observances. Both provide the foundation for a steady mind that develops from regular meditation. However, yoga teaches that adequate preparation is required for meditation to be effective. Maha Lakshmi incorporated Ayurvedic principles that emphasize the importance of time: time of life, time of day, time of year. She also encouraged participants to consider yoga off the mat. “Yes, yoga asanas are important, but to evolve in yoga means implementing the mental practices. Yoga nidra is one of those practices, a deep relaxation practice where we start to set positive intentions and let go of negative self-talk.” And when asked if any participant's question this week really touched her, Maha Lakshmi responded “I’m in awe of each student’s commitment to a ‘beginner’s mind,’ meaning they are open to new ways of seeing their life and practice. When a student makes a shift, even a small one, this energizes my teaching and counseling.”

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Join me for today’s interview and cooking demo with Chef Richard LaMarita. Chef Rich is a Culinary Instructor in the Health Supportive Program at Institute for Culinary Education (ICE) in NYC. Formerly, he taught in the culinary program at the Natural Gourmet Institute, also in NYC. His specialties include Indian, Italian, vegetarian and vegan cuisines. He has worked with numerous chefs in NYC, including Floyd Cardoz, Dan Kluger and Ben Pollinger.

Richard has been a practitioner and teacher of Ayurveda, the science of life, health and balance, for thirty-five years. He has studied with Vedic and Ayurvedic master Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and has led seminars on Ayurvedic diet, cooking, yoga and meditation throughout the U.S., and in Europe and Asia.

We start our interview by discussing what is a well-balanced Ayurvedic meal. When you consider an Ayurvedic diet, you have to look at three points on a triangle. The first point is food; the second is the strength and power of our digestion (known as Agni in Ayurveda); the third point is how we eat – mindful eating. You can take the best food and even with a good digestion, you can mess it all up with how you eat.

In Ayurveda, it’s important to get the six tastes, ideally in one meal. Each taste affects the body differently. Each taste is composed of different elements in nature and affects the body differently. Some have a building effect; others, a purifying effect.

For someone new to Ayurveda, how does she get started preparing a simple well-balanced meal? Ayurveda is deep, but there are things you can grab right away. Chef Rich recommends not to worry initially about the various aspects of food other than taste. Get a sense of the foods in each taste category. Starting out, work on getting the six tastes every day, then in each meal, and eventually, in one dish. It’s important to know your dosha (your individual constitution) and master simple strategies for bringing yourself into balance.

Chef Rich demos a simple Ayurvedic meal that you can easily prepare at home – a digestive mung dal kitchari with swiss chard and roasted cauliflower along with a fennel paratha. A kitchari contains a legume and a grain, a complete protein. It is stew-like and creamy. The combination of a legume and grain provides a complete protein. Turmeric is added to the cooking liquid along with salt. Rich prepares a tarka – spices toasted or cooked in ghee or oil: cumin and fennel seeds – adding fresh ginger and whole chile along with asafoetida. He adds the swiss chard to the spice/ghee mixture along with fresh curry leaves. As for the six tastes, here goes: sweet – basmati rice finished with roasted pistachio (roasted in ghee) ; sour – tamarind paste – a finishing touch (like squeezing fresh lemon); salty – salt and kombu; pungent – all the spices and fresh herbs – cilantro; bitter – leafy greens; astringent – mung dal and roasted cauliflower. The fennel seeds in the paratha gives it a great flavor – fennel also cleanses the lymph and is a good digestive spice.

In this simple kitchari, Chef Rich incorporates all six tastes. You leave the table feeling completely satisfied which helps with cravings. This recipe can also be adapted for each season – focus on what's being harvested in your region.

To learn more about Chef Richard LaMarita and his work: https://www.ice.edu/newyork/explore-ice/faculty-profiles/richard-lamarita

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Join me with Myra Lewin of Hale Pule Ayurveda & Yoga as we explore her book and 12-week workshop, both titled Freedom in your Relationship with Food.

Myra is an Ayurvedic practitioner and Yoga Therapist. She is the author of two books: Freedom in your Relationship with Foodand Simple Ayurvedic Recipes. She also produces two podcasts: Everyday Ayurveda & Yoga at Hale Pule and Spark your Intuition with Hale Pule.

The word "freedom" is important. It leaves a very different imprint than the term "disordered eating." Myra explains that our relationship with food is very much connected with mother, mother earth and perhaps our birth mother. Ayurveda believes food is our nourishment, but we need to be able to digest it. Food reflects our relationship with ourselves and all of nature. The relationship between how we interact with our world and the food we eat is a direct one, i.e. if we have a scarcity mentality, this will be reflected in our relationship with food.

Changing any relationship starts with practicing self-awareness, giving credence to cause and effect. Our ability to digest food is directly connected to how we feel. If we are always moving quickly, we are not attending to our underlying emotions. Taking pause to look at the whole picture is required. Only then do we begin to realize it's not about the food, i.e. "that food is unhealthy." It's about how we eat.

The Western approach to eating disorders emphasizes that control is often a root case. Myra uses the words “surrender” and “control” as being instrumental in healing our relationship with food. In most cases, we are confused about what we can control. As we start to cultivate self-awareness, we become willing to release our old sense of self and inquire: what is my true self, what kind of actions am I willing to take, can I trust. We all have impressions, referred to as samskaras, habitual patterns that no longer serve us. Surrender is the process of letting go, letting go of these impressions and clearing their charge in our lives.

