Standing Still To Find The Authentic Self “Can you ever just stop?” Maya Rasak says one of her meditation teachers asked her this question before giving her the following advice: Stop, stop running, stop being busy and just breathe and feel. She didn’t take this advice to stop easily; it took an illness [...]
Pecan pie is a quintessential holiday treat, but the standard recipe is far from healthy. Eric Lechassuer has created a vegan macrobiotic version that’s both beautiful and delicious. — FMT Recipe by Eric Lechasseur For The Pie Crust: 1 cup spelt flour 3?4 cup unbleached flour 1?4 teaspoon sea salt 1?3 cup maple [...]
A Sunday evening festive dinner potluck, at the home of Camarillo Yoga Center Director, Audrey Walzer, was where I was first introduced to Komali Nunna, the author of Entertaining from an Ethnic Indian Kitchen. All the guests at the dinner party lovingly crafted recipes from within the pages of this treasure trove of magic meals. [...]
The Sugar Buster Herb The Ayurvedic herb gurmar is popular known as the sugar buster. Gurmar (Gymnema sylvestre) is a member of the milkweed family of herbs and is native to the tropical forests of India. The plant also goes by other names such as: gurmari, gurmarbooti and mesbasringi. The Hindi word gur-mar literally means [...]
From an Ayurvedic perspective, Spring is the time of new beginnings, growth and expansion. This is the time of year when the kapha dosha (the energies of water and earth) are increasing. Whenever kapha increases in the body over and above the appropriate amounts, it can exacerbate the factors that cause disease. Spring, then, [...]
When it comes to health, digestion is where the process all begins. If there is anything off-balance, it can affect not only how we feel before, during or after we eat, but also throughout the entire day (and beyond). Balance is affected both by the food we eat and by how we feel. Our digestive [...]
From the perspective of Ayurveda, seasonal junctures can be times of vulnerabilities. Throughout the hot pitta summer, heat has been constantly building. Then in the fall, the fire of summer meets the wind of the vata fall season. This is a time when paying attention to our digestion and our vitality are both [...]
PERHAPS YOU’VE HEARD SOME of the astounding claims surrounding kombucha: it helps the body fight cancer, detoxifies and alkalizes the system and reduces cholesterol. Though relatively new in the States, kombucha’s Far Eastern folklore stretches back 2,000 years. First mentioned during the Chinese Tsin Dynasty of 212 BCE, it was then called “The Elixir of [...]
Truth Is One; The Wise Call It By Many Names: A Collective Search For Meaning OF ALL THE ICONIC IMAGES THE MEDIA trotted out to remind us of Woodstock on the fortieth anniversary of that seminal event (August 15 - 18, 1969), the one that best captures what endured from the Sixties was [...]
Looking To The Experts For Answers To Tough Questions On May 16-17, groups of Angelenos took up the challenge to plant 100 herbal gardens and create a new future for food in Southern California: gardensofgratitude.com HOPE AND CHANGE ARE TWO WORDS that have triumphantly found their way back into our culture. Post November four, [...]