Living Sutras with Malvika Takvorian-Mishra

Happiness Now or Later?
There are no immediate external signs. Being in one’s dharma means primarily one thing: no matter what the external circumstances are, richness or poverty, sickness or health, whether the path is clear and free from obstacles or whether we are meeting with roadblocks every step of the way, we have and we maintain a sense of inner peace and balance that comes from the knowing, the assurance that I am where I am supposed to be, I am doing what I am supposed to do, and going in the direction I am supposed to be going in. It is a state of equanimity that comes from having found the core that defines us by having let go of mental preconceptions about what/who we should be. Difficulties that accompany us on this path may be part of the cleansing process. And as discussed earlier, once the cleansing process is complete, things do always smooth out. If they don’t, it means more cleansing is needed surely. But the end is always beautiful no matter what!  Having said this, it does not mean that we should now all ready ourselves for a life of suffering for a possible happy ending one day maybe! We do not postpone happiness and SVA offers many practical insights and tips into this.

Clean your Food Clean your Karma!
Through Ayurveda, and particularly SVA, we can accelerate the cleansing process so as to materialize our ideal condition of happiness faster. We have all heard about the food-mood connection. But it goes deeper than that. Of course, it helps to be in the in the right mood in order to accomplish things, but a mood is just that: here one second and gone the next! You can consume food items that give you a quick high (white sugar) and then let you down; or you can consume food substances that nourish not only your physical body, your emotional heart, but that also affect your Satwa, the light of your soul, and that then help you on your path to dharma or maintain you in your dharma. This is Ayurveda. An ancient science revealed by seers whose secrets are now being brought out to benefit one and all. And SVA (Shaka Vansiya Ayurveda) is a lineage of practitioners whose dharma has been and is to perfect the skill of bringing peace and happiness into people’s lives through their healing knowledge of diet and lifest le, and when needed, their knowledge of herbal formulations.
In other words: strange as it may sound, there are foods that you can eat that facilitate your access to dharma, or that make your path smoother while you are in your dharma. And then there are foods and lifestyle patterns that create more roadblocks and weigh you down as you try to do your dharma. You have to choose right. But it is not guesswork! That’s where the knowledge comes in through the help of the sutras. The sutras are here to guide us and help us be our best.
Next week we will talk about this connection between food, Satwa, and Dharma, from the sutras.

But wait, there is more!
There is also one other thing you can do as well in addition to diet and lifestyle changes. A great thing about the Sanskrit sutras is they work on many levels. They offer intellectual knowledge that can help structure our lives. They incite us to further action through inspiration. But more than anything else, their mere recitation (or listening to) helps purify the physiology of karmic sanskaras (past life actions and their effects in your current life). It is always so inspiring to hear about them and understand the messages they have to relay to us, but the best thing is they work on the levels beyond the intellect. Listening to or reciting the sutras, learning them “by heart” cleans the vibrational gaps in our physiology and accelerate our process of growth and evolution towards greater happiness. If you feel you are not in your dharma yet, or are experiencing great trouble while being in your dharma, I encourage you to listen to, repeatedly, and learn the sutras, by heart, as we explore them together.

Namaste!

Your Beauty Now Inside and Out! (part 1)

It’s a beautiful thing beauty, even though we are never quite done talking about it and trying to actually understand what it is , where to find it, and how to make it last forever! The burning question is:  how do we stay beautiful by reversing or slowing down the aging process? We are all born beautiful with a divine light that shines bright within us. By connecting to our own beauty within, our physical beauty and total beauty will follow, flowing with the glow of our consciousness. Our perceptions, judgments, conditioning, and the opinions we form in our mind may define what we think of as beautiful in others and ourselves, but ultimately we are all beautiful.
Ayurveda offers a unique and all-encompassing perspective on beauty that begins with good physical and mental health. The following sutra from the Shaka Vansya Ayurveda (SVA) lineage describes the three pillars of beauty and how together they embody total beauty – spiritual beauty.   The Charak Samhita[1], the original text of holistic Ayurvedic science, also discusses ways for keeping ourselves beautiful, and speaks to techniques we can follow for optimum health, beauty, rejuvenation, keeping ourselves young at heart, and contentment in life.