With regard to the mind, Ayurveda goes a step further than Western psychology. While the Western approach promotes awareness, it doesn’t necessarily have methods that enable prana – the energy in the body to move. When prana is blocked, i.e. holding resentments can block prana, an unhealthy relationship with food can develop. When we work with the breath and mind, we begin to move prana and spark healing.

Ayurvedic principles can be applied to any cuisine. Myra’s approach to cooking and teaching focus on creating balance and improving agni. She emphasizes a tri-doshic meal – a balanced meal for all doshas. Herbs and spices import the six tastes and balance the meal. When we are out of balance, we tend to eat too much of one taste – which can create more imbalance. Our linear approach to food presumes that if something is “good for us,” we need more of it. We don’t need a lot of herbs and spices in one dish. Myra encourages clients to work with three to start with. Cooking is an alchemy; the cook is an alchemist. When we incorporate the six tastes in a meal, we feel well-nourished and unhealthy habits begin to drop away.

In addition to the upcoming program,Healing your Relationship with Food, Hale Pule also offers a 21-dayAgni Therapy anda 14-day Ayurvedic Chef Training.

Website: https://www.halepule.com/

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Join me for an interview with Leelah (Elizabeth) Eisenberg as she shares her Ayurvedic journey. After a 28-year career in health care, she embraced Ayurvedic healing (reluctantly at first), determined not to be fated the same premature death of her mother and brother.

The film "Ayurveda - The Art of Being" showed up in her Netflix queue - a serendipitous introduction to this magnificent healing system. She was so taken that she resolved to locate the featured doctor, Dr. Scott Gerson, and schedule an appointment. A self-described "nice Jewish girl," Leelah wasn't prepared to do what he asked her to do when she agreed to an Ayurvedic detoxification program called pancha karma. Do, she did, however. She did yoga, recited mantras, chanted Sanskrit, practiced meditation, and even ate a new food called kitchari. To Leelah, the proof was in the pudding. In three days, her mind was clear and body pain-free.

What she didn't believe is that she could just pick up, move to New Mexico, and study with one of the most renowned Ayurvedic teachers in the U.S., Dr. Vasant Lad, but in fact, her dharma - responsibility, life's purpose, reason for being - required her to do so.

Leelah shares her "top five take-aways" from her experience at the Ayurvedic Institute. #1: Recognizing how ancestral patterns can hold us and how we can release them - the practice of tarpana can help remove karmic burdens; #2: Surrendering to what is - meaning letting go of control - can offer tremendous freedom; #3: Recognizing that chaos and turbulence - while painful - can shepard an awakened level of consciousness; #4: Your emotions are your friends - allowing them instead of numbing out or remaining stuck - can be transformative; #5: AMA. In Ayurveda, ama refers to the buildup of toxins: mental, spiritual, physical. By incorporating the other four take-aways or lessons, ama will recede. The result: an emergence of energy that facilitiates not only optimum health, but the opportunity to create a life of unlimited potential.

Her own Ayurvedic journey showed her that the most simple recommendations can often be the most profound. When in India with Ayurvedic doctor, Sunil Joshi, he suggested she start to take time to rest and relax. Pondering this, she spent five hours cleaning his library. While he thanked her, he let her know that he didn't consider this to be rest. He also suggested that when she traveled back to the U.S., she do so in a way (to the extent possible) to remain calm and collected. True to her fashion, she could not consider returning home without trinkets for her family and visited the marketplace before her flight. Leaving the serenity of the ashram and putting herself in a chaotic marketplace, almost missing her flight, did not exactly reduce her stress level. She learned to meet her resistence to change with compassion and hence, to help clients move in the direction of healing, not to push or cajole them.

While Ayurveda is known as “the science of self-healing,” we touch on the role of the healer in an individual’s journey. The healer gives the client hope, the space to evolve. The client is the one who transforms, he or she has to allow it to happen. Trust is critical between the Ayurvedic practitioner and client. The goal is for her clients to become self-aware, meaning they are connecting fully with their mind/body/spirit and are able to shift swiftly when imbalances arise.

To find out more about Leelah: www.leelaheisenberg.com

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Join me for a conversation with Miriam Kasin Hospodar, author of Heaven’s Banquet, the Maharishi Ayurveda Cookbook with over 700 international recipes. Artist, writer, and chef, Miriam has cooked internationally, including in France and India. For Miriam, Heaven’s Banquet was a labor of love and palate, taking twenty-three years to complete.

Miriam introduces basic Ayurvedic food principles: eating fresh food, not dried or preserved; eating seasonally; and eating for your unique mind-body type (called dosha). Ayurveda believes that disease is caused by what is referred to as “mistake of the intellect”; it’s like looking at the ocean but only seeing the waves on the surface. Regaining a deeper understanding is the key to good health. The main principle is balance: it is important to create the conditions that enable you to listen to your body’s natural intelligence.

Ayurveda recommends minimizing leftovers as they lack prana – life force – meaning you receive more energy from freshly prepared food. Ayurveda encourages cultivating positive thoughts when you cook; positive thoughts are considered health promoting. It’s also important to praise the chef, to show appreciation for the person who prepared the food. Meals are to be celebrated – how you eat is as important as what you eat.

