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THE UMA AYURVEDA PODCAST- UNLOCKING VASTU SECRETS WITH RIDHI BAHL, THE ASTROLOGER ARCHITECT

Shrankhla Holecek 00:01
Hello, I’m Shrankhla Holecek, the founder and CEO of UMA, an ayurvedic beauty and wellness collection. This is the Uma Elements podcast. Each week, I’ll be having a conversation with someone I greatly admire on the topics of ayurveda, holistic healing, spiritual well being, and alternative health. By sharing, bring wisdom. Together, we will unlock a secret that, as ancient as they are, Ayurveda and other ancient modalities are as modern and relevant today as ever.

Shrankhla Holecek 00:38
Today’s podcast guest, Ridhi Bahl, brings profound knowledge and insight to the realm of vedic astrology and vastu shastra. Vastu Shastra is an ancient vedic architectural system that harmoniously blends spatial design with nature, unlocking the true potential of living spaces. With a PhD in astrology and vastu, and over two decades of intensive research and practical experience, Ridhi is a renowned and beloved expert who comes from a family of revered astrologers in India. Ridhi has also provided guidance on more than 5000 vastu enhancements, encompassing commercial, industrial and residential projects. In this episode of the Uma Ayurveda podcast, we embark on a journey to explore these ancient vedic sciences with Riddhi and discover ways to integrate them into our lives to bring forth both positivity and enlightenment.

Shrankhla Holecek 01:44
Hi, Ridhi. It’s such a pleasure to have you on this podcast. I’m such a fan of all the great work you’ve done and how you share it in such a wonderful visual fashion with people on your instagram. So plum wanted to connect. And of course, someday I hope that maybe you can do one of those video previews for my little apartment. But while we wait for that to happen, I’d love to share your wisdom with all our listeners on this podcast. You are a vasu expert and an astrologer with a world of study behind you. I know you’ve been doing this a really long time, and you come from a heritage of astrological and vastu science. So without further ado, let’s launch into this.

Ridhi Bahl 02:37
Thank you so much, shrankhla, for having me here. And, well, Vastu and Astrology, both are wonderful guiding sciences, right? I would like to tell one thing to the listeners here, vastu and astrology, it is no magic, but then it is a guiding force. And see, life is all about taking the right decisions at the right time. And here, these sciences works. Wonder it happens with all of us when we say, oh, I did not know about this. Oh, had somebody guided me way back then, I could have done something better, or I could have done this, which would have been better. So this confusion can be very well cleared with this science.

Shrankhla Holecek 03:24
I love that framing, and especially because so many leaders will tell you that the most important thing in life is decision making. Success in work is all about decision making. So the idea of framing this in the way of this is something that illuminates your path to faster and better decision making can feel so empowering. And this might be as good of a time to jump in and clarify to some of our listeners who may not be familiar with what vastu is, for lack of a better term, it is basically feng shui that is informed by the vedic system in India.

Shrankhla Holecek 04:08
It is a guiding force to organize your home, your spaces, your office, for the optimal flow of energy. And I don’t know why I’m talking about this, because I’ve got an expert on the call with me. So, over to you, Riddhi. What are the origins of vastu, this science that I liken to feng shui, just because I think more people in the west have heard about feng shui.

Ridhi Bahl 04:37
Yes, absolutely. Okay, so, shrankhla, how vastu operates? Firstly, let me tell you, vastu has nothing to do know, being auspicious, inauspicious. It has nothing to do with religion, it has nothing to do with countries, it has nothing to do with race, color, anything. Vastu works on the simple principle of five elements. Now, what are these five elements? I’m sure you all must have heard of it, but still, these five elements are water, air, fire, earth and sky. Everything on this planet, be it you, me, the trees, the plants, the animals, everything is made up of these five elements. And after we are no longer part of the earth, we again get mixed in these five elements only.

Ridhi Bahl 05:30
So these five elements forms the component of the human body, not just the human body, as I said, of everything that is existing on this earth. So, like, say, for example, we humans, we have 72% water in us, right? Whenever there is an imbalance, say, the 72% water, if it becomes 80% right, I tend to fall sick. What is the term for that? They say there’s a water retention in your body. That means your body is retaining water. It’s holding on to water. You feel bloated, you feel lethargic. All this is because the water content in your body increases. Whenever this water becomes less, whenever the 72% becomes, say, 60% or even 70%, you tend to fall sick. What does it leads to?

Ridhi Bahl 06:21
It leads to dehydration, it leads to weakness. The water content is less. So, like, there has to be an educated balance of water in our body, it just doesn’t apply only to water, but also to other elements, like fire, like earth, like sky, like air. If there is an imbalance of these elements in our body, we tend to fall sick. And that is where ayurveda comes into. Feel, cuff, vat and pit. If you’ve heard of these three terms, which forms the basis of ayurveda. So cuff is basically water, vat is basically air, pit is basically fire. So whenever there is a balance of any of these elements, we tend to fall sick. Now, the same principle applies to a structure at your house, be it your office, be at any commercial entity.

Ridhi Bahl 07:15
Whenever there is a balance of any of these elements, it leads to problems. And that is what we call that there is an imbalance of vastu. Now, talking about feng shui, see, vastu was written as. That’s why I explained you all these five elements. Vastu was written keeping these five elements balanced in mind. Plus, vastu works on the principle of movement of sun. Sun rises in the east, sun sets in the west, travels via south, that is for the northern hemisphere, whereas in the southern hemisphere, the sun rises in the east, sets in the west, but travels via north.

Ridhi Bahl 07:55
So the vastu principles become a little different for the southern hemisphere and becomes different for the northern hemisphere, which is purely, purely on the movement of sun. That’s it. So see how logical it is. Now, feng shui was written keeping the chinese climatic conditions in mind, because it originated from China. And feng shui has been working more on symbols rather than working on the balances of these elements. What little knowledge of feng shui that I have see, in feng shui, they know you should place a laughing Buddha, you should place a tortoise. These are symbols that they place, which through these symbols, they say that we are balancing.

Ridhi Bahl 08:37
And these symbols, it has been found that have an impact on a subconscious mind. So say in your office table, on your office table, you have a laughing Buddha, so you’re spending a good amount of time on the office, so you’re irritated. But moment you look at the laughing Buddha smiling at you, you also get in a good mood, right? So, Sriniva, since I am doing vastu for many, many years now, and I hold a PhD degree in vastu, and I’ve been part of lot of researchers in vastu, what I can know, the depth and the logic with vastu comes, there is no other science closer to it. And we have seen so many cases where we applied these principles and people have got extremely positive results.

Shrankhla Holecek 09:26
Obviously, I’m a little bit biased and I think our listeners would know that. But of course, I wholeheartedly agree with this framing. And my personal love for all our vedic sciences is both evangelized by personal experience as well as from everything I have seen, experts and those near to and dear to me be able to achieve with some of these guiding lights in their life. And speaking of these guiding lights, and I know you are a conduit of this guiding life, Ridhi, by all the amazing work you do with your clients. Tell me a little bit about how working with you might look like to someone who might be uninitiated in the. Principles of Vastu

Ridhi Bahl 10:19
Vastu was written some thousands of years back. People say it’s persistence from 5000 years back. I don’t know. We’ve not been able to date it. Now, a new theory has come which says it goes back to say, maybe more than 10,000 years back. So see, now this, what I’m explaining you right now also will explain that how logical it is. So see, since the earth was created, since life came, these five elements have always been a part of the system. And they will be there till the earth exists, right? So Vastu, which was written some thousand years back, task is valid even now and will be valid till the earth is there. Like I said, these five elements will always be there. Whenever any of the element goes missing, life will stop. There will be no life.

Shrankhla Holecek 11:11
Totally makes sense to me.

Ridhi Bahl 11:13
Right? So now, talking about the practicality or the applicability of us. So what I was trying to say is that these principles which were written thousands back are applicable 100% applicable now also. But what is the difference now and way back then? It is the way we have been living, the way the structures are being made now and what they were made. Forget 1000 years back. Just look at 20 years back from now, the way we were living, the way the structures were built, the way the family size would be, it was very different then and it’s very different now, right? But those principles of VASTU, they still remain the same. Now, see, like I told you about these five elements, each element is linked with certain attributes, although it might be a little technical to the listeners who are not at all aware of VASTU. But I’ll just try to make it on, okay?

Ridhi Bahl 12:14
So I’ll just try to make it simple so that people can understand. So, see, like, I’ll give an example of the northern hemisphere. So sun rises in the east, sets in the west and travels via south, right? During the day from twelve noon till 02:00 p.m. The sun is in the southeast direction. That is the hottest time of the day. Right? That zone in astrology, sorry. In Vasu, we call as Agnikon, means the fire zone. It is the fire element. Why? Because of the heat prevalent in that direction. That is why it is called as heat zone. It is called as Agnikon fire zone. Where is fire in the house? Live fire in the house is in the kitchen. So if you’re building a new house and you’re making your kitchen in the southeast, that means you’re aligning your structure with the nature, right? As I said,

Shrankhla Holecek 13:12
makes sense.

Ridhi Bahl 13:13
Sun in the south, there is no sun in the north. This I’m talking in context with the northern hemisphere. There is no sun in the north. So therefore, north zones are cooler zones. They are called as water. They are the zones which are governed by water element. So having a swimming pool in the north directions will do good to the inmates of that particular structure. Why? Because you’re aligning your structure with the earth, with the elements.

Ridhi Bahl 13:38
Now just reverse the whole thing. You get your kitchen in the north and you get your swimming pool in the south. What will happen? It will disturb the whole ecosystem and certainly the inmates staying there. You’re using that particular property as your office or as your house. You will have the impact. Now, what will the impact? What do I mean? You will have the impact. So see, every zone or every. When I say zone, I mean direction.

Ridhi Bahl 14:05
So I’ll just give you a little brief of vastu, we have four basic directions, which everybody’s aware of, north, east, south and west. But in Vastu, we divide these four directions into eight subdirections. Further, we divide these eight directions into 16 directions. So every 22.5 degree makes one direction. So when I using this word zone, I mean direction. Right now, each 16 directions, each direction has a certain attribute. That attribute has a direct relation with our lives. Say, for example, north, northeast, north of northeast, the direction which is coming between north and northeast. This is the direction we link with health and immunity.

Ridhi Bahl 14:56
Like northeast, northeast is the direction we link with mental clarity. That is why in Vasco, it is said that you should have a temple or a prayer room, or sit and do meditation in the northeast. Why? Because what do we do when we pray? Or what do we do when we meditate? We focus. And when we focus, we get mental clarity. And that is why northeast direction is linked with mental clarity. And that is what I said. If you have your prayer room there, it will be better, because it will help you in focusing. Now, suppose you don’t have your prayer room there.

Ridhi Bahl 15:30
That’s okay, perfectly fine. But if you have a room or an area or a corner there where you sit and work, or where you sit and do your meditation, it will help you in focusing in whatever you are doing in life. So, like I’ve given an example of one direction, there are 16 directions. Each direction has its attribute, and that each direction contributes or has an impact on the inmates of that particular property.

Shrankhla Holecek 15:57
super, super helpful ridhi, at peril of belaboring the earlier point around a consultation, I would love to sort of figure out with you that in many cases, the practical reality of actually building a new house or breaking down structures can be pretty challenging, especially in these times. I think all of us are struggling with any sort of construction in our home. In a situation where a structure already exists, how do you go in and help someone with finding the best way for energy flow?

Ridhi Bahl 16:41
Okay, that’s a very interesting question and a very important question, shrankhla, because, see, you build a house once in a lifetime, and nowadays, with a lifetime, that is also not possible. We don’t have the time and energy to build a house. And most of us are living in apartments, be it in the west or in the east. Everywhere people are living in apartments, right? And these apartments are already ready to move in.

Ridhi Bahl 17:09
And I, believe me, Shrankhla, now this is an inside secret. I’m sharing with you. Most of the builders, most of the real estate people do consider vastu and make the apartments. I like the sound of that. But most of them don’t do also. Now, what happens in that case with a, suppose you know, you are buying a new apartment and you’re moving in and you want know, you come to, you know, I want everything. As for vastu to be perfect, now, see, there are simple and doable remedies by which we can align the structure or make it vastu compliant, right?

Ridhi Bahl 17:47
It’s not necessary always that one has to, if it’s a vastu, if particular place requires some vasu rectification, that you have to make some structural change. It’s not always so. It depends from case to case, but in 90% of the cases, rather, I would say 95% of the cases, with my own experience, I have not done any structural change. And I have dealt with properties which are in acres which are massive, big when it comes to commercial establishments or townships and all that, right? And let me tell you one thing, Shankar Vastu, principles are the same whether it is a small size cabin, whether it’s an apartment, whether it’s a shopping mall or township, the principles are the same.

Ridhi Bahl 18:36
Why? Because the elements are the same. So in vastu, when we try to balance a particular property or make it vastu compliant, it’s not always that we have to make structural changes. There are simple and doable remedies by which we can align or make a particular place fast to compliant. Now, what do I mean by vastu compliant? As I’m again and again using this term, it means balancing all the elements so that people get the benefit of all the elements. Right. So when this balancing comes, we can do it with colors, we can do it with metals, we can do it simply by placement of furniture or placement of other stuff in the house.

Shrankhla Holecek 19:17
Very cool. And ridhi, in terms of starting out, someone might want to explore a little bit on their own before they reach out to you. Just because some of us might be very new to this science, do you recommend any self study in vastu? And if you do, what are some of the resources one should look at?

Ridhi Bahl 19:43
To be very honest, shrankhla, it’s know saying, know, I am having some stomach ailment and before going to the doctor, do I need to study something myself? Well, no, you don’t need to. Right. It’s always better. Even doctors say, like today morning only my mom went to a doctor and how elderly people are. She was not well from past three days and she was doing her self medication and situation became really bad. And the first thing the doctor shouted at her was that why did you have to do self medication? Right. So when there are specialists available, the same thing applies with Vastu also, that when there are specialists available, it’s always better that you go to a specialist and seek their help. Nowadays there is so much information and you see YouTube, you see Instagram, you see Twitter, everybody’s pouring in information, and that rather confuses a person. So it’s always better that you go to a specific specialist and seek his or her advice and then proceed further.

Shrankhla Holecek 20:45
Okay, fair. And I totally see your point. Now, the second challenge that might present itself, Ridhi, is finding a good practitioner, because I find that for one great practitioner, there are always ten not so great ones. So what should one look for when trying to find a good practitioner to work with?

Ridhi Bahl 21:07
Okay, this is a very important question, Srankhla, and a lot of people ask me this question, and even when it comes to me for choosing a practitioner, what do we do nowadays? As I said now here social media comes into scene. That you can do a little research about the person. Educational background or qualification is very important in this field. Since I’m from this field from past 20 years and I see most of the practitioners, they don’t have a formal degree or a formal qualification. It’s like half baked knowledge picked up from here, picked up from there, read some books, saw some tv show or today morning only I was talking to this girl and she was really very scared and confused.

Ridhi Bahl 21:48
And she know I saw a video on YouTube and that gentleman said this, oh, is it going to happen with me also like this? I’ll forward you that video. So I told her, I said, see, that’s not the right way of doing it. Right? You go to a person, you do your research on what is the level of knowledge of that person. Don’t take everything that person is saying on YouTube or it’s written in an article that’s very generic. Even I’ve been writing articles, even I have been posting videos on YouTube. But then they are very generic.

Ridhi Bahl 22:18
Whereas these ancient vedic sciences, they are very individual specific. What your house is, Shrankhla, is your house, your neighbor’s house will not be the same. Maybe structure is same, but the interiors will be different. The people living in it will be different. The challenges these people might be facing will be different. So for that, you need to really do a good research of person who’s qualified, who has a good background in terms of experience, and then go to that person.

Shrankhla Holecek 22:46
Makes sense. And just to summarize, I do know that social media can serve as a good research platform to see if the energy and the vibe of the person seems right for you. But also the importance of formal education, expertise and longevity of experience really matters in these things. And I wholeheartedly agree. There’s so much to learn. And I love people who spend the time in self study and constantly evolve. I think on a personal conversation, you also told me about the importance of continuing to learn and grow. And I think that’s something that stuck with me in a practitioner I would want to work with.

Ridhi Bahl 23:31
One thing I would like to see here, Shrankhla, I’m sorry, I’m cutting you through since you raised this point of how to find a good practitioner. So when you meet somebody, this incident, I’m telling you from my personal experience, because people come to me and give me this feedback that when they approach somebody for vascular of astrology, most of the people behave very greedy. They ask for big, big amount of money, or they advise you with certain stones or some baseless stupid remedies which are very expensive. So I would say, please don’t fall trapped to such people. See, as I explained you, this is a science. Nobody can change your destiny. These are guiding sciences. By bringing about these changes, life becomes better. It’s not that your problems are solved and solved overnight. It’s no magic, but it is certainly logic. So please don’t fall trapped to people who are asking for big amount of money or who are giving you baseless remedies.

Shrankhla Holecek 24:30
Makes sense sage words to live by. And in terms of consultation, I would love if you’re able to share one or two shining examples or stories where you’ve seen vastu really shine profoundly in someone’s well being, life, prosperity, so many things that life throws at us and how Vasu may have helped someone, for instance, in their love life or relationships or health.

Ridhi Bahl 25:02
Well, yes, so there’s this one incident. I remember this client of mine, and she was a young girl, maybe in her thirty s, and she and her husband, they were going through a lot of financial trouble and they had a store, they had a garment store. And I went and I did vastu. Things started becoming a little better in terms of getting orders. All the things were picking at its own pace. As I said, there was no magic. But then all of a sudden, this lady calls me one day and she says, ruthie, I’m fed up of my husband. I can’t stay with him, I’m going, I can’t live with him. And I’ve met both of them and a nice couple, small kids, so I never wanted them to part ways. And the reason she was giving me, I understood it was frustration, it was financial struggles and all that. But I did tell her a simple remedy and I told her, I said, please do this and just allow me 40 days, just for 40 days. Do this and get back to me. And you won’t believe me. Shrankhla. After two months, she calls me and she says, how foolish of me, so stupid of me. How could I think of something like this? And she did that remedy, and they’re leaving happy till now.

