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Ayurveda – An Ancient Cure For Modern Life

December 7, 2012 By yogabound Leave a Comment

An Ancient Cure for Modern Life
By Alison Rose Levy

Everyday stress can lead to vata derangement, an excess of nervous energy. These Ayurvedic therapies can bring you back into balance.

Like most Americans, I’m an expert at multi-tasking. I eat at my desk, wash dishes while on the phone, go through bills on the bus, and drive while talking on my cell phone. Based on his knowledge of the Eastern wisdom of Ayurveda, the internationally recognized Ayurvedic physician and author Robert Svoboda has another name for this rushed, fragmented way of functioning. He calls it “vata-deranged.”

Modern life as we know it, with its excessive travel, late nights, and nonstop stimulation, often contributes to vata derangement, which can affect anyone. People like me—the tall, slender, fast-talking ones—are most at risk, however, because our native constitutions are vata dominant.

To comprehend vata derangement, we need to understand that vata is one of the three metabolic types, or doshas, described by the ancient health science of Ayurveda. Vata is the principle of movement, ruled by air and ether. The other two doshas are pitta, the principle of assimilation ruled by fire, and kapha, the stabilizing force, ruled by earth and air. Ayurvedic doctors say that we are each a unique combination of these three. For most of us, one type is predominant, another secondary. But whatever one’s native type, when a person goes out of balance, the vata principle destabilizes most easily, causing other kinds of health and emotional problems.

According to Ayurveda, this is the force that governs all movement in the body, including the in-and-out flow of the breath, the action of our limbs, the circulation of subtle energy in our organism, and the mind’s ceaseless flow of thoughts, words, and images. Unlike earthy kapha, solid and grounded and with a tendency to get stuck, or fiery pitta, sharp and focused and knowing just where it wants to go, vata, like the wind, wanders here and there, its direction ever-changing.

Performers like Michael Richards, who played Seinfeld’s Kramer, Lisa Kudrow acting ditzy and off-beat on Friends, and Woody Allen, with his anxious patter, have made us laugh at the off-centered, nervous spaciness typical of vata derangement. While these qualities may seem funny when we see them on film, it’s not fun to experience the jerky stops and starts of breath, thoughts, speech, nerves, and limbs that result from a vata imbalance. And the health consequences aren’t laughable either.

Vata’s Rise and Fall

The pressure and pace of modern life can tip anyone into vata imbalance. But even if you spent your life meditating in the woods, it’s not easily avoided. Ayurveda holds that sturdy kapha is dominant in childhood, ambitious pitta rules in the prime of life, and vata prevails in our senior years. Our senior years bring the vatic qualities of dryness, roughness, and irregularity, manifesting in such health complaints as arthritis, constipation, anxiety, insomnia, and stiffness.

Fortunately, we can look to ancient wisdom for answers: Ayurveda has evolved ways to remedy vata imbalance and its accompanying diseases, and throughout hundreds of years ancient Ayurvedic physicians and Yogis devised many techniques to prolong life—hoping to gain more time to attain self-realization.

Undoubtedly, the Westerner most knowledgeable about these Ayurvedic rejuvenative practices is Svoboda, who teaches at Albuquerque’s Ayurvedic Institute and is the author of Prakriti (Sadhana, 1999), an excellent introduction to Ayurveda. For the last 25 years, Svoboda has traveled toIndiato receive and learn traditional rejuvenative treatments and to study Indian culture, philosophy, and practices.

Last year he offered a small group of students a weeklong immersion in the health model and way of life he practices. Along with Iyengar Yoga teacher Ellen Leary ofNew Hope,Pennsylvania, Svoboda designed a retreat reflecting the Indian world view that Ayurveda, hatha yoga, and other spiritual practices like meditation and chanting are aspects of an integrated system of healing and spiritual evolution. As I flew to the Caribbean Island of Tortola, I wondered if, even with these gifted guides, it would be possible to alleviate some of my stress-building vatic habits in one week.

The Beauty of Routine

Vatas tend to be erratic—or as workshop participant Paul Busch, an Iyengar Yoga teacher from Minneapolis (and a vata), described himself, “addicted to variety.” While stalwart kaphas plod along, rising, eating, working, and sleeping punctually, vatas zigzag out of regularity, rising and going to bed at odd times, skipping meals, and not keeping to any regular pattern. Although this makes life interesting, it is also destabilizing. The cure: Establish a predictable routine.

The first evening of the retreat, Svoboda explained that they had carefully structured our schedule and practices to emphasize rejuvenation, particularly for balancing vata. Since dry, rough, airy, fast-moving, and irregular are the core qualities of vata, the Ayurvedic approach is to prescribe treatments, activities, and foods that provide the opposite qualities: oiliness, grounding, slowness, heaviness, consistency, and flow. Svoboda and Leary asked that we adhere to their schedule, even if it meant steering clear of the sun-drenched beach below. Instead of going after “fun,” we tasted a different kind of enjoyment: a restful night’s sleep.

This was the beginning of our routine: Every night we went to bed early, and every day began at6 a.m. We entered the day gently with an optional morning Meditation, followed by an hour long class in Pranayama at 6:30 a.m.This is very important for vata, whose flow can become disturbed by transitions, particularly abrupt ones, like dashing straight from the dream state to the computer upon arising.

“Vata is discontinuous, so if there’s a transfer of energy and direction, like at a juncture or at any transition, that’s where vata becomes agitated,” Svoboda said. No chance of that here. Unlike other classes I’d attended, where even beginners launched into advanced pranayama techniques like alternate nostril or bellows breathing, Leary, who recently returned from a month at the Iyengar Institute in Pune, India, led us in a simple, restorative pranayama practice.

We used props in Supta Baddha Konasana (Reclining Bound Angle Pose), to ensure our bodies were in correct alignment and our diaphragms gently lifted. We supported our legs with homemade sandbags and a belt, allowing the groin area to deeply relax. Leary gently guided us in sensing the inner thoracic area, and after a time, without any forcing, we slowly lengthened and deepened our breath.

Expanding and steadying the breath helps pacify vata because it counters the constrained and shallow breathing—and attendant anxiety—that result from vata’s fast pace. Leary instructed us to allow this expansion to happen without forcing it, encouraging us to take a step back from the vatic and Western tendency to overdo it.

“Breath is essential to rejuvenation,” Svoboda explained later, when we gathered on the stone front porch for one of his three daily talks. The term prana, he told us, denotes consciousness and life force. Because prana is carried on the breath, increasing our breath capacity brings in more life force to nourish the physical tissues of the body. “As the organism becomes more confident there is ample prana, it relaxes,” explained Svoboda. While regulating the breath is necessary for vatas, inducing a calm state is healing to everyone’s cells, bodies, emotions, and thoughts.

But everything in its own time. Lest we fuel our spiritual evolution with ambition, Svoboda reminded us that we won’t get there any quicker by pressing the pedal to the floor. Even when it comes to spirituality, each of the doshas has its own way of overdoing or under doing it. Kaphas are most likely to be kicking back and smelling the flowers, finding no motivation to practice at all. Pittas may be driven to become spiritual overachievers, losing contact with compassion as they pile up attainments.

Vatas overdo because they are mentally stimulated by so many options but without doing one thing consistently. This tendency carries over into other life activities. “My eyes are bigger than my stomach,” commented Busch. “My mind wants a smorgasbord, staying up late, watching stimulating films, or engaging in late night conversations, while my body would prefer to get some rest. And like all vatas, I overrule my body.”

Under Doing It

The retreat schedule, routine yet relaxing, defeated all vatic temptations to overdo. There’s no point in overdoing a practice like pranayama, Svoboda told us, because we can’t take in more prana unless we have room for it. In minds crammed with thoughts, organs clogged with toxins, and bodies stiffened with neglect, there is just no space for anything else.

Wherever there are blockages, the flow throughout our system is obstructed, causing vata disorders. The practices we learned opened the space for that flow. To open the mind, there was meditation. To expel toxins encumbering our digestive tract, there were Ayurvedic herbs and diet. To release structural and muscular blockages impeding our movement, there was Hatha Yoga.

After our daily pranayama, we performed Suryanamaskar (Sun Salutation) to the rising sun on a deck overlooking the ocean. With their addiction to variety, vatas find it boring to do asanas slowly and repetitively. Of course, more than anyone else, they need to take the time to allow themselves to become steady in each pose.

“As a vata I love constant change, and it’s the worst thing for me,” noted Busch. Suryanamaskar is beneficial for vatas, who tend to have stiff joints, because the asanas move all the limbs and lubricate the joints. Suryanamaskar also regulates the flow of energy through the nadis, channels of subtle energy that run through our organism, like acupuncture meridians.

While pittas and kaphas do well with more strenuous exercise, repetitive, flowing movement balances vata, so it is best for vatas to do Suryanamaskar slowly. These poses can align vatas mentally and spiritually, Svoboda pointed out, if they face the sun, real or imagined, while doing them. Focusing gathers vata’s scattered energies, Svoboda said, and directs them toward “the sun, the source of light and consciousness in the world.”

Practice Is Perfection

Following a well-earned breakfast, we next performed abhyanga. This is an Ayurvedic oil massage and a classic prescription for healing vata that brings vata’s dry, rough, and irregular tendencies into balance with the oil’s smoothness and heaviness.

Ayurvedic clinics in Kerala,India, are renowned for treatments like pizhichil, in which as many as four people simultaneously oil massage a single client, or shirodhara, in which oil is slowly poured onto the top of the head. When oil is absorbed through the skin, it dislodges toxins, explained Svoboda, which otherwise impede the flow in our system, block the movement of prana, and aggravate vata.

Ayurvedic physicians also use food as medicine, considering the effect of every food and spice on each dosha. Cream of wheat, for example, while grounding for vatas, is too heavy for already grounded kaphas, who tend toward weight gain; on the other hand, a vata should probably pass on the chili because beans cause gas.

Although people associate Ayurvedic cuisine with Indian food, the two are not synonymous. A diet balancing to one’s dosha can consist entirely of Western or international dishes. The retreat offered gourmet spa cuisine, delicious and balancing to all three doshas.

Ayurveda views the digestive process as a metaphor for all we take in. Many people eat whatever is available, watch whatever is on the tube, and believe the common consensus on many subjects. But Ayurveda asks us to consider what we can handle, as vata’s delicate nerves and digestion are easily overwhelmed by a bad meal—or a bad movie, for that matter.

Svoboda and Leary urged us to use the retreat practices to refine our inner awareness, so we could begin to discern the effects of the foods, images, and ideas we take in. This is helpful for all doshas, but particularly for curious and experimental vatas, who want to try everything even though their powers of assimilation aren’t always up to it.

Anything taken in but not processed remains in our organism and becomes a toxin, Svoboda told us. That’s why it’s important to recognize what is beneficial and decline what isn’t, rather than leave the gate open to any and all forms of input. Vatas are great communicators and love chatter. But as much as they love it, it is jarring to their nerves. The solution? To practice limiting input—and output.

All chatter ceased on the day dedicated to silence, a traditional form of spiritual austerity practiced in India. Silence is believed to have a purifying effect on the sense of hearing and on the mind itself. In silence I noticed how much breath and energy I habitually waste on words.

At meals I never missed the conversation, which I now realize was often used to stave off fears or feelings of emptiness. In silence these feelings were given room to come into the light of awareness, where they could dissolve. Our silent afternoon asana class brought the entire group into a state of inner and outer focus, as we followed Leary in a strong series of standing poses, the ocean breezes and our own breath the only sounds we heard. Silence, I discovered, is a restorative posture as powerful as any physical one.

The retreat showed me what Savasana (Corpse Pose), the most basic restorative pose, was all about. With my busy work schedule, I frequently omitted this asana from my practice at home, dashing from other asanas directly to the phone or computer keyboard. The flip side of this kind of vatic overdoing is an energy crash, from which a judicious rest can protect you.