An Ayurvedic meal is designed to promote optimum digestion and maximum pleasure. Nutrition can feel very compartmentalized and is forever changing. Ayurveda offers universal principles. It recognizes that one man’s manna may be another’s poison. Comfort is not to be disregarded. The foods you grew up with may be very nourishing to you while not to someone else.

Ayurveda uses the word “agni” to describe the digestive fire and believes that there is a direct correlation between the strength of a person’s agni and state of health. Miriam offers tips to keep your digestion strong.

In Ayurveda, there are six tastes and each taste helps bring you into balance, thereby aiding digestion. The Western diet has a plethora of foods that include sweet, sour, and salty tastes and fewer foods that include pungent, bitter and astringent tastes.

As for cravings, Ayurveda views cravings as the body’s attempt to regain balance. Ayurveda encourages you to cultivate awareness - to begin to see what is fueling a craving. Often cravings indicate excess ama (toxins) in the body and a cleanse or consultation with an Ayurvedic practitioner may be helpful.

Ayurveda, while not wholly vegetarian (Miriam’s book is vegetarian), does not recommend eating meat in a large quantities – mostly in small amounts to treat a particular health condition. For individuals transitioning to a vegetarian diet, Ayurveda recommends a gradual approach. An Ayurvedic vegetarian meal looks very different from a meat-based meal. You want to aim for balance and consider the season. Dal is a very good gentle vegetarian protein. The six tastes are important for balance. A greater variety of smaller dishes is one way to approach meal preparation.

Sauces, condiments and chutneys are another way to incorporate the six tastes. They also enable you to feed a family if some members enjoy simple food and others like to spice it up.

As for families, loving preparation, eating in an uplifting atmosphere, sitting down for meals – all are good ways to start eating Ayurvedically. Someone asked the Maharishi what is the best food to eat. His response: “The food your mother makes you.” Simple food, lovingly prepared, is truly Ayurvedic cuisine.

For Miriam's books and artwork: https://www.miriamkasin.com/

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In this interview with Jillian Sarkady, we discuss the book titled Mindfulness in Action, Making Friends with Yourself through Meditation and Everyday Awareness (2013) by Chogyam Trungpa, edited by Carolyn Rose Gimian. This is a book about meditation and how the meditative qualities of mindfulness and awareness influence our everyday lives.

In our hyperconnected world, many individuals report feeling disconnected. Many have discovered that meditation offers them a down-to-earth yet immediate way to connect with themselves. This book is a book about mindfulness and its application in the context of our whole life. Meditation is a tool for developing mindfulness. It is a book for people who want to explore mindfulness through the practice of meditation and also apply meditative insight in their lives.

Chogyam Trungpa was a meditation teacher, originally from Tibet, who in the 60s, 70s, and 80s taught in Great Britain, Canada and the U.S. He taught in a profoundly heartfelt way that still resonates today. He shows us that mindfulness and meditation are worthwhile disciplines and that they work. The practice of meditation works with us and on us, making us more available to ourselves and others. The practice is demanding, it can be challenging, it shows us the truth of who we are, but that is all part of the beauty of human life.

Jillian was introduced to the wisdom and teachings of Chogyam Trungpa in the late 70s. His teachings have taught her how to be a kinder person and they have shown her how to live within the profundity of her experience with sanity and compassion.

Source: Editor's Preface, Mindfulness in Action (2013).

To contact Jillian: email me and I will put you in touch - plantsroc@gmail.com.

Book references:

Taming the Mind and Walking the Bodhisattva Path by Sakyong Mipham
The Wisdom of No Escape: And the Path of Loving Kindness by Pema Chodren
Meditation in Action by Chogyam Trungpa

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Join me for an interview with Ayurvedic Lifestyle Consultant, David Chergosky, as he delves into the ancient wisdom of Ayurveda and reveals its value to our modern lives. David worked at the Chopra Center for Well-Being for twelve years and was privileged to have Doctors Deepak Chopra and David Simon as teachers, as well as other individuals committed to elevating personal and planetary consciousness. David continues his work as a private consultant in the areas of Ayurveda, yoga, and meditation. He also offers services based on a Qualia-based lifestyle model, which provides tools for restoring optimum health.

Ayurveda, why now? Our current world is proceeding at a pace that is beyond rapid. It can be challenging for individuals to feel anchored – Ayurveda is the compass that can help us navigate our lives. The term itself means wisdom or knowledge of life. Ayurveda makes it possible to see that “We are the Universe.” Spiritual awareness is inherent in Ayurvedic teachings. This ancient wisdom offers the opportunity for us to "harness our lives," to uncover the anchor required to access our innate creativity and potential, to live happy and joyful lives.

Ayurveda is about the restoration of balance. An experiential understanding of integrating our mind-body is the promise of Ayurveda. As Ayurveda becomes more mainstream, the allopathic model of Western medicine struggles to keep up. The words “wholeness, holiness, and health” are foundational to Ayurveda. The late David Simon, MD, used these words to shift an individual’s perception of what constitutes healing. “Healing is a movement toward our own wholeness.” “It is a return to the memory of wholeness.”

