From being unknown in the West, the past twenty years have seen a rise of popularity in the West for Ayurveda, the traditional medical system of India. From an Ayurvedic perspective, disease originates in the digestive tract. A potential disorder is identified during the first stage of imbalance as it develops in the gut.  Considering the huge interest that has developed around the microbiome, Ayurveda has for centuries looked to the digestive tract as the root cause of disease, and the location of prevention and cure.

Medicinal herbs play a key role in the Ayurvedic treatment plan. They’ve now caught on throughout integrative medicine, but how do they work? Herbs might promote therapeutic benefits via a variety of mechanisms, not all of them known or even discovered yet. The known mechanisms are already quite intriguing. They include the direct absorption across the intestinal lining into the bloodstream, taste receptor signaling on both the tongue and intestinal walls, bacterial metabolism in the gut, and secretions of various health-promoting products called postbiotics by the intestinal microbes upon breaking down the herbs.

If you are attracted to the herbal applications of Ayurveda, looking into how they work is fascinating. It is also chemically complex, much more than the word “herb’ usually implies—Ayurvedic herbs potentially yield a host of medicinal properties with far-reaching effects on multiple targets and body systems. Their complexity stands in stark contrast to drugs that affect single targets. Therefore, many herbs commonly used in Ayurveda are adaptogens: they have the chemical“intelligence,” based on their complexity, to perform multiple services for the body.

What a bright day it is for several postures!

Many people perceived fitness to be all physical as that was the only way it was understood to be. On the contrary, being fit involves lifting weights or doing cardio, but your diet plays a massive role in the overall results. The introduction of meditation and mindfulness through yoga has made it possible for many people to practice fitness with a different approach. So before we get the details on how you can begin home yoga practice, let’s get the basics.

• Yoga Practice

Yoga is a combination of spiritual, physical, and mental disciplines and practices that trace their origin to ancient India. It’s among the six orthodox philosophical schools of Hinduism. Yoga is broad, and the patterns are shared within Hinduism, Jainism, and Buddhism. However, the schools, goals, and practices differ in all three beliefs. In these modern times, and precisely in the Western world, people practice modern hatha yoga and yoga exercises done in the form of asanas or postures.

• Benefits and Importance of Yoga Practice

The practice of yoga is packed with a lot of benefits. This is probably why many people out there prefer it to the regular gym sessions of lifting weights. Some of the general benefits of yoga that you should know about include;

No crisis in recent memory has shown us the urgent need for a new approach to mental health like the Covid pandemic. The post-pandemic future can be a transformation of humanity on a global scale. A new paradigm of mental health offers the possibility of an awakening of the human family.

The past year of pandemic has exacted deep emotional costs in the form of social isolation, anxiety, grief and fear of the unknown. It’s been tough for parents and children, for front-line workers and teachers, for each of us. Yet this very experience may turn out to be the opportunity we so often find in crisis – the emergence of a new mental health culture.

People are talking more openly about their feelings. Empathy has emerged out of distress, because no one has been immune from feeling anxious, depressed, and vulnerable. We know without a shadow of a doubt that we need each other. Self-care is expanding to embrace everyone.

If the pandemic offers a silver lining, it is this.

For ages, humans have been taking various substances to keep themselves healthy. What’s shocking is that many of these substances only give placebo effects. In addition to that, some of them can even give you adverse side effects. That said, one of the most beneficial substances to improve your health is cannabis.

When you hear cannabis, you would most likely think about the misconceptions surrounding this substance. Sadly, many people take these misconceptions to be true. Luckily, scientists have conducted many studies to prove these misconceptions wrong. Although many governments banned the use and production of this substance, they have since begun to reverse their bans. For example, medical cannabis has been legal in California since 1996.

FADE IN
EXT. OUTDOOR RESTAURANT PATIO - DAY

Our protagonist is found sitting in the outdoor patio of a restaurant near his home, enjoying a beer. It has been more than a month since his second COVID vaccination. He feels liberated. The sun is out. Spring has arrived in the Great Northwest— at least for a day or two.

Two women sit at a nearby table, having a loud discussion that our man can’t help overhearing.

    WOMAN #1
My understanding is that these vaccinations can change our DNA. I took them because it was the only way I felt like I would get to see my aging mother and she had taken hers. Now I’m scared to death that my DNA has been altered.

    WOMAN #2
I’ve read quite a bit on this and understand that the two vaccines that alter our mRNA are simply sending messages to the DNA. They don’t actually change the DNA. And their impact is relatively short term, stimulating the body to boost its own process.

Nicholas consulted with me because of problems he was having in his marriage. He was very distressed that his wife, Kayla, never wanted to have sex with him.

In the course of our work, it became apparent that Nicholas was very judgmental of himself. Throughout a day he was constantly telling himself how inadequate he was. “You certainly messed that up.” “You are such a jerk.” “You never do anything right.” “What’s the matter with you?” His wounded self was totally in charge, trying to have control over getting Nicolas to do everything right in order to get others’ approval.

The ubiquitous self-judgment meant that his inner child felt constantly abandoned, which created intense aloneness and emptiness within Nicholas. This made Nicholas dependent upon others to fill him up and make him feel good.

He was especially dependent on his wife…