As the above sutra states, the three pillars or foundations of beauty include; roopam, gunam, and vayastyag. Roopam refers to outer beauty, which is exemplified by our physical characteristics of beauty. Gunam refers to our inner beauty that shines from within us. Vayastyag refers to our lasting beauty and how we can look younger than our chronological age. Ayurveda offers us ancient guidelines and time-tested truths around these three pillars so that we can achieve total and true beauty that goes beyond skincare and cosmetics.
Roopam – outer beauty
Roopam is characterized by radiant skin, shiny hair, sparkling eyes, etc. Roopam is unrelated to body size, skin, hair, or eye color, and is a direct reflection of good health. Roopam, our outer beauty is categorized into two types; chhaya, and prabha. Chhaya refers to close-up beauty and the beautification techniques we use such as creams, lotions, herbs, makeup, plastic surgery etc. Prabha is the specific radiance and natural vibrations coming from ones consciousness that reflects as outer beauty. Prabha is our true essence of beauty and radiance and enhancing it should be a priority before enhancing our chhaya.
Gunam – inner beauty
Gunam reflects the beauty of our mind and soul and manifests itself as thoughts, actions and words. Gunam can be referred to as our aura that comes from inside. Our minds are the medium, and the mirror that reflects the good and bad vibes that our consciousness carries. Our gunam is governed by three main mental functions; dhi or learning, dhriti or retaining, and smriti or long-term memory and recall. A well disciplined mind that is coordinated with our senses and inner consciousness will indeed behave beautifully. By connecting with our mental intellect, we can enhance our gunam value.
Vayastyag – lasting beauty
Vayastyag is focused on how we can look younger than our chronological age and is supported by both roopam and gunam beauty. Vayastyag in itself is a complete science of how to achieve lasting beauty through shiri kamya rasayanas or skin rejuvenating regimes to slow down the aging process and promote luster and beauty.
Ayurveda classifies four types of aging; biological, psychological, social, and chronological. Chronological aging of course cannot be stopped – we age, this is a fact. Biological aging is a process of nature by which certain components in our lives will age us. For example, toxins, doshic (Vata, Pitta, Kapha – our biological humors) imbalances, EMF and EMR – electromagnetic fields and radiation, our diets, our routines, rest, exercise, lifestyle etc. Psychological age reflects how old or young you feel in your mind. It is your age attitude – your perception of how old you feel. The concept that the mind and body should be treated as a whole has been taught and practiced for thousands of years in Ayurveda. However, in 1975 the term Psycho-neuro-immunology[2] was coined based around the belief that there is a link between what we think (i.e. our state of mind), our health and our own ability to heal ourselves. The Charak Samhita discusses social aging in quite some depth and teaches us to socialize with people that are young at heart, mind and chronological age. Conversations among your social circles should also not address signs of aging as this can affect you psychologically. The seven layers of our skin reflect the qualities of our health, and if they are not nourished and nurtured adequately, will display signs of ill-health regardless of how much makeup we apply. Ayurveda supports us with a three-pronged approach known as Tri (three) Sutra (link) Ayurveda to help up solve our skincare problems. Tri-Sutra Ayurveda is explained as; hetu – the cause of the illness, lingam – the symptoms, and aushadhi gyanam – the solutions, remedies and treatments. Hetu is understood as etiological factors that create problems and directly affects our chhaya, or close-up beauty. Examples of etiological factors include synthetic skincare, unnatural preservatives, excess alcohol, poor diet, lack of sleep, excess exposure to electromagnetic devices etc. These factors then manifest themselves as lingam symptoms, such as dryness, redness, flaking, wrinkling, excess oil, rashes, acne etc. Aushadhi gyanam states that we should avoid the etiological factors we are exposing ourselves to as much as possible and formulate treatments based on the individual’s constitution and imbalance.

Your SVA Kitchen

YSK-img1This week we show you a classic recipe: homemade fresh cheese or paneer. It is so easy to make you will be surprised! And it is so delicious that you will not crave packaged aged cheeses again! Once you learn how to make the fresh paneer, you can make innumerable savory and sweet dishes out of it. This week we show you a very quick and delicious paneer dessert!