Ayurveda presents a systematic approach toward health. It relies on nature as its guide. At its foundation are the five elements: space, air, fire, water and earth – the building blocks or everything we perceive through our senses. All aspects of nature are composed of these elements including us. The doshas or “humors of body/mind” are simply compositional models based on these elements. Vata dosha is ether/air; pitta is fire/water; and kapha is water/earth. While every individual has aspects of each dosha, one dosha may be more predominant in one individual than another. When we speak of Ayurveda’s potential to restore balance, the comparison of a rut and groove is apt. If you are stuck in a rut, Ayurveda can put you in the groove and as a result, everything in your life opens up.

Ayurveda enables us to enjoy life, to experience joy. It is a systematic, common sense approach. If you are in your purpose, you enjoy your life. This is joy. It is not necessarily the same as a pleasure-based enjoyment. Instead, it s a whole-hearted enjoyment, real happiness. Limitations naturally start to fall away.

The goal of all goals in Ayurveda is “the exaltation of the spirit” – the realization that we are all spiritual beings and that we deserve to remain true to our expansive nature. This awareness is evolutionary. The expansion of happiness is evolutionary. If we are not expanding our joy or happiness, there is no evolution in that.

Feel free to get in touch with me with any questions or a message for David. My email is plantsroc@gmail.com.

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Known as “The Vedic Chef," Johnny Brannigan is an internationally known Ayurvedic vegetarian and vegan chef with a deep knowledge of Vedic wisdom and lifelong love of cooking. Trained in Ayurveda and meditation by the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in Switzerland and Thailand, he has cooked and shared his knowledge in over 33 countries.

Johnny co-founded an organic snack company in the U.K. before moving to the U.S. where he cooked at the The Raj, the top Ayurvedic spa in the country. Johnny is a co-author of the seven award-winning cookbook Eat Taste Heal, which succeeded his first cookbook The Global Vegetarian.

Johnny has been teaching meditation for several decades, using the Seven Soma meditation technique.

In today’s interview we traverse the territory of food and taste, exploring the ancient wisdom of Ayurveda. More than an interview about vata, pitta and kapha, we look at the energetic effect of the six tastes on body and mind. We traverse the territory of “Ananda” or how you create the flavor of bliss in the food you prepare. We touch upon the nebulous concept of “soma” or physical bliss and how it’s produced in the body, not only by food but through prana gained from the practice of meditation. While all professional chefs are trained in techniques designed to impart flavor in the foods they prepare, the Ayurvedic chef actually speaks of bliss or “Ananda” as being important in every aspect of food preparation. The Ayurvedic chef must first connect with his or her own bliss, drawing from the Vedic wisdom to increase the bliss in the body/mind. Bliss is the goal of Ayurveda – how to produce it in the body. It’s important to consider the entire process that brings food to the plate – how it is grown, transported, stored, selected, prepared, blessed, offered – all contribute to the refining of a dish. An offering of gratitude reflects the consciousness of the chef; the chef’s own level of awareness can enliven the food. True bliss is already there, the soma level that is. It is the chef’s responsibility to enliven – his or her consciousness permeates the food, creating blissful food – what is known as sattvic food – which has a quality of lightness, purity, joy and creativity.

I asked Johnny for three words to describe Ayurvedic cooking - if someone knew nothing of Ayurveda, what would they be? The first, “holistic” refers to Ayurveda generally and to cooking. The words holistic and wholeness are intertwined. The second, “bliss” has to be present. For the true Ayurvedic chef, cooking is movement – reaching, selecting, stirring – a dance. The dance also has to occur in your awareness. Ego will limit you – are you angry, tense, fearful, competitive. Ideally you don’t want any of these things going into the food. The dance, the creative intelligence, joy, the elements of wonder and surprise – these are the elements that naturally flow from an expanded state of awareness. The result is delight and delicious, nourishing cuisine. The third word, “harmonizing” means the chef has the abilty to shift and harmonize body and mind through food.

Cooking requires creativity and intelligence, akin to heart and mind. Every artist has his or her medium and for a chef, it is food. A pattern in a bowl can inspire if the heart and mind are pure. If chefs don’t feel the dance, connect to their own inner awareness, the inner flow, they are really missing the most important part, the most creative and beautiful part of cooking.

Website: The Vedic Chef

Facebook: The Vedic Chef

Instagram: @TheVedicChef

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Join me as I delve into the art of dehydrating with “The Plant Food Chef” James Sant. James introduces dehydrating basics in accord with his food ethos: creating intentionally activated living foods. We move to preparing foods using the “S & D” method – soaking, sprouting and dehydrating. With James, you will embrace the versatility of dehydrated foods - how they can be combined with raw and/or cooked foods, resulting in stellar flavor and texture. We look at preparing crackers, chips, and other snack foods in the dehydrator – foods James consider to be insurance against “vegan junk foods.”

As if dehydrating isn’t fun enough, James shares his new passion for freeze drying – especially for fruit and vegetable powders. We also touch on creating your own flours from soaked and sprouted grains and how the dehydrator makes this seamless. We divert into gluten intolerance and how ingredient selection and preparation methods can make breads enjoyable and digestible for many. James emphasizes the importance of ancient grains and how many are being resurrected, even from Egyptian tombs!

James then brings us through a festive granola for the dehydrater: his Sprouted Pumpkin Cranberry Granola. Find his recipe on The Healthy Peaceful Podcast Facebook page. And what would a granola recipe be without an element of surprise! We’ve got turmeric and cayenne, ginger juice, and crystallized ginger. Yep, this holiday recipe is a show-stopper! James demonstrates how a foundational granola recipe can be the jumping-off point for a number of fascinating ingredient and flavor combinations. It’s great for breakfast in your favorite nut or grain milk or as topping for an ice cream. And this granola can even be transformed into tasty bars. A versatile recipe indeed!

