Category Archives: Ayurvedic Treatment

Ayurvedic Essential Oils For Your Face

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Your face says who you are and shows better about what you really think and the popular saying ‘Face is the index of the mind’ proves it right. All kinds of human expressions like happiness, sadness, pain, angriness, depression, fear, anxiety, stress, shock, surprise and everything else is first conveyed through your face. It can also be called as your body’s brand ambassador and at times even your hidden feelings are revealed through your face.  People first look at your face and determine you even before speaking with you and it has an upper hand in creating the ‘first best impression’. It is your right and responsibility to take care of your face, the most expressive and the impressive part of your system. I can never think of anything else other than the natural skin care shield offered by the protective and healing Ayurvedic essential oils that has been a part of beauty secrets of many for centuries together.

  1. Lavender essential oil: No one can hate lavender if not for its color but for the mesmerizing aroma that it holds by nature. Even your hectic days that make your face dull and gloomy might revive gradually with the soothing fragrance of lavender essential oil. This calming oil has bactericide, anti-fungal, antiseptic and anti-viral properties that help fight facial problems like acne, pimples, wrinkles on the face and tanning of the facial skin. Lavender oil is also said to improve the complexion and give radiant glow to the skin, for which it has been a vital part of Ayurvedic massage therapy, facial creams, lotions and other popular skin care products in the market.
  2. Frankincense essential oil: A firm, fresh and fabulous face is always the symbol of energy and youthfulness. Frankincense essential oil can be your best friend in bringing all the above said qualities with a bracing energy to your face. This oil has anti-bacterial, tonic and antiseptic properties that help in toning, contracting and lifting the facial muscles helping in visible reduction of wrinkles and fights against acne. Few drops of Frankincense essential oil with Jojoba oil can work like a wonder on your face.
  3. Tea Tree essential oil: Tea tree oil is the beauty secret of Australians and more than 300 species of Tea tree has found its native in the land of Kangaroos. This enriching essential oil is known for its immune stimulating properties and protects your skin from the harmful bacteria, viral and fungal infections. Dull, lifeless and oily skin is often treated with the therapeutic benefits of Tea tree oil. This oil is also used as an effective remedy in curing acne, burns, rashes, skin irritations, wounds and tropical infections.
  4. Rosemary essential oil: Dry, tired, mature, sensitive and dead beat skin can be given a new life with a simple soothing massage of few drops of Rosemary essential oil with any of your favorite carrier oils. Rosemary oil works well in treating oily skin as it has been proved to reduce the sebum or excessive oil production when used topically.
  5. YlangYlang essential oil: Extreme secretion of oil or imbalanced release of sebum is the major causes of problems like pimples, acne, dark spots and other bacterial infections. The use of YlangYlang essential oil with its mystical aroma balances the improper sebum secretion and restores the essential oil required for a healthy, glowing and younger looking skin. This anti-depressive essential oil helps calm down the facial muscles and induce a good night’s sleep that would help in vitalizing and reducing dark circles visibly.

Using these Ayurvedic essential oils for your face is not a rocket science and anyone can do it easily with the tip of your fingers as nothing else can caress your face and cradle your tension other than your hands with the magical touch of such enlivening essential oils.

Reference Links:

  1. Health Benefits of Frankincense Essential Oil by Organic Facts
  2. The Tea Tree Skin “Miracle” – The 7 Benefits of Tea Tree Oil by Body Ecology
  3. Carrier Oils by Wikipedia

Pranayama: The Ayurvedic Health Benefits Of Balanced Breathing

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Have you ever thought about the way you breathe or the real magic behind your breathing? What will happen if your breath stops for a minute or two? Unimaginable and sounds pathetic, right? Pranayama can be called as the art of breathing for healthy living. This Sanskrit word means ‘extension of the life force’ in which ‘Prana’ means ‘breath or life force’ and ‘ayama’ means ‘expansion or to extend’. Ancient Ayurvedic texts like Charaka Samhita have explained in detail about ‘Prana’ and its role in health and ailments. According to Ayurveda, Pranayama is a respiratory exercise and an exemplary technique to maintain physical health and augment mental health through spiritual values while harmonizing with the universal prana.

What is Pranayama? Pranayama is a vital part of the Yogic science, which is the sister science of Ayurveda. With the clear definition derived from the above para, all I have to explain about this spiritual healing technique is that it is the ‘control of breathing in a learned style’. This ideal breathing practice helps the body to meet its necessary oxygen requirements and release carbon-di-oxide and other toxins from the body. Pranayama should be done only after getting a proper training from an expert in Yoga. If done incorrectly, this exercise might increase the imbalances in the doshas, consequently ending up with diseases.

