Homecoming – or Going

This morning as I watched the sun rise over New Mexico, I marveled anew at the wonder of this globe. We spin on our little axis through space, pulled in endless scheduled circles around a ball of fire amongst countless other rotating spheres passing in their own exact orbits. The celestial bodies that I gazed [...]

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And Then it Started to Rain….

It was as if Nature was watching a calendar. On June 1st, the sky opened up and the rain began to fall. We had been hearing that it was raining in Kerala to our west, and since this is the time of year for the southwest monsoon, we knew it was coming our way. (In [...]

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The Laying-On of Hands

As part of our education about pancha karma, Ayurveda’s intensive detoxification and rejuvenation process, we have been learning some of the hands-on patient treatments. While some of these may look like spa offerings, they are powerful therapies designed as part of a full treatment plan with specific sequences and preparations. The most well-known Ayurveda treatments [...]

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Making Medicine

I spent last Friday night standing in Vaidyagrama’s open air kitchen looking out over the wall at the deep green banana tree tops, listening to the grazing cows mooing from inside the grove, and tending a fire stove trying to bring a vessel of Balaguduchyadi herbal decoction to a boil. Ayurveda offers guidance in lifestyle [...]

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Rhythm and Routine

We’ve been at Vaidyagrama for almost four weeks, and I am settling into my daily routine. My roommate Lynn and I get up at 5:00 and go about our waking up rituals silently, more or less. After tooth-brushing and such, I do a self-massage with coconut oil followed by a brief warm shower to help [...]

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