“Savasana brings you as close as possible to perfect physical alignment because it is easier to do correctly than any other pose. Being still while in alignment allows all levels of your being to move into alignment,” explained Svoboda. This is why Savasana feels so restful, physically, mentally, and spiritually. With enough rest and alignment, even restless vatic energy can stabilize.

At first, with its new terminology, Ayurveda can seem exotic, even to someone like me who has traveled to India and studied hatha yoga and meditation for 14 years. But in truth, resting deeply, eating healthful foods, following a regular schedule, moving at a gentle pace, stretching all my limbs, taking deep breaths, and limiting stimulation are all the basics of good health. There’s nothing exotic about these practices.

What is unusual is that we live in a society where we have to make an extra effort to practice them and resist the pressures that lead us to neglect self-care. Following the Ayurvedic and yogic techniques seemed unfamiliar at first, but when I practiced them, my body (or was it perhaps some subtler aspect of myself?) recognized them. As modern Americans, we may have forgotten how to care for the human being, but Ayurveda remembers and can remind us of what we once knew.


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Ayurveda – The Science of Life

November 12, 2012 By yogabound Leave a Comment

Ayurveda-The Science of Life

Ayurveda is the knowledge of life and tells us how to live a healthy life. Before we discuss how to go about it, we need to appreciate the difference between being ‘disease free’ and ‘healthy’. The opposite of ‘healthy’ would be ‘unhealthy’ and the latter is not necessarily synonymous with being diseased.

Have you not on some days awakened in the morning, after a fitful sleep, feeling sick? There are bags under your eyes and no sparkle in those days. You suffer from a feeling of incomplete bowel evacuation. Vague aches and pains dog you throughout the day; you shout at your children more than you need to, argue with peers for no rhyme or reason and are, by and large, unhappy.

Such symptoms cannot be classified into any known disease syndrome if guided by today’s medical system. But you are certainly not well and are definitely not in a state of positive health.

When patients come with such complaints, what does modern medicine have to offer? In the past it would have been vitamins and tonics, whereas the current trend is to prescribe the popular anti-stress drugs. Do you know that Ayurveda, our very own ‘made-to-order’ indigenous system of health, has given us several tricks to follow that will prevent us from ‘feeling unwell’?

Two quotations will help us in understanding what Ayurveda has to say in this regard. Charaka, the great physician of Ayurveda, says “The mind, soul and body form the three pillars, on which not only a human being’s existence rests, but also that of the world.” Sushruta, an ancient Ayurveda scholar having honor as the first surgeon of the world, has given a unique definition of health. He says ” Balanced Dosha, healthy Agni, a good state of tissues and their metabolic end-products lead to a balanced state of the senses, mind and spirit, all of which lead to health.”

It is said to rest on the tripod of body, mind and spirit. To be healthy, not only the body but also the mind needs to be kept fit; hence, the currently fashionable theme of ‘environment friendliness’. Thus, ways are described that will help us live a healthy life in constant tune with nature.

Ayurveda is often erroneously associated with herbs only. In actual fact it has a huge canvas that includes among other things, Yoga and Panchakarma. Diet and digestion are the pivots on which most of its theories are based – both in physiology (normalcy) as well as in pathology (disease). The basic philosophy of Ayurveda is based on the Panchamahabhoota (five basic elements) theory. From this theory evolves the concept of the controlling forces or the Doshas which act on the tissues, the Dhatus, giving rise to various metabolic products, i.e. Mala.

The character of all these are governed by what we eat, how we live and in which environment, and what is our mental state. And so, modifications in any of these can make us ‘unwell,’ not necessarily diseased. As an extension, if we remain unwell for too long, then our tissues (Dhatus) can lose their strength and become susceptible to foreign attack like infections, making us disease-stricken.

An important concept of Ayurveda is that each individual is genetically different – this gives him or her a very specific constitution (Prakriti) and also a very individual way of interacting with the environment. Thus, each person knows best what suits his or her body and what does not.

Ayurveda tells us of the framework in which we can modify our lifestyles to optimize our bodily functions. These things are described as Ritucharya (ways and means to be followed in different seasons) and Dinacharya (ways and means to be followed from morning to night). If, for some reason, some illness does occur, then Ayurveda describes remedies based on herbs, minerals and other therapeutic procedures like Panchakarma.

Nobody likes to age, but it is the law of life. Ayurveda teaches us how to age with dignity and grace. The Rasayana group of herbs prescribed therein is a fascinating resume on the secrets of life itself.

Ayurveda emphasizes the role of mental health in maintaining physical health. Today, we agree that there is a definite link between the mind and the body. Within the framework of psycho-neuro-immunology, we can re-interpret the ancient stanzas of Ayurveda and contribute new knowledge to the science of medicine.

We find that, nowadays, Ayurveda is making a feeble yet persistent attempt at a comeback. But, there is a word of caution. Blind faith in Ayurveda is not the answer. People are turning towards Ayurveda not only for therapy, but also for providing the lead to research.

Now, it is for the researchers engaged in the extensive researches in different aspects of Ayurveda to answer these following questions:
1) Can we develop a formula to live a healthy life using the philosophy of Ayurveda?

2) Can we personalize our lifestyle so as to avoid disease altogether?

3) Can we master the art of living?

The probable answers of all the questions are “Yes”. How? Extensive researches are going on to standardize these things so we can get some concrete answers in near future.

Dr. Suhas Kshirsagar BAMS, MD (Ayurveda) Dr. Suhas is a classically trained Ayurvedic Physician and Gold Medalist from prestigious Pune University.  A Rig Veda Brahmin by tradition and accomplished Clinician.


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Spring Pollen – Ayurveda’s Seasonal Wisdom

December 7, 2011 By yogabound Leave a Comment

Ayurveda’s Seasonal Wisdom in Florida – Has Spring Sprung?
By Denise O’Dunn

“Spring has sprung” is a fun alliteration, but the season didn’t really “spring” up on us. That would imply a clearly defined state of exiting one season and being firmly established in the next. Here in Florida we experience a more subtle transition from summer’s lush coverage to the trees losing leaves and then blooming. It is not as defined as the northern cycle of autumn to winter to spring. It’s not only subtle, it is inconsistent and seems to have a back-and-forth seasonal effect. We live in a place where the weather fluctuates in such a way that it seems to be a different season each day. This is apparent by looking at the condition of our trees as they are still losing leaves while they are blooming, spreading clouds of pollen and sprouting new leaves.

Ayurveda, the science of life, encourages us to be present and notice the subtle shifts that transpire in nature. When we are aware of these on-going changes, it is less likely that we will be caught off guard and thrown out of balance. The best way to apply the “seasonal” wisdom of Ayurveda in Florida is to look at today’s weather — and tomorrow’s forecast. Is it cool to cold and dry? That’s Vata, the Dosha or dynamic force of ether and air. When the day will be warm to hot and humid, that’s Pitta, the Dosha of fire and water. If the weather calls for cool and wet, that’s Kapha, the Dosha of water and earth. We can make appropriate decisions to maintain our personal balance when we are aware of the current Doshic influences, called Vikriti. So the Vikriti of the day includes the influences of the weather.

Everywhere in the Northern Hemisphere it is spring and so everywhere north of the Tropic of Cancer it is pollen season! The air is alive with the purposeful explosion of pollen from the variety of trees, plants, grasses and flowers that are blooming. According to Doshic principles, pollen is primarily Pitta. Pollen carries Pitta’s aggressive nature and irritating potential. The concentrations of pollen can be so high that even with no known allergies; everyone can be affected by pollen according to their Doshic nature or Prakriti. If we are a dominate Vata type our response to pollen may be sneezing, itchy eyes, wheezing or interrupted sleep. If Pitta is our dominate Dosha, Pitta will increase causing watery eyes, nasal discharge, inflamed or infected sinuses, and may be associated with fever or headaches. With Kapha dominance, pollen will influence our congestive nature with sinus congestion, swollen mucous membranes, deeper chest congestion or sluggish energy.

Whether our response to pollen manifests as Vata, Pitta or Kapha symptoms — or a combination of each, a common thread between them is the excess mucous (Kapha) created by the body to help soothe the irritated linings of our nasal passages, sinuses, throat, lungs and even your stomach. Ayurveda works on a basic principle that opposite actions contribute to greater balance. To decrease the effects of Pitta pollen and to balance the system we use cleansing, cooling and calming measures. The same traditional Ayurvedic cleansing ritual found in the daily routines of Dincharya, but with a special emphasis on the particulars of the season (Ritucharya)

This Pollen season is “Tri-Doshic” — all three Doshas are displaying their dominate natures. Below are 16 classical Ayurvedic recommendations designed to:

• Cleanse, soothe and rejuvenate the nasal passages and sinuses

• Clear the nadis or channels where prana (vital energy) flows

• Enhance circulation of blood and lymph

• Assist balanced agni or digestive fire

• Support the immune system

• Calm the mind and soothe the senses

• Balance the current Doshic influences

Keep in mind that, an essential concept in Ayurveda is that your Prakriti or birth-given Doshic type must be considered when incorporating Ayurvedic practices into your day.

Neti – Is the act of rinsing your nasal passages and sinuses with a saline solution of warm purified water and sea salt, equal to the normal saline of tears. With the use of a specially designed neti pot, the solution is poured into one nostril and drains out through the other. It is not recommended to use the neti pot if a sinus infection is suspected. Another form of neti is the simple act of swabbing your nostrils with a cotton tip dipped in rose hydrosol or rosewater. The gently cleansing and soothing application of rosewater to your nasal passages can be part of Dincharya, your daily cleansing routine.

Nasya – Is the use of herbal oil to assist with clearing and lubricating your nasal passages, opening your sinuses, enhancing sensory organs and enabling the balanced flow of prana. Nasya oil can be applied with a dropper, 3 – 5 drops of Nasya oil in each nostril. It is not recommended to use Nasya oil drops directly after using the neti pot, as the oil will drain into your sinuses. Nasya oil can also be applied with a cotton swab just inside each nostril. This application can be used daily and immediately follow the use of the neti pot or swabbing the nostrils with rosewater.

Pranayama – Is the regulation of your breath. Your breath carries prana, your life force energy. Deep, purposeful and efficient breathing supports the purification of your blood as it is processed by your lungs. The inhalation is revitalizing; the exhalation is restoring. Nadi Sodhana (purification of the energy pathways) is an alternate nostril breathing technique used to clear the channels for prana to flow. It also helps to keep the tissue of your nasal passages resilient. To perform this calming and grounding technique: use your thumb and ring finger on the hand that you write with, close your right nostril to breathe in and out through your left nostril…slow your breath down…repeat this, breathing through your right nostril…alternately breathe through one nostril and the other in a slow and controlled manner for at least 12 rounds. If your nasal passages are clogged, keep the closed nostril partially open. To warm and ground Vata, breathe only through your right nostril — to cool and calm Pitta, breathe only through your left nostril.

Bija Mantras – Are “seed” sounds repeated to affect the chakras or energy centers of your subtle body. The vibration that is created by verbalizing these mantras has a balancing effect on the associated areas of the body. For the 5th Chakra (Vishuddha or Throat) place your hands on your throat, visualize the color blue and make a repetitive sound of “HAM” (pronounced like “lawn”) out loud to the length of each exhalation 9 to 108 times. For the 6th Chakra (Ajna or Brow) place your hands between your eye brows, visualize the color indigo and repeat a continuous sound of “AUM or OM” (pronounced like “home”) out loud the length of each exhalation 9 to 108 times.

Relaxation & Meditation – Are practices of becoming still and letting go of all that doesn’t serve you in the moment. Relaxation and meditation effectively rest the systems of your body, while purifying and rejuvenating your mind. The simple act of following the natural rhythm of your breath is a form of relaxation. The meditative practice of silently repeating the sound “So” as you inhale and “Hum” as you exhale, while being aware of the silent gap between each phase of your breath, is a powerful method of witnessing the still point of your mind.