The three simple steps of Pranayama include Puraka (Inhalation), Kumbhaka (Retention) and Recaka (Exhalation). Slow and deep inhalation helps in the intake of enough oxygen for the body followed by total retention of the inhaled oxygen, which enables the system to acquire it. At the time of retaining the breath within, attention is focused on any particular part of the body like the forehead or the heart for gaining inner light. The final step is exhalation that is done through lungs or abdomen, where the impurities from your body are exhaled out.

Ayurvedic health benefits of Pranayama: Ayurveda is a holistic healing methodology that considers an individual as a universe in the universe based upon the solid principle that universe is also made up of the 5 vital elements and human body is also made up of the same 5 elements. Ayurveda considers ‘Pranayama’ as a juncture at which an individual’s own consciousness attains oneness with the universal consciousness. This paves way for realizing the immortal spirit vested within our body. The most significant health benefits of Pranayama according to Ayurveda are:

1. Enhances the quality of life: Pranayama or Yogic breathing helps you learn the art of deep and slow breathing, which aids in reduced rate of breathing. The normal respiratory rate in adults is about 12 breaths per minute at the time of rest. Increased respiratory rate like 20 or 30 breaths per minute are seen only in sick people, especially who are diagnosed with cancer, cystic fibrosis, HIV/AIDS and few other chronic conditions. Dr AC Guyton has said in The Textbook of Medical Physiology that “All chronic pain, suffering and diseases are caused from a lack of oxygen at the cell level”. Ayurveda recommends the practice of Pranayama to acquire enough oxygen to all the cells of the body and for reduced rate of breathing say about 5 to 6 breaths per minute. This helps in relaxation of nerves and muscles while lessening the wear and tear of internal organs.

2. Longevity or Increased life span: Increased life span or longevity is based upon an individual’s rate of breathing, according to Yoga, the sister science of Ayurveda. Pranayama teaches one to lower the rate of breathing and directly contributes to increased life span. As most of us know, one of the predominant living organisms on earth that has the highest life span is Tortoise and the major reason being its reduced rate of breathing that is only 4 to 5 breaths per minute.

3. Contributes to a healthy heart: A healthy heart is an incredible treasure supporting your welfare. This is an active organ of the body that works 24/7 in all the 365 days in a year. Practicing Pranayama regularly helps in the circulation of more oxygen to the blood and consequently supplies more oxygen to the heart and its muscles. This supports better functioning of your heart and effectively removes the toxins from the body.

4. Improves mental health: Inculcating regular practice of Pranayama strengthens your mind and grants you ultimate solace. A disturbed mind and a stressful life demands most of our time and steals our joy and serenity. Pranayama can also be called as positive breathing as it sows positive thoughts in our mind and emancipates the negative feelings like materialism, anger, depression, jealousy, stinginess, sluggishness, egotism and many other. This healing exercise improves the concentration power and paves way for better memory, enhanced spiritual skills and the eternal feeling of inner peace and harmony.

5. Healthy aging: Pranayama is the perfect way of treating the imbalances of all the three doshas namely vata, pitta and kapha. Vata aggravation leads to ill-health especially when a person turns older. Practicing Pranayama on a regular basis helps in keeping the mind and body in control. The sufficient amount of oxygen taken in by the body assists in treating Vata imbalances where Air is the predominant energy. This helps in protecting the health of the heart and lungs while preventing the negative symptoms of aging like rheumatism, backache, loss of vitality, solidifying arteries, improper blood circulation, dry and wrinkled skin, listless diaphragm and much more.

Start practicing Pranayama in a clean, bug-free environment especially in the early hours of the day when the energy levels of your body and the nature are at its best. Using aromatic Ayurvedic essential oils with therapeutic values while doing Pranayama can help you serve your health conditions better as it instills a positive sensation while fostering your body to accept the inner power granted by the natural fragrance of these oils. I can sense a ray of hope everyday when I practice Pranayama with the everlasting company of my favorite spiritual oils for fragrance, yes Frankincense essential oil along with Bergamot essential oil. It’s your turn now.

Thought for the day:

Inhale and God approaches you.  Hold the inhalation, and God remains with you.  Exhale, and you approach God.  Hold the exhalation, and surrender to God.                                -Krishnamacharya

Suggested Reading:

  1. Light on Pranayama: The Yogic Art of Breathing By B. K. S. Iyengar
  2. Asana Pranayama Mudra Bandha/2008 Fourth Revised Edition by Swami Satyananda Saraswati
  3. Moola Bandha: The Master Key by Swami Buddhananda
  4. Yoga & Ayurveda: Self-Healing and Self-Realization by Dr. David Frawley

Reference Links:

  1. Pranayama by Wikipedia
  2. Pranayama, Yoga, and Ayurveda by California College of Ayurveda
  3. Normal Respiratory Rate and Ideal Breathing by NormalBreathing.com

Ayurveda And The Importance Of Meditation

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Ayurveda, the mother of all healing sciences is a combination of holistic principles that stays intact with nature. One unique principle of Ayurveda that makes it matchless is its impressive healing methodology that is a perfect blend of natural Ayurvedic medications & mind healing skills of mental disciplines like Yoga and Meditation. This ancient natural curator that deliberates on the mind, body, spirit rapport, recognizes meditation as a balancing aid for the mind, which acts as a super natural spirit governing the human soul.