Fresh Paneer
You may make as little (1 quart) or as much (1 gallon or more) of paneer. If this is your first time, you may want to start with smaller quantities to be more comfortable. Try to get the best milk possible: raw milk (if it is available in your area) is the best; next you can have pasteurized but non-homogenized milk (this is more readily available in many states across the country). Non-homogenized milk is less processed and will have cream top. Its fat molecules are not broken down and it is easier to digest and more delicious. Last option is pasteurized homogenized milk, but try to get at least the organic kind, and avoid the “flash” pasteurized products. You will need:

  • milk
  • 1-3 fresh limes
  • a cheese cloth and a large strainer
  • f you don’t use the cheese cloth then you will need a small tea-strainer

Directions:
Bring the milk to a boil and lower the heat. Squeeze in the lime juice 1/2 a lime at a time. You want to lime juice to break/curdle the milk, so the milk solids separate from the whey. Depending on how much the lime has and how acidic it is, sometimes you will need more other times less. That’s why you take it 1/2 a lime at a time. After adding the lime mix it in with clean spoon to see if your milk is broken, if it is not, add more lime water. When you get a totally clear yellowish whey liquid (no clouding at all) then your paneer is ready to be strained. Pour it either into your cheese cloth or strain it out with your small tea strainer and store in a bowl. Depending on whether you want it dry to be able to cube it, or a little moist and crumbly, you may leave in some whey water. While it is ideal to make this fresh every time you want to consume it, it may also be refrigerated for up to 4-5 days for consumption. 

SVA Fresh Sweet Paneer Dessert
This can only be made with freshly made paneer as it is easier to digest when the protein molecule are not fully bonded and hardened yet when the paneer is still fresh and warm.
The proportions are easy. For 1 person:
2 tablespoons fresh panner
2 tsp raw unheated honey
1 pinch of organic nutmeg powder

Mix in the all the ingredients thoroughly and enjoy!

Thanksgiving Meal Misgivings!

TMM-img1Celebratory holidays are a social ritual where we come together as a group to mark an event. Most of the time they involve food. Eating is an important part of celebrating not just anniversary events but of celebrating life! In the ancient vedic shastras, eating was considered a yayga – an supreme act of purification. Consuming food with awareness can be an emotionally healing experience: the awareness of what a great gift it is to have good food to consume that will sustain our body, mind, and hearts; the awarness of how our bodies are equipped with all that it takes to break down the food and make it into our own, transforming the nutrients into our tissues, etc (“you are what you eat”!) so that we can go about our business of being in the world and spreading joy for all.
However, sometimes social rituals can have an adverse effect, specially if the menue is not designed to suit our body’s needs properly.

  • Do not delay your dinner time, the later in the evening  the less agni to properly digest your meal and the more chances of making “ama” (toxins from undigested food) and the more chances of causing imbalances resulting in disease
  • Turkey meat is an easy to digest protein, but be careful of the stuffing that can contain many kinds of dressings or ingredients that might be contradictory in nature, or not as fresh
  • Thanksgiving dessert is not what you want to top of your meal with. Dessert is considered heavy in nature as it consists of more “somagenic” ingredients (fat, sugar, flour, fruits). Specially in the Pumpkin pie case, since pumpkins are considered “abishandhi” – clogging to the circulatory channels. This will result in a feeling of heaviness and will cause more ama.
  • Finally, you may want to donate unconsumed food items instead of storing them and eating left-overs! As we know, SVA explains that 4 hours is the cut-off time for prepared meals. After 4 hours, the chemical make-up of cooked meals starts to decompose. Even if this is not yet visible to our eyes and our palates, the chemical dissolution has already started and it will not fare well if we ingest decomposing food.