Asana Practice – Yoga postures enhance systems of your body by stimulating the flow of blood and lymph. The circulation of lymph is passive and can only be achieved through moving your body, the lymph system is a crucial part of your immune response so movement then becomes essential in your wellness.

By systematically holding and moving through yoga postures you increase the flow of energy throughout your body and this redirects ama or toxins from tissues of your body to the proper organs for elimination. Be sure to include postures that are invigorating, but not over stimulating, and postures that encourage the upward movement of energy while, at the same time, keep you grounded. Sun Salutations (Surya Namaskara) will bring you to this balance when practiced mindfully. Back arches like Bridge pose (Setu Bandhasana) are helpful in removing excess Kapha or mucous from your lungs and stimulating your thyroid gland. Include forward folds and spinal rotations, as they massage and assist the function of your internal organs. Practice standing postures, such as Warrior I and II (Virabhadrasana I and II) to open your chest with extended arms. Follow your natural breath through your asana practice; breathing-in all that you need to sustain you and breathing-out that which you no longer need.

General Exercise – Any form of moderate physical activity that you practice on a regular basis will greatly enhance the proper function of your bodily systems. Choose exercise that you enjoy and you will positively affect your body/mind response; this will support your immune system and reduce the effects of stress. Walking is an excellent exercise for all body types. Walking in the early morning is especially beneficial — as you witness nature awakening, you feel your body and spirit come alive.

Dry Brushing – Stimulation, through dry-brush massage, is an effective way to encourage your body’s internal cleansing activity, while reducing stress on the other organs of elimination. An important benefit of skin brushing is that it “exercises” your lymphatic system, which is a vital part of eliminating toxins and waste. Use a long-handled, natural bristle brush to reach all areas of your body. Apply moderate pressure when you use the dry brush on dry skin.

Abhyanga – Is an Ayurvedic oil massage, the term can also refer to a daily self-massage technique. The word Abhyanga suggests the movement of prana (subtle energy) into your body and the movement of ama (toxins) towards the organs for elimination. The main function of Abhyanga is to enhance the flow of prana by anointing your body with Dosha specific oils. Through the action of Abhyanga, impurities are released from your skin and toxins are detached from your deeper tissues to be removed by your body’s elimination system.

Herbal Preparations – Chyavanprash is a rasayana (rejuvenative) in the form of an herbal jam. Made in a base of amalaki fruit, this traditional Ayurvedic formula contains a synergy of over 40 herbs. Amalaki or amla is a very rich source of vitamin C, making it a potent antioxidant and excellent rejuvenative. It nourishes and strengthens the immune system by supplying energy to all the cells of your body. This vitalizing formula is slightly warming, supporting healthy digestion and elimination, while stimulating metabolism. It serves to gently balance your nervous system and respiratory system. One teaspoon of Chyavanprash jam taken twice daily is recommended. Herbal tea blends containing cleansing, cooling and calming herbs, as well as those that support immunity, will help to balance systems of your body affected by pollen. Herbs such as, red clover, burdock root, marshmallow, (not the candy) coriander, cumin, fennel, hibiscus, tulsi, bayberry, mullein and rosehips can be used in combination with herbs that are balancing to your Doshic nature.

Aromatherapy – Is the use of essential oils to create balance through their aroma and their application to your skin. Some of the essential oils most beneficial during pollen season are eucalyptus, camphor, wintergreen, lemongrass, ginger and basil. A synergistic blend of these oils can be inhaled from the bottle or a few drops placed in a basin of steaming water, then inhaled with a towel over your head. Be careful not to get undiluted essential oils on your skin or in your eyes, it can be irritating.

Digestion & Food – Enhancing your digestion is an important way to help all of the systems of your body function optimally. Choose Dosha balancing, natural foods that are light, fresh and seasonally available, such as leafy greens, cabbage, kale, green beans and asparagus. Enjoy fresh berries or cooked fruit, like apples and pears with a pinch of cinnamon. Eat legumes and grains that have a drying quality like black beans, chickpeas, aduki beans, basmati rice, barley and millet. The proper use of spices such as turmeric, cumin, fennel, coriander, mint and fresh ginger will promote good digestion and detoxification. Start your day by drinking a cup of warm water with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice and a spoonful of aloe vera juice; sweeten it if needed with Agave nectar. Take small sips of warm water or Doshic tea during your meals, avoid iced beverages.

Elimination – Our bodies are brilliantly designed to eliminate wastes and toxins, but if you are experiencing irregular bowel movements, constipation or diarrhea, there are naturally gentle and effective ways to assist regularity. Triphala is a classic Ayurvedic blend formulated to support proper function of the digestive, eliminative, circulatory and respiratory systems, by cleansing and nourishing their associated organs. This traditional formula contains the dried fruits of amalaki, bibhitaki and haritaki. It helps to balance the Doshas. The blend contains five of the six tastes (Sweet, Sour, Bitter, Astringent and Pungent). Triphala can be taken regularly, by all body types, as a tea or 1-2 tablets before bedtime.

Ayurvedic Treatments – Over time Doshic imbalance can result in the accumulation of Ama or toxins deep in bodily tissues. The Sodhana or cleansing principle behind traditional Ayurvedic treatments is to soften, release, and mobilize ama through the use of oil, massage and heat. This redirected ama can then find its way back into the blood stream and out through proper channels of elimination. For Pollen Season I recommend Nasyakarma, a treatment which begins with a shoulder, neck, and facial massage to relax tension and facilitate the nasal administration of warm herbal oil. This unique therapy aids in clearing and lubricating your nasal passages, opening the sinuses, enhancing your sensory organs and enabling the balanced flow of prana. Balancing cleansing methods with Rasayana or rejuvenating practices, Shirodhara is the perfect complement to Nasyakarma. In a Shirodhara treatment warm Dosha specific oil is streamed over your forehead, balancing the effects of excess Vata and calming the conditions of increased Pitta.

Panchakarma – Is the traditional Ayurvedic cleansing, rejuvenating and balancing program for your body, mind and spirit. According to the Vedic texts, the formula for optimal wellbeing is good digestion, efficient elimination, harmony between your mind, senses and consciousness, and a natural balance of the elemental energies of your being called the Doshas. Ayurveda explains that your natural state of balance and wellbeing can be challenged by rhythms that occur in nature, like seasonal changes. For this reason, Ayurveda recommends that you receive Panchakarma during the transition between seasons, so that you can be clear of the prior season’s excesses before the start of the next season. Everyone, especially those who suffer from seasonal allergies, can benefit from this wisdom. As the seasons seem to change day to day here in Florida, anytime is a good time for Panchakarma.

With awareness and the ways of Ayurveda you can experience balance & bliss in this blossoming time of year!

Disclaimer: This article was written for educational purposes only and is based on the tradition of Ayurveda. It is not intended to treat, diagnose, prescribe or heal any health condition or to replace standard medical treatment or advice.

 


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Aromatherapy for Balance

December 7, 2011 By yogabound Leave a Comment

Aromatherapy for personal balance.
By Denise O’Dunn

Aromatherapy is a modern term for an ancient healing practice that is more than 5000 years-old; there are descriptions of the burning of fragrant herbs, flowers, barks and resins, to enhance healing and meditation, in the Vedic texts.  The earliest holistic healers made incense, oils, salves and poultices from a variety of aromatic botanicals.

Aromatherapy makes use of highly concentrated oil extracts of flowers, fruits, herbs, grasses and trees. These essential oils are the vital life force of plants.  When you rub a peppermint leaf between your fingers, the scent that is released is the plant’s aromatic vital essence.

When you smell essential oils, they are carried directly to the area of your brain that influences your emotions, memories, desires and creativity.  Aroma also provokes the production of hormones that control physical and psychological functions.  The benefits of aromatic oils can be introduced into your body through your sense of smell or by contact with your skin.

When you apply essential oils to your skin, in addition to the cosmetic benefit, the oil’s tiny molecules enter your pores and make their way into your bloodstream to travel through the body’s entire circulatory system including your lymph.  The vital life’s energy contained in the oils positively effects all systems of your body.

Ayurveda, the ancient holistic health care system ofIndia, explains that there are three dynamic forces in nature, called Doshas, which are constantly changing and therefore affecting your personal balance. Aromatherapy helps to bring balance to your body, mind and spirit naturally through the aromatic properties of plants, and this is why Ayurveda embraces the use of aromatherapy as a valuable way to balance the three Doshas of Vata, Pitta and Kapha.

According to Ayurveda, the Doshas control your body’s physical, mental and emotional systems.  Ayurveda also recognizes balance in the relationships of the Doshas in nature, we experience the fluctuations of the Doshas on a daily basis; the cooler, dryer morning is Vata; the hot, humid mid-day is Pitta; the wet, rainy late afternoon is Kapha.

Ayurveda recommends aromatherapy in your daily routines by: applying aromatic oils to your skin (abhyanga), inhaling diffused essential oils, burning natural candles and incense, keeping arrangements of fresh fragrant flowers in your home or work place and growing aromatic plants and trees in your garden.  When you receive a massage, Ayurveda insists that the natural oil your therapist uses be specific to your Dosha, and be infused with essential oils that will benefit your Doshic balance.

Here is a list of Dosha specific essential oils and carrier oils:

Vata Dosha – elemental force of Air and Ether

The cold, dry, quick and irregular nature of Vata is balanced by using sweet, warming and grounding scents.

Essential oils: amber, angelica, anise, basil, bergamot, camphor, cardamom, chamomile, cinnamon, clary sage, coriander, eucalyptus, frankincense, geranium, ginger, jasmine, jatamansi, lavender, lemongrass, myrrh, neroli, patchouli, rose, rosewood, sandalwood, sweet orange, tangerine, thyme, vanilla, vetiver, ylang ylang.

Carrier oils: sesame, avocado and castor.

Pitta Dosha – elemental force of Fire and Water

The hot, sharp and intense nature of Pitta is balanced by using cooling, soothing and calming botanicals.

Essential Oils: birch, brahmi, chamomile, champa, clary sage, coriander, fennel, geranium, jasmine, jatamansi, lavender, lemon balm, lemongrass, lime, mandarin, myrtle, neroli, peppermint, petitgrain, rose, sandalwood, spearmint, tangerine, tea tree, vanilla, wintergreen, yarrow, ylang ylang.

Carrier oils: sunflower, coconut and olive.

Kapha Dosha – elemental force of Water and Earth

The cool, heavy and slow nature of Kapha is balanced by using stimulating, warming and cleansing aromatics.

Essential oils: angelica, anise, basil, bay, bergamot, birch, camphor, cardamom, cedarwood, cinnamon, clary sage, clove, cypress, eucalyptus, fir, frankincense, geranium, ginger, grapefruit, hyssop, jasmine, juniper, lavender, lemon, lemongrass, lime, marjoram, neroli, myrrh, myrtle, petitgrain, peppermint, rose, rosemary, sage, sweet orange, tea tree, wintergreen, yarrow.

Carrier oils: mustard seed, almond and grape seed.

Note: 100% pure essential oils are powerful substances; use sparingly and with caution. Always dilute oils before applying them to your skin. If you are pregnant, please consult your physician before using any essential oils.

Disclaimer: This article was written for educational purposes only and is based on the tradition of Ayurveda. It is not intended to treat, diagnose, prescribe or heal any health condition or to replace standard medical treatment or advice.

 


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Ayurveda – Basics of Panchakarma

December 1, 2011 By yogabound Leave a Comment

Ayurveda Panchakarma – Balance from the Inside Out – “Restore your body, mind, and spirit to a natural state of balance.”
By Denise O’Dunn, CAP, LMT, E-RYT500

Panchakarma Basics

Ayurveda is India’s 5,000 year old system of health and longevity.  Ayurveda is the Science of Life.  Panchakarma is the traditional Ayurvedic cleansing, rejuvenating and balancing program for your body, mind and spirit.  Panchakarma means “five actions”.  According to the Vedic texts, the formula for optimal wellbeing is good digestion, efficient elimination, harmony between your mind, senses and consciousness, and a natural balance of the elemental energies of your being.   These elemental energies are called Doshas.

