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As I write this, I’m looking out my window at a snowy landscape, and remembering planting seeds in my garden’s cold frame in short sleeves two days ago. Between what’s going on in the news lately and the unpredictable climate outside, I find myself longing for balance.

Ayurveda is a science whose time has come. Newly popular, this venerable school of knowledge has been getting lots of attention lately, from everyone from spa-goers to patients with unexplained illnesses. Ayurvedic teachings are all about balance: harmonizing emotions, eating in balance, learning how to balance out the elements within your own body. Ayurvedic healing is about consciously taking care of yourself as a whole. In this issue of New Life Journal, you’ll discover your dosha, deepen your life with Sadhana practice and meditation, give your partner a Thai massage, harmonize your diet, and discover the benefits of panchakarma. Ayurveda, still a mystery to many, should be a little clearer to you after you page through this issue.

In addition to our Ayurvedic offerings, this issue holds much more, including our new Breath and Movement department, which will get you in shape with yoga articles by Mary Kay West and Kaoverii Weber. And don’t miss our special Organic Living department, featuring contributions from teachers at the upcoming Organic Growers School in March. Last, but definitely not least, to celebrate Valentine’s Day, we asked herbalist Ashley Apple to get us in the mood with her favorite aphrodisiacs.

First recognized by the medical and scientific community during the 1990s, integrative medicine today is attracting interest from medical practitioners, administrators, academicians and scientists seeking to incorporate it into their research, practice and teaching.

Consider these developments:

* Health systems, insurers and state and federal governments are investing more deeply and broadly in integrative medicine.

* In recent years, it’s estimated that there were more visits by the American public to alternative practitioners than to primary care physicians.

* Use of herbal remedies and dietary supplements is now supported by a $30 billion industry in the U.S.

* Until recently when only limited insurance or tax benefits became available, American consumers paid for most of the costs for these products and services out of pocket.

* It is also estimated that the out-of-pocket amount spent by consumers for alternative care exceeds the out-of-pocket co-payments and deductibles consumers make for health care covered by insurance.

An irony for physicians is that one last bastion of traditional fee-for-service medicine resides among alternative practitioners.

Names and labels

In trying to develop names for these alternative types of care, various labels were advanced such as nontraditional, unconventional, unorthodox, holistic and “wholistic–a revival from the 1960s.

In the midst of the call for greater scientific evidence and objectivity, these labels betrayed cultural values, prejudices and judgments about the validity and appropriateness of such types of care.

The more properly descriptive terminology of alternative and complementary medicine became generally accepted. Alternative came to imply a mutual exclusivity between these types of care and the regular practice of medicine. Complementary was more accurate in describing a compatibility between the utilization and acceptance of these treatments as an adjunct to–not a replacement for–regular medicine.

Institutions such as Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia pioneered use of the term (and the practice of) integrative medicine. Integrative medicine implies an active, conscious effort by the health professions and medical science to seek out and sort out the evidence and application of various complementary types of care for appropriate incorporation into the continuum of health care.

In 1987, Marc Halpern was finishing his degree in chiropractic medicine when he was crippled by a connective-tissue disorder that caused joint pain, weight loss, fatigue and fevers. “I was able to heal myself with alternative therapies, such as homeopathy and Chinese medicine, but not enough,” he recalls, Then he discovered ayurvedic medicine, an ancient comprehensive lifestyle and dietary approach to healing from India. “Through ayurveda I rebuilt and restored my body. Today I’m entirely free of my original illness,” says Halpern, who went on to found the California College of Ayurveda in Grass “Valley.

Ayurvedic medicine first came to this country three decades ago in the work of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. In 1991, it entered mass consciousness through Deepak Chopra’s Perfect Health. “In its broadest sense, ayurveda is the understanding that all your choices are metabolized into biology,” says David Simon, M.D., medical director of the Chopra Center in San Diego, which he co-founded with the bestselling author. “What you hear, taste, smell, touch, how you think, your relationships–all of these influence your health.”

Practitioners of ayurveda follow a balanced lifestyle that includes rising around dawn, practicing meditation and yoga, eating a diet tailored to their constitution, and enjoying input through all five senses.

Ayurveda teaches that each person is a blend of three doshas, or guiding principles within the body–vata, pitta and kapha–though usually one or two are prominent. Disease is thought to arise from an imbalance in one’s doshas, explains Nancy Lonsdorf, M.D., ayurvedic practitioner and co-author of A Woman’s Best Medicine: Health, Happiness, and Long Life Through Maharishi Ayur-Veda.

Vata (air and ether) tends to be dry, cool, light, airy and creative. A predominantly vata type will likely be thin, with cold hands and feet, and dry skin. If imbalanced, vata can manifest as anxiety, insomnia, constipation, arthritis, restlessness and lack of focus. CompenSate for bodily instability with regular rest and warmth. Warm water is balancing, as is a warm climate, a soft bed, warm-oil massages, warmhearted friends, and stability at home and work.

Maharishi Ayur-Ved Products International Inc., which sells herbal health care products, is considering a move out of Colorado Springs.

The company blames the wobbly economy for its decision to look for a new location, as well as for the layoffs of eight to 10 employees last month.

“We just looked at the whole business operation, in order to be more efficient, more profitable, and we made those decisions,” Steven Bartag, vice president of Maharishi Ayur-Ved Products, said Tuesday.

Bartag said the company is comparing the advantages of relocating with staying in Colorado Springs.

The company might expand its product lines if it moves away, he said.

Maharishi Ayur-Ved Products occupies a 75,000-square-foot building on Elkton Drive, near Garden of the Gods Road. The company employs 47.

Bartag said demand for the company’s products still is good although the economy has put a damper on customer spending. The company’s costs to produce herbal products in Colorado Springs, and to import products from India, have gone up.

The company has raised prices to cover its higher costs, but the number of products sold to customers has slipped, Bartag said.

