If you are wondering the difference between Western medicine (a.k.a. Modern medicine, Allopathic medicine) and Ayurveda, you've come to the right place. 

You can listen to Episode #14 on Bringing Ayurveda to Life podcast.

If you are wondering the difference between Western medicine (a.k.a. Modern medicine, Allopathic medicine) and Ayurveda, you've come to the right place. 

The philosophies behind Ayurveda and Western medicine are very different, almost opposite, without much overlap, so it is important to keep them in separate buckets.

We can easily get confused when learning Ayurveda because of our current knowledge of how our western medicine works. 

So right now, let go of what you think you know about your health and be open to learning from an Ayurvedic perspective — you're gonna love it :) 

I prefer to view Ayurveda and Western medicine as complements rather than competitors because both have...

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What does Ayurveda say about hunger?

Ever wonder if we are supposed to feel hungry? Like what if you feel hungry all the time? Or what if you never feel hungry at all? How hungry should we feel?

Sometimes we're taught that we're actually not ever supposed to feel hunger so we should eat five to six meals a day to avoid getting hungry.

Years back I saw a nutritionist and was told to eat five or six meals a day to never get hungry. And what happened? I gained some pounds within two weeks! My pants were tight and everything was tight. I felt heavy. I felt just really overall kind of awful. I knew it wasn't working for me.

It wasn't until I discovered Ayurveda that I figured out why eating all those small meals left me feeling so terrible.

So, what does Ayurveda say about hunger? It is good to feel hungry! Yay!

There are three guidelines about hunger.

1. It is a signal from our digestive...

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Transcript below:
The reason why I wanted to start this is because we make decisions all day long, every day in relation to our health and well-being. And that's what Ayurveda's really all about.

Ayurveda says that the things that we do daily is what makes the difference in our health over the long-term.

And so that's what we're after. And earlier this week I asked for some suggestions from you, about what you want to know about Ayurveda diet and lifestyle.

You guys gave me lots of ideas! People had all kinds of different perspectives and different ideas, but there was one thing that I saw that was a common thread.

And it was so awesome, so I turned it into the topic. And so today, we are going to talk about...

What does Ayurveda say about disease?

And why am I bringing up disease? Because so many of you had all these topics, but then...

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One of you wrote to me and said,

"Hey Monica B. What is one small change that I can make based on Ayurveda, that would achieve great results?"

And I was like, "That's a good question. I have like five, maybe eight things that she could do!" and then I was like, "Dang, she said one, I've got to think of one."

So I did it. I thought of one thing that is hugely impactful, and achieves great results and I'm excited to share it with you!

Something important to note, the one thing is not very exciting. In fact you might be like, "Meh, that's it?" but I want to understand the benefits you'll notice because that's where the goodness is!

My one recommendation for the small change to make is, to make lunch the biggest meal of the day. 

And why do I say that? Because usually we're at work, or we're in the middle of our day, we're rushing here and there. We grab...

For much more on Ayurvedic nutrition, grab a copy of my book In Your Elements on Amazon!

Ayurvedic nutrition has such a different and refreshing lens!

Is there such a thing as "Ayurvedic food"? No. Food is food.

So don't stress about whether food is "Ayurvedic" because there is no such thing. Yay!

What matters is a) the quality of food — is it high quality or low quality and b) are the "tastes" of the food — and whether those tastes balance your dosha. 

In Ayurveda, foods consist of the 6 tastes. The 6 tastes are sweet, sour, salty, pungent, bitter astringent.

Having a balance of the six tastes in our diet creates harmony in the body and mind. Each taste contains certain elements (space, air, fire, water, earth), so depending your dosha, there are tastes that will be more balancing for you than others.

The tastes that balance vata are: sweet, sour, salty.

The tastes that balance pitta are: sweet, bitter, astringent.

The tastes that balance...

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Dosha Menus download here

Food is the basic building blocks for our physical bodies. Depending on who we are as a unique person, or, our balance of doshas, we might need different types of foods.

Vatas are very light and airy. They will need foods that are grounding, stabilizing and warm. Since vatas don't have a lot of structure, their food needs to have more structure or they will get weak and their tissues will break down. They need to eat what I call "building" foods.