What We All Need to Know About Cholesterol! by SVA Dr Marianne Teitelbaum

The word cholesterol conjures up many negative emotions nowadays.  Doctors have taught us that cholesterol causes heart attacks and strokes and that if our cholesterol becomes too elevated, it should be brought down with diet and exercise. If we are not able to lower our cholesterol through changing our diet and lifestyle, then they resort to the use of “statin” drugs, or, drugs that lower cholesterol.
The “holistic” doctors in America feel that these drugs are too dangerous, since they come riddled with side effects and toxicity for the liver and kidneys.  Instead, they try to address the cholesterol issue through the use of red yeast rice and fish oil. All in all, there is little consensus on how to ideally control and lower bad cholesterol, but it would be helpful to understand this issue a little more.
For example, let’s look at the issue of carbohydrates. We know now that white sugar and white flour, both carbohydrates, are highly refined nutrients that have been shown not to be good for our health.  But does this mean that we need to avoid all carbohydrates all the time?  “Carbs” have suddenly been lumped into one category, and everyone goes to extremes in avoiding all of them.  This means that the good carbs, such as whole grains like millet, oats, barley, buckwheat, rice, quinoa are also left out of our diet… We, as americans, have developed a typical mind-set of throwing out the baby with the bath water!
The same thing holds true for the cholesterol issue!  Yes, there are some foods that contain cholesterol that are not good for you to consume, such as red meats, aged cheeses, fried foods.  However, to avoid all cholesterol in the diet is not a good idea either. Why? To find in-depth yet practical answers I go to the ancients teachings of Ayurveda, the time-old medicine of India as practiced and taught to me by Vaidya R.K. Mishra.
Since Ayurveda is an ancient science, it was given to man through the revelations of seers and not the microscopic vision of lab tools and research; yet modern science is nowadays confirming every single one of its findings. So according to the ancient seers who cognized Ayurveda, the human body is made up of many physical channels (srotas) which which act as elimination channels for discarded materials – such as urine, sweat, blood, food, toxins, and so on.  The seers knew and explained that if these channels were to either shrink, clog up or become inflamed, then whatever was trying to get through the channel would have a difficult time being evacuated. Like anything else, these channels need proper care to function optimally. Diet constitutes a very important aspect of their care.
In line with that thought, Vaidya Mishra teaches how to identify modern foods that shrink our channels, such are the family of the nightshades (eggplant, bell peppers, white potatoes and tomatoes).  Then, the foods that clog them can be such items as hard aged cheeses, soy products, large beans (garbanzo, pinto, kidney, lima beans, etc), bananas, heavy meats, cold dairy, processed foods, leftovers, etc.  The foods that inflame the channels are sour/acidic and pungent foods – vinegar, onions, garlic, to name a few.
To give you a concrete example from our clinic in Cinnaminson, N.J.,  I had 3 patients who followed a vegan diet, eating a lot of soy, never consuming any animal products like butter, cheese, meats or milk, and all 3 dropped dead of a heart attack at a young age.  The high reliance on soy clogged their channels.  The artery is one type of channel, so in this case, their heart attack and their clogged channels were directly co-related.  Yet, all 3 patients had low cholesterol and were very thin…
On the other hand, if you are eating certain food items that contains a type of cholesterol which can be easily absorbed from the channels into the cells, such as warm milk and ghee, the arteries or other channels won’t clog, even though both these foods contain cholesterol.
So, the real issue is whether the food is channel-clogging, not whether or not it contains cholesterol!  Trans fats and hydrogenated oils, which are one molecule away from plastic may not have cholesterol, yet they can severely clog the arteries since our bodies can’t metabolize that type of chemical, they cannot accept it in from the channels and absorb it into the cells.
In addition to the issue of the food being channel-clogging or not, we need to address our own digestion, and make sure it is in good shape, so that we can digest food into small enough particles that can go from the channel and be absorbed across a delicate cell wall (which is itself made of cholesterol!) and nourish the cell.  Once the food is inside the cell then the cell can use it to make energy, etc.
The liver manufactures the bile, which is held in the gall bladder.  The gall bladder squirts the bile into the small intestines when we eat.  The bile itself contains two “detergents” which emulsify the fats in the foods we eat into small enough particles so we can use them.  In many people, probably the majority of people in the world, the bile gets too thick over time, turning into a “sludge”.  At this point, we need to thin out this sludge so that the bile can flow, otherwise it can remain stuck in the gall bladder, giving symptoms over time (heartburn, gas, bloating, gall bladder attacks, fullness under the breastbone or under the ribs on the right). If the bile remains thick for too long, cholesterol gall stones can develop.  At this point, the patient will have severe gall bladder symptoms usually and will require removal of the gall bladder. I see many patients, several every single week, where the bile is too thick, and we use certain remedies, such as SVA Triphala or SVA High Pitta Triphala (and other remedies) to thin out the bile. Once the bile starts flowing, they can digest better, their acid reflux goes away.  In fact, at least half of my acid reflux patients don’t technically have a problem with making too much stomach acid, but instead have this problem with sludge in the gall bladder instead.  In these cases, the drugs like Prilosec and Nexium do not help them, since the underlying problem is the gall bladder and not the stomach.  I can’t tell you how many patients I’ve had through my 26 years in practice who had instant relief of these symptoms once we addressed their gall bladder.  I’ve saved hundreds of patients from having gall bladder surgery as well.  When the doctors see the sludge in the gall bladder, they want to remove the gall bladder.  But they do not realize that all that really needs to be done is to thin out the bile.
So, what happens when the bile gets too thick and doesn’t flow well?  You guessed it!  The cholesterol remains in the bloodstream because the bile is not there to remove it out of circulation.  Now you can see that just taking a remedy, whether it’s a statin drug or fish oil (which will only bother the gall bladder even more) or red yeast rice isn’t the answer!
We need to help the patient digest their fats better so that the cholesterol goes out of the “channel” (here the artery) and into the cell so that the cells can use this much-needed cholesterol. And where is cholesterol used? First, the brain and all the nerve cells, including the myelin sheath (covering to the nerve cells) are all made of cholesterol.  This is why the ancient doctors said ghee would be good for the brain.  (They also said that ghee made from yogurt cream was the easiest to digest, containing rare and much-needed essential fatty acids, and wouldn’t make the cholesterol go up or put weight on the body – we are so fortunate to have Vaidya Mishra making the divine “Mum’s Ghee” for all of us!) The adrenal glands themselves are made of cholesterol and their hormones are also made out of cholesterol.  The reproductive hormones are also made out of cholesterol (which is why the ancient doctors said that women who ate ghee would be fertile.  Latest research shows that women who take whole milk got pregnant much more easily than those who drank skim milk.)  I can’t tell you how many infertile women I’ve helped conceive by adding back whole milk and ghee to their diets. And speaking of whole milk – there is an epidemic of osteopenia and osteoporosis (thinning of the bones) in our country since we started drinking 2% and lowfat/non-fat milk.  It turns out the fat in the milk delivers the cholesterol to the bones, and if you take the fat out of the milk, then the calcium in the milk goes in one end of the channel and out the other end, never properly nourishing the bones along the way!  But always boil milk first and drink it warm, to make the fat more digestible. And finally, did you know that the cholesterol in your blood migrates up to your skin – and when the sun hits your skin, this cholesterol is converted into Vitamin D?  And if you’ve been listening to Vaidya over the past few years, he has lots to say about Vitamin D and its absorption.  He now makes his transdermal creams and roll-ons of Vitamin D since this vitamin is fat-soluble and if taken orally can upset the liver.
So, now you can see how important cholesterol is to our minds and bodies! And one other important point – our bodies need about 1,000 mg of cholesterol every day.  We can’t possibly get enough of that in our diets (we can get about 200 mg in the diet), so our liver has to manufacture the rest – that’s how important it is to our life! I have had tremendous success treating Multiple Sclerosis in my practice.  I have identified numerous reasons why a patient might get MS – mercury, aspartame, MSG burning the myelin sheath, EMF toxicity, parasites eating the myelin sheath.
But I remember the very first patient I treated with MS told me that hers developed after following a strict low-fat diet and doing too much aerobic exercise (which burns fat).  She too had starved her nerve tissue and myelin sheath of fats.
Once I showed her how to reincorporate the good fats in her diet, she was pleased to see that she did not gain weight, that her body was actually absorbing these good fats and using them, and she was shocked to see her MS go away!
Thank you to the ancient rishis for leaving us their divine knowledge of Ayurveda to help alleviate tremendous suffering in the world.  And even more thanks to Vaidya Mishra for training us doctors to help our patients at this very deep level.  So many of us are grateful for all the work you do on our behalf!