The company’s products are rooted in Ayurveda, ancient health- care teachings and practices that originated in India 5,000 years ago.

Maharishi Ayur-Ved Products was founded in 1985 in Lancaster, Mass.

The company moved to Colorado Springs in 1992 to take advantage of a more central U.S. location.

The company won’t decide for about two months whether to relocate, Bartag said.

The company is a privately held corporation owned by its shareholders. Peak employment in the Springs was about 60 people.

Its products include herbal supplements, teas, foods, aromatic oils, skin and hair care products, books, tapes and musical instruments.

The products are sold through grocery stores, health professionals, mail order and the Internet.

Ayurveda, which translates as the knowledge of the span of life, is said to be the traditional health care system of India.

Ayurveda languished while India was under British rule in the 19th and 20th centuries, but was revived about 50 years ago by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, founder of the transcendental meditation movement made famous by the Beatles.

WHAT IT IS Ayurveda is a system of natural healing that originated in India 5,000 years ago. Its basic principle is that each of us has a specific mind-body type, known as a dosha, which is influenced by everything we do and experience. Health is maintained by balancing our dosha with our environment and lifestyle, through meditation, diet, herbs, oil massages, and fasting.

HOW IT WORKS An individual’s dosha is made up–to varying degrees–of three doshas (types of energy): vata, pitta, and kapha. Vata energy is characterized as fast and light; pitta is quick and hot: and kapha is slow and heavy. Everything you do–how you eat, sleep, think, exercise, and relate to the world–will either intensify or tame these three energies. You may aggravate pitta, for instance, by eating too many hot spicy foods, or vata by failing to maintain any routine in your life. An excess of a dosha energy can make you vulnerable to illness. To balance, or pacify, a dosha excess, you need to tame the energy that is aggravated. To pacify pitta, for example, you might eat more cooling foods, such as green salads.

YOUR DOSHA Vata individuals are often slender, restless, fast-moving, and have dry skin and hair. When they are out of balance (too much vata energy), they are subject to digestive and nervous disorders. Pittas tend to be of medium-build, intelligent, and organized. Out of balance, they can suffer heartburn, skin rashes, painful cramps, fevers, and acid indigestion. Kaphas are usually big-boned, with oily skin and a liking for sweets. A kapha imbalance is marked by letharg34 sluggishness, or depression.

EVIDENCE Although Ayurveda is said to help prevent and cure many chronic diseases, such as arthritis, diabetes, high blood pressure, fibroids, and fibromyalgia, studies only document individual Ayurvedic practices. In one, published in the Journal of Social Behavior and Personality, Ayurvedic purification techniques, including an herbal enema and body massage, reduced free radicals in the blood, improved digestion, energy, and mental health, and reduced symptoms of illness.

CAVEATS Ayurvedic cleansing practices, such as fastings, should never be done without an Ayurvedic doctor’s supervision. They can cause electrolyte imbalances, severe dehydration, heart palpitations, or heart failure if not carefully monitored. Emergencies, such as heart attacks, strokes, or punctured veins, should be treated conventionally.

At the heart of Ayurvedic wisdom lies a natural world…where herbs heal the heart, meditation mends it and deeper remedies take root every day.

Except for the firm cursive Sanskrit hand and modern terms, an Ayurvedic “prescription” has changed little in the past thousand years. How did the ancient Ayurvedic physician, unequipped with titanium-plated tools and ready-made medical textbooks, get to the root of cardiac healing?

“Precisely because he was unequipped,” smiles Dr R.K. Mishra, renowned Ayurvedic vaidya. “Plants were his entire pharmacopoeia. He had to know every plant, leaf, root and fiber by heart. The Ayurvedic vaidya was really two things rolled into one–a physician and a herbal pharmacologist. Studying plants gave him insight into the incredible intelligence of the living cell. And instead of extracting a single active ingredient, he used the whole herb, with all its built-in checks and balances, to heal. For instance, the leaf of a certain plant could carry a potent antiviral, but its root could nullify all the harmful reactions or side effects.”

Once the vaidya had found the root cause of heart disease, he set about trying to identify the healers. He picked out the herbs that worked for the heart.

* Guggul–the resin that could lower cholesterol and triglycerides.

* Arjuna–the tonic that could regulate blood pressure and fine-tune heart rhythm.

* Ashwagandha–the restorative kin of ginseng in Ayurvedic healing… and scores of others.

Over hundreds, perhaps thousands of years the vaidya extracted these herbs, combined them in the right proportions, and put them to the test. Modem scientists, bent over their high-power microscopes, are discovering their powers today: a 1997 clinical study showed ashwagandha reduces levels of plasma cortisol, which contributes to heart disease. It’s also reported to slow down the circulation of adrenaline, the stress hormone that can literally tear heart muscle fibers under pressure.

Harold Bloomfield, best-selling author, psychiatrist and physician, has seen these herbs turn lives around. Paul, a hard-working, pushy lawyer, hit his high early in life. And so did his blood pressure. At 35, soon after becoming a partner in a large San Diego firm, he had his first heart attack. Paul’s cardiologist put him on blood pressure control medication and referred him to Bloomfield to help assess his lifestyle and control stress.

5 Easy Steps to A Healthier Weight

Although different people have weight problems for different reason, these 5 tips address fundamental lifestyle habits that affect virtually everyone. The really good news is that these 5 powerful tips are easy to implement and can bring about great changes in your life and health once in place.

Point 1. Eat a light evening meal with easy-to-digest foods.

Everyone dealing with weight loss issues needs to know that it is virtually impossible to make serious progress if you continue to eat large evening meals with heavy foods!

I cannot emphasize this point too much. Ayurveda describes that digestion is less strong in the evening, plus lying down to sleep a few hours later further slows down digestion, metabolism and circulation. The body simply cannot assimilate large evening meals properly. The result is that much of the food is digested poorly and eventually creates toxins, fat and excess weight. For most people using the approaches of eating less during the day, herbs, pills, special powders and drinks, and even exercise cannot overcome this most serious of all weight loss mistakes.