Shrankhla Holecek 26:13
How wonderful. How wonderful. This goes back to sort of. Sometimes we just need that light, that push, because we are pushed in our lives, professionally, personally, circumstantially. And it can seem like it’s the end of the road sometimes. So that positive sort of pivot can be so meaningful when it comes at the right time, when you feel completely down and out and staying on sort of remedies as well as, for lack of a better word, tips.

Shrankhla Holecek 26:50
Are there universal tips that you might like, for instance, within ayurveda, of course, everything is done using doshic balances. Very often, it’s a customized plan based on your prakriti, which is your dosha that you were born with as well as your vikriti, in terms of what that might be disturbed. However, there are a few things that seem to work for everyone. Sort of waking up and splashing your face with cool water or things like dry brushing, drinking warm water in the morning, similar to that paradigm in ayurveda. Are there things within vastu that you tend to recommend to everyone?

Ridhi Bahl 27:35
Okay, so since you’re getting ayurveda, you know what? Ayurveda and vastu, they go hand in hand when we study vastu. When I was doing the vastu course, there was a paper on ayurveda also. So when we do medical vastu, when we try to see certain people in a particular household, in a particular structure, are facing certain health issues, there where what you mentioned about these dosha, balancing of these doshas through the directions that, you know, ayurveda and vascu play a very important role.

Ridhi Bahl 28:10
And if applied together, it can really bring lot of wonderful changes in a person’s life. So now, talking about certain tips. So, see, as I said, vastu astrology, ayurveda, again, there are individual specifics, certainly, right? Everybody has their own house or has a particular body structure or a particular dosha. But then, yes, talking about generic vastu tips. So you have to remember always one thing which I’m repeating again and again is the five elements, air, water, fire, earth, sky, and the movement of sun. So, like, east is a very important direction because it’s the direction for rising sun.

Ridhi Bahl 28:53
So if you’re buying an apartment or moving to a new place, just make sure that in the east direction, there is a window or there is a door or there is some source where natural light can come in. Because natural, especially the sunlight, plays a very important role when it comes to our health, be it vitamin d, be it our mood swings. It has been researched that people who are working constantly under artificial light, they are more prone to depression. So if you expose yourself to natural light, sunlight, it really uplifts your mood. So something like this needs to be done then, as I said, there are directions which are hot directions, like southeast, south, southeast, south, these are hot directions.

Ridhi Bahl 29:40
So if during the daytime, you should not spend more time in the south, you should be more in the north. Right? Because north is cooler direction. But then again, Shrankhla, it depends on country to country. Also, it depends on the climatic conditions. It also depends on the movement of the sun also. So there are a lot of factors which in totality contributes. Like south is the zone for confidence. So if you feel little incompetent, you sit in the south direction, you’ll feel much more confident. Like I said, northeast. Northeast is the direction for mental clarity. So if you’re confused, you need more focus in life. You should spend more time in. Right? So these are few small points that I remembered now and which I would want people to follow. Why I’m telling so much about northeast, because everything is a mind game. The more clearer you are mentally, the better it is in life.

Shrankhla Holecek 30:37
Thank you for sharing that and staying on this topic. Ridhi, I know that placement of plants, certain plants, placement of mirrors, these are some of the things that are also considered important in vasu to pay attention to. Any thoughts or advice for some of these structural. Well, non structural, but these objects within one space. Yeah.

Ridhi Bahl 31:09
So see, mirror. We associate mirrors with water element. Why? Because, see, in olden times, when there were no mirrors, practically, how would people look at themselves or how they would view themselves? It was at a water body, say a river or a lake, they would go and see themselves. So therefore mirrors are associated with water element. Right. So mirrors should ideally be in the north directions.

Ridhi Bahl 31:35
As I said, north is a direction where there is no direct sun. So it’s a cool direction, it’s a water direction. So having mirrors, again with north direction, what are you doing? You are aligning your structure with the universe. So in the north, having mirrors is absolutely fine. Where you should not have mirrors is in the south direction. Why? Because mirror is water guided element and south is fire zones. So getting fire and water together will create an imbalance because these are two opposite elements to each other. Then comes plants. Plants we associate with air element. So east direction is the direction for air. Having plants in the east, having plants in the south and the north is also good. You should not have plants in the southwest or in the west direction.

Ridhi Bahl 32:25
Now comes the question, why? As I told you about the movement of sun, the sun sets in the west, right? The sunlight, by the time the sun sets, the rays of the sun has a lot of ultraviolet rays, which are harmful. So if you have plants in that direction, it will not do good to the plants. It is advisable to have it in the east. Why? Because east is the direction of a rising sun. Then we say you should have big trees or big plants in the south or southeast. Why? Because southeast is the direction where you get maximum sunlight in the north directions. It is advised that you should have herbs or shrubs or you should have your kitchen garden in the north direction. Why? Because these herbs and shrubs, they don’t need that much of direct sunlight. They do need light, but not that much of sunlight. Direct sunlight. That is why they should be in the north. So see Shrankhla, everything here is connected with the directions.

Shrankhla Holecek 33:19
Science and logic love it.

Ridhi Bahl 33:21
Yes, absolutely. Whatever I said today and whatever vastu has, there’s nothing which is illogical.

Shrankhla Holecek 33:28
Totally agree. One of the things that Uma really focuses on is health as well as mental health remaining in balance. Any vastu related tips for ensuring that people and people they love in their household remain healthy, mentally, physically? Anything to share from within that paradigm?

Ridhi Bahl 33:56
Well, yes. See, when we are smaller, we all are very fond of those ghost stories or haunted stories. Oh, this place is haunted. Or this particular place. Don’t go there. It is haunted. You’ll find a ghost there. What is a haunted place? At Per vastu? A haunted place is a place where these elements are majorly disturbed. So if you have ever been to a so called haunted place, what will be there? The water will be stagnant, it will be sinking.

Ridhi Bahl 34:28
There’ll be no natural light. All the doors and windows will be closed. There’ll be no flow of air. Natural air. Moment you clean up that place, you open up that place. Natural light comes in, sunlight comes in, there’s a flow of water. That place becomes absolutely fine. It’s no longer wanted. Right? So in any household, in any structure, if you want the inmates to be happy, healthy, successful, make sure that there is a lot of natural light coming in.

Ridhi Bahl 35:00
There is airflow, there is water which is flowing. There should not be stagnant water. What I’m trying to say is that there has to be educated balance and there has to be. All the elements should be there and these elements should be balanced. If there is an imbalance of any of these elements then it leads to problem like. I’ll give you an example, Shankla. I went to this particular house and again, this couple was in bad terms with each other.

Ridhi Bahl 35:25
They were not talking or they were constantly arguing. And this house had big, big mirrors all through. Be it in the living room, be in the bedroom, be it in the kids, mirrors all through. Now, mirror is water element as I guide it. Now, excess of mirror, what is excess of mirror? What is it going? It was leading to excess emotions, right. When emotions are in excess, what happens? We become too weak or we become pickle minded or we tend to take decisions which are more governed by our emotions. We tend to forget logic. And that is exactly what is happening with that couple.

Ridhi Bahl 36:03
So I asked them to remove all the mirrors, just keeping one or two. And the problems eventually, slowly, slowly got solved. So what I’m trying to say is, having an excess of any element in the house, that is also wrong. Having element which is not at all present there, that is also wrong. So there has to be educate balance, you should have plants also. You should have natural light, also. You should have a source of water, body also, right? So this is how you can balance and make your life happy and healthy.

Shrankhla Holecek 36:28
Good reminder of the importance of balance in practically every sphere of our lives. Absolutely ridhi on your incredible resume. I also know that you have expertise around astrology. Would you mind sharing with us how astrology and vastu play together?

Ridhi Bahl 36:48
Well, yes, astrology is a wonderful, wonderful science. Astrology again is very individual specific. Like see, when we read a chart, when we make a chart, we need the date of birth, the time of birth and the place of birth of an individual. Your date of birth, your time of birth is yours. Only twins who are born to the same parents, born at the same time, same place, but still have different destinies. So see how accurate astrology is in twins.

Ridhi Bahl 37:18
At times there is a difference of maybe barely few seconds. But those few seconds also may create a huge impact in your life. That is why indian vedic astrology, which is written from 1000 years back, is valid till now. And it has such a big following. And people have seen being benefited immensely by this. So coming to astrology and vastu, it’s not just astrology and vastu. See, astrology, vastu, ayurveda, yoga, all of them are connected with each other. And all of them aim at human wellness. They aim at you having a healthy and a better life. So astrology also is a guiding science.

Ridhi Bahl 38:01
See, whatever has to happen will happen. But if you know in advance this is going to happen, you can prepare yourself or tackle with those things in a better way. It’s like Shrankhla, it’s like a gps. So suppose you have to cover a distance of say, to a distance of say maybe 100, might take you 2 hours. If, you know, if taking a particular route will save time, you’ll reach on time, it will be better. Rather than you getting stuck in a jam or something, there’s some problem while on the way. If you get to know this in once, don’t you think you will be prepared here?

Ridhi Bahl 38:38
You know, astrology again is a wonderful guiding science. And it certainly has a linkage and has a connection with Vastu. So when we do vastu, we do consider the astrological aspect of the inmates of that house also, because that also leads to or helps us in providing them solutions.

Shrankhla Holecek 38:57
Ridhi, that makes so much sense. Thank you. And I know I’ve taken up a bunch of your time, but I must ask before I let you go, in the case that someone wanted to work with you and is not geographically close to you, I know you’ve done remote things with people in the past. How does that all work? How do you recommend someone reach out to you if they wanted to work with you to improve the energy in their home?

Ridhi Bahl 39:28
Okay, so, Shrankhla, for Vastu specifically, I need the floor plan. That is the layout of the particular structure. So like, you know, it can be your residence, it can be your commercial entity or a manufacturing unit, whatever it is for which you want to check your energies or for which you want your vastu, I need is the floor plan in the Pdf form. You may share it. Nowadays, the technology is a big boon. We all can connect with each other sitting in any part of the world. So you may share that with me. And then I can reach out through video calls or through Zoom calls or whatever way. Certainly we can connect and then I can take it forward. I can help you, I can guide you and we can certainly do. Vastu and I travel a lot. I travel a lot all across the world. Like last month I was in South Africa for Vastu. I’ve traveled to, you know, so I do travel. So I’m open to that also depends. But then certainly, as I said, online, we can certainly connect online and I can provide you with the solutions.

Shrankhla Holecek 40:37
Wonderful. I am sure many of us are excited at that prospect. And thank you again for sharing all this incredible insight with us. Riddhi, I can’t thank you enough. This has been so detailed and in depth. But is there anything that we missed in our conversation that you’d like to touch on before I let you go?

Ridhi Bahl 41:03
Okay, so firstly, let me also thank you because you created this opportunity where you reached out and we could create something like this. And I’m sure the listeners would be benefited out of it. They’ll get the right, correct picture of what vastu is or what astrology is and how does it work and how they can implement in their life and bring about changes. So a special thanks to you,Shrankhla, for doing it, of the good work. Okay, so I think we have covered most of the things Shrankhla only one little thing that I would like to say is that, see, it’s no magic. But then, yes, certainly it’s logical. It’s backed by science. And in the conversation you did bring up this point, I would repeat it again, connect with the right person. And believe me, these sciences can bring about a lot of changes in individuals life. And when I say a lot of changes, I mean a lot of positive changes in an individual’s life.

Shrankhla Holecek 42:05
Thank you again for, of course, reclarifying and reemphasizing that and for being with us. I’m sure there are more amazing things we will do together for our audiences, but for now, Riddhi, I will sadly let you go. And more to come. Thanks again.

Ridhi Bahl 42:28
Thank you so much. Shrankhla, thanks to all the listeners. Thank you so much for having me.

Shrankhla Holecek 42:33
Lovely talk Soon

Shrankhla Holecek 42:34
you can learn more about Ridhi and her work@ridhibahl.com. That’s ridhibahl.com. You can also follow her on Instagram at astrologer Ridhi Bahl for tips on astrology and Vastu. As we conclude this episode, we invite you to delve deeper into the world of ayurveda with Uma. Please subscribe to the Uma Ayurveda podcast. To continue this transformative journey with our series of conversations that we hope you’ll find enlightening, visit umaoils.com. That is umaoils.com. For an even more immersive experience exploring not only our luxury ayurveda products, but also an array of inspired wellness, insight and lifestyle tips.

• Ayurveda Podcasts
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THE UMA AYURVEDA PODCAST- AYURVEDIC INSIGHTS FROM SALILA SUKUMARAN

Shrankhla Holecek 00:01
Hello, I’m Shrankhla Holecek, the founder and CEO of UMA, an Ayurvedic beauty and wellness collection. This is the UMA Elements podcast. Each week I’ll be having a conversation with someone I greatly admire on the topics of Ayurveda, Holistic Healing, Spirit well -being and alternative health. By sharing wisdom, together we will unlock a secret. that as ancient as they are, Ayurveda and other ancient modalities are as modern and relevant today as ever.

Shrankhla Holecek 00:37
Today’s guest on the Uma Ayurveda podcast is Salila Sukumaran. Salila has deep Ayurvedic roots that span generations. Her life’s mission is to help individuals overcome their unconscious bad habits and bridge the gap between the life they desire and the life they currently live, one Ayurveda ritual at a time.

Shrankhla Holecek 01:01
She firmly believes that Ayurveda should be everyone’s secret weapon as life lacks flavor without a sprinkle of ancient wisdom. In her pursuit to enrich lives through Ayurveda, she established Ayur Gamaya, a wellness travel concierge offering bespoke volunteer needs to clients.

Shrankhla Holecek 01:23
Salila, it is such a pleasure to welcome you to the podcast. I’m such a huge fan. I’m so glad we are connected and I’m so excited about sharing all your wisdom, all your experience and your entire journey with Ayurveda, how it has evolved over the years with our audience.

Shrankhla Holecek 01:44
So without further ado, I’d love to kick things off. Welcome. We’re so happy you’re here.

Salila Sukumaran 01:50
Thank you so much, Shrankhla. You are such an inspiration for me as well. And your uma oils are just divine. So thank you for having me on the podcast.

Shrankhla Holecek 01:59
Thank you for being here. And this is a question that I think I’ve asked a hundred times, but what I love is I get the answer in a hundred different personalized ways with some common themes of self -discovery across those answers.

Shrankhla Holecek 02:16
So I will ask you that right question I ask everyone. What drew you to Ayurveda as a system of medicine and how it differs from other forms of medicine?

Salila Sukumaran 02:29
Beautiful question. I come from an Ayurveda lineage, so I was born into an Ayurvedic sort of life. My mother, my grandmother, my great -grandparents, grandparents, everybody practiced Ayurveda in some form or the other.

Salila Sukumaran 02:45
And Ayurvedic rituals and patya -apatya, unique ways of doing diet, during important times of your life like childbirth, during periods, during fevers, all this was practiced in my home. So you’re not going to believe it. One of the first things my mother would do is take me out into the garden and then show me the herbs and tell me that this is musta. This is what you do with it. You boil this in milk and you drink it if you have any kind of stomachache.

Salila Sukumaran 03:14
So things like that was very common for my parents, my grandparents, to share with me. And I just did not know that it is called Ayurveda or that this is a specific way of living or taking care of yourself. I just thought this is how everybody else was also living. So when I grew up, I grew up in different defense bases all over India in eight different regions of India. And you know, Indian Air Force is very much influenced by the British way of living and the Western way of living.

Salila Sukumaran 03:51
So as children, we would shun anything that was traditional and we felt that it was a little backwards. So we were all in our Levi jeans and our Nikes and trying to pretend like we lived in America. And we would look down upon these oiling rituals and these ways of having khichdi and kanji and take some herbs, you know, to maintain our health.

Salila Sukumaran 04:16
We would look down upon all that. So I moved quite far away from all that as I became a young woman and moved to America. And then life started to happen. And I became quite sick about eight years ago.

Salila Sukumaran 04:31
And at that time, when I went back home to my mother and I was at my lowest point, it was Ayurveda, a Panchakarma that restored my health completely back. And not only did it restore my health, it made me feel like how I used to feel as a five year old, excited about life, curious about everything, ready to give all of what I had and ready to receive the gifts from the world and be of service to the world.

Salila Sukumaran 05:00
So once I regained my full health in mind, body, spirit, I was like, what is this Ayurveda? And then I started to retrace my steps, reconnect with my roots, learn more about the history of my grandparents, and then it became my own journey.

Salila Sukumaran 05:19
So I won’t be able to tell you exactly how Ayurveda differs from other medical, medical sciences, because I don’t know other medical sciences in depth. All I know is Ayurveda. All I know is that Ayurveda is about harmony between the mind, body and the spirit. And not just the mind, body and the spirit, but the different koshas, all the different parts that make up this body, some visible, some invisible, like the Anamaya kosha, which is the sheath of the body, which is created by food.

Salila Sukumaran 05:54
But there is the Pranamaya kosha, the Manomaya kosha, the Gyanamaya kosha, the Anandamaya kosha, our ability to be happy. These are all parts of our body as well. And Ayurveda says that these all should be in harmony for us to be in complete contentment.

Speaker 3 06:12
And the mind is not just the mind, it’s also mano, buddhi, ahankara, chitta, our ego, our intellect, and our consciousness. So all this also has to be in alignment. So I don’t know any other medical science that looks at our, all the aspects, all those little fractal pieces of our human being that makes up the whole of us in such detail and says all this has to be harmonized before we can call ourselves healthy.

Shrankhla Holecek 06:46
I think that makes a ton of sense. And I love how you tied in the essence of Ayurveda so beautifully while subtly pointing out differences from traditional Western medicine as we know it in terms of how wholesome, how balanced, how integrative it is.

Shrankhla Holecek 07:09
And of course, the part about some dissonance between the Eastern and the Western sides of us really does resonate with me having been born and raised in India and having moved to the West just like you. So there’s definitely sort of a personal chuckle I have as I hear you say those words. And in terms of this beautiful rich history with Ayurveda that you have that must inform your intuition alongside all your study of Ayurveda.