Light Up Your Holidays!

LUYH-img1From the beginning of civilization, all over the world, people of every culture and tradition have organized festivals to celebrate special occasions. In India, many festivals are celebrated throughout the year and they’re often dedicated to the remembrance of a particular God or Goddess. In Sanskrit, the word for any festival is utsava. Utsava means an occasion that uplifts and enhances positivity (utsaha).
According to the shastras, utsaha is that which cleans the light of the soul (sattwa). This is a state in which silence reverberates into dynamism. The Uts-A represents the vibration of A, the seed of all creation, which emanates from the source of the soul’s light and illuminates the mind so that the mind is empowered by the nurturing, all-knowing light of consciousness. The mind that becomes connected to the soul’s light in this way reaches a state of joy, clarity, and purpose that reinforces the soul’s embodied quality of bliss and pleasure (sukha), and decreases grief (dukha) and aversion (dwesha).
The nature of festival celebrations allows for this dynamic to occur automatically. Most festivals embody a common association with the universal light of the soul through the lighting of candles or ghee lamps. The practical purpose of using candles and ghee lamps to dispel outer darkness also plays a role in deepening the connection between the mind and the soul.
When we pray or chant in candlelight, the sound vibration of prayer, coming from the deep silence of the light within us, vibrates with candlelight and becomes a part of it. Wherever the unified sound and candlelight travel, inside and outside the body, they create waves of positivity that melt away karmic shadows of deep grief, doubt, and aversion from the light of the soul. When people gather in festivals and aversion is transformed into bliss, enemies become friends and despair and fear turn into hope.
Carak Samhita offers more detail about spirituality-based psycho-therapy. For almost all mental and emotional imbalances, Carak recommends a therapy called Sattwaujaya. It means winning over the light, enriching the light, and cleaning the light. According to Carak, there are three kinds of soul light (sattwa):

  1. clean light (pravar sattwa)
  2. medium light (madhya sattwa)
  3. low light (heen sattwa).