Ayurveda explains that your natural state of balance and wellbeing can be challenged by rhythms that occur in nature, like seasonal changes.  Progressive changes related to your time of life also contribute to imbalance.  Imbalance is provoked by common and uncommon stressors, unexpressed emotions, emotional loss, excessive living, incorrect diet, etc.

Imbalance weakens your agni, your digestive fire, and weakened Agni leads to the accumulation of ama or toxins.  After a time unchecked stressors will dominate one’s life and ama may become deeply embedded in body tissues clogging your srotas. Srotas are your body’s channels of circulation and evacuation.  Excess ama will aggravate your body tissues or dhatus. This is how illness overcomes a body: by eventually impeding the flow of prana, the vital life energy.

Ayurveda’s practice of Panchakarma systematically facilitates the removal of ama from your dhatus and redirects ama to the appropriate organs for elimination. Panchakarma utilizes Ayurvedic principals and methods to reduce Doshic excess by correcting ingrained physical, mental and emotional imbalances. The rejuvenating actions of Panchakarma nourish your dhatus and pacify the Doshas, restoring your natural state of wellbeing.

Classical Panchakarma is comprised of cleansing, elimination and reducing methods and rejuvenating, pacifying and strengthening methods.  The cleansing methods are called shodhanas and the rejuvenating phase of Panchakarma is called rasayana.

The process of Panchakarma helps to unveil your natural wisdom, a Universal understanding that reaches beyond the mind, while providing a practical understanding of positive options and healthful behavior that can be applied in your daily life.

The Three Stages

Classical Panchakarma is divided into three phases that each contribute to the balance of the individual: Purvakarma is the preliminary action. Pradhanakarma is the principle action. Pashchatkarma is the final action.

Purvakarma

Purvakarma consists of preparatory methods to soften, release, and mobilize impaired Doshas and ama from peripheral tissues of your body.  Purvakarma begins while you are still at home.  You will modify your diet and daily activities to ready your body and mind for your Panchakarma program. Purvakarma includes the procedures of snehana which is the internal and external application of oil, and svedhana, which is sweating through heat or steam.  These processes are used to prepare your body for the detoxifying actions that occur during the primary stages of Panchakarma.

Snehana is a deliberate process of saturating the dhatus or tissues with oils and ghee (clarified butter).  The oils and ghee are specially prepared for you with Dosha specific herbs. The unctuous substances used in snehana soften and nourish the dhatus.  Snehana includes the ingestion of ghee, the internal administration of oil and the external application of oil through massage.

Following snehana is the process of svedhana which uses friction or the direct application of heat or steam to produce sweating. The purpose of svedhana is to continue softening the dhatus (tissues) while dilating the srotas or channels of circulation.  This increases the movement of toxins into the gastrointestinal tract. A common method of receiving svedhana is by sweating in a cabinet filled with steam infused with essential oils.

Pradhanakarma

The next step of Panchakarma is called Pradhanakarma.  Pradhanakarma is the primary cleansing stage of Panchakarma.  It is important for your digestive system to rest while it is being cleansed, so during this phase you are served a simple mono-diet, consisting of pure, organic, Dosha specific and easily digestible foods.

In Pradhanakarma any or all of the five principal actions can be used to facilitate the movement and evacuation of your body’s accumulated excesses. These traditional procedures include:

w  Basti which is an herbal enema that uses a mixture of various herbal teas and oils to flush your intestinal tract of loosened ama or toxins and excess Doshas.

w  Nasya, or nasal cleansing, uses herbal oils or powders to move accumulations in the nose, throat and sinuses, out through your nasal passages.

w  Virechana is the cleansing of the gastrointestinal tract using herbal laxatives.

w  Vamana is the ingesting of specially prepared herbal mixtures that provoke therapeutic vomiting to remove excess mucous and Doshas from your lungs and stomach.

w  Raktamoksha is herbal blood cleansing that can include “bloodletting” in the form of a blood donation.  In Raktamoksha, you take herbal preparations to clear your blood of ama and excess Doshas that have been absorbed into the bloodstream from the gastrointestinal tract.

Though all five procedures have their rationale, not all five procedures are required in each Panchakarma program.  Panchakarma is designed on an individual basis with consideration of the specific purpose and benefit of each Ayurvedic action.

Pashchatkarma

After your body is effectively clear of impurities, you begin to restore the natural balance of your Doshas through Pashchatkarma. Pashchatkarma is a nourishing and strengthening process that rebuilds your body’s newly cleansed dhatus/tissues.  It is now that you establish strong digestive enzymes or agni; your immune system or ojas is fortified, and your prana, your body’s vital energy is strengthened.

This course begins by gradually returning to a more nutritive diet.  Pashchatkarma uses rejuvenating treatments and herbal products to establish your balanced state. You receive instructions on how to live well on a daily basis to support the transforming process of Panchakarma, this is called dincharya.  The rebuilding measures of Pashchatkarma continue in the weeks that follow your Panchakarma experience as you continue the healthful and balanced lifestyle of Ayurveda.

The next step is Pradhanakarma, the deeper cleansing procedures of Panchakarma.  As mentioned before, these procedures are selected on an individual basis: Basti, herbal enemas; Nasya, nasal cleansing; Virechana, cleansing of the gastrointestinal tract using herbal laxatives; Vamana, therapeutic vomiting; Raktamoksha, herbal blood cleansing.  Pradhanakarma completes the detoxifying process of Panchakarma.

Pashchatkarma is the rejuvenation stage of Panchakarma.  Pashchatkarma brings your body, mind and emotions back to a stable, harmonious state.  This final step of Panchakarma includes luxurious treatments that enliven your sensory awareness and heighten your overall experience. You emerge from your Panchakarma experience deeply transformed and prepared to greet your life with a positive approach and renewed consciousness.

Ancient and Modern Panchakarma

We understand, through the ancient Vedic texts, that the holy sages of India perceived methods for purification and rejuvenation to remove the origins of suffering. The practice of Panchakarma was developed originally for royalty to promote their optimal health and long life. Based on this tradition, Ayurveda recommends that one receives Panchakarma during the transition between seasons, so that one can be cleansed and balanced of the prior season’s excesses before the start of the next season.

Everyone, especially those who suffer from seasonal allergies, could certainly benefit from this established timetable, however, receiving Panchakarma annually or even every couple of years is a very positive step to ensure balance throughout your lifetime. No longer reserved for royalty, we offer Panchakarma with practical consideration for modern schedules and daily demands.

The ancient principals and methods of Panchakarma are even more relevant today as contemporary society has introduced a host of new stressors that challenge the delicate balance of the Doshas or elemental energies. Honor your essential Doshic balance by participating in the necessary luxury of Panchakarma to support your overall wellbeing and longevity.

Glossary

  • Agni                                 digestive fire or enzymes
  • Ama                                 toxins
  • Ayurveda                     “science of life” – a way of living based on natural law
  • Baspa Svedhana      aromatherapy steam treatment
  • Basti                                herbal enemas
  • Dhatus                           tissues of the body
  • Dincharya                   proper daily regimen
  • Dosha                             elemental energies or dynamic forces of nature
  • Garshana                     dry massage or brisk rubbing action
  • Ghee                                clarified butter
  • Nasya                              herbal nasal cleansing
  • Ojas                                 essence of immunity
  • Panchakarma           “five actions” – system of cleansing and rejuvenation
  • Pashchatkarma       “final actions” – post-PK methods
  • Pradhanakarma      “principle actions” – PK deep cleansing methods
  • Prakriti                          original body/mind constitution
  • Prana                              vital life energy
  • Purvakarma               “preliminary actions” – pre-PK methods
  • Raktamoksha            blood cleansing
  • Rasayana                     rejuvenating/pacifying/strengthening methods
  • Shirodhara                 constant flow of oil to the head
  • Shodhana                    cleansing/eliminating/reducing methods
  • Snehana                       internal and external application of oil
  • Srotas                             channels of circulation and evacuation
  • Svedhana                     sweating through heat or steam
  • Vamana                         therapeutic vomiting
  • Vikriti                             current physical, mental, and emotional state
  • Virechana                    induced purgation

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St. Pete Yoga Festival 10.21-23, 2011

October 16, 2011 By yogabound Leave a Comment

YogaBound.com is pleased to be a sponsor of the 2011 St. Pete Yoga Festival.

Come OM with us this Friday through Sunday, October 21-23. The St Pete Yoga Festival is three days of amazing events, Yoga, meditations, presentations, music, food, dance and more. They’ve brought together some terrific talent to share with you.

As a sponsor we will have a tent/booth on Sunday for the Yoga Festival at Sunken Gardens. Come spend Sunday enjoying all the festivities in this beautiful, lush and tropical outdoor garden. There will be Yoga classes all day long; health, wellness and Ayurveda presentations: Kirtan, concerts, chants (call and response), music and dance presentations, food, beverages and more! Stop by our booth, say hello and view all of our beautiful yoga products and gifts, all at special show prices.

The price is so affordable and most of the weekend is simply love offerings/donations to benefit ‘Embracing the World’. For example, the Yoga Fast Pass Admission to all TWENTY (20) Sunday YOGA classes, SEMINARS, presentations, concerts and Sunken Gardens is just $34.95! Reserve yours HERE! And when checking out be sure to enter the discount code DEBB

Here’s the complete line up:

Friday Evening Kick-off – It’s a PARTY! It’s FREE! You’re Invited! Bring your SMILE, your SPIRIT and your BEST MOVES because they’re kicking off the St. Pete Yoga Festival with live music, starting with a ROCKIN’ SET with JIM BECKWITH, followed by an amazing performance by KIRTANANDA, featuring Christine Ghezzo; then we’ll ASCEND with a guided Meditation by Kundalini Yogi Sunder Kaur from Yoga Village – featuring the music of SNATUM KAUR; next we’ll OPEN YOUR HEART with a SPIRITUAL AWAKENING with Yogi RAM GIAN; before we RELAX with a screening of a beautiful, moving film!

For dessert: an uplifting ONENESS BLESSING UNDER THE STARS and a DRUM CIRCLE, refreshments, conversation, fun and games, and more! Come on down – Love Offerings/Donations gratefully accepted, pay what you can with proceeds benefiting ‘Embracing The World’. Limited seating available, reserve your tickets here. When checking out be sure to enter the discount code DEBB.

Embracing the World is an organization that exists to help alleviate the burden of the world’s poor through helping to meet each of their five basic needs – food, shelter, education, healthcare and livelihood – wherever and whenever possible.

Best known for her practice of tenderly embracing all those who come to her, Amma has served as confidante and counselor to many of the 29 million people she has embraced throughout her life. Each of Embracing the World’s projects has been initiated in response to the needs of the world’s poor who have come to unburden their hearts to Amma and cry on her shoulder.

Saturday Seminar – Experience an amazing spiritual retreat, yoga & meditation, and an examination of some of the world’s great spiritual texts in this fusion of Christian Mysticism, Kundalini Yoga and Advaita Vedanta Retreat, “Peace and Sudden Enlightenment” – led by Jnana and Kundalini Yogi Ram Gian. They will systematically explore the question “Who am I that the Kingdom of Heaven is within me?” The answer will likely surprise many participants, and may lead to true spiritual awakening, peace, and the path to spiritual enlightenment.

Space is very limited! Reserve your spot now, only $99.95! When checking out use enter the discount code DEBB

Saturday Evening Benefit Concert – featuring Parvati: “NATAMBA” live in concert! In her show “Yoga In The Nightclub”, Parvati is Natamba, a being from the Cosmic Intelligence who left Avalon to go to Earth. Natamba brings a message of hope, interconnection and being.