Shrankhla Holecek 07:48
I’ll ask another question that so many people ask which is how do you start with assessing someone’s prakriti and dominant doshas? Because that is fairly confusing part of an Ayurvedic immersion many of us grapple with when we first get started. And so I’d love to hear your thoughts about that.

Salila Sukumaran 08:11
So after having worked with hundreds of clients from around the world now for nearly eight, nine years now, I can kind of guess people’s property the moment I see them. However, as a good health advisor, I cannot jump to that conclusion by simply looking at somebody’s physique.

Salila Sukumaran 08:34
I have to ask questions that will uncover their deeper details. So I have a thorough questionnaire on my blog and I also share it as part of my intake form so that I have all the information in front of me.

Salila Sukumaran 08:50
And then I ask more clarifying questions to understand what state is their body in? What is their prakriti? What is the prakriti meaning what they were born with? What is the vikriti? What are the acquired imbalances in their life due to their diet and lifestyle? Or if they are facing a health concern, then also what is the state of mind? Is their mind in a more kapha state? Is it in a more dense downward pulling state? Is it in a more pitta state? Is it in a more rajasic, a more action -oriented?

Salila Sukumaran 09:27
Or is it in an imbalanced, anger -prone, irritation -prone, upset -prone state of mind, rage -prone state of mind? Is it in a vata state of mind which is spaced out, anxious, unable to focus, going from one thought to another?

Salila Sukumaran 09:43
So understanding all this begins to create a fuller picture for me to then look at it and say, okay, this is going to be the treatment protocol.

Shrankhla Holecek 09:53
makes a ton of sense. And I wanted to push on something that is a thematic between the first response as well as this one, especially since feeling unwell drove you to go back to your roots and actually explore a punchy karma, which really goes to the heart of both a disease and an imbalance in the body.

Shrankhla Holecek 10:16
And I love that, you know, rather than just trying to deal with symptoms, you went back and went back to explore what really was causing that imbalance at the root. And that is Ayurveda. So tell me more about how Ayurveda focuses on this beautiful elimination of the root cause rather than just simply treating symptoms.

Salila Sukumaran 10:42
Right. So the time when I was really sick, what was happening was that I had gained a lot of weight and I was trying for a second child and I had gone through five miscarriages in a span of three short years.

Salila Sukumaran 10:57
So my body was completely, I had lost all kinds of, you know, the will to continue. My body had lost its luster. My hair was looking really stringy and awful constantly in pain. I had gained weight because I was put on progesterone to keep my pregnancies.

Salila Sukumaran 11:19
So when all this was happening, Western science did not have an answer for me because I was still within the BMI for my short five foot, you know, five foot one inch frame. And there was no response from my general physician. So I went to Chinese medicine. However, Chinese medicine helped me a little, but I was still feeling all that despair and discontent and that complete breaking down of my life. I needed something more than that.

Salila Sukumaran 11:51
So when I went back home, when I checked into an Ayurveda retreat and when I started to do my yoga in the morning and meditation in the morning and sunbathing and being massaged with these beautiful, luxurious herbal oils.

Salila Sukumaran 12:07
When I started to be among people who actually cared about me, who reflected a loving message back to me that I was worthy that my life had meaning and purpose and that I deserved full health and that I deserved this time and space to come back to my own self to restore my health back in my body.

Salila Sukumaran 12:30
It began to really bring me back into the center. It began to bring me back into the center of I would go for as far as saying my own divinity. I started to have prophetic dreams and visions. I started to get strong messages from my intuition.

Salila Sukumaran 12:51
So what the retreat and the wonderful therapists and physicians were doing were, they were addressing the root cause of my health issue, which was lack of fertility at that time. And how did that lack of fertility happen?

Salila Sukumaran 13:08
Because of increased vata, because of increased dryness in the body, because I was not sitting down to rest. I was living that very typical Western style life where I was go, go, go. I was doing these boot camps to lose weight.

Salila Sukumaran 13:26
I was running every day. I was eating constantly thinking that this is going to give me energy. So I was putting a load on my system and I was simply not resting deeply enough. I was not oiling. I was not bathing with Abhanga massages.

Salila Sukumaran 13:45
I was not sleeping on time. I was constantly in a state of anxiety and panic and fear. So all this was increasing my vata. And as the physician, then the therapists were applying oils to my body. Oil is unctuous, oil is softening, oil is hydrating, and it is the antidote to the dryness of vata.

Salila Sukumaran 14:10
They were now addressing the root cause of all this increased vata by more oils on my body, oils internally as ghee, as sneh pana, which is a therapy where you drink consecutively, progressively increased amounts of ghee. And then you have vastis with different kinds of oil. These are enemas with oil and you do oil nasyas. So you’re applying oil on the body internally, externally to calm that vata down. And once the vata is calm, the body starts to naturally come back to balance because now the pitta and the kapha can also come and come to balance. Does that make sense?

Shrankhla Holecek 14:54
Absolutely. And I’m sorry, Salila, that sounds like a really difficult period. And I appreciate your sharing that with us because all of us endure periods in our life, in our physical as well as our mental health, which seemed like really dark places.

Shrankhla Holecek 15:12
And I appreciate your sharing that, especially since it gives, I like to think so many of us hope about emerging from these dark places and starting over. And to that end, I’d love to explore more about how did your personal experience as well as your experience over the years as an Ayurvedic practitioner impacted your understanding of this mind -body connection.

Shrankhla Holecek 15:40
And how do you recommend people try to integrate it in their treatment protocols as well as their day -to -day life, even before they’ve started a treatment protocol in Ayurveda?

Salila Sukumaran 15:52
Yeah, the mind is a powerful force over the body and the body is a powerful force over the mind. We can heal the mind through the body and we can heal the body through the mind. This feedback loop exists.

Salila Sukumaran 16:06
We all know this now. And the spirit, our consciousness, is something that is integrally connected to our body and our mind. I would say this is all three are in a feedback loop, right? And as we nourish our body, we develop self -respect.

Salila Sukumaran 16:25
We care for ourselves deeply. We hold ourselves as valuable. And that inner child in our mind, that ego part of our mind, starts to calm down. It knows that it’s being cared for. It’s going to survive.

Salila Sukumaran 16:39
Once the ego calms down, now the intellect and the consciousness and the mind itself can work towards achieving the highest potential that our soul is set out for. Otherwise, the ego, the ahankara that we call in Vedic sign terminology, the ahankara just throws tantrums all day long and our energy is expended in managing our ahankara’s tantrums.

Salila Sukumaran 17:06
But when we are nourishing our body, when we are walking on the path set by our soul, our consciousness, our chitta, then we are able to pacify this ahankara and move forward with the least of hindrances, the least of obstacles. That’s when we are at our vital best. That’s when we are living like we are meant to live with enthusiasm and curiosity.

Shrankhla Holecek 17:34
Love that. And I know the answer to my next question is likely highly subjective based on everyone’s own journey. But I’d love for you to paint a picture of what an Ayurvedic journey under your care might look like for someone who’s looking for that balance, looking to maybe fix either the root cause of some disease or mental ailments and bring their body back into that balance and that state of thriving, as you beautifully put it.

Salila Sukumaran 18:11
I love to work with very committed individuals who want to come on board for at least a three -month journey. Initially, I assess them and then I see in what ways can I improve their diet, their lifestyle to make it more aligned to the Ayurvedic way of living because everybody comes from a different point of place, right?

Salila Sukumaran 18:35
They’re all different points in the spectrum of where they are. They are in different countries, different upbringings, different professions, different diet and lifestyle, different ways of looking at health.

Salila Sukumaran 18:47
So bringing them to somewhat in alignment to the Ayurvedic way of diet and living and lifestyle and way of looking at the world sets the foundation. Then we begin to incorporate herbs and into healing protocols, like maybe a seven -day cleanse or a 14 -day cleanse or a 21 -day cleanse.

Salila Sukumaran 19:12
And while they are going through this cleanse, I would love to handhold them and take them through it. Some of them are independent and do it by themselves. Some require more handholding. Irrespective, I love to be of service while they are doing this.

Salila Sukumaran 19:28
So that itself requires about a two -month of preparing and then going through it. And then the third month would be setting those habits down, increasing the frequency of the good habits and reducing any bad habits that are still lingering.

Salila Sukumaran 19:48
I wouldn’t say bad as in bad habits, but things that are not in alignment with Ayurvedic way of living. For example, somebody who loves to work out. I have a client right now who’s just ended her 21 -day at -home Panchakarma protocol. She’s feeling a lot of energy and now she’s like, oh, I want to go for my gym. I want to go work out. I’m feeling so good. And I tell her, not now. You just finished your protocol yesterday. Yes, your body is feeling great, but you still have to be careful for the next one week at least before you go out there and do that bootcamp kind of a session.

Salila Sukumaran 20:32
So these are the kind of habits we are talking about. So it takes a good two to three months to set the habits because once you’ve set these habits, they are yours for life. That’s the way I like to work with clients.

Shrankhla Holecek 20:47
I’d love to hear some success stories in as much as you can share, because I know they will provide inspiration for many of us who, you know, are feeling a little blue or worse sometimes. Oh, could you share some experiences people have had with you in their journey?

Shrankhla Holecek 21:09
The one you just shared sounds fantastic too. I’d love a few more if you’re able to.

Salila Sukumaran 21:16
Yeah, I have great success with wonderful women who go through hormonal issues. So I’ve had clients who come to me because they have PCOS, PCOD, their periods are irregular, and then they work with me over these two to three months.

Salila Sukumaran 21:33
And at the end of the month, they are so good at intermittent fasting. They are so good at deciding what food works for them and what doesn’t. They are able to keep their relatives and friends at bay, their well -wishers at bay, and say, I’m not going to take something that does not align for me.

Salila Sukumaran 21:54
For example, go to a Western gynecologist and take a medication. And I want to clarify that I’m not against it, but if somebody personally feels that it’s not for them, I honor their wish. And then at the end of this two to three month protocol, they are able to stabilize their periods.

Salila Sukumaran 22:13
They are excited about life. They have come back to their full vitality. So I had a lovely client who was struggling to find a job in the beginning. When she came to me, she was struggling to find a job.

Salila Sukumaran 22:25
Her periods were all over the place. She was gaining weight. She was unhappy. And then towards the end of three months, her periods had regularized. She had found a job. She knew exactly what made her happy, what kind of foods and diet and lifestyle made her happy.

Salila Sukumaran 22:42
And then she gained this confidence that I got this. I can live my life the way I feel is aligned to my values. So that is the most beautiful thing. Now the knowledge that she has, she can pass that on to her own daughter.

Salila Sukumaran 22:57
I’ve had clients who’ve had difficulty conceiving come to me in the beginning. And at the end of three months, they have conceived and they have told me that this was so easy. Once I removed everything from my life that was not working for me, my body naturally became healthy and fertile. And it was so easy. First try, I got pregnant after trying. I mean, this after trying unsuccessfully for nearly a year. There are clients who come to me with emotional struggles with their partner. They’re not able to connect with their partner.

Salila Sukumaran 23:35
They and their partner are having difficulty. They’re two high -powered executives, single household, not able to gel together. And the lady wants to have a child. She’s not even able to have a conversation with her husband.

Salila Sukumaran 23:49
And the two of them come to me. They have consultations, they work with me. And then a couple of months later, I know the wonderful woman’s pregnant. And then they have consultations with me during pregnancy. And when the baby’s born, while the mother is lactating. So I have a good year, year and a half of working with them. So all these kind of interactions make me deeply gratified that what I have to offer is so, so nourishing for not just for my clients, but for me. well.

Shrankhla Holecek 24:27
Of course and the synchronicity of it all is just such a reminder of how the universe, our bodies, our emotions, our relationships all work in this harmony and when you find that balance everything seems to just work and I know it can seem daunting at first but it’s lovely to hear that you know steps there can get you to the place of that harmony, bliss, joy, having things in your life that you desire and having them work for you in a wholesome way.

Shrankhla Holecek 25:05
So thank you for sharing those and maybe a flip side of this would be when you start out with skeptics maybe, maybe the husband of the son that you were first consulting with to bring things into balance.

Shrankhla Holecek 25:23
What are some of the biggest misconceptions that you hear about Ayurveda either when you meet people or you know you’re scrolling through social media or when you’re you know reading an article about Ayurveda. I think it would be helpful for us to hear from an expert as yourself what some of those might be.

Salila Sukumaran 25:46
Yeah. So Shankla, first of all, I wouldn’t consider myself an expert at all. I just cringe every time I get called an expert. I will only remain a lifelong student of Ayurveda. And the more I study Ayurveda, I’m just humbled by the ocean, the immense treasure that Ayurveda is.

Salila Sukumaran 26:06
Yeah. So, you know, I’m smiling as you brought up this husband of this wonderful woman that I consulted when I started to understand his body type and I started to tell him how he was showing up in this relationship. He was almost like, did my wife snitch on me? But I had to tell him that, no, no, this is just me telling you about how you show up in your relationship based on your body type that we both determined and your Prakriti and your Vikriti, your acquired imbalances.

Salila Sukumaran 26:41
So one thing that is a myth about Ayurveda is that there are just too many restrictions that when you come into this way of living and looking at diet and lifestyle, you’ll have to just give up so many things. And then I am going to inject all these new things in there you might not be familiar with. That is a very lazy way of doing Ayurveda and I don’t subscribe to it. I work with the person’s existing diet.

Salila Sukumaran 27:13
I work with whatever they are having right now and then we together tweak it into, you know, we add more ingredients or we remove certain ingredients to make sure that their existing recipes are more Ayurveda aligned.

Salila Sukumaran 27:30
Then the second thing what we hear about is that Ayurveda means going completely vegetarian. It depends. I have clients who cannot digest lentils or legumes so they have to have soups and broths. They have to eat meats. So I work with clients like that as well.

Salila Sukumaran 27:49
And the third myth that we hear about is that Ayurveda is a pseudoscience that I have no words to counter that because that just is such a, it’s just not done. You know, it’s Vedas, it’s a Vedic science. It’s very malicious when people try to paint Ayurveda as that without understanding that Ayurveda is the mother science of all medicine. Ayurveda is that ancient glacier that has fed all these systems from around the world.

Salila Sukumaran 28:30
Then another myth that comes up often is that Ayurvedic medicines have heavy metals in them. Yes, Ayurveda does use a lot of Rasayanas, create Rasayanas with metals, but if you’re buying it from a GMP certified organization, you’re good.

Salila Sukumaran 28:49
You have to also take these medicines under care from a licensed practitioner. So if you’re taking care in all those aspects, your bases are covered. Then the other thing I hear about Ayurveda is that you have to continue to take medicines.

Salila Sukumaran 29:08
So if you’re working with an Ayurveda physicians, yes, they will put you on medicine for the duration that you have an illness. However, when you’re working with an Ayurveda diet and lifestyle coach like me, an advisor like me, they work with you during your healthy days so that you know how to eat best for your profession, for your energy needs, for your lifestyle needs, for the various demands that are placed on you.

Salila Sukumaran 29:38
So working with me involves least amount of medications. However, if you have any health concerns, then yes, I will bring in a few over -the -counter medicines that are generic and that do not need prescriptions.

Salila Sukumaran 29:53
Does that help?

Shrankhla Holecek 29:56
It helps hugely and I don’t love going on a soapbox about this but can’t help myself in this moment when you talked about sort of the pseudoscience nature of it. It is a little bit hurtful because I come from a very hardcore science background, engineering, both my parents are PhDs in physics and chemistry.

Shrankhla Holecek 30:23
And the first thing one must acknowledge is a lot of the science and research as we traditionally know it about medicine exists in part because of the pharmaceutical model in this country where you invest billions to put something behind a patent.

Shrankhla Holecek 30:42
And that has just not been the nature of Ayurveda. It has been shared freely with the world to learn from and benefit from and give back to. But the fundamental idea behind it is that in some senses it’s not monetizable so commercially, nobody would put the five or $10 million studies that typically goes behind it up behind a patented product.

Shrankhla Holecek 31:11
And it’s very simple to see that but to call Ayurveda a pseudoscience just because there’s no avarice around patenting medication and conducting the studies to undergo a formal FDA approval is a little bit myopic, in my opinion.

Shrankhla Holecek 31:36
So, you know, rant over but I can’t help myself when I hear that and felt like there is a need to sort of demystify that process when many of us look at how the West works in terms of getting a medicine cleared through FDA channels.

Salila Sukumaran 32:00
Right, right. Ayurveda is based on physics, you know, physics is what is the underlying principle of Ayurveda. Vata, pitta, kava are literally physical terms. Totally makes sense. Inertia, motion, velocity, acceleration, it’s all physics.

Shrankhla Holecek 32:17
So Salila, one of the things that you touched on during this video podcast recording, rather, and I’d love to dig deeper into is spirituality, mindfulness, and how Ayurveda plays into all of that, the power of intuition.

Shrankhla Holecek 32:39
You talked about some of that sharpening as you immersed yourself back into Ayurveda. And I know that’s sometimes health -related, but sometimes can be so much more, impacts relationships, impacts work, impacts leadership, impacts our relationship with money.

Shrankhla Holecek 33:00
And I do want to dig into that a little bit with you.

Salila Sukumaran 33:05
How does Ayurveda look at spirituality or does Ayurveda?

Shrankhla Holecek 33:10
know all of the above but many people I have talked with have talked about how immersing themselves into Ayurveda has strengthened their spiritual self, strengthened their you know communication almost with cosmic powers and the environment and really helped them trust themselves not just when it comes to knowing what to put in one’s body from a health perspective but also how to lead, how to set boundaries, how to thrive in relationships.

Salila Sukumaran 33:45
Yeah, yeah. I feel like in the West, we are so disconnected from our body that when we are brought back into the body, there’s almost like a spiritual evolution along with it because of the force with which we are brought back.

Salila Sukumaran 34:01
Ayurveda in itself is not so heavily spiritual discipline because traditionally India’s heavy spiritual disciplines have been the yogic sciences. Ayurveda does have many, you know, there cannot be an Indian way of living, a Vedic way of living without surrendering to the divine, without being grateful for the body, without saying a prayer before eating or initiating any kind of activity.

Salila Sukumaran 34:36
There are prayers and mantras associated with anything. However, when we talk about spirituality in the Indian context, deep spirituality is saying no to society and moving away from society into a yogic kind of way.