Especially avoid in the evening: cheese, yogurt, rich desserts, red meat, leftovers of any kind, cold foods, processed foods

Avoid or reduce in evening meals: fowl, fish, desserts

Evening meals should be vegetarian, hot, light and liquidy. If you are significantly overweight the foundation of the evening meal should be 1) non-cream soups, 2) grains cooked in water (for example rice, quinoa, cous cous, barley), and 3) vegetables either steamed, roasted or sauteed with small amounts of extra virgin olive oil. If you must have dessert, I recommend cooked fruit desserts made with only small amounts of organic sugar.

2. Eat the largest meal of the day at lunch with a wide variety of warm, cooked food.

Lunch is the time our bodies can best digest and properly assimilate larger quantities of food due to the fact that digestion is strongest at noon and we have many active hours to metabolize the food before we sleep. Lunch is the most important meal of the day and the meal we most need to plan and prepare for.

Lunch should be warm, cooked foods with a wide variety of tastes and dishes. Warm food is essential as it can be more easily digested and assimilated. Cold foods suppress digestion (remember your chemistry- cold temperature suppresses chemical reaction, and digestion is chemistry!) The result of regular meals of cold foods is indigestion, the accumulation of ama (undigested molecules that clog the channels,) and weight gain.

Having a wide variety of foods is essential for nutrition and to prevent the body from developing food cravings-the downfall of many a well-meaning diet plan. Food cravings often occur because of imbalanced diets that included only a few food types. Diets restricted to mostly carbohydrates or protein or fat eventually lead to undernourished tissues that rightfully send hunger messages to our brain. Even though we have just finished eating a large quantity of food, parts of our body are still truly malnourished and hungry. Unfortunately if we don’t realize this when the hunger signals come we may reach for even more carbohydrate rich and dense foods like desserts when actually we need green vegetables and legume soups.

A good, balanced lunch also helps us feel less hungry in the evening, making it easier to stick to that all-important light evening meal.

3. Drink hot water frequently throughout the day

By sipping hot water throughout the day you help cleanse the digestive tract and entire body of blockages and impurities. Hot water drinking improves digestion and assimilation of food and helps prevent the body from becoming toxic and clogged. It also is a great aid in reducing food cravings between meals. I have known people who lost over 50 pounds by following only this single recommendation.

Most people can accomplish the hot water recommendation by getting a good thermos and having a cup sitting on a small cup-sized hot plate. You can pour your hot water in the cup, put it on the warmer and sip it throughout the day as you work.

The most purifying and cleansing water is water that has been boiled for about ten minutes. Boiling water for ten minutes reduces its heaviness (you will usually see a fine powder at the bottom of the pan that consists of precipitated materials from the water) and energizes the water. Drinking water from your hot water dispenser at work is better than not drinking any at all, but is not as effective as boiled water.

4. Avoid leftovers

Maharishi Ayurveda holds that putting food back in the refrigerator after it has been cooked seriously deteriorates the quality of the foods and their digestibility. Even if you heat it up after you take it out of the refrigerator, it has lost its life giving freshness.

We get more than molecules from food. We also get freshness, life force (prana) and nature’s intelligence from our foods. Physics tells us there is a classical world of molecules but also a quantum mechanical world of vibration. The vibration of the deeper fields which comprise nature’s life-force and intelligence get destroyed by cooling cooked food. As a result leftovers easily lead to improperly digested waste products called “ama” that accumulate in the body causing toxins, blockages, excessive weight gain and lead to many diseases.

The converse principle sums up the essence of Ayurvedic food guidelines.

“Eat fresh food, freshly prepared”

Because of the activity of our lives, and logistics of shopping and cooking, this simple statement can be difficult to achieve but every step in this direction will help us with weight management and overall good health.

A convenient way to get a home-cooked, nearly fresh meal of pure, wholesome ingredients for lunch each day, is to cook barley and lentils (a good fat-busting combination) overnight in a crock pot. In the morning, add chopped vegetables and some spices sautéed in olive oil (try cumin, black pepper, fresh ginger root, coriander and turmeric.) Put in a wide-mouth thermos and bring for lunch. Add some rye crackers (another fat busting grain according to Ayurveda,) and fresh fruit for a well-balanced, pure and nutritious lunch.

5. Get Moving!

I saw a headline in a health paper some time ago that made a good point “Stop Dieting and Start Moving”

Exercise is an antidote for almost everything that ails us. It improves digestion, metabolism, elimination, complexion, body tone and strength, bone density, and helps us normalize weight. It is also emotionally positive as it can be enjoyable, increase self-worth and bring us greater energy, freshness and success throughout the day.

At least take time every day to get out and walk. Evaluate your schedule and take walks whenever you can squeeze them in. Be vigilant to take opportunities to walk. It is especially good to walk after meals and especially healthy to take a walk after the evening meal.

Additional tips:

1. Go to bed by 10:00 PM. Metabolism of waste products takes place after 10 PM and is reduced by being awake and active, or eating the proverbial “midnight snack,” at this time
2. Add digestive enhancing, fat-busting spices to your meals like fresh ginger, cumin, black pepper, turmeric and fenugreek.
3. Keep GOOD snacks around to prevent you eating bad snacks. Examples of good snacks are fresh fruits, dried fruits, nuts, fresh squeezed vegetable juices and whole grain crackers.
4. Practice meditation and yoga daily to keep mind and body balanced reduce the mental cravings for food. (Based on hundreds of scientific studies documenting its health benefits, I recommend the TM technique for my patients)
5. Take a walk in the morning. Exercise of some type outdoors in the morning sun has a powerful positive influence on mind, emotions and energy throughout the day.
6. Take Panchakarma treatments twice a year. Maharishi Ayurveda recommends panchakarma (the massage, heat treatments and internal cleansing therapies of Ayurveda) be done twice a year to prevent impurities from accumulating and eliminating their buildup in bodily tissues. (A recent study published in Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine documented the reduction by 50% of the cancer causing chemical PCB in the blood after five days of Maharishi Rejuvenation Treatment, a specific program of panchakarma.)
7. Ingest mainly organic extra virgin olive oil. Organic ghee is also acceptable in small quantities (1-2 tsp. per day)or not at all if you are overweight and/or have high cholesterol. Avoid any non-organic vegetable oils especially corn and soy oil. Oils are perhaps the most important food group to get right, as impure oils can contribute to so many diseases if not used properly.