James introduces his new YouTube channel PlantFoodChef James Sant which includes both free and paid content. Check out the first teaser cooking demo on his Channel – Raw Vegan Apple Huckleberry Torte.

James Sant is a plant-based chef, teacher, and culinary artist who emphasizes vegan fusion cuisine - which marries cooked and raw plant-based foods (cooked foods are cooked gently for maximum nutrient-value). James served as creative director, programs director, and lead instructor for Living Light Culinary Institute, a raw plant-based culinary school, formerly in Mendocino, California, for almost a decade. Throughout his tenure at Living Light, James had the good fortune of educating students from around the world in the art and health benefits of raw gourmet vegan cuisine. James has been an advocate for fresh wholesome foods for decades and brings his passions for fermented foods and bread-making (making exquisite breads from sprouted grains and seeds) to his students. He considers fermented and cultured foods to be vital to a healthy lifestyle. James is currently building an educational program which will be unveiled through the site www.plantfoodchef.com. He is also designing the curriculum for a new educational opportunity overseas with a focus on vegan fusion cuisine as well as one in the U.S.

To find James and engage with his teachings and culinary creations:

Facebook page: Plantfoodchef
Instagram: @plantfoodchef
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAbqc3LD-WzFhX-_MWxxAmQ

For additional show notes and references, see my YouTube Channel.

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9. Join me for this interview with Ellie Hadsall. A self-described spiritual mentor and author, the twists and turns of her life have led her on a wildly imaginitive and rewarding journey. Ellie's most recent book Meditation, a Journey in Self-Fulfillment is a "multi-cultural how-to meditation manual." The book includes real-life experiences of clients and friends, revealing the profound impact meditation has had on their lives.

Her early career as a Dale Carnegie trainer morphed into a successful HR consulting firm she ran with her husband Ron. While wildly successful in business, she realized that the spoke of spirituality in her own “Circle of Life” was lacking. She was led to Kriya Yoga and her teacher Roy Eugene Davis after an encounter with the book “Autobiography of a Yogi,” which moved her in a way she could not have imagined. Kriya yoga is the “yoga of action.” Imbibing knowledge without putting it into practice was deemed insufficient. True to this spirit, she opened a kriya yoga center in Dallas while simultaneously serving as minister of a New Thought church.

Having caught more than a glimpse of the ancient healing system of Ayurveda, Ellie and her husband Ron were drawn to become more deeply connected with its wisdom. They left their comfortable life in Texas and headed to New Mexico to work with Dr. Vasant Lad at the Ayurvedic Institute. Ellie served as Director of Education for over ten years, a role that enriched her life in ways she never thought possible. She introduced the practice of Vedic fire ceremony called agnihotra to the students – bringing them the unique opportunity to restore harmony to their environment.

In recent years, Ellie has turned to writing fiction. She is the author of the successful series “The Cave Time Chronicles.” Contemplating what her life could be like if she lived totally in accordance with spiritual principles, Ellie received “a download," a series of books that would allow her to explore this question. The books are chronological. Each book ends with intimations of where her main character is headed next as she travels through parallel universes. When writing, Ellie travels with her characters. Like most journeyers, she encounters many surprises along the way. She introduces elements of her own spiritual path in the series: sacred chant, meditation, agnihotra. To Ellie, these books represent the potential of creativity. “When you are willing to hold the space for possibilities, possibilities occur.”

The Cave Time Chronicles bring a relevant message to our contemporary world. “While we may think self-protection is required under some circumstances, we can easily see that fear and anger come from deep wounds, usually experienced in childhood.” (Ellie views her protagonist in Pathwalker – the first in the series- as a wounded child.) “We can choose to practice nonjudgment and compassion while setting boundaries and being true to ourselves. Necessary action can be compassionate. If we act in this way, we experience a different outcome.”

Ellie looks at life as a choice – an opportunity to play, to explore. “What’s it like to be an aggressor, to be young, female, male, old. Life is an adventure. Try it out. See what works and what doesn’t. Play means I am not attached to being perfect – you have to be willing to put your creation out there. You have to have fun with your creative projects. Don’t be afraid of criticism and most of all, don’t define yourself by criticism.”

Elliehadsall.com & Cosmicgathering.com
FB: @EllieHadsallAuthor

Fiction & Nonfiction Books by Ellie: amazon.com/Ellie-Hadsall/

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Join me in this conversation with Macrobiotic Chef Mayumi Nishimura. Formerly Madonna’s private chef, Mayumi is the author of over eight cookbooks in English and Japanese including her most well-known cookbook, Mayumi’s Kitchen, Macrobiotic Cooking for Body and Soul. Mayumi describes how her teaching has changed during the pandemic. The demand for celebrity dishes and gourmet food had been replaced with a return to basic principles to ensure good health. She often surprises her students by introducing opposing points of view. She encourages students to adopt the principle of non-credo, meaning “question everything.” For Mayumi, an open mind is essential and preferred over a dogmatic or rigid approach.