Salila Sukumaran 34:51
What happens in the West is that a lot of us are already steeped in yoga, and then we find our way into Ayurveda. And once these two disciplines come together, we kind of forcefully come back into alignment with our body, with nature, with cosmos, with the sun, the moon, the stars, the planet.

Salila Sukumaran 35:12
And a lot of us experience this spiritual evolution, which can be quite explosive, and it’s shaking for many of us. And all of our voices, because we are the ones who are vocal about it, it feels like doing Ayurveda will make you really deeply spiritual.

Salila Sukumaran 35:35
However, there is space in Ayurveda for a very non -spiritual person to also try, because Ayurveda is about the koshas, the body, the vata -pitta kapha, elimination, the agni, the tissues, the seven different tissues of the body harmonizing.

Salila Sukumaran 35:55
So there is that very corporal part of Ayurveda, and then there is that very spiritual part of Ayurveda as well.

Shrankhla Holecek 36:03
Makes a ton of sense. And this journey that usually, at least in the West, indeed does get started often with people taking their yoga practice to the next level, taking it beyond the physical aspects of yoga and then trying to understand where it comes from.

Shrankhla Holecek 36:26
In terms of that Ayurvedic journey, if one is to start, and I know it looks different for everybody, what would be some of your top suggestions in how people can bring Ayurveda into their life short of finding a practitioner?

Salila Sukumaran 36:46
Yeah. One of the first steps that I share with my clients is to wake up with the sun, eat your biggest meal when the sun is at its highest, and start to wind down when the sun sets so that you’re not stimulating your mind, you’re not stimulating your body by doing any strenuous exercise after the sun is setting, you’re not reading any thrillers, you’re not watching any shows that are like intellectually stimulating, start to wind down, start to become prayerful, meditative as the day is setting.

Salila Sukumaran 37:24
Start to get ready to go to sleep a couple of hours after dinner. So just setting these two little bookends of our day will start to align us now to the solar cycle. And then the other thing I share with my clients is that living in the modern world, in the constantly bombarded with information, we’re constantly stressed out, our nerves are jangled.

Salila Sukumaran 37:52
This is a very drying vata provoking state. This puts our vata, the energy of circulation out of balance constantly. So we have to bring in that lovely, unctuous antidote, which is oiling, literally called Sneh in Ayurveda, literally love.

Salila Sukumaran 38:11
So the antidote to dryness is love. And love, how do we introduce love into our daily routine? By oil massages, by applying a little, nourishing oil on our scalp, by making sure we’re cooking with adequate fats, there is quite a fad among a lot of people to not use oils while cooking.

Salila Sukumaran 38:34
They saute with water and things like that. They do not use adequate oils when they are grilling vegetables or sauteing meat or making a soup because they feel like, oh, too much oil is going to make them fat.

Salila Sukumaran 38:48
That’s totally anti Ayurveda. And the third way I bring in Ayurveda is taking some kind of a Rasayana at the end of the day, an adaptogen like Srifala with a little bit of honey and a little bit of ghee, which will bring our vata, the energy of circulation, our pitta, the energy of metabolism, and kapha, the energy of grounding, the energy of structure and construction.

Salila Sukumaran 39:21
So when these three energies are brought back into balance at night, then our body can take care of all of its detoxification throughout the night, and in the morning, we wake up with a lot more energy.

Salila Sukumaran 39:35
So these are basically the three ways that I like to bring in a little bit of Ayurveda and then add a sprinkling of Ayurveda within the diet and the lifestyle and see what the person can handle.

Shrankhla Holecek 39:47
Thank you for sharing that. And the next thing I’d like to ask is as one pursues this journey further and is looking for an Ayurvedic guide, an Ayurvedic practitioner to work with, how does one find the right person so that they can have a successful journey with their evolution in Ayurveda?

Salila Sukumaran 40:17
It’s good to go and look at the Ayurvedic practitioners’ social media or talk to people who’ve already worked with them prior and hear about their philosophy, learn more about their personality, read the captions and the comments on their social media profile.

Salila Sukumaran 40:41
Are they fear mongering? Are they positioning themselves as the one and only expert? Are they willing to empower? A lot of Ayurveda practitioners are very rigid in themselves. They are very restrictive and prescriptive.

Salila Sukumaran 40:59
I personally like to be more free flowing and empowering and give a wide berth for interpretation and for people to do things by their own. My ultimate goal is to help someone become self -sufficient for the rest of their life.

Salila Sukumaran 41:18
For them to have gained so much from Ayurveda that they should be passing on those Ayurvedic rituals to their next generation. That’s my goal. I’m looking at the long -term vision. Looking at someone who is empowering versus looking at someone who is extremely restrictive.

Salila Sukumaran 41:39
Now, some people want those restrictions. They want to be shown a finger and they want to be said, no, you shape up and do this exactly at the time I tell you. And if I say eat those five things, that’s all you got to eat.

Salila Sukumaran 41:54
Some people thrive in that. Perhaps an ideal client for someone like me is somebody who wants that space to play, who wants to develop their own muscle strength.

Shrankhla Holecek 42:09
I appreciate your sharing that. I know we are at time and you’ve shared a world of wisdom with us already. Before you go, is there anything else you’d like to share with our audience about Ayurveda, about yourself, about your journey?

Salila Sukumaran 42:30
I would love for everyone to give Ayurveda a try. I really feel that for the disconnect that we all feel Ayurveda has these beautiful, delicious remedies. And there’s not one ritual or remedy or diet or advice or guideline that is not nourishing on all three levels, all at once.

Salila Sukumaran 42:54
So just give Ayurveda a chance. You are connecting not with a South Asian way of looking at life. You are connecting with your own ancestral wisdom because Ayurveda is all pervasive. Ayurveda was followed by almost all people.

Salila Sukumaran 43:11
You know, I don’t know any people who did not follow the Ayurveda of their region. And once you have learned to bring your health back using these beautiful South Asian ways of doing Ayurveda, the Indian way of doing Ayurveda, then study about your own ancestry. Talk to your own elders. Talk to how it used to be pre -industrial civilization, you know, pre -industrial revolution. What were certain practices people did? And then see if there are anything that can be adapted to the modern lifestyle.

Salila Sukumaran 43:42
That would help each person just root themselves in their own ancestral wisdom. And that is the goal of Ayurveda.

Shrankhla Holecek 43:53
What a beautiful thought to end with. Thank you again, Salila. It’s been such a pleasure conversing and I look forward to sharing more of you with our audiences. Thanks again for being here.

Salila Sukumaran 44:06
an absolute pleasure. Namaste.

Shrankhla Holecek 44:10
To learn more about Salilah’s work with Ayurveda, please visit ayurgamaya .com, that’s A -Y -U -R -G -A -M -A -Y -Z, and follow her on Instagram at salila.ayurveda, that is S -A -L -I -L -A .ayurveda for daily Ayurveda tips.

Shrankhla Holecek 44:33
As we conclude this episode, we invite you to delve deeper into the world of Ayurveda with Uma. Please subscribe to the Uma Ayurveda Podcast to continue this transformative journey with our series of conversations that we hope you’ll find enlightening.

Shrankhla Holecek 44:51
Visit umaoils .com, that is U -M -A -O -I -L -S .com for an even more immersive experience. Exploring not only our luxury Ayurveda products, but also an array of inspired wellness insight and lifestyle tips.

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THE UMA AYURVEDA PODCAST- UNLOCK THE POTENTIAL OF YOUR LIVING SPACES WITH VASTU EXPERT NAMRATAA KRIPALLANI

Shrankhla Holecek 00:01
Hello, I’m Shrankhla Holecek, the founder and CEO of UMA, an Ayurvedic beauty and wellness collection. This is the Uma Elements podcast. Each week, I’ll be having a conversation with someone I greatly admire on the topics of Ayurveda, holistic healing, spiritual well -being, and alternative help.

Shrankhla Holecek 00:23
By sharing wisdom together, we will unlock a secret that as ancient as they are, Ayurveda and other ancient modalities are as modern and relevant today as ever. Our guest today on the podcast is Namrataa Kripallani.

Shrankhla Holecek 00:43
Namrataa is a certified Vastu Shastra consultant and an accomplished artist. Vastu Shastra is an ancient architectural system from India that aims to harmoniously blend spatial design with nature, maximizing the potential of living spaces.

Shrankhla Holecek 01:02
Namrataa specializes in helping individuals harmonize the five elements in their environment, whether it’s their home or office. As a Mahavastu consultant, her approach revolves around conducting a comprehensive assessment of the energy and surroundings to assist individuals in achieving balance and creating nurturing spaces that promote a fulfilling life.

Shrankhla Holecek 01:28
In addition, Namrataa is a respected contributing writer for esteemed editorial outlets like Architectural Digest, where she shares her expertise on optimizing spaces and events. In this episode, Namrta enlightens us on Vastu and its potential to bring positive energy into our lives.

Shrankhla Holecek 01:51
She provides valuable insight on how we can seamlessly integrate Vastu principles, both in significant and subtle ways to thrive in our spaces. Namrataa, thank you so much for joining us today. It’s such a pleasure to have you. I’m a huge admirer of your work and I absolutely love the wisdom you’ve shared with the world via a variety of outlets, not least of which is all the great work you do for Architectural Digest. Thank you for being here with us.

Namrataa Kripallani 02:23
Thank you for having me, Shrankhla.

Shrankhla Holecek 02:26
Wonderful. So, Namrataa, without further ado, let’s dive right in. We’re going to talk about Vastu, which in a way of initiating people of the West, it’s a bit of a feng shui from the Vedic system of India.

Shrankhla Holecek 02:45
So, it’s Indian feng shui, for lack of a better word. And I’m hoping you can start us out by telling us what are the origins of Vastu Shastra.

Namrataa Kripallani 02:56
You said it exactly the way I look at it, Shrankhla, when I want to explain it to the Western world, I do use the same explanation. I personally look at Vastu Shastra as a 3D vision board as well, for just people to understand it a little simply and better.

Namrataa Kripallani 03:16
Coming to Vastu Shastra, it’s a science of architecture and design that has originated in ancient India. If we really go back to our roots in Vedic period, which is thousands of years ago, our ancient texts like Rigavedha and Atharvavedha, they both mentioned the principles of Vastu Shastra.

Namrataa Kripallani 03:38
We also have a lot of ancient scriptures, two of them come out really profoundly. One is Vishmakarma Prakash and the other is Brihat Samta. Both of them provide very detailed guidelines for architectural designs or if you want to plan a town and even construction of a building. So Vastu Shastra is not really a part of any religion, but it’s simply looked at as a way of life in India.

Shrankhla Holecek 04:07
I love that overview. And as you detail the beautiful outline of us through, could you give us a little bit more of an overview of its scope as well? Like what are some of the central practices, purposes, some of the goals that we try to accomplish with this lifestyle science?

Namrataa Kripallani 04:30
So the scope of Vastu goes beyond just architectural guidelines. We really emphasize on a holistic well -being of individuals within their space, whether it’s their home or their working spaces. So it gives you guidelines of really to consider the factors, considering the factors, what is the position of the sun, moon, the planets around us, and also considers the magnetic field of the Earth.

Namrataa Kripallani 05:01
It’s a very, very scientific study that we do. Say, for example, we say that according to Vastu Shastra, you should keep the east of your living space open. Now, science tells us that morning, sunlight is very good for us. It helps regulate our circadian rhythm and also stimulates the production of serotonin, which is a hormone that promotes happy and positive mood. And it also provides us with vitamin D, which is very good for our bone health and our immunity.

Namrataa Kripallani 05:35
So if we really keep the east open, we are allowing this early morning sunlight to come into our space, which has several benefits, and it benefits our bodies and our overall well -being. If we really deep dive into anything that’s mentioned in our ancient scriptures, we’ll see that everything has a very deep meaning and a scientific explanation to it.

Namrataa Kripallani 05:59
Vastu Shastra is significantly around balancing the presence of the five elements in our existing space. These five elements are also, as you know, used in Ayurveda, the earth, water, fire, air, and metal.

Namrataa Kripallani 06:17
So the whole, the proper integration of these elements will enhance our well -being in a space. The purpose of Vastu Shastra is to achieve a free flowing energy and really to cut out the influence that may hinder the energy flow in our space. So the primary goal of Vastu Shastra, I would say, is to create a harmonious work or living environment that promotes our physical and mental well -being.

Shrankhla Holecek 06:47
love it and to sort of get to the heart of it, how do you consult people on Vastu when you meet them?

Namrataa Kripallani 06:56
So I have an initial meeting with them to understand really where first things first, whether they want to get Vastu Shastra done for their home or are they looking at it for a commercial space? So once we decide that, then I understand from there, what are their needs, what are the goals, what are the specific concerns that they have relating to their working space?

Namrataa Kripallani 07:20
And after discussing that, I require a layout from the clients. And if I can visit the client’s site to analyze, I do that. If a visit is not possible, I request them for a floor plan. And then after that, we get a compass reading at the site or I get it from the client if a visit is not possible.

Namrataa Kripallani 07:44
Then I kind of assess it and I provide recommendation in solutions to provide, to improve the Vastu aspects of the space without making any structural changes. This is very important in today’s modern world because it’s not possible for everybody to really break and remake a space. And we do this by the use of colors, we use metals and we also use 3D objects which can be placed around the house or the office like art and artifacts. And the remedies are done in two phases. So in phase one, we balance all the five elements in the whole space.

Namrataa Kripallani 08:30
And then we wait for a month to see the results. And phase two is all about specific goals the client wants to achieve. For example, the son or daughter of the house is of age and is not finding a suitable match or a marriage is getting delayed for no known reason or also be something like somebody has a business and now they want to attract an international clientele.

Namrataa Kripallani 08:58
So after a month of balancing the five elements we do special remedies for specific issues. They could be any of these issues. And in some cases, I do suggest a client to get Astro Vastu done. In that case, we require astrological charts of the client and then we study those charts and give them remedies very specific to them depending on their planetary positions.

Shrankhla Holecek 09:28
Make a ton of sense and Namrataa I’d love for you to touch on some of this crossover between astrological charts and vastu as well. So fascinating to hear you talk about the crossover.

Namrataa Kripallani 09:42
So every direction in Vastu has a planet which is attached to it. For example, if we look at the southeast, it is governed by Venus, which is love as well for us. And if we look at the west, which is a direction of gains, that is governed by Saturn. So let’s say if you’re not doing very, your Saturn is not well placed in your charts. You will have issues with gains and profits in your life. So as we balance it in your Vastu of the house, we also look at doing more, let’s say, remedies in details, which really affect the planet as well.

Namrataa Kripallani 10:37
We use colors, we use different metals. And sometimes we also do some prayers and pujas to help the effect, the bad effect to reduce.

Shrankhla Holecek 10:49
and be more favorable, totally understand that. And I know that for you, I’m sure every client is like a personal win in a big way. So I’m going to ask a tough question, but could you share with us as many of our listeners embark or possibly their first journey into this Indian Feng Shui, some examples where you’ve really seen this science shine, when someone has been struggling with something and then two or three months later really has found new energy and new success and new directions they’re headed in with these changes advised by Vasu.

Namrataa Kripallani 11:35
Yes, sure. I have some very, very interesting examples there. I had a client who had major issues with deaths in his life. And I obviously had a meeting with him, got his layout, did the whole study of the house. And interestingly, there were a lot of entrances in his house and a lot of directions which had an imbalance, which very clearly indicated that there will be deaths in his life. And we obviously did the specific remedies that were required for it.

Namrataa Kripallani 12:13
And within eight months, the client was debt free. And not only that, not only that, you know, he would get work, but people wouldn’t pay for it readily. People would want him to do free work for him. So we worked towards that as well. And today he’s doing so well, he’s totally debt free. And he doesn’t have time for me as well.

Shrankhla Holecek 12:38
So I hear you, that’s a remarkable story. And on so many levels, it makes sense to me. I personally, maybe I don’t articulate it well, but if my space of work or space of eating is not clutter free, it’s not something that I’m vibing with.

Shrankhla Holecek 13:04
It makes a huge difference, both to the quality of my work, the quality of my psyche. So taking to the next level, it’s so profound that, we can shift our internal energies by shifting the energy flows of the spaces we operate and live in, breathe and sleep in.

Shrankhla Holecek 13:25
It totally makes sense. Shifting gears a little bit around the other side of us, which is, obviously you’re an amazing, incredible resource for Vastu guidance, but for some people who are probably just starting out, do you recommend any self -study? And what point does it become important to meet with, collaborate with an expert practitioner?

Namrataa Kripallani 13:55
Well, I absolutely advocate self -study. I think it’s always good for people to have knowledge about different things in life. That’s how I have lived my life. But when it comes to making changes to achieve a very, very specific outcome, I think it’s good to hire an expert to do the job.

Namrataa Kripallani 14:17
For example, you know, it’s believed a lot of people believe that North facing houses very good, right? But a certified master consultant will look at 32 directional entrances in any space out of which eight directions come in the North.

Namrataa Kripallani 14:35
And not all of them are suitable. Like for example, three directions in the North are fabulous, but the other ones will not be really the best ones for you to have. Interesting.

Shrankhla Holecek 14:48
That is so helpful to know. Obviously, it would be the next level of execution to take that into account. But in terms of self -study Namrataa, are there any resources you like or websites or books that you like people poking around in just to get smart even to better imbibe advocacy from someone like yourself?

Namrataa Kripallani 15:15
Well, I’ve done a lot of research on Vastu and one website that gives really very good information and it is backed by a lot of experimentation done by them is mahavastu.com.

Shrankhla Holecek 15:32
mahavastu.com

Namrataa Kripallani 15:38
mahavastu.com

Shrankhla Holecek 15:42
understood. We will be sure to put that link in. Thank you for giving us that point. I am sure many of us will be on there shortly finding ways to improve energy in our spaces and speaking of energy in all our spaces I’m going to hit you up for some free advice and I hope you won’t mind sharing if there are some universal ways like you offered you know an open east that all of us can start to imbibe some of this positive energy and flow in our lives.