This event open to the public and admission is FREE – However, we are gratefuly accepting a LOVE OFFERING (pay what you can) for the benefit of “Embracing the World” charities. Limited seating: RESERVE NOW! When checking out use the discount code DEBB

Sunday Festival at Sunken Gardens – Outdoor festival featuring Yoga classes all day long; health, wellness and Ayurveda presentations: Kirtan, concerts, chants (call and response), music and dance presentations, food, beverages and more! Again, stop by our booth, say hello, and view all of your beautiful yoga products and gifts all at special show prices.

Yoga Fast Pass Admission to all TWENTY (20) Sunday YOGA classes, SEMINARS, presentations, concerts and Sunken Gardens is just $34.95! Reserve yours HERE! Be sure to enter the discount code DEBB

Sunday Evening Meditation Workshop – World-renown Buddhist Monk Bhante Sujatha will lead our closing Festival ceremonies with Healing Through Loving Kindness Practice.

Hosted by Wings Bookstore at Unity Campus in the sanctuary. This event is open to the public for a LOVE OFFERING (pay what you can: $20-45 recommended). Limited seating – reserve your seat NOW!

CHILD CARE is available during the Festival on Sunday at the Gardens. Cost is $5/child/hour. Pay at the Child Care Center at the Gardens (indoors) day of the event.

PARKING is FREE to all attendees (in the Sunken Gardens lot), or on the street in the surrounding neighborhood.

So get busy – explore the festival, learn about our sponsors and enjoy!


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Mind Body Medicine – The Dance of Soma and Psyche

September 21, 2011 By yogabound

Mind Body Medicine – The Dance of Soma and Psyche
By: William Collinge, M.P.H., Ph. D.-Excerpted from The American Holistic Health Associations Complete Guide to Alternative Medicine

The mind steadfastly refuses to behave locally, as contemporary scientific evidence is beginning to show. We now know, for example, that brain like tissue is found throughout the body…. So, even from the conservative perspective of modern neurochemistry, it is difficult if not impossible to follow a strictly local view of the brain.” Larry Dossey, M.D.

In the conduct of medical research, the existence of mind/body interactions has over the years been treated as a sort of hindrance. Such interactions are often lumped under the somewhat disparaging name of the placebo response. “Placebo” is a Latin term whose original meaning is “I shall please,” and it refers to the mysterious and uncharted mechanisms by which the power of suggestion can result in a physiological change.

Ironically, the very scientific methods championed by mainstream medicine in the testing of drugs have provided the greatest scientific support for the existence and power of the mind/body connection. In fact, the mechanisms involved are so formidable that the standard research procedure requires separating out their effects from those of the drug.

Hence the power of mind/body mechanisms has been examined and measured in virtually thousands of drug studies. It is in this sense that they have been verified and acknowledged by medical research to be a real and powerful phenomenon.

In the 1970s and 80s, researchers trained their sights more directly on these mechanisms. Herbert Benson, M.D., and his colleagues at Harvard Medical School led the way with the discovery of the relaxation response. This work has led to a cascade of findings about how mind/body mechanisms can be used for medically significant impact on hypertension, heart disease, cancer, and other conditions.

Today, leading edge programs for both patients and professionals are now conducted at Harvard’s Mind/Body Medical Institute, New England Deaconess Hospital, Boston. And under Benson’s direction, the institute is collaborating in the creation of other such programs at major medical centers around the nation.

In Benson’s perspective, “We are part of mainstream medicine, we are not alternative. You might say that this was considered alternative years ago, but it is now mainstream.”

Taking Center Stage
Indeed he may be right. In early 1993, a widely reported study documented the surprising popularity of alternative medicine this country. Published in The New England Journal of Medicine and led by Harvard researcher David Eisenberg, M.D., the study found that one in three adults had used some form of unconventional medicine. Of the varieties reported, mind/body technique were the most frequently used.

The creation of the Office of Alternative Medicine at the National Institutes of Health followed a few months later. Shortly thereafter, mind/body medicine was brought into the living rooms of millions of Americans by a television series on PBS called Healing and the Mind, hosted by the popular journalist Bill Moyers.

The PBS series symbolized a highly visible milestone in the mainstreaming of what critics had previously considered a form of fringe medicine. Mind/body medicine (also known as behavioral medicine) is of course nothing new. The influence of the mind in healing is addressed in virtually every medical tradition, from the ancient teachings of Ayurveda to modern allopathy. What is new is the legitimization of research in this field to the point of government funding and the incorporation of mind/body programs into the offerings of major medical institutions, many of which are noted for their conservatism and scientific bent.

What is the emerging role of this work? Benson regards it as an integral part of comprehensive health care. He offers the metaphor of a three-legged stool: “One leg is pharmaceuticals, another is surgery, and the third is what you can do for yourself. Mind/body medicine is strengthening the third leg, integrated with the other two legs.

Key Principles, The Biopsychosocial Perspective
In the late 1970s the eminent medical researcher George Engel of the University of Rochester made the bold statement that modern medicine needed a new way of thinking about health and illness.5 He proposed what he called the biopsychosocial model, in which health is the outcome of many factors interacting together. This provides the theoretical framework underpinning mind/body medicine.

In this view, health is not just a matter of “the drugs keeping up with the bugs.” Rather, health is determined by an interaction among our genetic vulnerabilities; environmental inputs such as germs, viruses, or pollutants; psychological factors such as stress, lifestyle, attitudes, and behavior; and social factors such as supportive relationships, economic well-being, access to health care, and family and community patterns of behavior.

Turning Down the Dial on Pain
Jim is a forty-six-year-old assembly line worker who received a disc injury in his neck and developed a chronic pain syndrome involving head, neck, arm, and shoulder pain. He was referred by his physiatrist to Karen Carroll, a biofeedback clinician practicing in Waterloo, Iowa, for pain control.

Carroll used EMG, first for general muscular tension and then for muscular tension around the upper body and neck. Jim was able to discover a direct connection between his thoughts, his level of nervous system arousal, muscular tension, and eventually his pain level.

After eight sessions spaced progressively further apart and accompanied by home practice of breathing exercises and progressive relaxation, his headaches and neck pain completely disappeared. He was then able to use physical therapy to further strengthen his neck and shoulders, and subsequently returned to work. He stated, “I never really knew what it felt like to relax until now.” According to Carroll, this case illustrates the benefits of commitment to self-regulation and daily practice at home for someone who was motivated to avoid medication and surgery if possible.

Engel’s perspective is gradually penetrating the thinking of mainstream medicine. When we look at the big picture of all the factors that influence health, we can see that many are within our direct control. Along with this new way of thinking has come a growing openness and receptivity to the contributing of mind/body approaches.

Mind/Body Communication
Our thoughts and feelings influence the body via two kinds of mechanisms: the nervous system and the circulatory system. These are the pathways of communication between the brain and the rest of the body.

The brain reaches into the body via the nervous system. This allows it to send nerve impulses into all the body’s tissues and influence their behavior. The brain can thus affect the behavior of the immune system with its nerve endings extending into the bone marrow (the birthplace of all white cells), the thymus, the spleen, and the lymph nodes.

It also reaches into all the glands of the endocrine system, all the bones, muscles, all the internal organs, and even the walls of veins and arteries. It can influence the behavior of the heart with its nerves penetrating the heart tissue, affecting heart rate and other aspects of the heart’s functioning. The entire body is literally “wired” by the brain.

The brain is also a gland. It manufactures thousands of different kinds of chemicals and releases them into the bloodstream. These chemicals circulate throughout the body and influence the activity and behavior of all the body’s tissues. The brain could be described as the ultimate apothecary, producing many more drugs than science has ever invented.

The cells of the body have receptors on their surfaces that function somewhat like satellite dishes. These receptors receive the chemical messages being released by the brain and respond accordingly.

Finally, the mind/body connection is a two-way street. In addition to sending messages into the body’s tissues, it also receives feedback, both in the form of nerve impulses and its own receptors that sense what chemicals are being released by other tissues in the body.

Research into how the brain can influence immune responses has given rise to the new field called psycho-neuro-immunology (PNI). Findings in this field have brought great hope to people dealing with such difficult illnesses as cancer, AIDS, CFIDS (chronic fatigue immune dysfunction syndrome), and other immune-related diseases.

It is only a matter of time before similar acronyms are defined for other fields such as psycho-neuro-cardiology (PNC), the study of the mind-heart connection, or psycho-neuro-hematology (PNH), the study of how the mind can influence bloodrelated disorders, such as clotting problems in hemophilia.

The Power of the Mind/Body Connection
One of the most stirring stories about the power of the mind/body connection concerns a man diagnosed with terminal cancer. Reported by Dr. Bruno Klopfer in the Journal of Projective Techniques in 1957, it involved a man with metastatic cancer and tumors that had spread throughout his body. The patient had tried every available form of medicine and his condition had hopelessly deteriorated to the point where he was bedridden and gasping for air.

His doctors agreed that he had only a few days to live. Then the man heard about an experimental drug called Krebiozen, which was in the process of being tested. He insisted on being included in the experimental trials. His doctors, feeling he had nothing to lose and would soon be dead anyway, out of compassion agreed to give him the experimental drug. To their amazement, the man’s tumors soon began to shrink dramatically and he was discharged from the hospital.

Two months later, the man read news accounts of the research on Krebiozen that reported serious doubts with the drug. Within a matter of days, the man’s tumors had returned and were again threatening his life. His doctor cleverly convinced him that new and more potent shipment had been received and proceeded to give him injections of plain water. His tumors once again began to shrink dramatically. He remained healthy for seven more months until another news report declared “Nationwide AMA Tests Show Krebiozen to Be Worthless as a Cancer Treatment.” The man died within two days.

The Stress Response
The stress response is a set of changes in the body that result when the person experiences what they perceive to be a challenging or threatening situation. This matter of perceived threat is important because the effects of the stress response on the body are the same whether the threat is real or just imagined in the mind.
The magnitude of these changes is influenced by how serious the person thinks the situation is and what they think about their ability to handle the threat effectively (their appraisal of their ability to respond). Of course, the more confident the person is in their ability to handle a challenge easily, the less stress is involved. The more the person appraises the challenge as a threat—even at the subconscious level—the more intense will be the stress response.

Commonly called the fight-or-flight reaction, the stress response has the beneficial effect of preparing the body to function at a higher level of efficiency, which of course enhances the likelihood of survival. The physiological changes include:

Increased blood pressure
Increased respiratory rate
Increased heart rate
Increased oxygen consumption (burning of fuel)
Increased blood flow to skeletal muscles
Increased perspiration
Increased muscle tone

While all these changes clearly contribute to one’s ability to fight or flee in an emergency, they also have a downside. If the person is experiencing the stress response regularly and for extended periods of time, these physiological changes have the effect of weakening the body’s resistance to illness and lowering the effectiveness of its mechanisms of self-repair.

The Relaxation Response
Another key principle is the relaxation response, which was discovered and named by Herbert Benson, M.D., and his colleagues in 1974. They were studying a pattern of physiological changes that occurs in people practicing transcendental meditation (TM).

This pattern of changes has been found to represent a very beneficial state, one that is virtually a mirror image of the stress response. The relaxation response includes the following changes:

Reduced blood pressure
Reduced respiratory rate
Reduced heart rate
Reduced oxygen consumption (burning of fuel)
Reduced blood flow to skeletal muscles
Reduced perspiration
Reduced muscle tension

The relaxation response is an antidote to the effects of the stress response and it has also been found to enhance the effectiveness of the body’s defenses and self-repair mechanisms. Regular practice of techniques that elicit this response also brings improved emotional well-being and better handling of stressful life events.

The relaxation response is a physiological state, not a technique as such. As we shall see later, there are many techniques that can be used to produce it and, indeed, learning to do this is at the heart of mind/body medicine.

