The Magic Of Tulsi

Magic of Tulsi

 The Magic of Holy Basil or Tulsi
(Ocimum Tenuifloum)

Ayurveda considers that all disease is derived from stress whether environmental, nutritional, job related or mental. Because we all suffer from stress in some form it is wise to have tools to counteract the stress that seems to creep into our daily lives.

What are the tools that help control stress we already know about? There are many things that we can control, like our diet. Organic, local, fresh produce is always best. It is important to remember that our body deals with toxins that are not within our control every day. We don’t want to add to toxins by eating foods containing anti-biotics, pesticides and other harmful chemicals.

How stressful are your thoughts? Do you find yourself worrying about things that may possibly never happen? There’s a difference between being prepared and worrying about a catastrophic event. We make ourselves sick with worry and that leads to other health related concerns. This is another area that we have control over, it may not seem like it at times because our mind can be pretty powerful. With training in meditation and some activity along with proper diet and herbs, you can get your “run away” mind under control.

How can the magic of Tulsi support our bodies?

We can turn our focus to herbs with properties that assist the areas we need help with. When it comes to stress it is important to support the systems of the body what are some of the things that we look for?

  • Adaptogens are great to include along with antioxidants to help rid the body of free radicals.
  • Anti-inflammitory because many stress related diseases will present at first with inflammation and then progress to a higher disease state.
  • Germicide, fungicide and natural anti-biotic to help the body fight off infections thus alleviating stress from illness.
  • Diuretic and detoxifier to cleanse the kidney and reduce uric acid in the blood.
  • Acetic acid to break down kidney stones
  • Analgesic property to help with pain.
  • Anti-carcinogenic to stop the progression of breast and oral cancers.
  • Decongestant to assist with allergies.

It may sound like we would give you an entire handful of herbs to address all of these areas. There is one herb that checks off all the boxes.

Tulsi or Holy Basil is like Magic

  1. Headaches: Helps with all sorts of headaches from sinusitis to migraine due to its decongestive and analgesic properties.
  2. Stress: Normalizes Cortizon in the body is an adaptogen (anti-stress), soothes nerves, regulates blood circulation, fights stress produced free radicals.
  3. Kidney Stones: Dissolves stones due to acetic acid, diuretic, detoxifier, reduces Uric acid in blood good for Gout, analgesic.
  4. Quit Smoking: Reduces urge to smoke due to stress. Chewing the leaves when urge arises reduces stress.
  5. Diabetes: Antioxidants, anti-inflammatory, helps beta cells in pancreas to regulate release of insulin, increases the sensitivity to insulin lowering the blood sugar levels, helps cells overcome oxidative stress.
  6. Protects Heart: Tulsi is shown to lower cholesterol, especially LD types, keeps blood pressure lower, Eugenol (anti-oxidant) helps keep free radicals from damaging heart tissue.
  7. Fever: Germicide and a fungicide as well as an anti-biotic so it helps relieve fevers from the common infection to more serious diseases.
  8. Respiratory: Anti-bacterial, Anti-fungal, anti-allergetic, fights infections, relieves congestion and cough it a good expectorant and is immunomodulatory (good for the immune system)
  9. Hair and skin: Last but not least because of it’s purifying properties it is good for reducing acne and pimples. The anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties assist in preventing break outs. It purifies the blood when the leaves are chewed raw and it reduces excess hair fall and itchy scalp.

Enjoy the magic of Tulsi in your diet

Share

Seasonal Cleansing, Get The Spring Back into your step.

images-1Kapha season is late winter and early spring, time for seasonal cleansing.

At that time of year our Kapha energy is more likely to go out of balance. Kapha is immobile and stable and strong. During the late winter Kapha tends to accumulate, we become less active and many times we crave comfort foods which tend to be Kapha-genic. This is usually a time that suggests it’s time for seasonal cleansing.

With spring comes a shift in the weather and it becomes time to rid our bodies of excess Kapha. In order to do that we plan some seasonal cleansing (ridding ourself of excess Earth and water elements in order to avoid imbalance).

Ayurveda provides a nourishing and effective approach to seasonal cleansing of the body that seeks to balance and restore harmony to the system.

Ayurvedic Suggestions for Seasonal Cleansing:

Drink lots of water and shift your diet to lighter fare. What we eat has the greatest overall impact on our health and Most Americans get less than half the required amount of fiber-needed daily.

Ayurveda suggests a diet that support the bodies natural purification systems. Including complete servings of fiber and protein in order to stave off hunger between meals. Herbs and spices are used to help detoxify and cleanse the body as well as make the foods tastier.

What are some signs that you need Seasonal Cleansing?

  •  Crave Junk food and sugar but have a poor appetite
  • You notice it takes longer to feel hungry after a meal
  • You find yourself eating  large portions
  • Feeling heavy, congested or constipated
  • Bloating and gas cause discomfort
  • Feeling tired with little energy
  • Mind feels a little foggy and “spaced out”
  • Lack of motivation.

What is the first thing you need to do when preparing for a seasonal cleanse?