Shrankhla Holecek 16:18
Yeah and I’m saying this from sort of the perspective of within Ayurveda even though everything is by and large dosha driven and your specific dosha driven there are some practices we all benefit from doing such as washing your face and eyes with cold water when you wake up drinking warm water with lemon in the morning dry brushing and these work for all dosha’s are the similar things within Vasa that we should all start doing today.

Namrataa Kripallani 16:48
Yes of course we do have some universal ways. You know the way people can really have vastu shastra as part of their life and you know have a positive impact on their well -being. My first and foremost and the most important tip is forever keep your home or office clutter free.

Namrataa Kripallani 17:11
Like you mentioned you know that our environment what you see makes a big difference to you. It actually makes a difference to us all. Some of us are conscious about it and some of us are not. So keep your home office clutter free and clean so that there’s a very easy flow of good energy around you.

Namrataa Kripallani 17:32
And second is make sure that your home is well kept. There is no leakage in the taps or the plumbing of the house or if you have any cracks in the walls make sure that you repair it in time and it’s all very well kept.

Namrataa Kripallani 17:49
And there should always be a good amount of natural light coming inside your home. It’s important that we have natural elements as a part of our house and our living space. You can have plants in your house for some good energy and have light colors on the walls.

Namrataa Kripallani 18:09
If you are looking at hanging paintings on your walls make sure they are you know they have a positive feel to it. That’s really important.

Shrankhla Holecek 18:18
And speaking of placements of some of these objects such as plants, mirrors, I know there is vast of guidance on both types of plants, where to place them, where to place mirrors. Could you give us some tips around that?

Namrataa Kripallani 18:35
Yes sure. So to begin with, mirror is a water element and it does best in a space that is governed by water element, which is our north. So when you put mirror in the north, it gives it a little bit of an extension and also helps you in the growth of your career and attract more opportunities in life.

Namrataa Kripallani 19:00
Same way, if you look at plants, plant really signifies growth in your life. So if you place a plant in the north, it will help you grow in your career. And east again, is very good for getting the morning sunlight and plants will do very, very well over there. So east does very well with plants as well.

Shrankhla Holecek 19:24
Understood. And getting a little bit more specific and continuing to, I’m afraid, sort of get some guidance from you, would love any tips or thoughts you might have in improving our space for better health. I know that’s a question top of mind for many.

Namrataa Kripallani 19:48
Yes, in fact Ayurveda and health are very, very well connected and they both come from ancient sciences that are originating from India. And you know, I’ll give you an example for this. We have a plant called Tulsi, which is also known as Holy Basil.

Namrataa Kripallani 20:08
Holy Basil, yes. So according to Vastu, we always tell people to put it in the northeast of the house. It has very, very purifying energies and creates positive energy wherever you place it. And if you look at Ayurveda, Tulsi is considered as a sacred herb.

Namrataa Kripallani 20:28
It has so many medical properties and it’s used for many treatments as well in Ayurveda. It’s immune boosting, it relieves stress and also helps in our respiratory health. So by just incorporating a simple Tulsi plant, which is in a recommended Vastu location, individuals will not only enhance a positive energy in their living space, but also they’ll have access to the beneficial properties of the herb for their health.

Namrataa Kripallani 20:59
They can consume it. Another thing is essential oils. Essential oils derived from various plants are considered an integral part of Ayurvedic therapies and treatments. And in the same way, Vastu Shastra, we have 45 energy fields that are created when any space is built.

Namrataa Kripallani 21:21
So each energy field is linked with a fragrance. The sense of smell is closely linked to our emotions as we know. And it can have a profound impact on our overall well -being. So depending upon the outcome we are looking at, we can diffuse essential oils in our surroundings.

Namrataa Kripallani 21:40
So you can diffuse sandalwood oil in the south direction, which is associated with relaxation and fame in Vastu. And the energy field in the east is called the connector. It harmonizes relationships and connects individuals to each other. So to activate that field, you can infuse an essential oil blend of saffron, red rose and camphor. So we see how everything in nature is all connected with each other. The whole key is to just create a balance.

Shrankhla Holecek 22:16
love that and of course love your integration of essential oils that is where I will start. But staying on this, any tips for love and relationships? I know that it’s a question on many of our minds whether we’re looking for love or just looking for ways to enhance love relationships that we are already in.

Namrataa Kripallani 22:43
So for if you want better romantic relationships, you need to enhance the southwest of your space. So the southwest space is for relationships and bonding with people. You can hang the pictures of your spouse or your family. It increases the bonding between you. And if you want to increase romance and attraction with your spouse, then you look at the north of the northwest of the home. This zone is specifically for attraction.

Namrataa Kripallani 23:14
So you can put a hang a picture on the wall in this zone with your spouse and it will increase the love and romance between you two. Now in case you don’t already have love in your life and you’re looking at attracting, I would say a perfect love, then again you need to look at the southwest itself.

Namrataa Kripallani 23:36
You can keep a pair of swans or love birds over here and this will help you attract perfect love in your life. You can also diffuse sandalwood oil here and watch love come into your life.

Shrankhla Holecek 23:51
I love the sound of that. And staying on this one, I’ve heard and would love your two cents on it about placements of mirrors in the bedroom and do’s and don’ts around that. Do you, is that accurate from your studies? And what are the recommendations around mirrors in the bedroom?

Namrataa Kripallani 24:15
So about mirrors in the bedroom, you have to make sure the mirror is not facing you while you’re sleeping. Simply because we can even, I mean, it is even logical that if you wake up in the middle of the night and you just see a reflection, you might just get afraid, right?

Namrataa Kripallani 24:33
I mean, you really want to look at the practicality of it. But energetically, it’s best to put mirrors in your bedroom where it’s placed on either the east wall or the north wall. Make sure that it’s not facing the bed and it’s not on the south wall.

Namrataa Kripallani 24:53
South wall is a big, big no for mirror. Since south is a direction which is governed by fire, and mirror, like I told you, is a water element.

Shrankhla Holecek 25:05
got it, got it, makes sense. And thank you for clarifying that. In terms of starting out with Vastu, we talked about plants, we talked about mirrors, essential oils, anything else I may have missed in terms of covering prosperity, mental health, improved success at work, because I know these are questions most on top of our minds as we go through.

Shrankhla Holecek 25:35
You know, so what busy and packed lives?

Namrataa Kripallani 25:37
Right. So, of course, we can do a lot for prosperity. For us to begin with prosperity, we need to look at the north direction because north direction is obviously a water direction. It helps the flow of the energy keeps to keep going in the house.

Namrataa Kripallani 25:58
It also is governed by our career and money opportunities. So, to be able to attract that and have a flow of that in your life, you can have a water fountain in the north. It is really good to have it there along with a plant which has large leaves because since I told you plant represents growth, it will help the energy of growth coming into your career.

Namrataa Kripallani 26:28
And you asked about success of work, right?

Shrankhla Holecek 26:34
Yeah, success at work, mental health, some of the most pressing topics on our minds.

Namrataa Kripallani 26:41
Right. So I think for success at work, it’s really important that you keep your working desk really clean and clutter -free. And also you face the east or the north while you sit. Simply because the magnetic energies coming from these directions are very, very energizing.

Namrataa Kripallani 27:01
And for mental health, it’s really important that we keep the northeast section of direction of our house clutter -free and clean. Because this is known to be the space and energy, you know, which governs the head of a person.

Namrataa Kripallani 27:20
So if you want clarity of mind, it’s really important that this space is clutter -free and clear. It’s a great place to do meditation as well. So you can do your morning meditation sitting in the northeast. That helps a lot.

Shrankhla Holecek 27:36
Very cool. Okay, and number two, not to throw a curveball into the mix, but I know that your very impressive Resume also has two other things that I love, which is a sound healer and being a subconscious reprogramming facilitator.

Shrankhla Holecek 27:58
I’d love to hear a little bit more about that.

Namrataa Kripallani 28:02
So to add to that, becoming a psychic facilitator complimented my ability to help people live a happier life.

Shrankhla Holecek 28:12
what a Psych -K facilitator is. I know it’s not Psyc -K, it’s Psych -K, right? Psych -K. Yes, please tell us about that.

Namrataa Kripallani 28:26
Okay, so Psych K is a modality which helps people, you know, which helps me assist people to reprogram their subconscious mind. So this is very powerful because we all are driven by emotions and beliefs and, you know, all our actions are driven by that.

Namrataa Kripallani 28:48
And these beliefs are deep rooted in our subconscious mind from the very childhood. We have a lot of beliefs, I bet that they are negative or disempowering ones which are there, we are carrying them since our childhood.

Namrataa Kripallani 29:05
And these can be reprogrammed, you know. So like for example, some people believe that money is a bad thing because they might have a childhood trauma related to it. This may result in them having money blocks.

Namrataa Kripallani 29:19
So let’s say we are correcting the vastu of their house and we are trying to balance the money zone, the direction of where it’s the direction of North, but their belief is very weak around money. So the results will not come very fast.

Namrataa Kripallani 29:35
So if we actually work on the belief as well, it gives sometimes phenomenal results. And, you know, I totally believe that what we see, hear, feel and whatever we think has a very, very profound impact on our lives.

Namrataa Kripallani 29:53
So that’s how I chose Psych K and also Sound Healing to come into my life because sounds as well, you know.

Shrankhla Holecek 30:03
I want to hear a little bit more about how you work with people on sound healing.

Namrataa Kripallani 30:09
Yeah, the sounds in our environment affects us in very, very different ways. Everybody in a different way. Like if we really look at the sounds of the nature, waterfall or rain, it can be calming and healing for a body as well as our mind.

Namrataa Kripallani 30:23
And at the same time, if some people hear thunder, they really get scared and it invokes fear in some people. So I did a deeper study into this science of frequencies and how they can heal our body. Because we are all made of frequencies and we are all energy.

Namrataa Kripallani 30:41
So sound as well is a frequency. So I’ve seen phenomenal results where in my case, it’s really helped me a lot. So, you know, in elevating pain or regulating my emotions and feel much more self -centered.

Shrankhla Holecek 31:04
I love that positive thought and taking control of our lives. Beyond what may have happened to us in our past is always something to aspire to. I know I try to do that every day in my life. And it’s wonderful to have assistance in people like yourself when we set out in that journey.

Shrankhla Holecek 31:27
So, Namrataa, thank you for all the great work you do, not least of which is giving your time to this podcast today. I know I’ve learned so much. I know so many people have learned so much. And I know that they’re intrigued about Vastu, astrology, Ayurveda, as well as sound healing and bringing psych k into their life.

Shrankhla Holecek 31:53
So thank you again. And I look forward to doing so much more with you in coming days, weeks, and months as we get our own journey together underway. So, Namratha, anything to add before we let you go?

Namrataa Kripallani 32:13
Well, the only thing that I would like to say is that when you’re working on yourself, do a holistic healing and not just one aspect of your life. Look at yourself and the life around you as whole and then work on it.

Shrankhla Holecek 32:33
You’re totally right. Just like Ayurveda or any other Vedic science would recommend, it is important to do that. And I’ve faced difficulties making changes on individual aspects myself. So I wholeheartedly agree from experience that it is important to look at that 360 perspective of you as an individual and your life as a whole and you as a part of the environment you’re in.

Shrankhla Holecek 33:05
So thank you for that sage reminder. I appreciate it and more to come. Thank you again. Talk to you soon.

Namrataa Kripallani 33:14
Thank you, Shrankhla.

Shrankhla Holecek 33:17
You can learn more about Vastu with Namrataa by following her on Instagram at nama underscore new age magic that is n a m a underscore new age magic.

Shrankhla Holecek 33:33
As we conclude this episode, we invite you to delve deeper into the world of Ayurveda with Uma. Please subscribe to the Uma Ayurveda podcast to continue this transformative journey with a series of conversations that we hope you’ll find enlightening.

Shrankhla Holecek 33:51
Visit umaoils .com that is U M A O I L S dot com for an even more immersive experience exploring not only our luxury Ayurveda products, but also an array of inspired wellness insight and lifestyle tips.

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THE UMA AYURVEDA PODCAST – UNDERSTANDING VEDIC ASTROLOGY TO NAVIGATE YOUR SPIRITUAL JOURNEY WITH BANI SINGH

Shrankhla Holecek 00:00
Hello, I’m Shrankhla Holecek, the founder and CEO of Uma, an Ayurvedic beauty and wellness collection. This is the Uma Elements podcast. Each week I’ll be having a conversation with someone I greatly admire on the topics of Ayurveda, holistic healing, spiritual well -being, and alternative health.

Shrankhla Holecek 00:24
By sharing wisdom together, we will unlock a secret that as ancient as they are, Ayurveda and other ancient modalities are as modern and relevant today as ever. Today we are chatting with Bani Singh Chadha on the Uma Ayurveda podcast.

Shrankhla Holecek 00:44
Bani, a Vedic astrologer, is dedicated to enlightening audiences about the value of Vedic sciences, particularly Vedic astrology, as a means to gain self -awareness and comprehend our inherent nature.

Shrankhla Holecek 01:00
She works on re -establishing astrology as a science of planets and helping people comprehend the involvement of planets and the environment as a whole in human lives. Rather than using astrology purely for prediction, Bani guides individuals in understanding the energy of the planets, allowing personal growth and self -discovery to unfold.

Shrankhla Holecek 01:25
In this episode, we delve into an enlightening conversation with Bani as we seek a deeper understanding of Vedic astrology, discover the principles behind this ancient practice. Hey Bani, it’s such an absolute pleasure to finally have you on the podcast after months and years of talking about it, and of course after decades of having known you since boarding school. Welcome.

Bani Singh 01:51
Thank you so much, Shrankhla. I’m so excited to be here today. I mean, you’ve been dazzling all of us since our school days. You continue to do that even now. Also, I’m really excited to be part of the Uma family. Thank you for having me.

Shrankhla Holecek 02:04
So exciting to be chatting again. Bani, I will die right into it. You’re my favorite Vedic astrologer. I love how you use detailed explanations of science married with almost an art form of adjudicating all of that knowledge that planetary wisdom and astrology provides us and using that to navigate our life while continuing to exercise choice and free will.

Shrankhla Holecek 02:39
And with that, I want to lead into a very fundamental question. What are the origins of Vedic astrology?

Bani Singh 02:47
So Vedic astrology is a part of the Vedas. You know, the Vedas that we’ve been talking about knowledge that came down from the creator.

Bani Singh 02:57
And it’s basically the Vedas are an ancient system of knowledge, which even Ayurveda is a part. So Vedic astrology is just a modern name for what we call Jyotish. Jyotish coming from the word light. So basically Vedic astrology, Jyotish, this is a science that gives light.

Bani Singh 03:15
It casts light in our lives. It’s like, you know, if you go into a dark room, the light is not on, you don’t know where the bed is, you could pump into it. When the light comes on, you kind of know exactly which way to head.

Bani Singh 03:29
So Vedic astrology is based on the belief that the stars, the planets, they all have a powerful influence in our lives because we’re all one part in creation. We’re not living outside of it. So according to Hindu teachings, life is with honesty and, you know, living a life that’s very connected to nature, giving back to nature, serving nature, sacrificing just like nature sort of does for us.

Bani Singh 04:01
So the foundation of astrology of Jyotish is based on the fact that, you know, whatever we’re doing today, where we are today in our lives is just a part of our past action. So it presupposes that every being has a karmic trail coming from them, right?

Bani Singh 04:21
So our ancient rishis, our ancient seers, they developed this science out of compassion for us. They were just basically helping us decode why we are the way we are, you know, like kids ask very fundamental questions, you know, where did I come from?

Bani Singh 04:38
So that is the level of insight that they kind of give us with this science.

Shrankhla Holecek 04:44
I love that framing, both in terms of, you know, shining the light, as well as how all of life is interconnected. connected to the universe we operate into the relationships we have to the relationships with our elders.

Shrankhla Holecek 05:01
And of course, I think a lot of us believe today, more than ever, that we bear the fruit of our actions sooner or later. So it almost encourages us in a way to lead better lives. Moving on from that inception would love an overview of the scope of Vedic astrology.

Shrankhla Holecek 05:24
What are its central practices, the purposes, goals?

Bani Singh 05:29
So, I mean, the fact that we’re born already means that we have a past, because what incarnates is our ego. That’s what develops an attachment to things, right?

Bani Singh 05:41
What we call a hamriti. Now, Like I said, the Rishis developed this out of their compassion for us. They needed direction for people who are suffering just to know our place and existence and how to manage our lives and sort of to give a perspective.

Bani Singh 05:57
So that’s really the foundation, the very central principle of astrology, basically how to help us get out of any mess because look, we’re all not perfect. So we have this concept in our scriptures that talks about Shadrippu, which means our inner demons and there are six types of them.

Bani Singh 06:16
Shadrippu means six. So anger, jealousy, how to manage these things because many a times we’re our own worst enemies. So just helping us decode why we are the way we are. And like I said, its purpose is just an attempt to help us know ourselves because astrology encompasses so many different things, psychology, healing, prediction, spirituality, everyday affairs.

Bani Singh 06:46
Because what we’re basically saying is that everybody is bound by nature and formed by nature in their own way. No two people are the same. So look at the variety that we’re really talking about. The scope is that it just covers every aspect of human existence.

Bani Singh 07:03
That is the depth to which the science can go. It gives you tremendous insight into movement of planets. I mean, we can cast the horoscope of somebody born 2000 years ago. You have their daytime place of birth.

Bani Singh 07:17
We can cast a horoscope tell you exactly how they are emotionally, physically, what were times of stress in their lives. That is the scope. It covers every aspect of existence, even, you know, whether you will have luck investing in the stock market tomorrow.

Bani Singh 07:32
So it can answer any question.

Shrankhla Holecek 07:35
Makes a ton of sense. So, you know, I’m drawing a little bit of a parallel to IRV than my experience with it. in that there are some areas, even though Ayurveda applies to all facets of life, there are some areas, especially for people starting out, I have found it to have huge significance.

Shrankhla Holecek 07:56
For instance, in the stuff that traditional Western medicine doesn’t have ready answers for. So Ayurveda really shines, for instance, chronic and complex ailments like fatigue or symptoms of Lyme disease or skin ailments like eczema where people are not getting relief.

