I’ve been waiting for a long time to give you this news.  Today is the official release date of my brand new DVD, “Dosha Yoga: Bringing Your Mind and Body to a State of Balance and Bliss.” This is the first DVD ever to combine Yoga and Ayurveda.  My friend Hemalayaa, an amazing Yogini, leads us through 3 different Yoga routines, one for each dosha.  Each routine is balancing in its own way, and includes therapeutic music created by an Ayurvedic music therapist in India!  We had so much fun working on this project, putting together some beautiful sets based on color therapy for the doshas, and creating totally original and unique routines unlike any you’ve ever seen on any other Yoga DVD.  And I’ve got a segment on there about living an Ayurvedic lifestyle.  This is a really special DVD, one that I’m very proud of and so happy to be able to share with you.  Check out our new website, and you’ll see information about our offer for this “Dosha Yoga” premiere week. www.DoshaYoga.com

According to Ayurveda, there are 3 pillars of good health: food, relationships, and sleep.  Today let’s look at sleep and the doshas.  Vatas get worn out easily, and need lots of sleep to renew themselves after a long day.  Vatas do best on 9-10 hours of sleep a night.  Yet, because the Vata mind is so restless, Vatas often have difficulty getting to sleep at night.  One solution is to take a warm bath and time to settle down before bedtime.  Pittas need an average amount of sleep, 7-8 hours is fine.  When Pitta has difficulty sleeping it is because they are thinking of work.  It’s a good idea for Pittas to take a cool shower, and relax before bedtime.  Kaphas have a large reserve of energy and do not require as much sleep.  They can get by on 6-7 hours of sleep a night.  Kaphas tend to sleep soundly, and they may have trouble waking up!  Set the alarm to some uplifting music to help get the day started for sleepy Kaphas.  If you’re having trouble sleeping due to stress or anxiety, Balance Ayurvedic has an herbal formula that can help.  AyurRenew.

Today is a most auspicious day, it is Ganesh’s birthday!  Ganesh is the “remover of obstacles.”  You can identify Ganesh by his elephant head and human body.  On September 21, 1995, an amazing event occurred in India which is know known as the “milk miracle.”  That morning, a man awoke from a dream that Ganesh was asking for milk.  He went to a Ganesh statue in town, and offered milk in a spoon to the statue, and the milk disappeared!  Word spread, and soon and Ganesh statues all over the country were “drinking” milk.  You can read all about this remarkable event at: www.milkmiracle.com

According to Ayurveda both our hair and our nails are a by-product of our bones.  So in order to have healthy hair, we need to maintain proper nutrition for healthy bones.  If calcium and magnesium are not completely absorbed by our bones, we’ll se it in our hair as split ends, hair that breaks easily, or even hair that falls out.  Dairy products are a good source of calcium and magnesium, but many of us are either vegan or lactose intolerant.  Luckily there are many alternatives: daikon, coconut, cooked apples, and cabbage.  Sesame seeds are packed with calcium and magnesium, sprinkle some on your breakfast cereal, on your toast, or in your salad at dinner.  A gentle scalp massage with sesame oil is also beneficial because it improves circulation at the root of the hair.

We all have forgetfulness on occasion.  But when this happens on a regular basis, we might look at what we can do Ayurvedically to improve our memory.  According to Ayurveda, memory problems are a result of either too much Kapha, which makes our brain sluggish, or too much Vata, which can make us more “spacey.”   There are foods that we can eat to improve these conditions.  Carrots, for example enhance Pitta, which supports a good memory.  Other foods that help increase our Pitta, and hence our memory, include: spinach, okra, sweet potatoes and tapioca.  

AyurIntellect from Balance Ayurvedic contains the herb Gotu Kola, which helps to decrease both Kapha and Vata while rejuvenating Pitta.  Besides increasing intelligence and memory, it fortifies the immune system and strengthens the adrenals.  Gotu Kola is often used by yogis in meditation.

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In the Northern Hemisphere, we are in the midst of Pitta season.  The weather is warm, even hot, and we all need to be careful to keep our Pitta in balance.  When there is too much Pitta in our system, we can become overheated, stressed, angry, and impatient.  Recommendations for this time of year include drinking plenty of cool (not cold) water, taking a cool shower before bed, or going for a swim.  It’s also a good idea to avoid spicy and hot foods, which aggravate the Pitta dosha.  In the Southern Hemisphere it is Vata season, and the weather is cold.  Vata is cold and dry, so it is best to balance Vata with warm and oily, a sesame oil massage, called abhyanga, is ideal for balancing Vata.

According to Vedic literature, creation takes two energies.  One energy is represented as masculine, and it’s called shiva.  The energy is represented as feminine, and it’s called Shakti.  In stories, they are portrayed as a god and goddess.  Shiva represents consciousness and Shakti represents power.  When Shiva and Shakti got together, they danced and the universe was created.

The energies of Shiva and Shakti are not so much opposites as they are complementary.  Just as we have all three doshas in our composition, we each have masculine and feminine energies within us as well.  It is the union of these two energies that allows us unlimited potential.

When we’re out of balance, we feel it, and it shows.  Sometimes it shows up right on our face!  Vata skin tends to be dry.  Pitta skin tends to be sensitive and prone to rosacea.  Kapha skin can be oily, and prone to acne.  Ayurveda recommends that we take care of our skin both from the inside, with the food we eat and the supplements we take, and from the outside, with specialized skin care routines.  Dr. Raj Kanodia, who is a friend of mine from The Chopra Center, and who stars in the TV series “Dr. 90210,” has developed a line of skin care products that combine the best of modern western medicine with the tried and true wisdom of Ayurveda.  Dr. Kanodia is a plastic surgeon and his partner is a dermatologist.  They both strongly believe in what Ayurveda can do for the health of our skin.  The skin care like is called AyurMedic, and we’ve broken down the products into categories for dry, normal/combination, oily, acne-prone, mature, and sensitive skin types.  This is just another example of how Ayurveda can help us in every aspect of life!

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Ananda means bliss is Sanskrit.  Bliss helps to keep us healthy, both mind and body.  It feels good!  Like laughter, it boosts our immune system and actually heals us.  So how do we get more ananda in our lives?  Ah!  Be loving.  That’s the simple answer.  Practice“ahimsa,” or nonviolence in thought, speech and action.  Eating fresh, wholesome foods that are easier to digest also helps us to increase ananda.  Following an Ayurvedic daily routine helps us to stay stress-free and sleep better.  And the best things we can do to increase ananda is to meditate twice a day.  Meditation allows us to experience the bliss that is an essential part of who we are.  It helps us to have better health, improved relationships, and a calm and clear state of mind.  Ananda is a quality of pure consciousness, and it is our natural state of being.

Sure, taking a bath is a nice way to get cleaned up.  But in Ayurveda a bath is so much more than that.  A bath can actually be therapy!  It relaxes the muscles, opens up the pores, and restores moisture to the body tissues.  A bath can also clear the mind and balance emotions.  Sounds wonderful, doesn’t it?  It’s easy to prepare a healing bath, and here are a few guidelines:
-Use cleansers that are moisturizing.  The idea is to help the skin absorb the water and rehydrate.  The skin’s moisture balance is essential for the overall health of the skin.
-Make sure the bath water is pure.  Use a water filter if necessary.  The water should be comfortably warm, not too hot or too cold.
-Take your time in the bath, relax and breathe deeply.
-Set the mood in the room with natural aromatherapy and soft lighting.
-Moisturize your skin after the bath.