Author: Adena Rose

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Workshop at UVM Medical School – CAM – Nov. 10, 2011

The Complementary and Alternative Medicine Student Interest Group would like to welcome you to:

An Overview of Ayurveda, the Ancient Healing Practice

with Adena Harford

Thursday, November 10th, 2011 noon – 1pm

Med Ed 201 – UVM College of Medicine

About Adena:
Adena has studied at the Kripalu School of Ayurveda in Lenox, MA, under many influential teachers including Dr. Robert Svoboda, Dr. Claudia Welch, Dr. Scott Blossom, and Dr. Vasant Lad.  She has been practicing yoga for 7 years and teaching for 3, in the Ashtanga tradition and is currently the yoga instructor for the College of Medicine.  She currently works at the Ayurvedic Center of Vermont, and performs Ayurvedic body work out of her home office.

About Ayurveda:

“One who is established in Self, who has balanced doshas, balanced agni, properly formed dhatus, proper elimination of malas, well-functioning bodily processes and whose mind, soul and senses are full of bliss, is called a healthy person.”

Ayurveda is a holistic system of medicine to come out of India.  Ether, Air, Fire, Water and Earth are elements present within our bodies and the cosmos.  They can either be in balance or out of balance – each of us has our own state of health.  Every disease or disorder (even if it does not have a name or fit a specific category in Western medicine) has certain qualities and symptoms which show us what element is out of balance. Through diet and small changes to our daily lifestyle and routine, Ayurveda helps us bring mind and body back into balance.  Herbal remedies and yoga practices are also often utilized.

I will discuss very briefly an overview of the 5 elements and how they manifest.  I will then talk about the Ayurvedic perspective of cause of disease, touch on the 8 diagnostic tools utilized to find the cause of disease, and mention the three main categories of treatment in Ayurveda.

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What kind of cleanse is right for you?

Many people are used to experimenting with ‘cleansing,’ in this day and age. We’re exposed to pesticides, heavy metals and hormones in our daily lives, as well as realizing we put not-so-optimal things in our bodies on a regular basis, and, uderstandably, we want to clean this stuff out every so often. In this workshop, I will discuss cleansing from an Ayurvedic perspective – the main idea being one cleanse is not for all! We will talk about the best kind of ‘cleansing’ for each dosha, after discussing the doshas and elements in detail so you can find your own!

A 2-week seasonal Fall cleanse will follow for those who are interested.

Where: Yoga Vermont

Date: September 2011 TBD

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Recipes

Kitchari

Ingredients:*
8 cups Filtered water
1 cups Split Mung beans
Fresh ginger 1 Tblsp
Fresh turmeric 1 Tblsp (optional)
Chopped Fresh cilantro
4-5 Curry leaves (optional)
Bok Choy (optional)
Winter squash (optional)
Carrots (optional)
Golden beets (optional)
1 Tblsp Ground coriander, cumin, fennel
1 Tblsp Curry powder
2 Tblsp Dried Coconut (optional)
Salt to taste
1 Tblsp Ghee

Accompaniments:
Sliced Lime
Cilantro leaves
Dried Coconut

Rice:
Basmati rice
Cardamom powder or pods (optional)

Place the  mung beans in 8 cups of filtered water in a large, heavy bottomed pot.  Turn the heat to high and place upon the stove.  Any of the spices of vegetables we use are optional, choose them to suit the dosha or imbalance you are working with.
If adding ginger and turmeric, chop them first into small pieces, then add them to the boiling mixture.  Let the water boil, then turn it down to medium high, stirring gently.  Scrape the foam off the top of the water and discard.
Prepare the rice in a rice cooker, 1 of rice to 2.5 cups of water, adding the cardamom pods or a small amount of powder if you’d like.
While the mung beans are cooking, slice the carrots and other vegetables and set aside. If using bok choy, you will add that separately from the harder vegetables, as it does not need to cook as long.
Lower the heat a bit, and add the dried coconut if you’re choosing to do so.  After 5 minutes (you do not need to scrape off this extra foam, it is just from the coconut) add the harder vegetables like carrots, beet or squash.  Next add the spices like coriander, cumin, fennel and curry powder blend. Stir, perhaps scraping the bottom if the beans begin to get sticky (you may add more water if you feel the need to do so). Cook for another 10 minutes, then add the bok choy and chopped cilantro and curry leaves.  You may now add the salt.
The final addition to the kitchari is ghee.  Gently stir in about 3 tablespoons of ghee – take note of the yummy, nutty smell it adds to the mixture.  Check on the rice in the rice cooker, remove carefully. Serve when ready with lime wedges, coconut flakes and extra cilantro if you like.

*Most measurements are by sight or hand – Ayurveda encourages using your intuition.

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At Home Panchakarma

*I’ll start with a side note – one of my favorite things about going to work at 8:30 a.m. is that I get in the car at the perfect time to catch Garrison Keillor reading poetry on the Writer’s Almanac.  It reminds me that stories are still important to human beings, they nourish me anyway.  And reminds me that I want to be a writer of stories.*

It’s sort of freaky that this picture precedes my writing about Panchakarma, but hey, I love wacky.

What is panchakarma?

‘Pancha’ means 5 and ‘karma’ means action, so literally panchakarma is the 5 actions.  It is a technique utilized in Ayurveda for healing that rids the body of excess dosha, as well as some excess ama.  The five actions are virechana, vamana, basti, nasya and rakta moksha (purgation, vomiting, enema, releasing substance through the nostrils and blood letting.)  As you can see all of these actions are pretty uncomfortable, and all involve a release out of the body, shodhana therapy.  Not all of the actions are necessary for each patient, the treatments depend on which dosha is involved.

Continue reading At Home Panchakarma