Mayumi describes her approach to life and career as unconventional (she splits her time between Alaska, Massachusetts, and Japan when she is not otherwise teaching internationally). She views both Michio Kushi and Madonna as exemplars of this credo, meaning that in each moment they did what was necessary without much regard for convention. They both followed their innate wisdom. Mayumi has cultivated appreciation though her long-time martial arts practices. Unlike what most people think, marital arts is not so much an opportunity to defeat a foe, but to learn how to care for yourself and your partner. Developing this understanding has been an important lesson for Mayumi.

In her culinary classes, Mayumi emphasizes that taking the time to master the simple and minimal can offer infinite possibilities. While a broad repertoire can be enjoyed, it is not essential to make a nourishing, delicious meal. In her book Mayumi’s Kitchen, she uses the term “petite macro,” to encourage people to start where they are - meaning it’s ok to make one small change per week. By encouraging her students in this way, she puts them on the path.

Mayumi believes that macrobiotics offers an opportunity to study yourself. If offers the answers of how to live your life. The pandemic has given her the opportunity to appreciate all the gifts life has offered her and to acknowledge our interconnectedness. Finally, for Mayumi, laughter is the cure and love is the answer – in cooking and life.

Facebook: mayumi.niimi
Instagram: @greenshiso

References:

The Plant Paradox: The Hidden Dangers in "Healthy" Foods That Cause Disease by Steven Gundry, MD.
The Book of Macrobiotics: The Universal Way of Health, Happiness & Peace by Michio Kushi with Alex Jack.
The Macrobiotic Path to Total Health: A Complete Guide to Naturally Preventing and Relieving More than 200 Chronic Conditions and Disorders by Michio Kushi with Alex Jack.

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Join me for a conversation with Fatima Al Mansoori from Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, as she describes her work, first as a yoga therapist and later as the founder of Sustainable Humanitarian Development (SHD). Along with a professional team, SHD is committed to supporting refugees and survivors of natural disasters with mindfulness and holistic health practices. A well-known influencer in her home country of Bahrain, she felt compelled to help others after the death of her mother from cancer. By allowing herself to be of service, to experience and see first-hand the grief and pain of others, she was able to transform her grief into gratitude for all the experiences life had offered her. Fatima’s career morphed from graphic design to yoga therapist as a result of her health diagnosis of fibromyalgia, what she has described as “a disease without a cure.” She turned to yoga, Ayurveda and yoga therapy to address her illness. Not satisfied with merely taking courses or turning to online resources for self-healing, she decided to travel to India to immerse herself in these ancient traditions. Already an influencer with a large following in Bahrain, she started to share her own health recovery and immediately received many requests to share her experience and eventually to design programs incorporating what she learned. She later added Macrobiotics to her Ayurvedic toolkit and began incorporating tools from these dual wisdom traditions to promote healing. During the last two years, she has committed her time to a project intended to introduce mindfulness in the schools, collaborating with a team of experts including James White, founder of Mindfulness Schools Ireland, in order to give the project a more global reach. The project was intended to be scientifically-based and measurements were set to occur pertaining to immunity and cognition. The project has been temporarily paused due to the pandemic. Since the pandemic, Fatima has created programs to support front-line healthcare workers in Bahrain which incorporate breathing, concentration, mindfulness, and movement. A Covid bride, Fatima has viewed this time as one to retreat and pause, to integrate the last five years of her life, which she has described as one whirlwind after another. She has resumed her interest in video games and indicates that she does think that games have merit (the right game of course, not of the addictive variety) and that there is a direct correlation between video games and mindfulness practice. She is currently working with the city of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, on developing mindfulness programs for government employees and an App may also enter the mix. This is an interview not to be missed. Thank you, Fatimah!

Links:
Instagram: @fatima.al.mansoori
Website: https://www.fatimaalmansoori.com/

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Join me for a conversation with Robert (Bob) Mattson as he describes his more than 50-year journey with macrobiotics. Bob describes the year he spent in Oroville, California at the Vega Study Center with teachers Herman and Cornellia Aihara, both health pioneers. While at Vega, he transcribed the "Morning Tea" sessions with Herman and Cornellia, a time when students and teachers engaged in informal Q&A over morning tea. Bob shares the pearls of knowledge so freely offered during these sessions including: "psychological/spiritual healing can occur in an instant while physical healing takes time." Herman: "Once a person changes his or her mind and decides to heal, this is the important 'instant' that is the spark that spurs healing." Herman: "For our spiritual development, we sometimes have to give up things we really cherish ( like smoking or sugar)." Bob quotes from Verse 48 - Tao Te Ching – "In pursuit of knowledge, every day something is added. In the practice of the Tao, every day something is dropped. Less and less do you need to force things, until finally you arrive at non-action. When nothing is done, nothing is left undone. True mastery can be gained by letting things go their own way. It can’t be gained by interfering." Bob: "The world is gained by letting go - when we mature, we discover this is a more peaceful way to live and when we let go, we create the space for new ideas to emerge. People who eat poorly - their judgment is impacted and rarely are they prepared to let go of old ways of thinking." Touching upon his current writing project - the vocabulary for a new world constitution - Bob reckons with one planet, one global civilization. He also speaks about a paper he wrote on microbial life - spurred by his conversations with E.O. Wilson, the prominent biologist and writer who he was chauffering at the time. Most of us would be satisfied with Wilson's responses to questions posed; Bob however decided to conduct his own research. He purchased 25 books on microbes from the Harvard Book Store and undertook an extensive research and writing project. He claims it is no coincidence that his most recent and current writing projects on microbes and personal rights are perfectly aligned with what the current state of the world -given the pandemic and the erosion of our most precious rights. I queried as to what he learned in his role as a taxi driver, personal driver and chauffeur to many prominent individuals. Bob: "The rich and famous are actually quite ordinary, but caught some lucky breaks. Many are quite expert in their chosen field, but this brilliance doesn't necessarily permeate to other areas of their lives." He views one of the keys to a long and fulfilling life to always remain a student, something he learned from Herman Aihara. Bob: "By taking up a diet with whole grains and vegetables as primary foods, one stands a chance of undoing the systemic conditioning that we are confronted with early in life and beyond." He truly adheres to the adage which he has created "whole grains whole brains." Thank you Bob for an awesome conversation!