Pravar sattwa people remain always connected to their inner light whenever the heart lotus is open. No matter what goes on around them, they stay upbeat, kind, and ready to help. They lead dynamic lives but do not become attached to any specific outcome. They remain blissful and free of aversion and when they encounter mental, emotional, or physical trauma, which is a natural part of life, they bounce back quickly without feeling bad or looking for someone to blame. On the physiological level, Pravar Sattwa people are able to respond to trauma without releasing cortisol because when the soul light is clean and the heart lotus is open, any mental or emotional trauma can be met head-on without any long-term effects. Medium light or Madhya Sattwa people have either a half-open heart lotus or carry the shadows of karma in their soul light. When Madhya Sattwa people experience emotional or mental trauma, they tend to go back and forth between positive and negative thought. They doubt. Often, they believe and don’t believe in God at the same time. This dynamic creates cortisol, which can eventually lead to illness.
If the light of the soul (sattwa) carries any bad shadows of aversion and misery, the light can be cleansed by raising the bar of bliss (sukha) and determination (iccha) and by connecting the pure intellect (satya buddhi) to the mental intellect (mano budhi).
The way we celebrate festivals, with candles, light, prayers, and gratitude, raises the bar of bliss, which opens the heart lotus and allows the universal vibration of A to cleanse the soul light. Then, Madhya Sattwa can become Pravar Sattwa.
Carak recommends attending festivals as therapy for most any kind of emotional and mental imbalance, and it is not rocket science to see why. We can all testify that going to celebrations uplifts our mood, inspires us to recognize the best in ourselves and others, and empowers us to pursue life-affirming action.
The third kind of light, or Heen Sattwa, can be created by one of two situations. Either the soul light carries a lot of darkness caused by karmic misery, doubt, and aversion so that the darkness goes to mind and plunges the mind into deep negativity. In another case, a person’s soul light might be clean and sharp, but the heart lotus has shut down due to emotional shock, so the mind cannot receive the light of the soul. If the heart lotus is shut down and the light is clean, attending festivals can open the heart lotus, and all of sudden, that deep, dark negativity turns into a great vitality, enthusiasm, and hope. Those who carry darkness imprinted in the light of the soul due to karma from this or prior life will need to devote more energy and focus into creating a positive outlook on life.
Even those people who have strong, clean light of the soul can respond to life’s challenges by shutting down the heart lotus. When this happens, they too become as negative as those who don’t have a clean light. For this reason, opening the heart lotus has been the primary focus of the Shaka Vanshiya Ayurveda for ages. That’s why we recommend the Heart Lotus Mantra and the Samadhi Set. Doing Samadhi Set offers a lot of support in uplifting the mind because it opens the heart lotus, gives mind more power to receive the light of consciousness, and enhances coordination between the mind and the senses.
Of course, there is no substitute for celebrations. Unconditional enjoyment of celebrations provides an opportunity to renew mental and emotional harmony by feeding both mind and heart. Celebrations, prayers, eating together, and sharing gifts enhance the experience of the divine light within us so that Heen Sattwa can transform into Madhya Sattwa and Madhya Sattwa can become Pravar Sattwa.

Karela Tapenade Over the Top!

KTOTT-img1Karela is a very bitter vegetable that is loaded with healing properties for the human physiology as it is Tikt (bitter), Katu (pungent), Kashai (astringent – has a lot of Marut or space element). Due to these properties it helps counteract the heavy, clogging and ama-genic properties of sugar or high carb foods. But it is easier to speak about incorporating karela into our diet than actually doing it! Its bitter taste is not always desirable, even if we try to mask it one way or another. Indian culture, and specially Ayurveda, has many recipes, but here, in our SVA Kitchen, we developed a new one for you, one that has a modern twist to satisfy our western imaginations as well. This recipe came out very tasty and we know it is going to please your family and friends. You can also improvise on the presentation (you can make small triangles out of fresh rolled roti-s or flatbreads and spread the Karela Tapenade on top and garnish either with fresh cilantro or toasted powder coriander).