Allergies: The Ayurvedic Answer

In a healthy body, the allergic response serves to protect against invasion by harmful agents. Secretions and inflammation help our immune cells get into the affected tissue, dilute the toxic agent and help wash it away. “Allergies” become a health problem when an excessive and unwanted allergic response occurs to particles that are part of our normal environment and are not actually dangerous to the body.

Some individuals are born with allergies, and have a genetic susceptibility to them. However, most allergies are acquired after birth. While inborn allergies can often be helped by the measures discussed in this article, acquired allergies are generally more responsive to such behavioral approaches, and are the main focus of this article.

The Main Cause of Allergies

Although pollen, dust, dander, trees and other allergens are the trigger for allergies in susceptible people, they are not the underlying cause. Many people are exposed to these substances every day without developing allergic reactions. Rather, it is the inner condition of the body that determines whether an allergic response results from exposure to an allergen.

According to Maharishi Ayurveda, allergies result when the body has accumulated excess wastes, toxins and impurities. How does this happen? According to Ayurvedic theory, improperly digested foods (called ama), and impurities, such as chemical additives, are absorbed into the body, travel through the circulation and lodge in the respiratory tissues, skin and other tissues prone to allergy. These accumulated wastes and toxins block the channels, trapping the toxins inside the tissues, and activating the immune system. When additional allergens such as pollen or dust arrive on the scene, the already irritated immune system goes into “high gear,” creating the symptoms of an allergy attack.

Symptoms will vary depending on the tissue that has accumulated the toxic waste (ama visha.). If the tissue involved is the digestive tract, diarrhea can result. If in the skin, a rash or hives may occur. And if the respiratory tract is involved, sneezing, inflammation and mucous drainage will occur.

Since the source of allergies lies with our diet and digestion, adopting a proper diet and improving digestion are “job one” in the fight against allergies. Next, it is valuable to use internal cleansing regimens to reduce the clogging and accumulated impurities.

Recommended Diet for Allergies

The main dietary and eating guidelines for allergies are as follows.

1. Eat the largest meal of the day at lunch, between 12:00 and 1:00 PM, when your digestion is strongest. The sun– the heat element in nature– enlivens agni, the fire of digestion and metabolism, making our digestion strongest at the height of the day. Ayurveda recommends eating the largest meal when you are most capable of digesting it.

2. Avoid eating heavy meals in the evening. The single biggest contribution to toxins and clogging in the body comes from eating heavy evening meals, particularly after 7 PM. Since digestion is much weaker in the evening, it is vital to eat lighter, more easily digested meals at that time. Eat a warm, freshly cooked vegetarian evening meal without fried foods, desserts, cheese, yogurt or other curdled products, since these are heavy for digestion and cause more blockage, congestion and mucous.

3. Eat warm food. Warm food is much easier to digest than cold food. Ayurveda recommends we eat fresh warm food, freshly prepared. Avoid micro-waving, which has been shown to destroy over 90% of the protective antioxidants in the food. Also, avoid cold drinks, ice cream, frozen yogurt and other cold foods.

4. Avoid leftovers. Once food has been heated and then gets put back in the refrigerator it becomes hard to digest and very clogging in nature.

5. Avoid excessively hot spices, sour and acidic foods. These foods are irritating to the body and promote inflammation, according to Ayurveda. Many people experience their allergies become worse when they eat foods with chilis, tomato sauces, hard or aged cheeses, refined sugar and sweets, and acidic foods. Bell pepper, eggplant and potato should also be avoided due to their channel-clogging effects.

6. Do include detoxifying spices in your daily diet. Turmeric in particular has anti-allergy, immune-balancing effects. Coriander helps to detoxify on a cellular level; fennel cools and balances; ginger helps the digestion and dissolves ama, and black pepper clears the channels and increases bioavailability of nutrients. Make a spice mixture of 6 parts fennel, cumin and coriander, 4 parts turmeric and 1 part each of ginger and black pepper. Freshly grind the spices, sauté them in a pan without oil until lightly browned, and put in a small airtight container. Carry them with you and sprinkle _ to 1 tsp. on your food at each meal, and cook with them when at home.

7. Do sip boiled warm or hot water about every half hour during the day around the change of seasons, to help your body purify and to support good digestion.

Behavioral Approaches to Reducing Allergies

Diet is not the only consideration in allergies. Ayurvedic theory also recommends the following behavioral changes to help tone down the allergic response.

1. Go to bed by 10:00 P.M. Between 10 PM and 2 AM, the body performs a natural cycle of internal cleansing. If we stay up after 10 PM, we interfere with this metabolic “house cleaning” and toxins and impurities begin to accumulate. Worse yet, the metabolic activity of cleansing tends to trigger hunger, and we may be tempted to indulge in the proverbial “midnight snack.” Unfortunately, eating after 10 PM further compromises the cleansing process and leads to even more waste accumulation, and more allergy tendency. On the other hand, going to bed by 10 PM improves the overall rejuvenative quality of sleep. You will find that your early bedtime habit helps not only your allergies, but your energy and complexion as well!