Pittas are slightly oily, hot and sharp. They will also need foods that are cooling, fresh, and mild. They will also need grounding foods but for a different reason — pittas will burn through food quickly, so if it's not substantial enough, they will be hungry (and cranky!) often. Pittas have medium structure and also need "building" foods so their naturally strong digestive fire stays strong, without burning up the tissues.

Kaphas are already quite built! They need light,...

Hunger becomes a problem when agni (our digestive fire) is calling for food at the wrong times because this is a fast way to collect ama (toxins) and gain weight.

Let's say we skip breakfast but then at 9:30 a.m. we're starving, so then we bring on the pancakes, and the bacon, and the sausages, and the oatmeal, and the coffee, and the orange juice. You get my drift! You have a big breakfast.

What happens when noon comes around? Are you hungry? No. But then at 2:30 p.m. agni's like, "Hey, I'm hungry!" So you have a late lunch at 2:30 because your breakfast was late.

Then, are you hungry at 6 o'clock at night? No, because you had a really late lunch. Maybe you're not hungry until 8 or 8:30 p.m. and you have dinner then.

That's too late.

Those times are all wrong, but agni's calling for food because we didn't eat at the right times according to the clock. Making sense? 

We want to eat at the right time. Otherwise we are not in harmony with...

I created this video to answer the question, "What is Ayurveda?" to give the newbies a broad idea of what it's all about.

When I started heymonicab.com in 2008, people asked me what my new blog was about and I would say, "Um, Ayurveda...have you heard of it?" {crickets} Nobody had a clue what I was talking about. But now I say, "I teach Ayurveda! Have you heard of it?" They say, "Yes! I've heard of it...but that's about it." YAY! Progress.

This is where I come in. If ya'll are able to recognize the word 'Ayurveda' now, you're ready for more information. 

Check out the video or transcripts below. XO!

How many of you out there have seen the word Ayurveda? How many of you know how to say it? Raise your hands if you've seen the word, but you're not really sure what it means. Excellent, that's why I'm here. I've been teaching about Ayurveda since 2008 on my blog, and I thought it would be important now to come back to basics a little bit, since there is...

Check out Podcast Episode #2! on iTUNES

KAPHA DOSHA: THE ENERGY OF LUBRICATION AND STRUCTURE

Temperament STEADY & NURTURING
Elements water (aap) + earth (prithvi)
Qualities wet, cold, heavy, oily, static
Season spring
Nature moon
Main Location stomach + chest

Kapha is the dosha responsible for lubrication and structure of the body. Because of their sturdiness, Kapha people tend to be the healthiest of the three doshas, including mental health. Kapha is our lubrication in the brain, around the joints, reproductive fluids, and is responsible for building most of our tissues. Kapha keeps our bodies from turning into raisins.

Since Kapha people are made of water and earth they are very sturdy, grounding and they are difficult to move. They are comfortable and happy in one place and don't like change. Kaphas are prone to "static & heavy" diseases like obesity, lethargy, dullness of mind, and diabetes.

Kapha personality

Everybody loves a Kapha! They are the peacemakers, the joyous...

Check out Podcast Episode #2! on iTUNES

To begin applying Ayurveda to your life, grab a copy of my book In Your Elements on Amazon!

PITTA: THE ENERGY OF TRANSFORMATION

Temperment LEADERSHIP & INTELLECT
Elements fire (tejas) + water (aap)
Qualities sharp, hot, oily, smooth, mobile
Season late spring thru summer
Nature sun
Main Location small intestines

Pitta dosha is responsible for digestion and transformation. Pitta is the heat that transforms food, thoughts and physical exertion into energy. Pitta is the medium and agni (digestive fire) is the content so the state of your pitta dosha determines whether you are digesting food properly. Ama is caused by undigested food and it is toxic. Therefore you have healthy pitta, you have healthy agni, and you won't get ama.

Since pitta people are made of fire and water, they are more sturdy than vata types and it takes them a moderate amount of time to get out of balance and come back into balance. Pittas tend to be on the warm side and...