Karela Tapenade
4 oz Karela (weight by weight) chopped rough
1 tsp Mum’s ghee
1/2 tsp Olive Oil
1 tsp SVA Turmeric
1 Tbsp SVA Coriander seeds
1/2 tsp Soma Salt
1/ tsp Mum’s Masala
2 Green Thai chillies (optional)
1 small chunk of fresh ginger (optional)
3/4 cup water
2 limes
fresh cilantro leaves for garnish (optional)
fresh toasted and ground coriander powder (optional)

Directions:
Add the karela, the ghee, the turmeric, the coriander, the salt, the olive oil, and the water (plus the chillies and ginger if using any) in a pot and cook over slow to medium fire until the karela is fully cooked.
Turn off the heat and add the lime juice. Add the whole mixture into a blender and blend down to a smooth paste (add some more water if needed). 

In a separate pan, warm 1/2 tsp of Mum’s Ghee and add 1 tsp Mum’s Masala. After 20-30 seconds pour over the blended mixture.

Next you can choose to put your Tapenade in a plate and decorate it with suggested garnishes or you can just serve it in a bowl.

Try this after heavy sugary meals and let us know how you felt! Enjoy!

Click here to watch Malvika demonstrate the recipe for you on youtube.

When India Beckons: Highlights

208“If we could just pack a few things and go…”. But a trip to India takes planning, preparation, time. And there simply was not enough time for India after we tentatively plugged it into our schedule: we needed time for rest, then days to be spent with family and close friends etc. The winter break was not terribly long anyways and, after all, you can’t just go to India for 10 days! So we gave up on the idea.

But India had not given up on us! Nearing the end of our winter retreat, weeks after we had stopped talking about it, a friend called: a last minute change of plans for non-refundable mileage tickets: would we go? To India? For free? Next morning, January 8, we were bound to Kolkatta!
Our trip was not at all what I expected it to be because the next 10 days or so would be fully packed with more plane rides to different cities, as well as endless hours of car rides for meetings with farmers and herb vendors all over South India. No Bharat Natyam dance concert in Chennai, no festive Pongal celebrations in Coimbatore, no ayurvedic treatments in the world capital of Ayurveda in Kerala…. Instead, an apprenticeship in seesing, smelling, touching, feeling exotic herbs and spices for the first time… Here are some highlights of this short but beautiful trip.

Amrita:
Hearing Vaidya speak of Guduchi or Amrita, for many many years now, I know the herb well. About how “magical” it is, so fully charged with prana that you could just clip a part of it and hang it from your ceiling without water or soil and it would grow shoots in no time!WIBH-img1 I’ve had guduchi powder in my tea and am familiar with its bitter taste. But it was something else to actually take a small piece of it with you, and keep it in your purse, without water or soil, and see how day after day, it was still green, miraculously still alive, and full of prana!

A Farmer Named Chandi:
As our car rushed through the South Indian landscape, our eyesWIBH-img2 feasted on miles of lush and scenic,  picture-perfect coconut an d banana plantations, interspersed with beautiful blue back-waters.  En route to meet Chandi: a  healthy farmer in his late 80s, barefoot and bare-chested, wearing a cotton lungi and a small silver cross on a black thread around his neck. After welcoming us in his home, Chandi invited us to set out to see his farm.  Click here to watch Vaidya and Chandi at the farm. Chandi’s 7 Acres of lush greens lands covered with trees, backed by a beautiful river whose name I still cannot pronounce let alone type! Click here to see the beautiful river and learn its name!  That day, the weather was perfect, sunshine lit up the trees, the air carried wafts of aromas of nutmeg, herbs and fruits, along with the smell of wet soil, and the silence on the farm was animated with exotic chirps and bird songs. If this was not heaven on earth I don’t know what was!

