By now everyone knows that the COVID-19 pandemic began in December 2019 in Wuhan China and rapidly extended to become a global health and economic emergency. Its etiological agent (nidana) is the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. COVID-19 presents a wide spectrum of clinical manifestations, which ranges from an asymptomatic infection to a severe pneumonia accompanied by multisystemic failure that can lead to death. The immune response to SARS-CoV-2 is known to involve all the components of the immune system that together appear responsible for viral elimination and recovery from the infection. However, these very same immune responses are implicated in the disease's progression from a mild infection to a more severe and lethal process. This wide clinical spectrum of COVID-19 is a consequence of the correspondingly variable spectrum of the immune responses to the virus. The critical point where progression of the disease (in the conventional medical paradigm) is triggered appears to center on loss of the immune regulation between controlled protective and uncontrolled destructive responses due to an over-exuberant production of various cytokines (pro-inflammatory chemicals). As logical as this sounds, as you will see the Āyurvedic paradigm understands this critical point of progression to be very different.
Read MoreWithin the last twenty years evidence has begun to accumulate which supports the specific health benefits of a vegetarian diet. For example in the late 1990’s, researchers found that the isothiocyanates in cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower) protect against and possibly treat prostate and other cancers. The blood glucose-lowering effect of raw onions has been known for some time and is generally attributed to the presence of several sulfur-containing sulfoxides.
Read MoreIn Ayurveda, there is a useful method for promoting healthy thinking known as Pratipaksha Bhavana. The literal meaning of this term is “moving to the other side of the mansion” and it points to the mind’s ability to completely transfer its awareness from a negative object to another more positive one (prati-other, opposing; paksha-wing, half; bhavana-dwelling, home, mansion, being).
Read MoreThe mystic poet William Blake once said. “How sweet I roamed from field to field, and tasted all the summer's pride.” Certainly summer brings with it ample evidence of Nature’s wonders. During this period the earth tilts towards the sun which supplies abundant heat and light. It is a season characterized by heat and humidity and unbridled growth of flowers, grasses, trees and leaves. Children and adults alike emerge from their homes and naturally begin to engage in increased physical activities. Other important qualities of Pitta include softness, excitation, and joy. However, the seasons around the globe are undergoing extreme changes and it is thus becoming a major cause of concern for all nations.
Read MoreThe practice of Yoga, or unification, re-establishes the connection between the individual and the universal field of pure consciousness. Yoga removes the attachment to external objects and false knowledge and corrects psychological trauma by merging the mind with the real, the virtuous, and the wellspring of harmony.
Read MoreParkinson’s Disease is one of the most common neurodegenerative disorders affecting more than 1 million Americans and 10 million people worldwide. Parkinson’s Disease gets its name from an essay written in 1817 by a British pharmacist James Parkinson entitled “An Essay on the Shaking Palsy”.
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