Shrankhla Holecek 08:15
Drawing a parallel to astrology there and finding the places that you’ve seen it shine the most or have the most amount of impact in a most profound way, what would that area be? Or those areas?

Bani Singh 08:32
One way when you talk about say alopathy or Ayurveda, I mean, in a sense, astrology faces the same issue because we have people who come to us for short term remedies and cures and solutions.

Bani Singh 08:46
Right? Some astrologers, they play into that, right, for whatever reasons. And look, if you have a headache, you’ll take an alopathy medicine in 30 minutes, you’re okay. That’s the reason why short term remedies are also sought after in both, you know, sciences.

Bani Singh 09:04
But that’s the thing. You’ve got to understand that long term is where you need to go. Holistic is where you need to go because that headache is going to come back, right? So in terms of where it really shines, is that say someone’s been having a medical problem that is undiagnosable.

Bani Singh 09:24
Now by seeing someone’s birth chart, you can, and if it’s a period connected to the nodes, the lunar nodes, there is no chance they’ll get a diagnosis. It’s as simple as that. You’ll have to tell them that maybe in three months you’ll have a better solution to that.

Bani Singh 09:38
But you’ll know what you’re dealing with. But many a times diagnostic confusion is something that we can even talk about. And medical astrology is a huge field by itself. Cancer, for instance, or any really traumatic diseases don’t happen overnight.

Bani Singh 09:52
The seeds of that have been sown in your karmic sort of baggage. When you were born, we can even tell you when this is likely to happen. Are you susceptible? We can guide you. So in terms of, I mean, giving a sense of what you’re susceptible to in terms of diseases, in terms of a weakness in your body, the scope of Jyotish, as I mentioned before, everything.

Shrankhla Holecek 10:17
It’s so fascinating to hear you say that because I think even on the genetic side, I think we are decoding some of these things. But you’re right. Cancer very often is determined at birth. you know, you kind of sometimes if you peek down into cells deep enough, you can sometimes see it in the DNA.

Shrankhla Holecek 10:38
So these things that seem mystical and magical at one blush are getting proven out as we get a better understanding of life and cells and everything. So it is a beautiful harmony and symphony of things working together.

Shrankhla Holecek 10:56
And I think it is about that leap of faith. Go ahead.

Bani Singh 11:00
You know, you talked about like a goal of astrology, like something I missed, you know, answering for you. And I can link that here is that again, if the goal is just to guide, it’s not fatalistic.

Bani Singh 11:13
It’s telling you or you see because we cast the horoscope of a person. At the time they were born, we see the exact position of planetary bodies and we, we, those planets are basically like executors of our past actions.

Bani Singh 11:30
So. We see the goal is really to get the best out of a person’s karmic potential. Okay, we all have XYZ karmic potential. Very easy to see that in a birth chart. But as an astrologer, we start out the best.

Bani Singh 11:47
We go through that chart, we study it, we see, hey, okay, this is something that can work very well for this person as opposed to this. So we guide them and sort of point them in that direction. Because what they’ve been pursuing for a long time is probably frustrating them, not working out for them.

Bani Singh 12:04
So our job is again, to shine light. And when you go to an astrologer, if an astrologer is, you know, is making you feel scared or terrifying you are saying, Oh, this is going to happen, that is going to happen, you know, you’re going to the wrong person.

Bani Singh 12:18
Because the job of astrology is again, to shine light to give you light to give you hope to point you in a direction that, you know, karmically is better for you. It really bring out the best in your potential.

Shrankhla Holecek 12:33
And something that was on your Instagram comes to mind. So I’m going to go a little bit off script here. But, Bani, you talked about a kite flying in the wind, and within a certain scope, having free will.

Shrankhla Holecek 12:51
So with astrology, I love the concept of the, you know, the notion of free will still existing. And I think that is the balance that you are guiding us towards when you talk about shining a light and allowing us choice with that light in perspective.

Shrankhla Holecek 13:11
Can you touch on the concept of free will within, you know, sort of the karmic balance and the parameters of a horoscope and Vedic astrology?

Bani Singh 13:21
So I mean, when it comes to free will versus paid that debate goes on and off.

Bani Singh 13:27
But, you know, free will, free will is a large, I mean, again, astrology is not fatalistic. It is a guide. And there are so many instances where you will find in a horoscope, there are combinations for this and this, but you can overcome that negativity.

Bani Singh 13:48
That is the amazing part because free will is where you are sort of, you choose to act a certain way when something is coming at you. So how you react to a situation in your life is your free will in that very moment.

Bani Singh 14:05
And that free will, that reaction is what is going to make your fate going forward. That makes your karma for, you know, future. So free will is as important as fate. I mean, fate, it’s like, if I tell you, Shrankhla, let’s not undo this podcast.

Bani Singh 14:22
You can’t, you can’t even change what you did in the last hour. So once something is done, you are going to get some sort of reaction to that. There is cause and there is effect. But what you do today can sow the seeds for a better tomorrow. It’s as simple as that.

Shrankhla Holecek 14:39
Totally. And thank you for underscoring that because almost as you said that, it is like you have, let’s say, genetic predispositions to ABC. And knowing that can help you chart the course to try and avoid a full blown presentation of XYZ, which is already cost in some ways.

Shrankhla Holecek 15:06
But making certain choices and exercising free will can help you maybe avoid certain dire circumstances. And in my mind, astrology is essentially making you aware so you can make better choices.

Bani Singh 15:22
Yes, because you know, it’s not just about, say, getting a birth chart reading and then forgetting about it, but understanding it for yourself.

Bani Singh 15:31
You know, understanding this universe for yourself. I mean, you’ve got to center, you’ve got to connect with nature. You’ve got to understand that nature can come back at you as well. Look at COVID. Look at what we dealt with.

Bani Singh 15:44
I mean, in a sense, nobody could do anything. Right. So you’ve got to respect nature. You’ve got to respect the fact that it is a part of us. We are not, we’re always taking from nature. Right. Nature is always giving the sun doesn’t come every day and say, hey, send, you know, send us a monthly check.

Bani Singh 16:01
I come up every morning, you know, for people who are skeptics and, you know, or don’t believe in it. I mean, look at the sun. It comes up every morning. One very simple thing I teach to all my students is again, gratitude to the sun as the source of creation.

Bani Singh 16:17
In fact, Jyotish or astrology is another name of the sun because what does the sun do? It shines light on us every single day. Just think what would our lives be without the sun? I mean, it’s, you know, it’s the fuel that starts our morning.

Bani Singh 16:31
Yeah. There would be nothing. So do any of us really say thank you to the sun? I mean, it’s a good, it’s a very good practice for health, for wealth, for just a healthy body to get up every morning, go straight to your window and do a thank you for coming up, son. I’m really grateful.

Shrankhla Holecek 16:51
You know, I also like that it sets your day up with a sense of mindfulness, gratitude and connectivity. You know, just as you were saying that I’m like, yes, that’s a pretty profound thing to acknowledge first thing in the morning.

Shrankhla Holecek 17:05
And that should set the stage for a pretty positive day, just, you know, sort of taking in that acknowledgement that yes, the sun does do us a great service every day, day after day. So I do love that.

Bani Singh 17:22
And doesn’t really ask for anything in return. It’s just giving his light regardless of whether we appreciate it or not. Because look, we’re all coming from the same five elements, everything in creation, right?

Bani Singh 17:33
Air, water, earth, fire, the air element. Each planet is connected to these elements. The air element, Saturn, which gives us the ability to connect water element, the moon, Venus, ability to sort of just go with the flow, right?

Bani Singh 17:49
Move forward, leave the past behind. The earth element that grounds us. I mean, we are a piece of electrical equipment at the end of the day and we need grounding, right? That’s why, for instance, walking barefoot on grass is a great practice in grounding, right?

Bani Singh 18:05
Especially when you’re feeling very stuck in your life and nothing’s really moving forward. You’re feeling like you’re being pulled down, grounding, respecting the earth element, you know? The fire element is what gets us going every morning, excitement, energy, all the inspiration we have, creative and physical in our lives.

Bani Singh 18:24
So, like I said, I mean, astrology is a science, covers everything and it can give you answers to not just what’s happening right now, why is something happening? You know, why is this happening to me is best answered in astrology. Astrology,

Shrankhla Holecek 18:44
that makes sense. And, Bani, you were just talking about the planets and I know the science of astrology does take all of that into consideration. So, Adil up for you to talk to us just a little bit about the science of astrology, how planets and, you know, moon satellites impact our life and our being.

Bani Singh 19:05
So, you know, planets are basically, when we sort of bring it down, they’re points of light in a really big energy network, okay, and that energy network is very closely connected. very intricately connected, right?

Bani Singh 19:24
And astrology starts with understanding that, look, we’ve got, we’ve done X amount of past action and that is coming from various lifetimes. And in this particular lifetime, I’ve got a small portion of it that I have to deal with.

Bani Singh 19:40
And what we call destiny, what we call fate. Now, the time you were born, if anyone were to run out, take a picture of the sky at that very minute, that becomes your birth chart. The moment a child takes its first breath independent of its mother.

Bani Singh 19:58
That is the time that we cast, that is the right time to cast a horoscope. And from that, we sort of get a sense, okay, these are the nine planets, they’re placed here. And we see the placement of the moon because the moon is extremely important.

Bani Singh 20:15
Because, you know, there is a lot of talk of, say, you know, a healthy mind produces a healthy body and all of that. That’s very true because if you have a healthy mind, that’s how you’ll have a healthy body.

Bani Singh 20:28
You can’t have an unhealthy mind. You think you’ll have a healthy body. So just like Ayurveda has rules, you should eat at this time and don’t have water between your meals and things like that. There are recommendations that sort of deal with every planet in astrology.

Bani Singh 20:47
So each planet has a certain color associated with it. It has a certain day of the week. Now, many people think that the first day of the week is actually Monday. It’s no, it’s Sunday. Sunday is the first day because it starts with the sun.

Bani Singh 21:05
The entire, even if we talk of the electromagnetic spectrum or the concept of Vibhya that we have, there are nine things there. We have seven colors there and the first is the sun. The first day of the week is the sun because obviously everything starts from there.

Bani Singh 21:23
So that’s why Sunday is actually a great day to do some planning in your life. To actually set the ball for the following week because the energy of the sun is obviously the most and you should cash in on the energy of the sun.

Bani Singh 21:36
It’s a great day to spend time in nature, plan, focus, as opposed to Monday, which is a day of the moon. So we take into account the moon’s position and say, if you tell me what your moon sign is, I’ll be able to, and the lunar mansion, I’ll be able to tell you exactly who you are and what are going to be some challenges in your life.

Bani Singh 21:57
It’s that simple. It’s that precise. It’s that infallible.

Shrankhla Holecek 22:01
I love it. And Bani, you’re touching on something that I want to ask you about more formally, which is, with all this wisdom, how do you teach and consult people on astrology?

Shrankhla Holecek 22:17
You know, what’s the process when someone first comes to you?

Bani Singh 22:23
When i started as a teacher of astrology and that is really left to myself. I would only teach because I genuinely believe that sharing this knowledge with people, like it changed my life, I believe it can change lives.

Bani Singh 22:44
I think it has that much value, it has that much power. I left to myself, I would just reveal this knowledge that I’ve acquired, whatever little I’ve acquired, so that people can do it themselves. Once you understand something, you have a much better chance of finding your own way through it in a very holistic fashion because you know yourself the best.

Bani Singh 23:05
And what astrology is really telling you is forget about everyone else, shine that torchlight on yourself, figure out who you are because you know the trend, I mean, generally we all like to blame everyone else for anything that’s happening in our lives.

Bani Singh 23:21
But astrology is saying, hey, everything happening in your life is because of you. So first start with yourself. Understand yourself, improve yourself. So I would much rather equip people to sort of take charge of their lives.

Bani Singh 23:37
Of course I do consultations, you know, I find that, you know, just telling someone that okay, you’re, you’ve literally got three months more of this in your life and things are going to get better. When you see the light that that brings in their life, that the hope that it gives them, it really gives you joy that you can help someone.

Bani Singh 23:58
So, of course, one does consult and it’s a very serious thing you’re looking at someone’s karmic baggage, and we take it very, very seriously, Shankla. It’s a very big deal. We follow a lot of rules and regulations for us, not just any reading.

Bani Singh 24:14
And it comes with a lot of responsibilities for us there are certain days we don’t do it. So there is a core of contact associated with it so it’s a lot like you know counseling and the process is you’re just shining light again you’re you’re helping to end someone suffering give them hope help explain to them why you know that shop that they’ve been trying to open for five years just doesn’t take off and that they should do something else.

Bani Singh 24:44
And explain to them that maybe the next six months is not a good period to start something new. If you waited just another eight months, you’ll have far more easy success. I mean the point is why put your boat out in a storm.

Bani Singh 24:59
It’s better to wait it out till the tide is more in your favor. So that’s the kind of guidance that astrology traditionally because look it’s it’s a spiritual science. But today, yes, it’s become a little more commercial because to be honest, if you know you go to astrology and it says the astrology turns around says you’ve got to be a better person, and you know shine the light on yourself.

Bani Singh 25:21
Most people will say, okay, you know, I’m not going to pay for. But it’s about getting aware of the fact that what you are doing today, the motivation behind each action of yours is going to make your tomorrow, it’s going to decide the success, the prosperity that you’re going to have because were you able to choose your parents?

Bani Singh 25:44
Did you sort of choose that I’m going to have this person as my father or mother? These types of relationships come with the most amount of karma in your life, things that you can’t change in your life.

Bani Singh 25:55
And when you are conscious and you are reacting in a more positive way to all the suffering that you’re going through or the bad periods that you’re experiencing, it sets you up for a much better tomorrow.

Bani Singh 26:08
So stoically going through negative situations is really the way forward. So again, that comes back to free will. That is where your free will, I think free will is far more important. because you’re making and setting yourself up for a much better tomorrow.

Shrankhla Holecek 26:25
Yeah, yeah, makes total sense. Bunny, I would love for you, if it is all right, to share maybe some positive experiences from your own life or from consultations with clients in how having this light of astrology and you know, following the positives from that knowledge have helped shape someone’s life or experiences for the better.

Bani Singh 26:54
So, you know, at least in India, when a child is born, in most homes they cast a horoscope, right? Yes, they cast a horoscope and they will visit their family astrologer. And just like, you know, when Krishna was born, Garg Rishi was consulted about what the name Krishna is, Krishna’s parents went.

Bani Singh 27:17
So, in the same way that practice has continued in most homes in India where we consult everyone has a family, most people have a family astrologer and that’s how sort of, you know, they get a sense of what are the weaknesses in this child’s life and where we should give more attention and things like that.

Bani Singh 27:35
But my experience with astrology obviously, from a very personal space, has been the most profound thing in my life because I could go back to any year and I found an explanation for everything that happened.

Bani Singh 27:51
There was a reference to everything that’s happened in my life. I just had to look at my horoscope, sass out that year, see how the planets were aligned and there, the light was screaming, was leaving bright.

Bani Singh 28:04
So, it explained everything. It helped me make sense and it’s just only been positive for me because it’s not something I look at for prediction in terms of what is going to happen tomorrow. It’s just, this is the science tells you that, but I think it has more value in giving you guidance, giving you a very holistic approach.

Bani Singh 28:26
Some of the practices that I started doing many years ago have started now sort of, I can see those results in my own life.

Shrankhla Holecek 28:35
Can you share?

Bani Singh 28:37
Light health wise, giving water to the sun every morning has brought positivity that I never had because you know when you give water to the sun every morning, the sun’s light is actually white light, right?

Bani Singh 28:54
And when it hits a sheet of water, you know, if you face the sun, pour some water in a vessel, the light of the sun, when it hits that medium, that sheet of water, it kind of dissipates into that big, you know, that electromagnetic spectrum, the seven colors of the rainbow and your body actually absorbs those colors.

Bani Singh 29:16
It’s a very natural way of doing color therapy. And your body is something that craves color because every part of or every organ in your body is a different color. So it’s craving that color. So it’s such an easy hack every morning to just get some help your health, your vitality, and get some positivity in your life because the sun is really the center of everything.

Bani Singh 29:40
It rules things like, you know, it signifies your power, your position, your authority, your relationship with your father, your bone structure, your eyesight. There are so many things that the sun represents in a birth chart.

Bani Singh 29:54
So I have found that bringing a lot of positivity in my life. Every practice, I mean, whatever I do recommend is something, or at least most of those things are very tried and tested in my own life because I have been doing this a long time.

Bani Singh 30:09
I’ve been studying it a long time now. I mean, it’s been, I mean, since I was in my early, say, 20s, I’ve been studying astrology. And it’s only kind of made sense of every situation in my life. I’ve had very positive experiences from all of my students.

Bani Singh 30:27
Each of them has left the course, always saying that, you know, today we’re so much more aware of the thought behind the action. Because, you know, action is not something that just happens randomly.

Bani Singh 30:40
You first have a desire, then you think about how to do it, and then you finally act, right? So if I want a pair of shoes, I first desire it. And then I go about thinking how or when, where should I go and buy it?

Bani Singh 30:52
And then I finally act on it. So understanding that desire, our desires are actually the real problem. If we desire things that are more wholesome, we have more, just more positive lives. So clients, you know, coming back and saying things like, you know, or in consultations, I haven’t been able to get a job for a few months now.

Bani Singh 31:12
I’ve really been struggling simple remedies. that can really help them. And those are very specific to every birth chart. Because again, like I said, the karma of every person is unique. Every birth is sacred.

Bani Singh 31:25
It comes with its own karmic baggage. So I once gave this kind of very simple remedy within two weeks. They did have two job offers that they got to choose from. So there are many positive. I mean, that’s just one way, but I look at sort of really bringing a lifelong practice into my students and clients.

Bani Singh 31:45
That’s what I like to do because it’s the same thing. You’re dealing with a disease in your life. You can’t just take medication for three months. I mean, it’ll come back, right? Consistent effort, consistent practice.

Bani Singh 31:58
Like for instance, when we talk of mental illness, in a birth chart, if you have a moon that’s associated to the nodes, you are someone who is likely to face a lot more fears, phobias, a lot more complex is then maybe the next person who doesn’t.