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Join me as I talk with "The Plant Food Chef," James Sant about the importance of fermented foods to creating a healthy microbiome. James introduces his home ferments which range from kombucha to water kefir to wild blueberries to chile peppers with thyme from the local farmer's market. James shares his passion for the health and flavor that fermented foods promote. He introduces his favorite resources: The Art of Fermentation and Basic Fermentation, both by Sandor Katz; The Noma Guide to Fermentation by Rene Redzepi and David Zilber; Preserving the Japanese Way, Traditions of Salting, Fermenting, and Pickling for the Modern Kitchen by Nancy Singleton Hachisu; Nourishing Traditions, the Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and Diet Dictocrats by Sally Fallon.

James Sant is a plant-based chef, teacher, and culinary artist who emphasizes vegan fusion cuisine which marries cooked and raw plant-based foods (cooked foods are cooked gently for maximum nutrient-value). James served as creative director, programs director, and lead instructor for Living Light Culinary Institute, a raw plant-based culinary school, formerly in Mendocino, California, for almost a decade. Throughout his tenure at Living Light, James had the good fortune of educating students from around the world in the art and health benefits of raw gourmet vegan cuisine.

James has been an advocate for fresh wholesome foods for decades and brings his passions for fermented foods and bread-making (making exquisite breads from sprouted grains and seeds) to his students. He considers fermented and cultured foods to be vital to a healthy lifestyle.

James is currently building an educational program which will be unveiled through the site www.plantfoodchef.com. He is also designing the cirriculum for a new educational opportunity overseas with a focus on vegan fusion cuisine.

Find James and engage with his teachings and culinary creations on Facebook and Instagram:

Facebook page: Plantfoodchef
Instagram: @plantfoodchef

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Join me in this conversation with Edward Esko, one of the world's leading teachers and counselors on the macrobiotic way of life as he explores his new book, Strengthening Natural Immunity: A Plant-Based Macrobiotic Approach, written with the Covid-19 pandemic in mind. Ed looks at the pyschology of populations living in pandemic "hotspots"; the correlation between toxic dead zones in the environment and the human body; the timeline in the Great Pyramid which stops in 2038 - meaning a new orientation toward spirituality and consciousness will arise; how our food choices raise our level of consciousness and abundance (and specifically how whole grains with awns channel the energy of the Universe); how eating communal grain offers the opportunity to create cohesive communities. In this talk, Ed offer a new hope for humanity, like the dot within the yin yang symbol which represents transformation to a new and opposite orientation. Ed views the pandemic as an opportunity to usher in a new era of peace and harmony, one where will no longer be alone but "all one."

Edward Esko studied with Michio Kushi for many years and has served as Executive Director of the East West Foundation in Boston and Director of Education/Dean of Faculty and Associate Director of the Kushi Institute, formerly located in Western Massachusetts.

Ed has personally counseled and guided thousands of people toward improved health through the macrobiotic diet and way of life. He has lectured in over a dozen countries and authored or edited more than twenty books, including Holistic Health through Macrobiotics, Natural Healing through Macrobiotics, and The Macrobiotic Approach to Cancer. He is the co-author of the 2020 book, Strengthening Natural Immunity: A Plant-Based Macrobiotic Approach, written with the COVID-19 pandemic in mind.

Edward co-founded the International Macrobiotic Institute (IMI) in 2016 to further the dream and vision of his mentor, Michio Kushi, and to make quality macrobiotic education and guidance available to people around the world. Together with his wife, Naomi Ichikawa Esko, Edward offers a variety of personal and group services, including personal dietary and way of life counseling, lectures, and online courses.

Ed offers online macrobiotic courses through his website International Macrobiotic Institute along with other Institute faculty members. The Institute also offers individual and group courses relating to diet, weight loss and cooking. Ed participates in live events through the Kushi School New York, an affiliate of IMI.

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An interview with Alex Jack, author, teacher, and macrobiotic health counselor. Alex is the founder and president of Planetary Health, Inc., a nonprofit educational organization that sponsors the Amberwaves grassroots campaign to preserve whole grains from genetic engineering, climate change, and other threats. He holds conferences and seminars on diet, health, sustainability, engages in publishing, and conducts medical research. Alex's commitment toward creating a more sustainable, just and peaceful society includes his work as a civil rights worker in Mississippi, Vietnam War correspondent, editor-in-chief of East West Journal, director of the One Peaceful World Society, and executor director of the Kushi Institute, Center for Personal & Planetary Health.