2. Cleanse the body before the allergy season. The traditional Ayurvedic answer to allergies includes purifying the body of ama and toxins before allergy season begins to prevent symptoms from arising at all. This internal cleansing may be done at home or, more thoroughly, through in-residence cleansing treatments called panchakarma or Maharishi Rejuvenation Therapy.

3. Have a regular routine of life. Eating, sleeping, working and exercising at about the same time each day is very balancing and stabilizing to the immune system and to the body as a whole. Allergies tend to be aggravated when routine of life is hectic and scattered.

4. Practice Yoga asanas and meditation. Yogas asanas and meditation are very balancing to all aspects of mind and body and have been used by many people to reduce allergy symptoms. For meditation, I suggest the TM technique because of its ease of practice and scientific verification.

Summary

The best approach to allergies is to focus on good eating habits, practice stress reduction and do natural cleansing before the allergy season.

Note: This article is for educational purposes only and is not meant to diagnose or treat disease. Please consult your physician regarding any symptoms you have or before you make changes in lifestyle and diet.

Statements in this article have not been evaluated by the FDA and are not intended for the prevention, diagnosis or treatment of disease.

MENOPAUSE: IT’S ABOUT BALANCE

The medical community is quickly evolving its understanding of menopause. Following the abrupt, early halt to the HRT portion of the Women’s Health Initiative last July, due to findings that Hormone Replacement Therapy’s risks outweighed its benefits, headlines now read “Menopause is not a disease, but a normal part of life.” Hormone “replacement” therapy (HRT) has become simply hormone “therapy” (HT) in recognition of the fact that replacing estrogen is not natural and brings dangerous side-effects, rather than the fountain of youth once touted.

Shocking and novel as these concepts may be to today’s medical community, they are nothing new to Maharishi Ayurveda, a consciousness-based natural medical system from ancient India. For over 5000 years, Ayurveda has acknowledged menopause as a natural transition, not a mistake of Mother Nature’s that requires hormone replacement therapy. Maharishi Ayurveda reassures us that menopause can be health-promoting, spiritually-transforming and free of troublesome symptoms.

Experts today are affirming this positive view of menopause, stating that it is not natural to get weak bones, heart disease and rapid aging after menopause. Rather, osteoporosis, heart disease and other chronic health problems develop over a lifetime, resulting largely from poor diet, stress and lack of physical exercise. And hormone replacement therapy (HRT,) once heavily promoted as the medical solution to these problems, is no longer recommended for their treatment or prevention.

Menopause: A “Balance Deficiency”

What is recommended for the prevention of major health problems after menopause is a healthy lifestyle. And, according to Ayurveda, healthy living is also the best way to ease symptoms of the menopause transition itself. How balanced, or overall healthy you and your lifestyle are when you reach menopause largely determines how smooth your transition will be. If you are “burning the candle at both ends” in your 30’s and early 40’s, you are more likely to have mood swings, sleep problems and troublesome hot flashes when your hormones start to change. Whereas if you are have healthy lifestyle habits and are managing your stress effectively, you are likely to breeze through menopause without any major problems.

Health problems at menopause represent imbalances in the body that were already growing in the body and are unmasked by the stress of shifting hormones. Menopause symptoms are Nature’s wake-up call to let you know you need to start paying more attention to your health. Age forty-five to fifty-five is a critical decade, according to Ayurveda. It provides the foundation on which your later health is laid. Just like putting money in your IRA, timely investing in your health can dramatically increase your “yield” of healthy years at midlife and beyond. Particularly if you have not been taking care of yourself in your 30’s and 40’s, making lifestyle changes now is critical to ensuring that you age gracefully without the burden of chronic health problems.

What You Can Do Now to Get “In Balance”

While eating a healthy diet and getting enough exercise provides the foundation of good health for everyone, each woman’s menopause experience is unique. Symptoms vary from woman to woman. Knowing precisely how your body is out of balance can guide you in selecting the key lifestyle changes you should make to relieve your symptoms. Ayurveda describes that the type of symptoms you have depends upon which bodily principle or dosha is “out of balance” in your mind/body system.

There are three bodily principles: movement and flow (vata or airy), heat and metabolism (pitta or firey), and bodily substance (kapha or earthy.) And there are three basic types of imbalances relating to each of the three doshas. Easing your menopause transition can be as simple as “reading” your dosha symptoms and taking measures to get your doshas back in balance. The following symptoms and lifestyle prescriptions are indicated for each of the three dosha imbalances:

V-Type- Prone To Nervousness: anxiety, panic, mood swings, vaginal dryness, loss of skin tone, feeling cold, irregular periods, insomnia, mild or variable hot flashes, constipation, palpitations, bloating and joints aches and pains.

Ayurvedic Tips: Increase warm food and drinks, regular meals, early bedtime, oil massage, meditation, yoga, walking and spices such as fennel and cumin. Decrease caffeine and other stimulants, refined sugar, cold drinks, salads.

P-Type- Prone to Hot Temper: anger, irritability, feeling hot, hot flashes, night sweats, heavy periods, excessive bleeding, urinary tract infections, skin rashes and acne.

Ayurvedic Tips: Increase cooling foods, water intake, sweet juicy fruits (grapes, pears, plums, mango, melons, apples,) zucchini, yellow squash, cucumber, organic foods. Go to bed before 10 PM and try to wind down earlier in the evening. Decrease excessive sun and overheating, hot spicy foods, hot drinks and alcohol.

K-Type- Prone to Weight Gain: sluggishness, lethargy, weight gain for no reason, fluid retention, yeast infections, lazy, depressed, lacking motivation, slow digestion.

Ayurvedic Tips: Increase exercise, fruits, whole grains, legumes, vegetables, spices such as black pepper, turmeric and ginger. Get up early (by 6AM). Decrease meat, cheese, sugar, cold foods and drinks.

Your Hormonal “Backup System”

Ayurveda describes that your hormonal changes at menopause will be smooth and easy if three factors are in place.