Nutmeg:
Chandi’s farm now specialized in growing exclusively organic nutmeg, nutmegs but it was a haven for all kinds of herbs and plants. We found wild Sensitive Plant growing everywhere.  Click here to watch Sensitive Plant shrink to our touch. Vaidya was also very thrilled to find his favorite plant: Mankand, We did not want to leave this haven but after having a glass of organic nutmeg “aasav” (fermented nutmeg with sugar, almost like sweet wine or port), Nutmeg Aasav we were ready for our almost 6 hours uphill drive to visit a government facility in that specializes in the production of green cardamom and black pepper.
WIBH-img3WIBH-img5WIBH-img4WIBH-img6After a 6 hour drive back the same day, we slept for a few hour and then caught a flight to Hyderabad. I was unhappy to leave beautiful South India, but the herb treasury that awaited us there was breathtaking. In a “galli” (back street) in a small town, where single cars can barely pass, floshubh labhoded with cows, pedestrian, and hand-pulled rickshaws, we arrived at an unidentified address – no house numbers or street names!  We had only a few hours to look at the inventory before flying back out.
WIBH-img7Had we known, we would have probably planned things otherwise, because the warehouses were filled with all kinds of exotic herbs and plants and seeds. In all the years, I had never seen Vaidya so happy! He was in his element. Like a little boy in a toy store!!!
WIBH-img8In just about less than 2 weeks, we had been to Mangalore, Coorg, Bangalore, Chennai, Coimbatore, Tekri, Cochin, Erode. Once I realized this would not be my first and last trip to South India, I was able to let go of the desire to try to slow down our expedition to experience things at a slower more relaxed pace. I told myself that this was like a trailer, a small taste, for the bigger better trip I had already started to plan in my mind, where I would also visit temples for which South India is so famous, amongst other things. In the meantime, click here for my famous “almost last” words!

“Oops! Sorry we were wrong…” How the latest scientific findings confirm SVA dietary principles!

2889 out of 10 misunderstand what Vaidya Mishra means when he speaks about healthy channels, or problems in circulation. The immediate guess is he is discussing blood vessels. But Vaidya Mishra has been educating us about the importance of healthy channels for the past 15 years, and science has only now just caught up with that important truth. Click here to read Dr Lundell’s powerful article about how the health of the channels is priority, specially when it comes to heart disease. But more than that, about our rampant misconceptions concerning the consumption of fat, and the chronic diseased state of affairs here in the US. Do you see the connection between what he says and what Vaidya Mishra has been teaching for years about amavisha and garavisha?

— Thank you Todd Smith,  for forwarding us this link.

Q & A

Lisa A.W. asks:

“You sell Mum’s Masala and Pitta Masala. The detox recipe(s) [from last week] recommend Mum’s Masala. What I’m wondering is … if Pitta predominant people should substitute Pitta Masala?” – Yes! Specially if you are a high pitta type. The Mum’s Masala is tridoshic, unless you are high Pitta, and unless it bother you, it is a somewhat better option to use. But Pitta Masala is a good replacement option for Mum’s Masala in all detox recipes.

Vidhya asks:

“I have been seeing a SVA practitioner for my child and also following the great newsletters in my email. Why is sauerkraut not recommended in SVA practice? I hear cabbage is healing, but why is it not recommended in sauerkraut form? (And) should lentils be soaked for a few hours before cooking to reduce the phytic acid, so it is easier on digestion?” – Dear Vidhya: Sauerkraut is not recommended in SVA simply because it is a highly acidic food. Even though  the healing benefits of sauerkraut may be extolled because of the lactic acid bacteria produced as a side-effect of the pickling process. Healthy human colons contain many beneficial bacteria which feed on the waste left over from our digestion, creating lactic acid. Without these beneficial bacteria the human digestive system becomes home to harmful parasites and yeasts, resulting in the condition of candida.This is in addition to the health benefits offered by all cruciferous vegetables (a category which includes cauliflowers and brussel sprouts as well as cabbage), such as being high in vitamins A and C. Studies have shown the cruciferous vegetables can help lower cholesterol levels. Cabbage also provides a rich source of phytonutrient antioxidants. However, Sauerkraut is an extremely acidic food that can aggravate Pitta Dosha on very deep tissue levels. While it may be beneficial to consume cabbage, pickled cabbage prepared as in the Sauerkraut recipe is not recommended. And there are better and safer, according to SVA, sources for populating your gut with beneficial bacteria, such as Probiotic Coconut drink, (watch our SVA Health channel on yourtube.com). Yes, you may soak your lentils but it is not necessary. Cooking with a good spice blend always helps with digestion. However, soaking may also reduce cooking time. 

Ann D. asks:

“Is the Guduchi nectar in a matrix of orange and grapefruit gel? Are there any products that are not in this base. It appears that I must take a cholesterol lowering drug and ingestion of grapefruit is contraindicated. I currently use several of your products and am concerned about this.” – Dear Ann: Vaidya’s nectar drops all contain Grapefruit and/or Sweet Orange as part of their synergistic formula, even if in very minimal negligible quantities. Please check with your medical doctor about possible herb/drug interactions.