Alex is the author of over 40 books. His major books include: The Cancer Prevention Diet, One Peaceful World, and Gospel of Peace: Jesus's Teaching of Eternal Truth with Michio Kushi; The Mozart Effect: Tapping the Power of Music to Heal the Body, Strengthen the Mind, and Unlock the Creative Spirit with Don Campbell; editions and commentaries on Hamlet and As You Like It by Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare; The One Peaceful World Cookbook with Sachi Kato; and The Golden Dream Cookbook with Bettina Zumdick.

In this interview, Alex talks about two articles he has recently written about Covid-19 titled Reducing the Risk of Covid-19, Diet - The Missing Link and The Anatomy of an Epidemic. He also touches on his recent book relating to strengthening natural immunity to reduce the risk of viral and bacterial infection, including Covid-19. (This book is titled Strengthening Natural Immunity, A Plant-Based Macrobiotic Approach and is co-written with Edward Esko and Bettina Zumdick.) Alex introduces his new book published earlier this year, Spiral of History, The Arc that Bends Toward Justice, Peace & Love, which is intended to be the first book in a series exploring this critical juncture in the history of the human species where "the pace of modern life is accelerating rapidly, all boundaries are dissolving, and everthing is converging. All familiar institutions are breaking down: family, church, school, hospital, brick-and-mortar store, union, and even the nation-state. Age-old concepts of race, sex, gender, matter and spirit are in breathtaking flux." As humanity ushers in a new era, few individuals are as daring and emblematic of futuristic thinking as Elon Musk. I asked Alex to complete a facial diagnosis (macrobiotic/oriental medicine) - this is one indicia of the individual's constitution and balances/imbalances and offers insight as to what drives him/her. Interesting indeed!

Websites relating to Alex's work:

https://planetaryhealth.com/
https://www.macrobioticsummerconference.com/
https://www.amberwavesofgrain.com/
https://www.makropedia.com/
http://ebolaanddiet.com/

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Join me as I read from Part One of the book Mindfulness in Action, Making Friends with Yourself through Meditation and Everyday Awareness (2013) by Chogyam Trungpa, edited by Carolyn Rose Gimian. This is a book about meditation and how the meditative qualities of mindfulness and awareness influence our everyday lives. Part One is titled "Making Friends with Yourself" and the following chapters are included in my reading:

Meditation: An Intimate Relationship with Ourselves
Discovering Our Capacity to Love
How to Meditate

Part One of the book introduces the practice, connecting it with a sense of heart and with experiences of gentleness, clarity, a positive experience of aloneness, and the discovery of compassion.

Chogyam Trungpa was a meditation teacher, originally from Tibet, who in the 60s, 70s, and 80s taught in Great Britain, Canada and the U.S. He taught in a profoundly heartfelt way that still resonates today. He shows us that mindfulness and meditation are worthwhile disciplines and that they work. The practice of meditation works with us and on us, making us more available to ourselves and to others. The practice is demanding, it can be challenging, it shows us the truth of who we are, but that is all part of the beauty of human life.

Source: Editor's Preface, Mindfulness in Action (2013).

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Noreen interviews Lino and Jane Stanchich, health counselors and teachers on the importance of chewing food well to overall health and vitality. Author of Power Eating Program, You are How You Eat, Lino describes his father's discovery as a prisoner of a German concentration camp during World War II. Faced with bitterly cold winters and hardly any clothing to keep warm, his father "chewed" his water in order to warm it up and discovered that it not only warmed his body, but increased his strength, physically and mentally, such that he was able to endure the camp's horrendous conditions. He expanded this experiment to the minimal food rations he received and, along with two prisoners who joined him in his chewing experiments, he managed to survive. Of the 32 prisoners in his barracks, they were the only survivors. Lino remembered his father's words: "Whenever you are sick, lonely, tired, depressed, remember to chew - chewing will increase your vitality, well-being, strength. You will feel happier, more hopeful and optimistic and good fortune will find you."

Just a few years later, at the age of 19, Lino was imprisoned as regions of post-World War II Italy were reconfigured and subjected to communist rule. Lino attributes the courage and strength he derived from chewing his food well to being able to endure two years of hard labor.

After emigrating to the U.S., Lino went into the restaurant business and eventually owned several successful restaurants in New Jersey. He stumbled upon macrobiotics when a restaurant patron, upon seeing Lino chewing, commented, "You must be macrobiotic". With no knowledge of macrobiotics, he discovered what was then the Cauldron Macrobiotic Restaurant in NYC and started working in its kitchen, eventually departing New York and New Jersey for Boston. In Boston, he immersed himself in macrobiotic teachings and exchanged meat and dairy for a plant-based diet and more balanced approach to living, one that encouraged living in harmony with nature's rhythms. What eventually emerged was a new way of life and in the intervening decades, Lino has dedicated his work to helping people heal and teaching the principles of optimum health.

In this episode, Lino and Jane share ecovery stories of clients who have healed by adopting a chewing regimen and the science behind these seeming "chewing miracles". They also address current topics such as the U.S. epidemic of chronic disease and how simple strategies can help people transform their health. They touch on COVID-19 and describe how their approaches to wellness can offer protection during these challenging times. This is definitely an episode "you can chew on". Enjoy!

Find Lino and Jane Quincannon- Stanchich on their website: http://www.greatlifeglobal.com/

The Healthy Peaceful Podcast: Recent Episodes

Noreen Dillman