• Your mind/body system (consisting of three doshas) is in “balance.”
• Your diet is wholesome and rich in phytoestrogens.
• Your body is “clean” and uncluttered inside so your hormones and body can “talk” effectively.

Did you know that your ovaries and adrenal glands continue to produce estrogens and “pre-estrogens” after menopause, providing your body with its own hormonal backup system? Ayurveda describes that this hormonal production after menopause will be optimal if your mind and body are “in balance,” providing just the right amount of estrogen to prevent hot flashes and keep your bones, skin, brain, colon and arteries healthy without increasing the risk of breast or uterine cancer.

Balancing your doshas, as discussed above, is the first approach to ensuring optimal hormone production after menopause, but Ayurvedic herbs can also help. Indian asparagus root (shatavari; asparagus racemosus), thick-leaved lavender (chorak; angelica glauca- related to the Chinese female tonic Dong Quai,) licorice root, sandalwood, pearl, red coral, rose and others are used by skilled practitioners in balanced, synergistic combinations to help relieve hot flashes, libido problems, irritability, mood swings and other menopausal symptoms.

Hormonal Help from Plants–It’s Not Just Soy!

Diet also plays a key role in balancing hormones during and after menopause. It is well known that Japanese women rarely experience hot flashes, probably because their diet contains large amounts of soy, a food rich in certain plant estrogens called “isoflavones.” Soy products are not the only source of plant estrogens, however. Another equally healthful source of phytoestrogens are “lignans,” compounds found in a variety of whole foods including grains and cereals, dried beans and lentils, flaxseed, sunflower seeds and peanuts, vegetables such as asparagus, sweet potatoes, carrots, garlic and broccoli and fruits such as pears, plums and strawberries.

Common herbs and spices such as thyme oregano, nutmeg, turmeric and licorice also have estrogenic properties.

It turns out that if you simply eat a varied diet high in fruits, vegetables, whole grains and dried beans you will be ingesting a rich phytoestrogen feast in your daily cuisine! Variety and moderation are important because just as too much estrogen is unhealthy after menopause, too much phytoestrogen may also be dangerous. This danger can be avoided by getting your phytoestrogens naturally from a variety of whole foods, rather than from supplements or concentrated tablets.

When You Can’t Stop Flashing, Get The “Lead” Out!

More serious symptoms, such as frequent hot flashes, continual sleep disturbance, and moderate to severe mood swings, are signs of deeper imbalances that, if left untreated, will persist to set the stage for later disease. For these more troublesome symptoms to manifest, the tissues of your body–your bones, muscles, fat, organs, skin, and blood–must be disturbed in some way. Ayurveda describes that stubborn symptoms are usually due to the buildup of wastes and toxins, referred to as “ama,” in your body’s tissues.

For example, hot flashes that won’t go away despite herbs, diet, exercise, and perhaps even HRT usually represent a problem with ama. One of my Ayurvedic mentors explained it this way: When your body’s channels are clogged with wastes, the heat from metabolism builds up in your tissues. Hot flashes result from sudden surges in blood flow as the body tries to clear the channels and dissipate the heat buildup quickly. A similar phenomenon occurs when you have a heater set on high in an overheated room with all the windows and doors closed. To cool down the room, first you must turn down the heater (see Tips for P-Type above) but you also need to throw open the windows and doors (as in removing the ama) so the heat can flow out.

We can understand this analogy medically in terms of hormone receptors. No matter how much estrogen or phytoestrogen you have floating through your bloodstream, it does you no good unless it connects with your body’s estrogen receptors, the tiny “keyholes” on your cells. Estrogen and phytoestrogens fit these keyholes like minuscule keys and through them gain entry into your cells. When the receptors are clogged with debris or “ama,” your hormones cannot get into your cells to do their work. Then bothersome menopause symptoms may persist despite a variety of attempted therapies.

In this case, a traditional Ayurvedic detoxification program referred to as Maharishi Rejuvenation Therapy (MRT), or “panchakarma,” may be needed to clear the body’s channels and gain relief. This internal cleansing approach is also the treatment of choice for more serious problems such as osteoporosis and high cholesterol. A study published in a recent issue of Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine confirmed that this ancient technology of herbalized oil massage, heat treatments and mild internal cleansing therapies does indeed reduce toxins in the body. Hormone disrupting PCB’s and pesticides such as DDT were reduced by approximately 50% after just 5 days of treatment. Other studies have shown overall reduction in health symptoms, a rise in “good cholesterol,” and reduction in free radicals from MRT.

In my clinical experience, MRT can be very transforming, eliminating symptoms while at the same time dramatically reducing stress and fatigue. After a week of treatment, my patients not only report feeling much better, they radiate health and youthfulness and many experience a profound sense of well-being and inner peace.

It’s Not Too Late

The important point to remember at midlife is that health problems don’t pop out of nowhere when your estrogen levels start to fluctuate and fall off. Rather it is the cumulative effects of damaging lifestyle habits–late nights, fast food, eating on the run, lots of stress, too little exercise–over decades that set in motion chronic disease and aging well before menopause. Your symptoms are simply telling you just how out of balance you are. The good news is that with a few basic lifestyle changes, and the healing power of Maharishi Ayurveda when needed, underlying imbalances can be resolved, paving the way for a smooth menopause transition and great health in the years to come.

“Every person is born perfect. Inferiority is a mistake of the mind, a cloud covering the light. Dissolve the clouds by observing a balanced life with healthy habits. Nourish your mind and body. Connect with your own inner self. Celebrate your own magnificence and your beauty will always shine through.” -Dr. Rama Kant Mishra, renowned Ayurvedic physician and dermatologist

The Three Pillars of Beauty

Maharishi Ayurveda (MAV), the modern, consciousness-based revival of the ancient Ayurvedic medicine tradition, considers true beauty to be supported by three pillars; Outer Beauty, Inner Beauty and Lasting Beauty. Only by enhancing all three can we attain the balanced state of radiant health that makes each of us the most fulfilled and beautiful person we can be.