Bani Singh 32:15
Now just knowing that, like for instance with you know Rahu, a moon and Rahu conjunction, that person will never stop thinking. Their mind will always be open, you know, and they’ll be like, oh god we can’t switch off.

Bani Singh 32:27
A simple remedy like a daily practice of breath work, pranayam. I mean it’s something so simple because Rahu is connected to the air element and when you have anxiety and when you are restless, you’ve got the first thing everyone will tell you is get your breath in check.

Bani Singh 32:46
Now if you have this in your combination in your natal chart, you will have this problem pretty much on and off in your life. Now either you get to it, spend 15 minutes a day doing it and make your life more positive and overcome it and you can overcome it by your daily action.

Bani Singh 33:04
There is nothing you cannot overcome. You just need the right guidance and you need consistent effort. It’s like going on a diet. You can’t do it for three months and then you know go back to your eating ways.

Bani Singh 33:15
You’ve got to live a different life.

Shrankhla Holecek 33:17
Makes a ton of sense. Bani, I’m going to ask you a question that I know you’re not going to like because it is generic as opposed to astrology being precise and related to birth charts.

Shrankhla Holecek 33:32
But can you share some practices that might work for a wide cross -section of people across a few common issues that we all face? What are the other things that we can do in our daily life that will perhaps help our karmic load in way of managing our professional life?

Shrankhla Holecek 33:58
I know that slices across various things but to garner more success, to have better relationships with our colleagues, to feel more successful and accomplished at work, to have more focus. Anything come to mind in terms of practices we could all try and do or one practice we could all try and do?

Bani Singh 34:19
You know, giving, I mean, when we talk of success, actually success is not measured by anything outside as you’re there. I mean, success is in a peace. If you’re peaceful, you’re successful today. That would be my, you know, sort of one big takeaway really from Jyotish.

Bani Singh 34:38
And the thing is that if you’re at peace and peace is something that again has to be really worked on, you’re comfortable within yourself. You’re not sort of, you’re just more invested in your own growth and being a better version of yourself.

Bani Singh 34:55
For that, there are practices ranging from, I mean, you look, we have seven planets plus the two nodes, right? And with the planet, you have a particular, you know, like Ayurveda is based on three doshas.

Bani Singh 35:12
Right. And the aim of Ayurveda then is to see that they are balanced. Like, for instance, one way to really balance a lot of things is to have the Indian gooseberry, anvula, you know, it’s like a power drug first thing in the morning.

Bani Singh 35:26
But similarly in astrology, we will say things like, you know, with Saturn, and that is in my humble opinion, the most important planet, the most important energy, because that’s a planet that stays in a sign for the most amount of time, two and a half years.

Bani Singh 35:44
That’s why it can really do its work on you. So if you, and again, like I said, you know, if I know somebody’s moon sign, I just need to know that and I will tell them where their Saturn is. And I do this, you know, randomly, you know, someone will come to me, they know I’m an astrologer, I teach astrology.

Bani Singh 36:02
Hey, you know, we’re having this problem. I’ll just ask what’s your moon sign. And they’ll say this, I’ll put it in place there. I’ll tell them something. Like, why don’t you go and serve, spend a Saturday doing some service to the elderly.

Bani Singh 36:15
Do that consecutively for a couple of months and see how this problem will go away. You know, so just by knowing the position of Saturn in somebody’s chart, because what Saturn does is it’s in many ways a planet of tough love.

Bani Singh 36:30
So say, you know, things that are very easy suddenly become complicated in Saturn periods. And this is something that never goes wrong. It will always happen. That is a time of great growth in your life, but people get very scared.

Bani Singh 36:45
There’s nothing to be scared. This is a time where you will be put through the wringer, but you will come out a much better version. So obstacles, struggles, a lot of things, just, you know, simple things getting very complicated is really, you know, it’s the most common thing that happens.

Bani Singh 37:06
So by telling someone that, hey, give back Saturn is a planet of common man, you know, like the labor class, people who toil from morning to night, they get paid very little, they do such hard work, help them out, do some service to them.

Bani Singh 37:25
Saturn is a very lonely planet in the sense that it’s the furthest in the solar system, right, in the ones that we consider. It’s isolated. Now, who are the people in society who are isolated, you know, the elderly at home?

Bani Singh 37:39
You spend five minutes with them. In India, we have grandparents in the house. We’ll, you know, come back after a long day at work and probably say hi and move on, maybe not even do that. But to actually spend some quality time with them is one great way to fix this, this problem of a lot of obstacles and growth in your life.

Bani Singh 38:00
To give back when it comes to health, a very, very good remedy is again giving water to the sun, showing gratitude to the sun every morning. waking up very early on a Sunday morning and doing your Surya Namaskar in yoga.

Bani Singh 38:16
The practice of Surya Namaskar or what we call the sun’s salutations is an excellent remedy for health and vitality related issues. When we talk of emotional and mental issues, it’s the moon. So, Shankla, the movement of the moon and as you know, the movement of the tides are always in perfect sync with each other.

Bani Singh 38:38
So, you know, if the tides can follow the movement of the moon, obviously the moon affects us because we are 70% water at the very base of it all. We are our entire water system in our body is the moon and the moon affects each of us and I would say our emotional health, our emotional well -being, the way we react to situations is all the moon.

Bani Singh 39:08
So, the first thing with the moon is if it’s your water system in your body, then hydrate as much as possible. If you have a slightly weaker moon in your birth chart, that’s the first thing you should start doing.

Bani Singh 39:20
Now, moon represents every mother figure in your life. Just do something positive for them. That’s the easiest remedy for the moon. The metal of the moon is silver. I’ve seen very positive results with just, you know, drinking water from a silver vessel.

Bani Singh 39:39
You know, if you keep it overnight and drink that water, it really helps balance a lot of emotional things. Besides, I mean, it’s a well -known fact that for the moon, meditation, you know, mantra chanting, these things work very, very well because what is the moon just needs?

Bani Singh 39:56
Moon is like, you know, the monkey mind. We need to sort of bring it to center. So, meditation, pranayama, breath work, these are all great things and just doing more positive things for mother figures in your life.

Bani Singh 40:12
That’s a very easy remedy for the moon. Now, Jupiter is an interesting planet because it’s the giver of wealth and prosperity and luck in your life. And here we all want that, right? Sure. You all want that abundance.

Bani Singh 40:23
Jupiter is abundance. It is expansion. It is growth. But above all, Jupiter is the giver of wisdom, knowledge. So a very simple thing is, Jupiter’s day is Thursday, like moon’s day is Monday. Jupiter’s day is Thursday.

Bani Singh 40:40
Just teach someone else a skill. Donate your time in teaching someone a skill. Teaching children, helping someone gain an education, contributing financially there is a very good way to help your own Jupiter.

Bani Singh 40:55
Venus. Venus is the planet of sex, of the spouse in a chart. And it’s the feminine. So again, a very simple remedy is respect women. Easy remedy. Help, lift, each other up and you’ll find in many homes women are each other’s greatest enemies.

Bani Singh 41:14
Stop that you’re spoiling your own Venus and Venus is the giver of comfort and luxury in your life. The more you respect everyone you will have a better chance at the rest of these you know the more material angles that come with these with these planets.

Bani Singh 41:30
Venus is is the spouse right. So respecting your spouse respecting that relationship these are all things you know basic every planet has a relationship associated with it when we talk of Mars for instance it’s the sibling doing something positive for your sibling so each planet like that has a metal has some kind of donation you can do with it you know with Venus you can donate clothes someone’s getting married they don’t they can’t afford to sort of buy something or wedding dress or something helping contribute in that for things you can do you know just really getting out there and and spreading that love spreading that help helping anyone indeed being of service is a is a just a remedy for every planet with the moon it’s the mother figure with the sun it’s doing something positive for your father so these relationships and doing positive things for them will help.

Shrankhla Holecek 42:29
how profound and how enlightening I also love that it’s so wholesome thank you for sharing that Bani I know we’ve taken up a lot of your time but there’s just one burning question that I think all of us have on our minds which is um I love how you set up by saying that um ayurvedic I apologize that Vedic astrology is very personalized just like Ayurveda and you know you look at your personal dosha makeup you look at your personal chart I know western astrology as we look at it sometimes is more blanket statements about about a sun sign So what would you say are some of the similarities and key differences between astrology as we sometimes see it in the West versus Vedic astrology or Jyotish?

Bani Singh 43:22
Well, they’re very different in the sense that Vedic astrology deals with Siddhish astrology. Right? You know, we have the four cardinal points in seasons. You have the Sama solstice, which is coming up now, 21st June.

Bani Singh 43:36
And you know, on the 1st March, which is the spring. You have the winter solstice and the autumn one, right? 21st March, according to Western astrology, sun goes into Aries. Right? Sun signs work on tropical zodiac because that goes by seasons, not by what’s really happening up in the sky, not by the stars.

Bani Singh 43:57
And Vedic astrology is basically based on actual movement of what’s happening about actual movement of celestial bodies in the sky. It’s not seasonal movement. There’s a whole difference, right? We base everything on as above, so below, which means what’s happening up there has a direct relationship with what’s going to happen to us.

Bani Singh 44:23
What is happening up there will affect what is going on here in our lives. So remember, the birth chart is a snapshot of the sky at the time you were born. It’s not seasonal, right? So that is Vedic astrology.

Bani Singh 44:37
That’s more moon -based, right? Because Christmas, for instance, is always 25th December, but our major festivals in India, for instance, will change. We’ll go a few weeks up in there because we literally time it to the exact position.

Bani Singh 44:54
That is the very same way your birthday, like the day you are born, is not, every year is not the same day. Your Vedic birthday is different from your actual… Interesting. And that is something that people get so wrong because it’s your Vedic birthday that’s far more important, especially when you’re…

Bani Singh 45:15
You know, it’s a good day always to give back, karmically. It has solid, solid power to help you through a lot of obstacles in your life. And it’ll always be maybe a week after or a week before, every year it’ll change.

Bani Singh 45:30
And it is based on the exact position of the moon at the time of your birth, not the sun. Because the sun changes a sign every one month, the moon changes a sign every two and a half days. Obviously, this is going to be far more precise.

Bani Singh 45:45
And nature is so… I mean, it’s so generous that every month we have one particular day that kind of represents our own nakshatra or what we call our personal lunar mansion according to the day we were born.

Bani Singh 46:02
And when we do more popular things on that day, it goes a long way in reducing our karmic baggage. And nature gives us that day, okay, this is one day a month I’m giving you to rectify a lot or to fix some things in your life.

Bani Singh 46:17
And unfortunately, most people don’t know and they can’t cash in on this opportunity. So what’s more important every year is your Vedic birthday because that is the exact position the stars were aligned when you were born.

Shrankhla Holecek 46:33
How cool. Wow, Bani, I can’t wait for my own follow -up session with you to sort of dig into some of these things. I can think of a lot of planets that might be slightly pissed off with me and that I should, you know, put in my good work towards.

Shrankhla Holecek 46:53
But speaking of good work, I know you have touched so many lives and so many people will not just enjoy having listened to this and. being illuminated about the world of Vedic astrology, but also take away so much actionable, tactical insight from this.

Shrankhla Holecek 47:14
So definitely more to follow from me for our audiences in terms of how we can help them parse some of these things, figure out issues with the moon, where things were. But I know I’ve taken up a ton of your time.

Shrankhla Holecek 47:31
So thank you so much. It’s terribly gracious of you to be here. And I can’t wait for more to come.

Bani Singh 47:39
Thank you so much. Thank you so much, Shrankhla. Just as I end, I’ll just say that birth chart is really going to teach you self -awareness, because I think what we don’t realize is that thoughtless actions can lead to a lot more baggage than we can even understand.

Shrankhla Holecek 47:57
And the bill that we’ve got to be very careful about, paying is the bill of karma. And that’s where we should exercise a lot of caution. So very simply, just don’t do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

Bani Singh 48:10
That’s the universal law. And I think those are important things to keep in mind as we navigate our lives.

Shrankhla Holecek 48:19
Sage advice to live by. Thank you, Bani. And I look forward to chatting more, sharing more wisdom about Vedic astrology, courtesy of you.

Shrankhla Holecek 48:30
So thanks again, and I’ll talk to you soon.

Bani Singh 48:33
Thank you. Thank you for having me.

Shrankhla Holecek 48:35
You can learn more about astrology with Bani by following her on Instagram at Bani Singh Chadha. That is B -A -N -I -S -I -N -G -H -C -H -A -D -H -A.

Shrankhla Holecek 48:54
As we conclude this episode, we invite you to delve deeper into the world of Ayurveda with Uma. Please subscribe to the Uma Ayurveda Podcast. Ayurveda podcast to continue this transformative journey with our series of conversations that we hope you’ll find enlightening.

Shrankhla Holecek 49:12
Visit umaoils.com that is U -M -A -O -I -L -S dot com for an even more immersive experience exploring not only our luxury Ayurveda products but also an array of inspired wellness inside and lifestyle tips.

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THE UMA AYURVEDA PODCAST- AYURVEDIC INSIGHTS WITH ANANTA RIPA AJMERA – YOUR GUIDE TO HOLISTIC HEALTH

Shrankhla Holecek 00:00
Hello, I’m Shrankhla Holecek, the founder and CEO of UMA, an Ayurvedic beauty and wellness collection. This is the Uma Elements podcast. Each week I’ll be having a conversation with someone I greatly admire on the topics of Ayurveda, holistic healing, spiritual well-being, and alternative help.

Shrankhla Holecek 00:24
By sharing wisdom together, we will unlock a secret that as ancient as they are, Ayurveda and other ancient modalities are as modern and relevant today as ever. Today’s guest on the Uma Ayurveda podcast is Ananta Ripa Ajmera.

Shrankhla Holecek 00:43
Ananta is a spiritual teacher who bridges ancient wisdom and modern living. Her organization, the ancient way, supports individuals in embodying wisdom and discovering their true selves. Ananta is the author of The Way of the Goddess, Daily Rituals to awaken your inner warrior and discover your true self and a true to yourself podcast and serves as an Ayurveda advisor at the well, a modern, integrative wellness space.

Shrankhla Holecek 01:24
In this Ayurveda podcast episode, Ananta shares a profound connection with Ayurveda, taking listeners on a transformative journey and providing valuable insight on maximizing the benefits of Ayurveda for daily life.

Shrankhla Holecek 01:40
So it’s absolutely incredible everything that you have been able to do within Ayurveda and I’m sort of unpacking, learning, feeling more and more enthused and intrigued by it. And I suppose I like to start by asking a lot of people this question about their own relationship with Ayurveda.

Shrankhla Holecek 02:06
What does it mean to you and are there specific impacts it has had on your life?

Ananta Ripa Ajmera 02:13
Great question. Ayurveda means to me a holistic and very trustworthy system and way of life that brings me closer to myself and that brings me into a state of complete balance in all aspects of my life.

Ananta Ripa Ajmera 02:33
It has impacted everything. It impacted my digestion, my sleep, my stress and anxiety levels, my skin, my whole outlook on life, my spiritual journey. I really can’t think of a single thing that Ayurveda would not have impacted.

Shrankhla Holecek 02:53
Where did it all start for you?

Ananta Ripa Ajmera 02:57
For me, it actually started probably all the way in childhood. I had struggled for many years with eating disorders. I had looked everywhere for solutions to my problem.

Ananta Ripa Ajmera 03:10
I always had that feeling that if I have a problem, I will have the ability to solve it. I just need to figure out how to do that. I used to go search the libraries for self -help books about anorexia, and I would Google search different things and go to online chat rooms.

Ananta Ripa Ajmera 03:29
I had tried different fad diets. I went to yoga classes, and everything kind of brought me a partial solution. It wasn’t until coming to Ayurveda that I felt I found a system that really addressed all different parts of me.

Ananta Ripa Ajmera 03:46
I had first had eating disorders when I was a teenager. It took me until I was almost 24 or maybe 23 by the time I actually found out about Ayurveda when I was at a yoga teacher training in India. I had done that actually right after college, so when I was just 22.

Ananta Ripa Ajmera 04:11
I remember we lived in Ayurveda lifestyle during the yoga teacher training. We woke up early, we went to sleep early, we ate meals on time, we practiced yoga, and it was just such a magical experience.

Ananta Ripa Ajmera 04:25
I knew that I wanted to feel that way all the time, and I wanted to learn about what is this thing called Ayurveda. From there I came back to the states and I drove from one coast to another to California, and I started teaching yoga and meditation in probation departments.

Ananta Ripa Ajmera 04:46
At that time I also had connected with the meditation group where there were different people of different walks of life coming together. One of those people, actually four of those people, people had told me about opportunity to study Ayurveda.

Ananta Ripa Ajmera 05:03
And I thought, wow, this is such a sign from the universe. I just can’t pass it up. And that, you know, was the beginning of the rest of the journey, which is still continuing today.

Shrankhla Holecek 05:14
Gosh, that is so incredible. And there’s so much in there that I want to learn more about starting with Ananta I think you’ll admit that choosing to go to India for a yoga teacher training program at 22, just after you’ve graduated college, isn’t the norm. Tell me a little bit about what the springboard for that was, because that’s so inspiring to me that you knew that this is what you wanted to do. And I understand your heritage is Indian, but sounds like you were born and raised here.

Shrankhla Holecek 05:52
So there’s always… For most, I find it just a little bit of hesitation in going back to India. So I am, I’m dying to learn more about the entire motivation, the thinking around what was going on at that time for you.

Ananta Ripa Ajmera 06:06
Yeah, you know, it is really quite interesting looking back on the whole thing. I just am very headstrong, I suppose, about certain things that really matter. To me, spirituality and service were always incredibly important to me.

Ananta Ripa Ajmera 06:22
I felt drawn to both of them like a magnet since childhood. And I was always looking for ways to deepen that. I chose to go to Catholic, all girls, high school, not being raised Catholic, just because that school had such an emphasis on spirituality and service.

Ananta Ripa Ajmera 06:41
I really, you know, was so drawn to all of this that it then led me to discover yoga. It’s a college student in New York. I was very stressed out living in the city for the first time in my entire life.

Ananta Ripa Ajmera 06:56
I came from a small town in Ohio. It was a very, very big shock to live suddenly in New York City and have all the demands of college at the same time. I had heard about this yoga school around the corner from where I was studying business, actually, as an undergraduate.

