For those of us that prefer the natural route towards our health and well-being, there are several items that serve multiple purposes - and are worth keeping at home in the medicine cabinet. The majority of these products have been utilized for decades, centuries, if not thousands of years, and have been proven to provide multi-faceted benefits for the home, as well as for emotional and physical health.
4-7-8 breathing is the kegel of mindfulness cultivation. You can do it quickly, any time, anywhere, with great results, and without anyone even noticing (okay, unless you’re in the middle of a conversation and decide to practice deep breathing—you got me there). As an added bonus, its practice isn’t limited to beings of the female variety. In fact, it’s not limited to anyone at all. You don’t have to be female, crunchy, green, hip, square, a yogi, a hippie, or an MD. You just have to breathe.
This last decade has seen a rise in holistic healthcare. While some swear by this method, others are skeptical as to what this ‘alternative’ medicine can accomplish. Basmati.com is bridging the gap between ancient traditions and modern science, with weekly case studies that provide an overview on the recent accomplishments of traditional, holistic practices.
This article explores the profound effects that integrative health like yoga, massage, and Reiki, can have on cancer.
My family and ancestors are from the tropics. The seasons they experienced were the harmattan and rain. Even though I find comfort and ease in warm weather, I acknowledge that I was raised in New England. I’ve faced many climates growing up on the east coast. I must say, navigating the winters of my life have always been the hardest. The sunlight left too soon and the darkness would stay too long. The snow could be unbearable. When another six feet of snow came down, I would throw my hands up in exasperation, believing the storms would never end.
The argument surrounding alternatives to over-the-counter medicines has waged for years, and with the prices surrounding prescription drugs today, some have simply turned their attention to things ranging from herbs to extensive exercise to spiritualism to aid them in their quest towards self-healing.
It’s almost like a cliché at this point: you quit drinking (or drugs or gambling or any addiction) and take up yoga. Yoga becomes your new addiction, your lifesaver, your replacement. Instead of reaching for a drink when you’re sad, stressed, or angry, you reach for your yoga mat. Instead of losing yourself under the waves of alcohol, you lose yourself to movement and breath. Both are a kind of escape, a reprieve from over-thinking. But while drinking enables the drinker to escape from her feelings, yoga enables the drinker to really feel his feelings.
As simple as this sounds, letting go of pain is not always easy! There can be hidden aspects of pain that provide our ego with a pay-off, making it quite difficult to see our pain gone. In self-healing, the questioning of our ego’s investment in the symptom of our suffering is a vital modality and can often provide a pivotal shift in our healing process.
Ayurveda is one of the most ancient scientific approaches to holistic healing in human history. As one of the first collected systems of medicinal practice, the roots of Ayurveda can be found in Tibetan, Traditional Chinese, and Early Greek medicine. Originating in India between five and six thousand years ago, Ayurveda is a holistic form of medicine fundamentally based upon the laws of nature to treat the body, mind and spirit.
Pranayama is a powerful Yogic practice that clears physical and emotional blockages from the body, breathing peace into the mind.
“Yoga citta vritti nirodhaha.”
“The restraint of the modifications of the mind-stuff is yoga.” - Patanjali
I have a confession to make: I want everything to be easy. I’m pretty sure I’m not alone in this. I think we all want a life of ease and comfort, but I had a conversation recently that irrevocably shifted my perspective.