Outer Beauty: Roopam

The outer signs of beauty - your skin, hair and nails - are more than just superficial measures of beauty. They are direct reflections of your overall health. These outer tissues are created by the inner physiological processes involved in digestion, metabolism and proper tissue development. Outer beauty depends more on the strength of your digestion and metabolism, the quality of your diet, and the purity of your blood, than on external cleansers and conditioners you may apply.

General Recommendations for Outer Beauty

As we will discuss, the key to skin care is matching your diet and skin care routine to the specific skin type you have. Meanwhile, there are some valuable recommendations for lustrous skin, hair and nails that will be helpful to everyone, regardless of skin type.

1. Diet: Without adequate nourishment, your collagen layer thins and a kind of wasting takes place. Over time, your skin can shrivel up like a plant without water from lack of nourishment. To keep your skin plump and glowing:

A. Eat fresh, whole organic foods that are freshly prepared.

Avoid packaged, canned, frozen, processed foods and leftovers. These foods have little nutritional value and also they are often poorly digested which creates impurities that localize in the skin. The resulting buildup of toxins causes irritation and blocks circulation depriving the skin of further nourishment and natural cleansing processes.

B. Favor skin nourishing foods.

1. Leafy green vegetables contain vitamins, minerals (especially iron and calcium) and are high in antioxidant properties. They nourish the skin and protect it from premature aging.
2. Sweet juicy fruits like grapes, melons, pears, plums and stewed apples at breakfast are excellent for the skin in almost everyone.
3. Eat a wide variety of grains over different meals and try mixed grain servings at breakfast and lunch. Add amaranth, quinoa, cous cous, millet and barley to the wheat and rice you already eat.
4. Favor light, easy to digest proteins like legume soups (especially yellow split mung dhal), whole milk, paneer (cheese made from boiling milk, adding lemon and straining solids) and lassi (diluted yogurt and spice drinks).
5. Oils like ghee (clarified butter) and organic, extra virgin olive oil should be included in the diet as they lubricate, nourish and create lustre in the skin.
6. Use spices like turmeric, cumin, coriander, and black pepper to improve digestion, nourish the skin and cleanse it of impurities.
7. Avoid microwaving and boiling your vegetables. They lose as much as 85% of their antioxidant content when cooked in this way. Steaming and sautéing are best.

Caring for outer beauty through knowledge of skin type

Besides these general recommendations the key to Outer Beauty is to understand the difference in skin types so you can gain the maximum benefit from your individualized skin care regimen. MAV identifies three different skin types based on which of the three main metabolic principles (doshas)- present in everyone, but to different degrees- is most dominant in your body.

Vata Skin

* Description: Vata is composed of the elements of air and space. If you have a vata skin type, your skin will be dry, thin, fine pored, delicate and cool to the touch. When balanced, it glows with a delicate lightness and refinement that is elegant and attractive. When vata skin is imbalanced, it will be prone to excessive dryness and may even be rough and flaky.

* Potential problems: The greatest beauty challenge for vata skin is its predisposition to symptoms of early aging. Your skin may tend to develop wrinkles earlier than most due to its tendency to dryness and thinness. If your digestion is not in balance, your skin can begin to look dull and grayish, even in your 20’s and 30’s. In addition, your skin may have a tendency for disorders such as dry eczema and skin fungus. Mental stress, such as worry, fear and lack of sleep, has a powerful debilitating effect on vata skin leaving it looking tired and lifeless.

* Recommendations for care

With a little knowledge, you can preserve and protect the delicate beauty of your vata type skin. Since your skin does not contain much moisture, preventing it from drying is the major consideration. Eat a warm, unctuous diet (ghee and olive oil are best) and favor sour, salty and sweet tastes (naturally sweet like fruits, not refined sugar) as they balance vata. Avoid drying foods like crackers. Drink 6-8 glasses of warm (not cold for vata types!) water throughout the day and eat plenty of sweet, juicy fruits. Going to bed early (before 10 PM) is very soothing to vata and will have a tremendously positive influence on your skin. Avoid cleansing products that dry the skin (like alcohol-based cleansers) and perform Ayurvedic oil massage to your whole body (abhyanga) in the morning before you shower.

Pitta Skin.

* Description: Pitta dosha is composed of the elements of fire and water. If you have a pitta skin type your skin is fair, soft, warm and of medium thickness. When balanced, your skin has a beautiful, slightly rosy or golden glow, as if illuminated from within. Your hair typically is fine and straight, and is usually red, sandy or blonde in color. Your complexion tends toward the pink or reddish, and there is often a copious amount of freckles or moles.

* Potential problems: Among the many beauty challenges of pitta skin types is your tendency to develop rashes, rosacea, acne, liver spots or pigment disorders. Because of the large proportion of the fire element in your constitution, your skin does not tolerate heat or sun very well. Of all the three skin types, pitta skin has the least tolerance for the sun, is photosensitive, and most likely to accumulate sun damage over the years. Pitta skin is aggravated by emotional stress, especially suppressed anger, frustration, or resentment.

* Recommendations for care

Avoid excessive sunlight, tanning treatments and highly heating therapies like facial or whole body steams. Avoid hot, spicy foods and favor astringent, bitter and sweet foods which balance pitta. (Again, naturally sweet, not chocolate and refined sugar!) Sweet juicy fruits (especially melons and pears), cooked greens and rose petal preserves are especially good. Drinking plenty of water helps wash impurities from sensitive pitta skin. Reduce external or internal contact with synthetic chemicals, to which your skin is especially prone to react, even in a delayed fashion after years of seemingly uneventful use. Avoid skin products that are abrasive, heating or contain artificial colors or preservatives. Most commercial make-up brands should be avoided in favor of strictly 100% natural ingredient cosmetics. And be sure to get your emotional stress under control through plenty of outdoor exercise, yoga and meditation.

