The goal of ayurveda is the comprehensive lived experience of wellbeing: the state of svastha.

samadoṣa-samāgniśca-samadhātu-mala-kriyaḥ | prasanna-ātma-indriya-manāḥ svastha iti abhidhīyate || A person who has balance in the doṣa-s, tissues, metabolism, elimination, and other functions, with clear and pleasant self, mind, and senses, is said to be svastha. (Sushruta Samhita, Sutra Sthana 15.41) The above is a famous quotation that we learn early in ayurvedic studies. This… ...

The concept of heat in our body is central to understanding the ayurvedic view of health and disease. That heat is the function of pitta, and its role in metabolism, is generally termed as agni. Primarily, heat and metabolism begin from the digestion of the food we eat. This takes… ...

You all know the “tree pose.” You stand on one foot and raise your other foot, placing it on the inner thigh of the standing leg. You also raise your arms above your head, maybe bringing your palms together. When we call this a tree pose, we are connecting with… ...

Life is a Blessing – Make it an Offering The concept of yajña (offering) is central to the deeper philosophy of life as described in the ancient India traditions. Life is a blessing in its essence. It is an opportunity for connection—through offering and meaning. The term yajña can be roughly translated as “offering,”… ...

The science of yoga is to understand the principles and practices with clarity and reasoning. The art of yoga is to see the whole person, assess their needs, and apply yoga in the way that serves them best. We need both the science and the art of yoga! One of… ...

When I teach yoga psychology, I sometimes introduce this little experiment. You can try it for yourself as below: “Stand on your feet and slouch. Collapse your chest, round your upper back, hunch your shoulders forward. Drop your head and look at the ground. Slacken your legs and feel gravity… ...

Most of us tend to have thoughts like these in our minds: “I must do this perfectly.” “I am a failure.” “What will they think of me if I do this?” “What if something happens and I am not able to handle it?” Such thoughts, to an extent, are normal… ...

Self-care and positive change is vital to a good life. But the road to those changes is not always smooth. We do run into problems and challenges.When you run into problems with a skill or exercise, don’t try to force your way through it. You may have better options…. ...

In the previous post, I had pointed out that movement is vital to wellbeing in multiple ways. Let me add to that now, highlighting even more ways by which regular and skillful movement benefits us. Movement increases metabolic health. It reduces your requirement for insulin and mitigates spikes in blood… ...

Movement is fundamentally necessary for our good health and longevity. If we stay sedentary for extended durations every day, we risk increasing ill-health in multiple ways. You may have heard this catchphrase, “sitting is the new smoking.” In historical times, people were naturally moving around regularly throughout the day more… ...