The first thing is to remove the foods that create sludge or Ama in the system such as foods with preservatives and additives, junk food, sugar, cheese, deep fried foods, carbonated drinks and left overs. These may be things that you normally do not consume but you may have found that some of them have snuck into your diet.

Do not eat raw foods, they are harder to digest and we are trying to cleanse the system. Foods that are cooked are partially digested since digestion is our systems way of cooking. Eat plenty of cooked vegetables and eat fresh fruits (ripened fruit is not considered raw as the ripening process is the plants way of “cooking” the fruit until it is done).

Eat foods that are whole, fresh and organic as much as possible and make sure you are eating according to your dosha. When we eat according to our dosha it makes the food easier to digest for each of us individually.  Make sure and eat your cooked food warm and drink only warm or hot water.

Tea is a great way to help detoxify your body. Boil equal parts of coriander, cumin, fennel and ajwain, take it from the heat and let it set for about 20 minutes to seep. Drink the tea throughout the day, make fresh tea every day.

For seasonal cleansing the best vegetables are cabbage, celery and cilantro, and fresh ginger, and lemon are excellent herbs to assist the system your detox.

Get plenty of rest because a rested body will digest and assimilate the foods more effectively. Exercise is very important as it will increase your metabolic levels, help sweat out toxins and increase energy levels.

Using healthy oils on your skin and in your diet will help to loosen toxins embedded deep in the layers of the bodily tissues. Generally coconut oil for Pitta and Sesame oil for Kapha and Pitta.

Regular elimination is also important when seasonal cleansing, including lots of vegetables and fresh fruits in your diet will help such as cooked apples and pears, prunes, pomegranates and pineapple.

Within a week you will feel the fog lift and you will feel more energetic, as you continue you will feel lighter and release weight. When you began you may have been craving your old lifestyle, after a while you will wonder why you would ever want to go back to unhealthy eating again.

 

Share

Sustainable Solutions For Lifestyle Disorders

Join us for an evening of wellness series and find out ways to sustain your health in our world today.

 

Our Main topic will be Sustainable Solutions for Lifestyle Disorders and what we can do to live a happier and Healthier life.

To Find out More Click Here


Screen shot 2013-04-15 at 11.08.58 AM

Share

Practitioners Year Part 1

WHEW!

Naturally everyone can relate to feeling a bit behind right?  I have to say that’s a feeling that I am not used to at all.  I am a list maker a scheduler, you know the sort of person, everyone does.  Sometimes they make you sick with their organization……I admit it, I am one of these types.

I am that way in everything I do.  School is no exception, the exception to that seems to be this year.  Did I plan? Yes actually I did.  So how did it happen? How did I manage to get behind in the very first Month of school……Honestly!!

It’s all about learning something new and for me it is more than just a few things.  Number one is the new and very Awesome E-learning system we have in place this year, that I really didn’t explore as much as I thought I did.

Please refrain from laughing here……I logged onto the sight and found my class.  In addition to classes on Tuesday and Thursday night that are live, we have a number of videos to watch.  I could see the number of videos and it APPEARED to be 10 videos.  Appear is the optimum word here because there were 4 sections of videos so I didn’t have 10 videos to watch, I had 40.  YIKES!

Lesson number one: Fully Investigate anything new on the learning sight….Very Important.

I hope you are still not laughing because after this next statement you are going to think, “wow, how anal can someone be?” Honestly I had to work hard, and watch hours of video in a sitting to feel semi-caught up.  Here’s the deal, I have never worked from a position of being behind, due to my list-making and scheduling, I am absolutely positive I do NOT like it.

Lesson number two: I do NOT like being behind, I know because I just seen me do it.

Okay all humor aside, seriously I have found out what my mental strength is all about.  I could have cracked and quite frankly I may have done that last year when I found out the immensity of my mistake.  Instead I pulled my boots up by the boot straps and did what I needed to do to get the job done.

I have a new schedule now.  One that keeps the whip snapping and gets me closer to being where I want to be.  Is it on the calendar? YOU BET! Do I have a list of the things that I need to do to get it done? Right in front of My face at all times.

Am I kicking my own ASS over the mistake I made…..HELL NO!  Moving on.

So we continue on the journey of wellness in a world full of illness, with a group of individuals that are just as passionate about healing the world as I am.

I am truly blessed!

Share

Ayurveda, The Key To Health & Wellness

Lucky to enjoy Superb Health

All my life I had a family doctor that was our family doctor. He knew the entire family and our history. He retired about 10 years ago and then I got a true taste of what it’s like to have a doctor that really had no interest in me as a person.

I came to the ugly realization that my “new doctor” was in the “business” of being a physician.

Over the years it has astounded me the lack of caring I have experienced by this “doctor” and his staff.

I didn’t think very much about it until I had a minor medical emergency and my doctor accomplished two things in my visit with him.

1. To scare me to death needlessly with something he couldn’t be sure of.
2. To make me feel even more like a number than I was before and inefficiency with the staff that made me not totally trust what they were telling me.

This led me to a different doctor that I was referred to that was fantastic and it made me realize that I didn’t have to put up with my new doctor and it started me on a search to find a new physician.

My point here is that we need to take charge of our own health.
 
Continue reading “Ayurveda, The Key To Health & Wellness”

Share