Kapha Skin.

* Description: Kapha dosha is composed of the elements of earth and water. If you have a kapha skin type your skin is thick, oily, soft and cool to the touch. Your complexion is a glowing porcelain whitish color, like the moon, and hair characteristically thick, wavy, oily and dark. Kapha skin types, with their more generous collagen and connective tissue, are fortunate to develop wrinkles much later in life than vata or pitta types.

*Potential problems If your skin becomes imbalanced, it can show up as enlarged pores, excessively oily skin, moist types of eczema, blackheads, acne or pimples, and water retention. Kapha skin is also more prone to fungal infections.

* Recommendations for care

Kapha skin is more prone to clogging and needs more cleansing than other skin types. Be careful to avoid greasy, clogging creams. Likewise, avoid heavy, hard to digest foods like fried foods, fatty meats, cheeses and rich desserts. Eat more light, easy to digest, astringent, bitter and pungent (well-spiced) foods as they balance kapha. Olive oil is the best cooking oil and a little ginger and lime juice can be taken before meals to increase your characteristically sluggish digestive fire. Take warm baths often and use gentle cleansers to open the skin pores. Avoid getting constipated and try to get some exercise every day to increase circulation and help purify the skin through the sweating process.

Inner Beauty: Gunam.

Happy, positive, loving, caring individuals have a special beauty that is far more than skin deep. Conversely we all experience the quick and deleterious effect on our skin from fatigue and stress.

Inner beauty is authentic beauty, not the kind that shows on a made-up face, but the kind that shines through from your soul, your consciousness or inner state of being. Inner beauty comes from a mind and heart that are in harmony, not at odds with each other, causing emotional confusion, loss of confidence, stress and worry. Inner peace is the foundation of outer beauty.

Maintain your self-confidence and a warm, loving personality by paying attention to your lifestyle and daily routine and effective management of stress (I highly recommend the TM technique for its scientifically-verified benefits on mental and physical health and reduced aging.) You will also be healthier and feel better through the day if you eat your main meal at midday and make a habit of going to bed early (by 10 PM is ideal.)

Remember, kindness, friendliness and sincerity naturally attract people to you. On the other hand, being uptight or tense makes people want to walk the other way, regardless of your facial structure, body weight, or other outer signs we associate with attractiveness.

Lasting Beauty: Yayastyag

In order to slow the aging process and gain lasting beauty there are two additional key considerations beyond those already discussed,

1. Eliminate toxins and free radicals in the body: The main deteriorating effects of aging come as toxins and impurities (called ama in Ayurveda) accumulate throughout the body. These toxins may begin as free radicals in the body, or over time may become oxidized into free radicals, all of which contribute to premature aging in the body. For lasting health and beauty it is essential to avoid and neutralize free radicals, to prevent impurities of all kinds from accumulating and to remove those that have already become lodged in the body.

The most powerful cleansing therapy in Maharishi Ayurveda is “panchakarma” therapy, a series of natural treatments ideally performed twice yearly, that involves 5-7 days in a row of massage, heat treatments and mild herbal enemas. Ayurveda emphasizes the importance of undergoing this cleansing program once or twice a year to prevent impurities from accumulating, localizing and hardening in the tissues. Just as we change the oil in our cars regularly for optimal performance and lifespan, Ayurveda recommends that we cleanse the “sludge” from our tissues on a regular basis through panchakarma treatments.

Best of all, panchakarma treatments are luxurious, blissful, and make you feel (and look) completely rejuvenated in just a few days time. I have had many a patient who told me that friends asked them afterwards if they had gotten a facelift, they looked so fresh and youthful!

Other free radical busters include: reducing mental stress, eating antioxidant foods like leafy green vegetables, sweet, juicy fruits and cooking on a daily basis with antioxidant, detoxifying spices like turmeric and coriander.

2. Add rejuvenative techniques to daily living:

The daily activities of life in the modern world systematically wear us down and speed up the aging process. Ayurveda maintains it is crucial to practice daily rejuvenative regimens to counteract the stressful wear and tear of everyday life. According to Ayurveda the most important rejuvenative routines for your life are:

1. Going to bed by 10:00 PM. This simple habit is one of the most powerful techniques for health and longevity, according to MAV.
2. Meditate daily. Any meditation that does not involve concentration (which has been shown to increase anxiety) can be very helpful. I highly recommend the twice-daily deep rest and enlivenment of the Transcendental Meditation (TM) technique, whose benefits have been verified by over 700 published research studies.
3. Eat organic, whole fresh food that is freshly prepared. There is an Ayurvedic saying: “Without proper diet. medicine is of no use. With proper diet, medicine is of no need.” Be sure to avoid those leftovers, processed and microwaved foods for better nutrition and vitality.
4. Perform Ayurvedic oil massage in the morning (abhyanga). Morning oil massage purifies the entire body, reduces anxiety and stress, helps prevent and heal injuries and supports circulation. It is especially helpful in creating a radiant complexion and keeping your skin youthful. Research shows it may also help prevent skin cancers.
5. Practice yoga asanas. Maintaining flexibility and circulation is key to health.
6. Practice pranayama (yoga breathing) techniques. Pranayama enlivens the mind and body. Ideally practice the following sequence twice a day. Asanas, pranayama and meditation.

Summary

Everyone’s unique beauty shines forth when they have radiant health and personal happiness. Beauty is a side effect of a balanced, fulfilled life. Supreme personal beauty is accessible to everyone who is willing to take more control of their health in their day-to-day life through time-tested principles of natural living.

For most of us, beauty is not a gift but a choice. Every woman can be radiantly beautiful simply by beginning to lead a healthier life. You will be rewarded by the glowing effects you will see in your mirror each day and the powerful, bliss-producing effect your special beauty has on everyone in your life.