Coping, Emotions, and Health
Researchers have identified how the ways we cope with emotions and stressful situations—our coping styles—can influence our physical health. Most firmly established are the links between coronary heart disease and the Type A behavior pattern. Type A is a way of coping characterized by constant hurriedness, intense competitiveness, and free-floating hostility.

A more recent concept is the Type C pattern, which in many ways is the polar opposite of Type A. It involves the non-expression of anger and other unpleasant emotions such as fear and sadness, unassertive and overly appeasing behavior in relationships with others, and a preoccupation with meeting the needs of others, often to the point of extreme self-sacrifice. The theory of the Type C pattern was put forward by Lydia Temoshok, Ph.D., a leading health psychologist and PNI researcher. She has found compelling evidence for a link between emotional expressiveness and the progression of cancer.

The middle ground, or Type B. is considered a more balanced way of coping that involves appropriate expression of all emotions and the ability to meet one’s own needs while responding to those of others. People who cope in this more balanced way tend to be less at risk for serious illness. The cultivation of these behaviors is often a goal in mind/body medicine programs, especially for heart disease and cancer.

Lifestyle Change
The use of mind/body medicine takes place within a broader context of changing one’s lifestyle to promote health. Making a daily practice of mind/body techniques is but one of several areas of lifestyle change that work together in a synergistic way. Other areas include proper diet, exercise, and social support.
While the health benefits of diet and exercise are obvious, there is a growing body of research now indicating that supportive interpersonal relationships are strongly associated with better health. They seem to ameliorate or buffer the harmful effects of stress on the body.

Turning Down the Pressure
Alice, suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), undertook a two-week intensive treatment of intravenous Acyclovir therapy in the hospital. Acyclovir is a drug that inhibits the reproduction of herpes viruses, a family of viruses thought to be cofactors in CFS. One of the side effects of this therapy is elevated blood pressure, which needs to be closely monitored.

Alice was about halfway through her treatment protocol when she enrolled in a group mind/body medicine program. She brought her stainless steel drip apparatus with her from the hospital and stood it up beside her in the circle with the other patients and their spouses.

The first day involved a series of relaxation and deep breathing exercises. The next day Alice returned to the group bubbling with excitement. She reported that the previous evening her blood pressure had returned to normal. The nursing staff were mystified and wanted to know how she had done it.

Variations: The Many Contexts of Mind/Body Medicine
This field is uniquely cross-disciplinary, which accounts for its wide availability, helping make it the most commonly used form of alternative healing.

Its variety of techniques may be used by medical doctors, nurses, physician’s assistants, naturopaths, osteopaths, practitioners of Chinese medicine and Ayurveda, bodyworkers, homeopaths, and chiropractors. Other human service providers such as psychologists, clinical social workers, marriage and family counselors, ministers, and hypnotherapists also use these tools. And of course there are very specialized applications for midwives, physical therapists, exercise physiologists, respiratory therapists, and others.

Mind/body approaches are generally taught either in office practice via private consultation with a health care provider or in group programs. Hospitals and other institutions offer various kinds of support groups or group therapy programs for people with cancer, heart disease, organ transplantation, and other conditions. Almost all such programs incorporate some use of mind/body techniques, such as relaxation exercises or imagery.

These methods are often taught to patients preparing to undergo surgery or other difficult treatments. Research has found such preparation to speed healing, reduce bleeding and complications, and result in earlier discharge from the hospital.

Procedures and Techniques
The repertoire of mind/body medicine includes all psychological strategies that directly influence physiological states. Following are the most commonly used methods.

Meditation
There are hundreds of varieties of meditation. The most basic approach for facilitating the relaxation response is that described by Herbert Benson. The process should take place in a quiet environment, a setting where one can be quiet, undisturbed, and in a comfortable position for at least fifteen to twenty minutes. Given this setting, there are only two essential steps: the silent repetition of a word, sound, phrase, or prayer and the passive return back to the repetition whenever other thoughts intrude.

Variations on these instructions are at the core of many forms of meditation from diverse spiritual traditions. The simplicity of these instructions, however, makes the approach available to virtually anyone, regardless of their spiritual or religious beliefs. This is because the person can use as their repetitive focus a prayer or any other words that reinforce their beliefs (e.g., “God is love”), thereby adding a further dimension of comfort to the experience.

Mindfulness
This is actually another approach to meditation, which involves the ability to focus completely on only one thing at a time. In other words, in mindfulness the mind is full of whatever is happening right now. This can include walking, cooking, sweeping the floor, dancing, watching a bird, hearing the sound of a river, or any other focus you may choose. Whenever thoughts intrude, you simply return your attention back to the focus. This is a traditional Buddhist approach and has been widely popularized by Jon Kabat-Zinn, Ph.D., in the Stress Reduction Clinic, University of Massachusetts Medical Center, Worcester.

Progressive Relaxation
This is another common approach to eliciting the relaxation response. In this technique the body itself is used as the focus of attention. It may be done either lying down or sitting. They technique involves progressing through the body one muscle group at a time, beginning with the feet, moving up the legs, and so on, spending approximately a minute in each area. For each muscle group, you hold or clench the muscles in the area for a count of ten and then release for a count of ten before moving on to the adjacent area.

The remaining techniques described below, while they also can lead to induction of the relaxation response, are also used for other purposes.

Mental Imagery
This involves using symbols to imagine that the changes you desire in your body are actually happening. For example, you might imagine that pain is melting away and dripping like a warm liquid out of your fingertips. Or you might develop an image of your immune cells actively subduing and preying on cancer cells or viruses, like birds of prey swooping down to engulf field mice in a meadow. This is a highly personalized technique and you would use images that are uniquely exciting and meaningful to you.

Studies of mental imagery have found that people can actually influence their immune functioning as well as significantly reduce pain and tension in the body with this method. But aside from the physiological benefits, which take some practice to achieve, there is also the knowledge that you are doing something to help yourself, channeling your energy into a healing activity. This in itself helps to improve emotional well-being and build a sense of self-efficacy or confidence, which research has found to improve immune functioning.

Autogenic Training
This approach involves using a combination of autosuggestion and imagery. Phrases are used to describe to oneself what changes in the body are desired as if they are happening now. For example, “My legs are warm and heavy,” “All the muscles of my back are softening and melting,” “I am calm,” and “Warm, peaceful relaxation is flowing throughout my body.” These phrases are repeated while maintaining one’s focus on those parts of the body being addressed. Whenever the mind wanders, the attention is gently and passively returned to the focus.

Breath Therapy
A variety of breathing exercises can help one to release tension, anxiety, and pain. They can be used in conjunction with imagery or autosuggestion. They can also be used to encourage fuller breathing in general and give the body a greater supply of energy, which it can use for healing. It takes energy to fuel the body’s self-repair mechanisms including the immune system. Since we take a thousand breaths every hour, each breath is an opportunity to contribute to a healing process.

Some breath therapy techniques use the breath in a calm, peaceful way to induce relaxation, to release pain, or to prepare for imagery. Another variety is Evocative Breath Therapy (EBT), which uses stronger breathing, sometimes accompanied by music, to stimulate emotions and emotional release.

Hypnosis
A simple description of hypnosis is offered by Karen Olness, M.D., of Case Western Reserve University who calls it “a form of self-induced, focused attention that can make it easier for you to relax or learn to control your body’s functions.” It is this experience of extraordinary focus of attention that makes it possible to influence bodily states.

A Hike in the Tetons
Larry was a successful forty-two-year-old architect at the time he developed pancreatic cancer with metastases in 1978. He integrated meditation and imagery into his chemotherapy treatment and though the road was long, he recovered completely, with no further signs of cancer three years later.

He tells the following story about his devotion to doing his imagery practice:
“My girlfriend at the time and I had taken a backpacking trip to the Grand Tetons. This was nine months into my treatment. We’d get out there on the trail and after lunch, which was one of my times, I’d want to sit on the trail or on a rock, or lean against a tree and do my visualization.

This woman was go-go-go, very achievement oriented. She was a very dynamic and pushy and controlling person. ‘We’re going to hike to this point, have lunch . . . by such and such a time we’ll be at the campground,’ and she would get terribly impatient with my after-lunch visualization.

It started leading to more and more friction, but I maintained my ground. I was insistent that this is what I was going to do. By the time the trip was over, we weren’t speaking. We flew back from Wyoming, not even sitting together on the plane, but that was very important for me, because I didn’t often put myself first when it came to her.”

Since his recovery, Larry has remained involved with a cancer self-help program as a lecturer in imagery. His story inspires many others to challenge difficult odds. There is no medical explanation for his recovery. The chemotherapy of the day was not considered curative for his condition, yet somehow he was able to marshall the resources to heal.

When in a hypnotic state, the mind is perfectly aware of the surroundings and the situation, but because it is so highly focused, it is able to concentrate on a task without being easily distracted. This enables the person to use imagery, relaxation, or autogenic suggestions in a richer, more powerful way.

Hypnosis is especially useful for relief from pain, reducing the distress from other symptoms or the side effects of treatment, and establishing a greater sense of control. Hypnotic states can be self-induced or facilitated by a hypnotist or hypnotherapist. Finally, it can help in overcoming one’s resistance to healthful behavior change, such as reducing smoking or changing one’s eating habits.

Biofeedback
Biofeedback uses special instruments attached to the body to give the person information about what is happening in the body. The instruments serve to amplify the signals that the person may not otherwise be able to detect so they can then use this visual or auditory feedback to learn to regulate certain bodily functions. Many people find this form of assistance very helpful for learning to relax.

The most commonly used form is electromyographic (EMG) biofeedback. An EMG sensor is attached to the skin and reveals the amount of electrical activity related to muscle tension in the area of the sensor. This is very useful in helping people learn to relax the muscles, for they have direct feedback—which may be visual readouts, lights, beeps, or tones—as to the degree of tension. This approach is often used for tension headaches and chronic pain conditions.

Other kinds of biofeedback include thermal, sensing the temperature of the skin as an indication of blood flow and relaxation; electrodermal (EDR), measuring subtle changes in amounts of perspiration; finger pulse, for measuring heart rate and force, useful for anxiety or cardiovascular symptoms; and monitoring breathing patterns—rate, volume, rhythm, and location (belly or chest) of each breath.

Biofeedback has many applications, such as headache and migraines, anxiety, chronic pain, teeth grinding and clenching, Raynaud’s disease (vascular disorder causing cold hands and feet), incontinence, asthma, and muscle disorders (including helping people learn to reuse arms or legs that have been traumatized). Essentially any bodily process that can be measured can potentially be controlled or influenced through the help of these techniques.

Scientific Support
There are four areas of research that support mind/body medicine: studies describing the physiology of mind/body interactions, those measuring the effects of mind/body therapy techniques, research on the health outcomes of structured mind/ body programs employing a variety of techniques, and studies of cost effectiveness.

Mind/Body Interactions
The Mind/Heart Connection. Scientists have pieced together how stress affects the heart. This work is well summarized by Cynthia Medich, Ph.D., R.N., a cardiovascular specialist and researcher at the Mind/Body Medical Institute, Harvard Medical School and New England Deaconess Hospital, Boston. What Medich describes as the mind/heart connection involves the release of two kinds of stress hormones into the bloodstream: corticosteroids and catecholamines.
These hormones set off a cascade of changes in the body including increased platelet aggregation (tendency for blood clotting); increased coronary artery tone; a surge in coronary artery pressure; increased blood pressure, glucose levels, and lipid levels; a more rapid and powerful heartbeat; and, paradoxically, a constriction in the coronary arteries. In short, the demands on the heart all increase.11

OAM-Funded Studies
Eight of the initial thirty studies funded by the Office of Alternative Medicine, National Institutes of Health deal with mind/body medicine.

Biofeedback. Angele McGrady of the Medical College of Ohio in Toledo is studying the use of biofeedback-assisted relaxation in reducing the dosage of insulin required in type I insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. The method is being studied as an alternative to increasing the dosage when the person is under stressful conditions.