Meditation – The Master of Mind: ‘Inhale!!!…………Exhale!!!………’ are the key words of a popular mind soothing process known as Meditation, which aims at mental wellness by making the human mind inhale its authentic purpose of life & exhale the toxin that torments the psyche. It is a spiritual practice that demands the internal effort of the individual to self-regulate the mind and train it in a fruitful way. Meditation encompasses a wide range of techniques with infinite number of goals, the prime one being self-realization. A serene place free from disturbances and a standard time that suits you best is always opted for meditation, which should be performed on a daily basis for excellent results. A rhythmic breathing pattern is then followed which relaxes your mind & body thus helping you to develop your deep mental insight.

Ayurveda and Meditation: The prime philosophy of Ayurveda lies in maintaining a healthy relationship between the mind, body & spirit without reaching extremes in any cases thus connecting with the spiritual part of oneself. A healthy mind leads to a healthy body. That is why medical practitioners always recommend their patients to develop a positive attitude towards any type of treatment before commencing it. One who is mentally fit is certainly physically fit! One who develops a positive state of mind in the course of suffering from an ailment is half cured!!! Having this as the basis of all healing procedures, Ayurveda suggests Meditation for its immeasurable positive effects on human wellness which are listed below.

  • Meditation and Longevity: Ayurveda portrays longevity as increase in life expectancy with a sturdy ‘mind, body and spirit’ balance so that one enjoys permanent peace & happiness till the end of life. According to the study of NCCAM (National center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine), Meditation is practiced by people for various health issues ranging from anxiety, depression, stress, insomnia, high blood pressure & even to deal with the physical or emotional symptoms associated with deadly diseases like Cancer, HIV/AIDS etc. Meditation serves its intention of mentoring the mind, thus freeing it from all worldly worries and to attain the sole purpose of a long life.
  • Meditation and Mental Wellness: ‘Face is the index of mind’ is a well known adage. According to Ayurveda ‘Body is the index of mind’. Even a physically fit person can soon fall prey for diseases if his mind is deemed with worries!!! Meditation plays a main role in strengthening one’s mind by greatly reducing mental stress, anxiety, fear, depression and by inducing positive thoughts, self esteem, self control and empathy. It deeply relaxes the mind & the body by developing positive energy due to the changes in the brain wave patterns.
  • Meditation and Self-Realization: Meditation helps an individual to lead a disciplined life focusing on Self-realization, which is one of the greatest treasures to be acquired by every human being and is often difficult to pursue. Once an individual starts to realize who he/she really is and become conscious of one’s own purpose of life, self correction comes into effect and one can certainly feel heaven on earth!!! In addition to focusing on curing the ailments and preventing them, the individualized healing approach of Ayurveda helps an individual to lead a systematic, well-disciplined and self-realized life on par with nature with the help of a powerful tool called Meditation.
  • Meditation and You! : In this mechanical world it becomes very difficult for you to spend time for yourself! Strange but true!!! The time that you spend on meditation gives you the self-satisfaction of spending some quality time for YOU that helps you to lead an energetic life full of spirit, to meet the upcoming world of challenges. Meditation grants you power from within to lead a meaningful life full of values.

Meditation is a self trainer that trains your mind to lead a serene life. Meditation can be made more effective with the usage of few drops of aromatic Ayurvedic essential oils to your room freshener or diffuser, which will spread the aroma to your mind, soul, spirit and the environment. The medicinal properties of these essential oils not only spread the divine fragrance but also penetrate deep into your mind, making you divine and diligent. It aids in soothing your senses and providing you with peace and tranquility.

Ayurveda offers mankind with some of the most precious Ayurvedic practices like Meditation, which when followed makes life skillful, meaningful, successful and peaceful!!!

Thought for the day:

I mean the whole thing about meditation and yoga is about connecting to the higher part of yourself, and then seeing that every living thing is connected in some way.                 -Gillian Anderson

Suggested Reading:

  1. Healing Depression the Mind-Body Way: Creating Happiness with Meditation, Yoga, and Ayurveda By Nancy Liebler, Sandra Moss
  2. Self-Recovery: Treating Addictions Using Transcendental Meditation and Maharishi Ayur-Veda By David F O’Connell, Charles N Alexander
  3. Ayurveda: The Divine Science of Life, 1e By Todd Caldecott CIH AHG

Reference Links:

  1. Meditation by Wikipedia
  2. Overview of Meditation by National center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine
  3. How Does Meditation Work by Ayushveda