In 1990, I was a culinary student at the Cordon Bleu in San Francisco and worked for Alice Waters at Chez Panisse in Berkeley. My goal was to study and work in France and ultimately I spent a year-and-a-half honing my craft in Paris and Provence. With all my formal education I must admit that [...]
Klara Souklava first traveled to the Amazon to experience ayahuasca ceremonies with hopes of healing deep wounds from her past. She had issues of self-love, trust issues with men, and the trauma of a rape to work through. Souklava dove deep, working with three male shamans whom she trusted implicitly at the time. She now [...]
June is one of the gentler months we've had in quite some time. This is a great time to exhale, with both Venus and Mercury in their own signs. The Vedic Astrology of this month concludes with a beautiful Full Moon in Sagittarius, inviting us to gaze upward at what is possible. June 4 [...]
The Vedic Astrology forecast for May brings the promise of new beginnings. May 2016 begins with two fiery shifts: one is the new Aries cycle and the second is Jupiter in Leo turning direct. Expect to feel enthusiastic and even restless the first half of the month and get ready to hit the ground running [...]
Attention to all 8 Spokes on the Wheel of Life is Important for Wellbeing The Wheel of Wellbeing is our internal navigational device. Learning how to steer it confidently to our intended destination ensures security, accomplishment, and happiness for ourselves as well as for those who rely on us. This wheel consists of eight [...]
The New Shape of Soap The Japanese holistic qi therapist Keiko Matsuo had childhood dreams of a career in medicine…traditional medicine that is. Instead Fate led her wandering a more homeopathic path to healing. As a youth navigating her parents’ chronic illnesses, massage therapy especially captured her curious mind. In a career spanning 30 years, [...]
Retrain your Taste Buds We are creatures of habit and our habits then perpetuate everything about us as a creature. For example, our relationship with our taste buds is in some ways a habit. We become habituated to taste and this affects how we we then make choices about what we eat based in part [...]
Self-care practices rich in nourishment and self-love can be found in Ayurveda. For any operating system, regular maintenance is key to optimal performance and longevity. For our human operating system maintenance includes regular self-care in order to experience a finely tuned physical body, healthy state of mind, a well-balanced emotional operating system, and a daily dose [...]
7 Ayurvedic Antidotes for Energy of the Vata Dosha The windows rattle, the cold seeps in through the cracks, branches crash onto sidewalks, we may have trouble sleeping, and we feel the chill on our face and neck. I know that I feel the effects when the wind does its dance on windy days and I [...]
Vedic Astrologer Sam Geppi shares insights for the month of April. April is a month with a strong focus on themes related to the Self and others – with a New Moon in Aries and a Full Moon in Libra. Exalted Venus and the Sun affirm themes of beauty and personal strength. April 1 Venus enters [...]