Richard Sherman at Fitzsimmons Army Medical Center in Aurora, Colorado, is evaluating biofeedback in treating chronic musculoskeletal low back pain and muscle-related orofacial pain.

Imagery. James Halper of Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City is conducting a controlled study of the benefits of guided imagery for patients with asthma.

Mary Jasnoski of George Washington University, Washington, D.C., is examining the effects of imagery on the immune system, with potential implications for use in cancer and AIDS.

Blair Justice of the University of Texas Health Sciences Center in Houston was funded to conduct a controlled study examining the effects of a group imagery/relaxation process on immune function and quality of life in breast cancer patients.

Hypnosis. Helen Crawford of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg is examining how the use of hypnosis affects the electrophysiology of the brain in patients with low back pain. Carol Ginnandes of McLean Hospital in Belmont, Massachusetts, is studying whether hypnosis can be used to speed the healing of broken bones. Patricia Newton of the Good Samaritan Hospital and Medical Center in Portland, Oregon, is conducting a pilot study of the effects of hypnotic imagery on psychological and immunological factors in breast cancer patients.

With this understanding it is easy to see how individuals who experience stress on a chronic basis are at greater risk for heart diseases. This connection was dramatically illustrated in a study of air traffic controllers, considered to be in a very stressful occupation, who were found to have five times the incidence of hypertension as a comparison group of second-class airmen.

Other research has been able to anticipate who will develop hypertension and heart disease. One study followed 1100 adults for twenty years. Those who had the highest levels of anxiety at the beginning of the study turned out to have the highest rates of hypertension two decades later.

An eight-year study of over three thousand people found that those with the Type A behavior pattern were twice as likely as Type Bs to develop coronary heart disease.

Depression has also been found to affect the heart adversely. A study of patients with a history of heart disease found that those who were also depressed were eight times as likely to develop ventricular tachycardia as the patients who were not depressed. (Ventricular tachycardia is a condition of abnormal and potentially deadly heart rhythms.)

A ten-year study was conducted to follow the mortality rates of people who had experienced stroke. Those who had been diagnosed with either major or minor depression were 3.4 times as likely to have died within the follow-up period. The death rate among depressed patients with few social contacts was especially high: over 90 percent had died.

In a study of 194 heart attack patients, those who reported lower amounts of emotional support in their lives were nearly three times as likely to die within six months as those with higher levels of emotional support.17

The Mind and Immunity. In addition to affecting the heart, the chemistry of the stress response has been found to lower immune functioning. This is illustrated by studies of the effects of exam stress on medical students that have found significant drops in the activity of natural killer (NK) cells as well as in the numbers of NK cells (NK cells are a key in fighting cancer cells and viruses) and a significantly lower percentage of T-helper cells in the blood (the cells that arouse the immune response to fight off an infection).

In a study of recently divorced people, those who wanted the divorce, for whom it brought relief, were found to have better immunity than those who did not want the divorce.

A study of the effects of stress on salivary immunoglobulin A (S-IgA, the antibody that fights infections in the mouth and throat) found that a higher frequency of daily hassles was significantly associated with lower levels of S-IgA. However, the effects were less severe in people who scored higher on a scale measuring sense of humor. This suggests that sense of humor can counter the negative effects of stress on the immune system.

Research has shown that depression can have an adverse effect on immunity. A study that took place in a mental hospital compared natural killer (NK) cell activity in depressed patients, schizophrenic patients, and staff members. The patients with major depressive disorder had significantly lower NK functioning than schizophrenic patients and staff members.

A study involved 132 college students to determine the effects of positive emotions on S-IgA levels. Half watched a morbid documentary about power struggles in World War II, while the other half watched an inspiring film about Mother Teresa, a Roman Catholic nun selflessly serving the poor and sick in Calcutta. The latter group had significantly increased S-IgA concentrations, indicating heightened immune responsiveness.

Mind/body researcher Lydia Temoshok, Ph.D., studied the psychological factors associated with malignant melanoma. Among her findings was the discovery that emotional expressiveness was directly related to the thickness of the patients’ tumors as well as the course of their disease.

Major findings of Temoshok’s research include the following:
Patients who were more emotionally expressive had thinner tumors and more slowly dividing cancer cells.

The more emotionally expressive patients had a much higher number of lymphocytes (immune cells) invading the base of the tumor.

Patients who were less emotionally expressive had thicker tumors and more rapidly dividing cancer cells.

Patients who were less expressive had relatively fewer Lymphocytes invading the base of the tumor.

These findings helped contribute to the formation of the concept of Type C coping.

Can the immune system be trained to respond, like Pavlov’s dog was trained to salivate at the sound of a bell? In a well-designed, controlled study, participants were given a sherbet sweet along with a subcutaneous injection of a chemical known to increase NK cell activity (epinephrine). After several administrations of this regime, the epinephrine was replaced by a useless saline injection. Remarkably, the participants still increased their NK cell activity in response to eating the sherbet accompanied only by the saline injection!

Techniques of Mind/Body Medicine
Some research on techniques has examined their effects on specific bodily functions such as immune responses, blood pressure, and heart rate. Other studies have looked at recovery from surgery, and still others have focused on psychological well-being and the quality of life.

Relaxation Training. This is by far the most widely studied subject in this tradition with hundreds of studies documenting its benefits. A few examples: Patients with ischemic heart disease who practiced the relaxation response daily for four weeks achieved significant reduction in the frequency of preventricular contractions.

Patients with hypertension who took an eight-week (once a week) training program achieved significantly lower blood pressure and the benefits were maintained three years later.

Patients receiving several kinds of elective surgery who were trained in relaxation had less surgical anxiety both before and after surgery. The intensity of their pain and their use of pain medication were both reduced.

Also, a study of patients receiving angioplasty procedures showed significantly less anxiety, pain, and need for medication. In patients receiving heart surgery, those who received the training had significantly lower incidence of postoperative supraventricular tachycardia.

A controlled study of women with premenstrual syndrome (PMS) using the relaxation response twice daily for three months found a 58-percent reduction in the severity of their symptoms.

Two studies found increased NK cell activity as a result of practicing the relaxation response. One, involving geriatric residents in nursing homes, also found indications of lower activity of herpes viruses. In addition, there were significant reductions in symptoms of emotional distress.

Finally, in a study of exam stress in medical students, the more they practiced the relaxation response, the higher the percentage of T-helper cells circulating in their blood.

Meditation. Of many various forms of meditation, TM has led the way in mind/body research. Over five hundred papers have been published in 108 scientific journals, authored by scientists at 211 research institutions and universities, in twenty-three countries worldwide. Studies of TM were instrumental in discovering the relaxation response and its benefits for hypertension. Other studies have found important benefits for such diverse populations as prison inmates, drug addicts, and Vietnam veterans suffering from posttraumatic stress disorders.

In one study, patients with hypertension who practiced TM twice daily for five to six months achieved significantly lower blood pressured. In another, the effects of TM were compared to those of progressive muscle relaxation and usual care in hypertension. For those using TM, the decreases in systolic and diastolic blood pressure were twice as great as those for the subjects in the other groups. As will be seen later, TM has also shown impressive effects in reducing the utilization rates of medical services.

Imagery. Imagery is often used in combination with relaxation and meditation. A controlled study of fifty-five women examined the effects of imagery and relaxation on breast milk production in mothers of infants in a neonatal intensive care unit. They received a twenty-minute audiotape of progressive relaxation followed by guided imagery of pleasant surroundings, milk flowing in the breasts, and the baby’s warm skin against theirs. They produced more than twice as much milk as those receiving only routine care.

In another study, a group of metastatic cancer patients using daily imagery for a year achieved significant improvements in NK cell activity and several other measures of immune functioning.

At Michigan State University, researchers found that students could use guided imagery to improve the functioning of certain white cells called neutrophils, important immune cells in defense against bacterial and fungal infection. They could also decrease, but not increase, white cell counts. At one point in the study, a form of imagery intended to increase neutrophil count unexpectedly caused a drop instead. Subsequently, students were taught imagery explicitly intended to keep the neutrophil count steady, while increasing their effectiveness. Both of these goals were achieved.

Breath Therapy. A study examined the effect of evocative breath therapy (EBT) on salivary immunoglobulin A (S-IgA). EBT involves abdominal breathing accompanied by music and posthypnotic suggestion to promote emotional arousal and release. Forty-five adults in a group therapy program for cancer showed an average 46-percent increase in S-IgA levels after an hour-long EBT experience.

Biofeedback. A controlled study of patients with irritable bowel syndrome found that biofeedback training brought a significant reduction in symptoms. This change was still present six months later. Another controlled study found a 41-percent reduction in migraine headaches in patients using a thermal biofeedback procedure at home.

Multi-strategy Group Programs
Most organized mind/body therapy programs use a regimen of several techniques. Below are described some findings of such multistrategy programs for specific illnesses.

Hypertension. A group program for patients with hypertension included training in the relaxation response, nutrition, exercise, and stress management. Findings included significant reductions in blood pressure, cholesterol, triglycerides, weight, body fat percentage, and psychological symptoms. Importantly, most of the benefits were intact when the patients were checked three to five years later.

Surviving Heart Attacks. Patients recovering from myocardial infarction took a six-hour program of stress management training with mind/body techniques and emotional support. The result was a 50-percent reduction in subsequent rate of cardiac deaths.

Reversing Heart Disease. A controlled study at the Preventive Medicine Research Institute, University of California, San Francisco, examined the effects of a multistrategy program on people with severe coronary heart disease. Patients were randomly assigned to either a usual care group or the experimental program. The latter involved a regimen of dietary changes, exercise, yoga, and group support that included the practice of mind/body techniques. Those in the experimental program almost universally showed reductions in coronary artery blockage, while those with usual care generally showed more blockage.

Benefits for Infertility. A ten-week group program for infertile women included training in the relaxation response with instructions for daily practice and training in stress management, exercise, nutrition, and group support. Results included decreases in anxiety, depression, and fatigue and increased vigor. Also, 34-percent of the women became pregnant within six months of the program.

Reducing Symptoms of AIDS. In a controlled study, patients received group training in biofeedback, guided imagery, and hypnosis. Results included significant decreases in fever, fatigue, pain, headache, nausea, and insomnia. Vigor and hardiness also significantly increased.

Another group program for HIV found significant improvement in emotional expression, sense of control over health, tension, anxiety, fatigue, depression, and total mood disturbance.

Psychological well-being in Cancer. Fifty-nine patients took a ten-day, sixty-hour group program that includes imagery, relaxation training, lifestyle evaluation, emotional release therapies, group support, breath therapy, and exploring the personal meaning of illness. Results included significant improvements in emotional expressiveness, fighting spirit, quality of life, sense of control over health, and optimism–including patients with metastatic disease. These improvements were still present three months after completing the program.

Psychological well-being and Immunity in Cancer. Sixty-six patients with malignant melanoma took a six-week structured group program that included health education, stress management, training in problem solving, and psychological support.

Josephine
Josephine, thirty-six, suffering from headaches, sought help from her physician. Her blood pressure was 150/100, she was twenty pounds overweight, and her cholesterol level was 280 mg/dl. She smoked a pack a day and did not exercise regularly. She was given a betablocker for high blood pressure, a cholesterol drug, and was told to lose weight and stop smoking.

Two months later her blood pressure was 160/102 She had lost no weight, she had not been able to stop smoking, and her cholesterol was 290 mg/dl. When asked why she hadn’t cooperated with the recommendations she broke down in tears. She hadn’t been able to afford the medications ($90/month). Her husband had left her and their two children after a stormy and abusive marriage, so she had been trying to work two jobs, felt depressed, was not sleeping well, and her headaches were now a daily occurrence.

She was referred to the Hypertension Clinic at the New England Deaconess Hospital, Boston, and participated in a twelve-week program of two-hour sessions with ten other participants. The program emphasizes the relaxation response, diet, exercise, and stress management. Her goals in the program were to control her blood pressure, lose weight, and stop smoking.

During the program she regained some of her self-esteem, began to feel more hopeful, started sleeping better, was less irritable with her children, and was able to find assistance for child care and vocational training. She monitored her blood pressure once a day, which dropped to 124/90, and her medication was stopped. She was headache-free. She started walking daily and lost five pounds. Her cholesterol dropped to 220mg/dl. She practiced the relaxation response once a day and signed up for an assertiveness training class at the YWCA.

Before leaving the program, she outlined the situations that might be associated with relapse and developed a plan for action that included returning periodically for the drop-in groups for reinforcement. She also signed up for a SmokeEnders group to start after the program ended.

Six months after the program, there were significantly lower levels of psychological distress and higher levels of positive coping methods in comparison to patients who did not have the program. There were also significant increases in the percentage of NK cells and in their functional effectiveness (cytotoxic activity).

Increasing Survival Time in Malignant Melanoma. The patients who participated in the above study were followed for six years. A startling difference in death rates between the two groups was found. Of those who were in the control group (no group therapy), thirteen of thirty-four had a recurrence of cancer during the six years and ten died. For those who had the group program, only seven of thirty-four had recurrences and only three died.

Increasing Survival Time in Breast Cancer. A ten-year controlled study was conducted with eighty-six women with metastatic breast cancer. Those who had a year of weekly group sessions had nearly double the survival time of those who did not have the group (averaging thirty-six months versus eighteen months). The group provided self-hypnosis and a form of therapy called “supportive-expressive therapy.”

Cost-Effectiveness
Aside from the medical and psychological benefits, one of the most important contributions of mind/body medicine is in reducing the costs of health care by reducing the utilization rates of expensive inpatient and outpatient services.

Dr. Elizabeth Devine of the University of Wisconsin School of Nursing in Milwaukee conducted an analysis of 191 different scientific studies in which surgery patients were taught simple mind/body techniques. She found an average reduction in the length of hospital stay of 1.5 days (12 percent). This of course translates into enormous savings, considering the cost of a day of hospitalization. Results also included faster recovery from surgery, fewer complications, and reduced postsurgical pains.

Other studies have found reduced utilization rates for outpatient medical services. For example, in one study 109 chronic pain patients took a ten-session outpatient group mind/body program. A 36-percent reduction in total monthly clinic visits for pain management was found in the first year after the program.

Another study looked at the medical care utilization rates of two thousand regular practitioners of TM, comparing them with 600,000 other members of the same insurance carrier. For children and young adults the reduction for inpatient services was 50 percent and for older adults it was 69 percent. The reductions for outpatient services were 47 percent for children, 55 percent for young adults, and 74 percent for older adults.

The same pool of TM practitioners were compared to five other health insurance pools, showing 55 percent fewer visits for benign or malignant tumors, 87 percent fewer visits for heart disease, 30 percent fewer visits for infectious diseases, 31 percent fewer visits for mental disorders, and 87 percent fewer visits for diseases of the nervous system.

Strengths and Limitations
The greatest strengths of mind/body medicine are in stress-related conditions and chronic illnesses. It also has a great deal to offer in terms of relief of the symptoms of acute illnesses as well as relief from the side effects of treatment such as surgery, radiation, or chemotherapy in cancer.

This is obviously a complementary form of medicine rather than a primary treatment for major diseases. However, while it is usually thought of as supportive rather than curative, there are illnesses that do not respond to conventional medical treatment and for which mind/body medicine offers a way of gaining some relief and promoting recovery.

One point of controversy that often arises in this tradition is the question of whether its use implies an assumption that one’s illness must hav


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Ayurvedic Head Massage

August 31, 2011 By yogabound Leave a Comment

By Narenda Metha

That’s Using Your Head. Do-it-yourself Ayurvedic head massage stops stress, and stimulates healing.

Do you often come home from work feeling tired and worn out? You have the power to melt away pain and relieve stress in your own fingertips by giving yourself an Indian head massage.

Massage has always played an important part in Indian life, mentioned in the earliest Ayurvedic texts that date back nearly 4,000 years. When used in conjunction with herbs, spices and aromatic oils, massage can encourage the body’s natural healing abilities.

Indian head massage supports the nervous system by alleviating stress; stimulates the lymphatic system, encouraging the elimination of toxins; helps break down muscle knots; relieves chronic neck and shoulder stiffness; increases oxygen uptake in tissues; and improves circulation. Head massage can also be used to stimulate hair growth, improve concentration and relieve migraine pain.

Begin by choosing an oil. Sesame, mustard, almond, coconut and olive oils are most commonly used. Massage the oil into your head, starting from the sides and working towards the top. Work your way toward the front and back of the head. Gently massage the whole head with your thumbs and fingers. Grasp fistfuls of hair at the roots and tug from side to side, keeping your knuckles very close to the scalp. Squeeze at the temples with the heels of the hands and make slow, wide, circular movements. Look down slightly and massage the back of the neck by squeezing and rolling the muscles.

Begin at the top of the neck and work your way down, first with one hand and then with the other hand. Place the thumb of your left hand under the left occipital area (base of the head) and the thumb of your right hand under the right occipital area and relax the tight muscles by using friction or a rubbing movement. Place your left hand on your right shoulder near your neck. Using medium pressure, gently squeeze the shoulder muscle that starts at the base of your neck. Work your way outwards along your shoulder to your arm and then down as far as your elbow. When you reach your elbow, go back to the base of your neck and do this twice more. Concentrate on squeezing the muscle tissue.

Now place the flattened palm of your left hand beside the base of your neck on the right-hand side. Rub along the top of your right shoulder and continue down your right arm where you squeezed the muscles before. When you reach your elbow, go back to the base of the neck and repeat the action twice. Change arms and work the other side. Finally, rub lightly with your hands all over the head; extend this movement to cover your face. You can use these movements without oil. If possible, allow a few minutes afterwards to relax.

Adapted from Indian Head Massage: Discover the Power of Touch by Narenda Metha (Thorsons, 1999).


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Understanding your Ayurvedic Constitution can Bring Headache Relief

August 31, 2011 By yogabound Leave a Comment

By Jennifer Barrett

A headache sufferer’s medicine chest often tells the story of once-promising treatments abandoned. Sedatives, beta-blockers, and narcotics represent just some of the high-octane prescriptions people use to quell extreme pain.

And there’s a lot of pain around. The heavyweight champions of headaches are migraines and clusters. Migraines affect more than 26 million Americans, according to the American Medical Association, and are three times more common in women, especially those in their 20s and 30s.

Migraines cause moderate-to-severe pain and last anywhere from four to 72 hours, often on one side of the head. They frequently include symptoms like nausea, vomiting, and acute light and sound sensitivity.

Clusters are less common; only 1 percent of the population is affected, and 80 percent of those are men. Clusters cause brain-throbbing pain often described as a “poker in the eye.” They traditionally occur daily for periods of weeks, months, or even years, with each headache lasting on average less than one hour.

The menu of drugs used for either type of headache does bring some relief but not for everyone and not all the time. Many Ayurvedic practitioners believe the greatest flaw of these drugs is they seldom get to the root of the problem. “Often practitioners of Western medicine only detect the last two stages of disease development, the point when the problem manifests and bears clinical signs,” says Swami Sada Shiva Tirtha, D.Sc., founder of the Ayurveda Holistic Center and the School of Ayurveda in Bayville, New York. “But problems start long before that.”

Looking beyond the immediate pain, you’ll find several contributing and relatively manageable factors. The first place to check, suggests Nancy Lonsdorf, M.D., medical director at The Raj Maharishi Ayur-Veda Health Center in Fairfield, Iowa, is the balance of doshas.

“People who are stronger in pitta, or the fire element, will often be more prone to migraine,” she says. “Pitta governs digestion and metabolism, and for them eating pitta-aggravating foods, such as red wine, aged cheeses, or acidic fruits like tomatoes and citrus, can make things worse. When diet, stomach, and liver get excessively acidic, the blood can get some quality of that, which provokes aggravation of nerves and then blood flow to the head.”

In addition to dietary precautions, Lonsdorf recommends cooling the nervous system by applying a small amount of pitta-pacifying ghee (clarified butter) daily into the nostrils and sniffing. Also try a mixture of one part powdered ginger with four parts rock sugar or organic turbinado sugar; put one-quarter teaspoon in a half cup cool water and drink. This activates purification of the digestive tract and prevents nausea and vomiting.

Clusters also reflect the digestion problems of pitta, says Lonsdorf, along with an imbalance in vata, the air element that governs nerves and circulation. “To calm vata, go to bed early and give yourself regular self-massages with organic sesame or olive oil.” Clusters’ signature traits—teary eyes, facial sweating, and stuffy nose—signal the body’s attempt to flush out toxins. So Lonsdorf suggests regular purifying, such as a daily 10-minute eucalyptus steam inhalation.


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Ayurveda – An Insight into this 5000 Year Old Ancient Science of Healing

August 25, 2011 By yogabound Leave a Comment

(By: Dr.Mary Jo Cravatta)

In recent years, we have begun hearing more about the ancient healing art of Ayurveda. What has brought on this current interest?

With our ever rising growth in consciousness, we are recognizing our oneness with the world around us. Sensing that we are an integral part of nature–not separate from nature–it’s becoming increasingly more obvious that we must learn to live in accordance with these laws of nature.

Modern society has brought many wonderful advancements. Yet at the same time, as we slip further, and further from our connectedness with nature, we are seeing an increase in dis-ease and dis-harmony.

Out of this lack of perfect balance comes the desire to improve the overall quality of our lives. It is this knowing that there is more to our lives that brings the quest for a greater sense of well-being.

Ayurveda, which literally means “the science of life”, is the natural healing system used throughout India. Ayurveda was originally known to have been first developed, and established by the great sages who developed India’s original systems of meditation, and Yoga over 5,000 years ago.

The study of Ayurveda includes such aspects as herbal medicine, dietetics, body work, surgery, psychology, andspirituality. Ayurveda deals not merely with medical science, but also with the social, ethical, intellectual, and spiritual life of a man.

Ayurveda represents a beautiful blending of the accuracy of science, and the sublimity of philosophy, poetry, and art. According to Ayurveda, a living creature is composed of soul, mind, and body. It is the compound of these three elements that is the subject matter of the science of life.

The human body according to Ayurveda, is composed of the three fundamental elements called doshas, dhatus, and malas. The doshas govern the physio-chemical, and physiological activities of the body, while the dhatus enter into the formation of a basic structure of a body cell, thereby performing some specific actions.

The malas are substances which are partly excreted in a modified form after serving their physiological functions. These three elements are said to be in a dynamic equilibrium with each other for the maintenance of health. Any imbalance of their relative preponderance in the body result in disease and illness.

PANCHA MAHABHUTAS THEORY: A person has five senses. And through these senses he or she perceives the external world in five different ways. The sense organs are the ears, skin, eyes, tongue, and nose. Through these sense organs, the external object is not only perceived, but also absorbed into the human body in the form of energy.

These five types of senses known as the five mahabhutas, are the basis on which the entire universe is divided, grouped, or classified. They are named as akasha (sky), vayu (air), agni (fire), jala (water), and prithvi (earth).

As discussed, the body of an individual is composed of five mahabhutas. Similarly, in other extraneous matters there are also five mahabhutas. In the human body, these five mahabhutas are represented in the form of doshas, dhatus, and malas. Outside the body, they form the basic ingredients of the drugs, and food ingredients .

In a normal body of a living being, these substances remain in a particular proportion. However, because of enzymatic action inside the human body, this ratio of five mahabhutas, or their equilibrium inside the body gets disturbed, The body has however, a natural tendency to maintain equilibrium. It eliminates some of the mahabhutas which are in excess, and takes some of the mahabhutas which are in shortage.

This shortage of mahabhutas is replenished through the ingredients of herbs, food, drinks, etc.


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