Ananta Ripa Ajmera 07:14
I decided to check out a class because why not? Anything that could help me by then felt like a good option to me. I remember walking into that yoga class smelling the incense and hearing all these Sanskrit chants that I had grown up listening to but never understood.

Ananta Ripa Ajmera 07:33
When the teacher started talking and explaining some of these mantras, she actually talked about how the practice of yoga deepens your ability to offer meaningful heartfelt service in the world. The fact that this very first yoga class was already deepening my understanding standing of service really really intrigued me.

Ananta Ripa Ajmera 07:57
I started going so regularly to those yoga classes and feeling so much relief every time that it just led me to such curiosity to then go ahead and revisit India. I hadn’t gone to India all throughout my teenage years but I then went back when I was 19 and discovered that wow India has so much of both spirituality and service that I just didn’t know about.

Ananta Ripa Ajmera 08:25
I didn’t have someone to really explain it to me when I was growing up. Actually this is everything that I was looking for and as I got more and more into it I was just drawn to go there and be able to immerse myself more fully into it.

Ananta Ripa Ajmera 08:41
While I was in college I was so bored out of my mind taking accounting classes and statistics and finance and all that jazz that you have to do is required. I found myself wishing I would have gone to a yoga university where I could have gone really deep into spirituality and into understanding the meaning and purpose of life and who am I and all of those really, really important questions.

Ananta Ripa Ajmera 09:06
So I was part of a program in college. Fortunately, it was very serendipitous actually in social entrepreneurship. This helped me to see how I could use my business knowledge and skills that I was gaining to make a difference through service in the world and through social work.

Ananta Ripa Ajmera 09:26
And it was incredible to be a part of a whole scholarship program full of people of all different schools from NYU who had this inclination to want to use their professional skills to work across sectors and to be able to make a difference.

Ananta Ripa Ajmera 09:42
As a part of that program, we were inspired to think big and to really draw a vision for what we wanted to do with our lives. I at that time had begun the program by asking myself a question. How do I create what we call this pattern breaking social change in a sustainable way within my own life and then try to scale the changes that I make into the work that I wish to do in the world.

Ananta Ripa Ajmera 10:12
It was very important to me even at 19 or 20, that what I would do would be from the space of really deep integrity. I didn’t know what that would mean, but it really, really that question really set the tone for the whole journey ahead.

Ananta Ripa Ajmera 10:28
It was like the seed of everything that unfolded afterwards. And I just felt that going to India after I graduated would allow me to come closer to an answer to this question. The question really led me on a quest and it was a quest that went into yoga and then that led to Ayurveda and then it led to the to the spiritual study of Vedanta and about the Indian goddesses and so many incredible things that just continue on and on.

Ananta Ripa Ajmera 11:00
It’s so incredible how much our culture has to offer. And you know what’s really interesting is that after six months of getting onto the Ayurveda studies, my cousin revealed to me that our own maternal grandfather was a very renowned Ayurveda Vedya in India.

Ananta Ripa Ajmera 11:19
And we had a whole lineage of Ayurveda grandfathers on our mom’s sides of the family. It was such an incredible confirmation that yes, this is the right path, this is the ancestors way, and this is the path that’s going to lead me to health, healing, and wholeness.

Ananta Ripa Ajmera 11:39
Being quarantined in New York City, I could not be more grateful for having really heated that inner calling. meant a lot of challenging conversations with my parents who are not on board with all this, but I’m so happy to report that now they are some of my biggest fans and have become my online students.

Shrankhla Holecek 12:01
I love that. I especially love the framing of the Ayurveda as a service, which is something that I often forget about in how profound it is both in a service to yourself as well as the magnificent possibilities of service to the world because Ayurveda has always been so incredibly generous.

Shrankhla Holecek 12:30
When people talk about making products from Ayurveda or disseminating the service and sometimes they attribute, let’s say some degree of credit to me, I am reminded and try to you know rebuff that by quickly saying that Ayurveda was a gift generously shared with us 5 ,000 years ago.

Shrankhla Holecek 12:55
So now that I think about it, service was always intrinsically part of how Ayurveda was presented to the world in that it was for all of us to use, to live and thrive with. So it’s so interesting to see that you have taken that as a really formal way of service to communities and I want to go back to your service to communities within reform, within helping people mentally and spiritually tackle maybe some very difficult portions in their life.

Shrankhla Holecek 13:37
Can you share a little bit about that Ananta?

Ananta Ripa Ajmera 13:39
Sure. Yeah, you know, it’s actually really interesting that you talk about service and talk about how to help people you tackle difficult problems in their lives.

Ananta Ripa Ajmera 13:50
The very definition of Ayurveda is so inspiring to me. The sages who were revealed the science by their study of nature had shared with us that Ayurveda is that science which teaches us how to distinguish between actions that bring us joy versus those that bring us sorrow.

Ananta Ripa Ajmera 14:15
The actions that bring us individual personal joy are those that benefit not only ourselves but others too. So I think that whenever we are able to expand our lens and really feel our connection and our union with those around us and even those far away from us on this planet, not just other humans, but even animals and plants, we automatically start to feel more connected and we start to feel a lot more whole.

Ananta Ripa Ajmera 14:45
A lot of relationship difficulties I think even come in when we forget that there is what the sages have said, this one common self, and we are all manifestations of that. We all have a soul and therefore at our deepest core we are actually all the same.

Ananta Ripa Ajmera 15:03
So anytime when we have trouble with people it’s so so helpful to just remember our spiritual essence. I feel that the core of Ayurveda that really attracts me is how the goal of the whole science and of even improving your well being is to ultimately realize who you are as a soul.

Ananta Ripa Ajmera 15:24
And when we remember and when I remind people I work with that you are this all powerful soul and therefore you have the ability to make any kind of change or transformation in your life. It’s like it flips on a switch within people.

Ananta Ripa Ajmera 15:40
We all have that spiritual power and knowledge and wisdom deep within us. It’s just that we’re not encouraged to look within. We’re encouraged to look without on Instagram and on TV shows and street signs and so many so many distractions in our modern world.

Ananta Ripa Ajmera 15:58
But really all the answers are within and when we even just get that little reminder that everything we’re looking for is ultimately within us. It is such a powerful invitation to really call upon our own inner wisdom and our own inner knowing to allow us to navigate through the storms of life while remaining much more centered and much more balanced.

Shrankhla Holecek 16:25
you Gosh, that makes such a tremendous amount of sense to me and I feel almost envious of the people in the New York City and the well that have access to someone who is not just so deeply immersed in Ayurveda, but also has such wisdom about the concept of service and where you can find peace and gratification within your body and Speaking of the well, tell us a little bit more about your current role at the well

Ananta Ripa Ajmera 16:59
Thank you. My current role at the well as director of Ayurveda is a really inspiring one. I had actually gotten connected to the founder and CEO of the well through some family members. She also is from the same place in the state of Gujarat, India, and amazingly her own great -grandfather was also a renowned Ayurveda, Vedya, or doctor in India.

Ananta Ripa Ajmera 17:31
So we had this this deep connection with each other and what she has created through the well is such a beautiful portal for practicing integrative medicine. On our team at the well we have a functional medicine doctor, actually two functional medicine doctors.

Ananta Ripa Ajmera 17:49
We have Chinese medicine doctors, we have energy medicine healers, we have a director of head and heart, we have physical therapists, we have sports medicine specialists, and I am representing Ayurveda.

Ananta Ripa Ajmera 18:03
We all come together on a regular basis to discuss cases from all of our different perspectives as healers and to see kind of the commonalities of everything that we’re doing and to also learn from the differentiating factors between all of the different modalities that are involved with health and healing.

Ananta Ripa Ajmera 18:27
There’s so much learning that happens in this capacity. I feel that the Indian sciences, Ayurveda, yoga, Vedanta, martial arts, I’m actually just now starting to learn martial arts and it brings it all together as well.

Ananta Ripa Ajmera 18:44
It’s all so deep that you can learn lifelong. So even beyond just the lifelong learning of the sciences I’m already immersed in, I have this whole other pool of learning of different disciplines and how we can collaborate together and come up with new innovative solutions to the problems that people have.

Ananta Ripa Ajmera 19:06
So we come together, we discuss cases, we collaborate on cases. I also am teaching different online classes, in -person classes, when it’s open. And we do member silent breakfasts when the club is open to give people an experience of mindful eating practices.

Ananta Ripa Ajmera 19:26
It’s a lot around community. The Well previously was a membership only program. It feels that when it reopens, it will actually be more open to the public so anyone can come. Right now, we have an online membership program where you can come and take any kind of classes you like in mindful movement, fitness.

Ananta Ripa Ajmera 19:48
You can meet with me and any of our medical doctors and specialists for one -on -one sessions online. And there’s just… so much there. When the well is open, we also have a kitchen and table, which has an Ayurveda kitschery recipe on it that is very well received by the public.

Ananta Ripa Ajmera 20:09
And we have bodywork and therapies. We’re working to actually get some Ayurveda bodywork therapies onto the menu for that. And just, you know, generally are trying to serve as an incredible portal for people to find the agency to really take charge of their own health and to transform their health.

Shrankhla Holecek 20:31
I love that. And shifting gears a little bit to all the information that you are privy to and perhaps sharing a few nuggets with our audiences in way of improving their lives. I suppose the first question that comes to mind is you’re both an Ayurvedic practitioner and a yoga instructor.

Shrankhla Holecek 20:56
And I find a lot of meaning from my yoga practice. But what do you think is the most beneficial aspect of yoga? Is there something in particular that most of us don’t understand while we practice it? In how much it is helping us within?

Ananta Ripa Ajmera 21:14
Great question. Yes, there’s so much to yoga. It’s actually incredible. My second book project that I’m working on is actually going to explore this whole spiritual aspect of yoga with the lens of Ayurveda as well.

Ananta Ripa Ajmera 21:32
Yoga, you know, really is the ultimate practice. It is the ultimate state of spiritual enlightenment in the Vedic studies and yoga has three different aspects to it. One is karma yoga. One is the yoga and one is Gnana yoga.

Ananta Ripa Ajmera 22:00
Karma yoga is the yoga of action. All of our actions can lead us to greater spirituality. We can actually approach our work with a sense of really doing things without attachment. The practice of yoga is really about practice and detachment and when we can put our full effort into whatever it is we’re doing and then fully let go of our attachment to what comes out of that or what comes as a result of that, we experience a lot more of this spiritual freedom in our actions and then we feel a lot more empowered to continue to take actions because we’re not so trapped by the outcome of what happens as a result of our actions.

Ananta Ripa Ajmera 22:48
That is a huge, huge practice in and of itself. Then bhakti yoga is the practice of really purifying our emotions. As we go deeper into the practice of Ayurveda and yoga, there is this whole incredible emotional healing, emotional purification process that happens.

Ananta Ripa Ajmera 23:08
No emotion by itself is positive or negative. In fact, there are positive and negative aspects to all different emotions. For example, in terms of anger, it serves as a way of knowing that our boundaries have been violated in its positive sense when we feel it for a moment as a kind of indicator to ourselves that something has gone wrong.

Ananta Ripa Ajmera 23:33
When it gets out of hand, we start to have heat and inflammation and breakouts and eruptions physically and mentally. So we want to keep that in a state of balance. And the Ayurveda practices really go to try to understand that.

Ananta Ripa Ajmera 23:52
We are like the, what’s underneath the tip of the iceberg. We look at the root causes of why we have physical problems and physical issues. We use that then manifest in the physical body. So when we start to calm our emotions by really developing more of a sense of devotion and gratitude in our day to day life, that really helps us to live in a more peaceful and joyful way.

Ananta Ripa Ajmera 24:23
We even incorporate in yoga and Ayurveda the practice of mantras and chanting mantras as a way to purify the mind, to calm the mind, to soothe any feeling, any thoughts or anxious, you know, running things going on in the mind. There’s obviously going to be a lot of that when we’re going through a pandemic like we are right now. And Ayurveda and yoga have this kind of spiritual medicine of mantras and mudras, which are hand gestures and breathing exercises.

Ananta Ripa Ajmera 24:57
exercises that you can do which help to calm the mind and bring the mind into the present moment. And then we have what’s called Gyan yoga which is the yoga of knowledge. Ultimately it’s knowledge that sets us free. It’s knowledge that gives us power. And when we get the ultimate knowledge which is the knowledge of the self or the soul, which is the goal of Ayurveda and the goal of yoga, we are receiving the ultimate empowerment with which to really take charge of our lives and to be at peace with all people in all situations in our lives, no matter how difficult or challenging they may be.

Ananta Ripa Ajmera 25:38
And then even when we talk about the regular yoga that we all know as yoga which are the physical poses or the asanas, we really love to, and I love to share with students about embodying the understanding of nature. that each pose has to offer. For example, when we’re standing in tree pose, I guide my students to really imagine your favorite tree, imagine what it looks like, imagine what it feels to touch that tree, to hug that tree, to be close to that tree, and then imagine that you are that tree.

Ananta Ripa Ajmera 26:16
Imagine that you have these roots going deep into the ground beneath you, and that you are standing tall and you are rising as this tree that is so strongly rooted into the ground. And then as you start to balance and you bring your hands to your heart, feel that connection with your heart.

Ananta Ripa Ajmera 26:37
When we start to move the arms upward, we understand that the tree’s nature actually is to be going in an upward flowing way. The tree is always moving towards the light of the sun, which represents our own soul. And the tree is a giver of refuge and a giver of shade. It gives without any attachments to what comes as a result of it. A tree grows and offers its fruits simply because that’s the role of the tree, that’s the duty and the purpose of the tree.

Ananta Ripa Ajmera 27:13
The more we imagine ourselves to really be like that tree as we’re practicing tree pose, the more we come into a really beautiful state of yoga, which is a state of complete integration and a feeling of union with your spiritual self.

Shrankhla Holecek 27:34
Gosh, that is so beautiful. And I’m looking forward to the next time I’m practicing the tree pose to actually channel all of that incredible vision that you just painted in front of us. Thank you for that.

Shrankhla Holecek 27:52
Ananta, you touched on COVID and the anxiety. that it is creating within people. And two of the things I’m hearing a lot about right now is sleeplessness and poor digestion, gut issues. A lot of us are experiencing them just because our environment, even if we’re not sort of going out as much, has changed so tremendously.

Shrankhla Holecek 28:19
Are there some tools and solutions you can share within the practice of yoga and Ayurveda that can help us better manage some of those symptoms?

Ananta Ripa Ajmera 28:31
Sure, yeah, sleep and digestion are huge, huge issues.

Ananta Ripa Ajmera 28:35
I would definitely recommend, first of all, starting to go to sleep earlier. It helps a lot to sleep ideally by 10 p .m. That may be a stretch for some people. It sure was for me when I… first began Ayurveda.

Ananta Ripa Ajmera 28:54
I was sleeping the opposite way that Ayurveda recommends in the sense that I would wake up around 4 a .m. or sorry I would go to sleep around 4 a .m. and wake up around 10 a .m. Ayurveda recommends just the opposite that you sleep ideally by 10 p .m. and wake up around 4 to 6 a .m. ideally. This is the optimal timing in terms of aligning yourself with circadian rhythms. When you align yourself with circadian rhythms the body starts to come into a sense of a rhythm within itself that actually allows for better sleep at night.

Ananta Ripa Ajmera 29:31
When you wake up early you naturally feel tired and want to fall asleep earlier at night. When you sleep well through the night especially between those hours of 10 a .m. to 2 a .m. the whole body is actually turning its energy inward to digest all of the contents of the previous day.

Ananta Ripa Ajmera 29:55
The body digests not just your food that you ate but also the information that you took in and processed. It takes in and digests the emotions that you felt and the life experiences that you’re having. When you get that period to be asleep your digestion is able to do its job really well. If you are up at that time you may actually feel like doing things like organizing your closet and filing your taxes.

Ananta Ripa Ajmera 30:27
That’s because the energy of pitadoshah or the Ayurvedic bio -force of transformation gets active at that time so we want to do things that require a lot of thought and analysis but we need all that fire to be working inwardly to be able to digest our food and to keep us in a really healthy cycle of sleep and rest and awakening.

Ananta Ripa Ajmera 30:52
When we wake up wake up early, ideally between 4 to 6 or at least by 6 .30 a .m. We are actually going to have a lot easier time waking up. The Ayurveda bio -force of Vata Dosha, which governs movement, is active at this time. When you wake up, when the force of movement is active, it’s actually easier to move and to wake up. It’s a great time to practice spiritual practices, which will help to ground your mind. The mind, of course, plays a huge role in sleep and digestion.

Ananta Ripa Ajmera 31:26
So having a mind that is calm and balanced and more grounded and peaceful will definitely go a long way in keeping you in a good space mentally, physically, and in terms of your sleep. sleep and digestion.

Ananta Ripa Ajmera 31:41
It also helps a lot to eat warm cooked foods. This is really important for digestion. Ayurveda considers digestion to be similar to a fire. Figuratively, imagine digestion as being like a fire. When you put warm substances into the fire, it kindles that fire. When you put cold raw substances into the fire, it tends to extinguish it. For sleep, we need foods that are more unctuous and oily and nourishing to the body and a little bit heavier. When we eat foods that are too dry and rough and light, they keep us up at night.

Ananta Ripa Ajmera 32:25
That means no chips and pretzels and crackers and crunchy light things that you might find delicious. There are very good food options that you can turn to that are warm and cooked. I’m also working on a cookbook right now that can help introduce some of these ideas to you about how to embrace your favorite foods but with Ayurveda so you can have them safely and then be able to sleep and be able to digest properly.

Ananta Ripa Ajmera 32:53
In terms of I want to go back to the waking up and going to sleep, I know it might sound really intimidating especially if you are someone who is like me in the past where I was waking up before I am and sleeping at 10 am.

Ananta Ripa Ajmera 33:07
If you are able to just transition your clock back 10 minutes or 15 minutes and just go to sleep 10 or 15 minutes earlier and then wake up 10 or 15 minutes earlier, you can slowly transition your way back.

Ananta Ripa Ajmera 33:22
That will be a lot more sustainable and a lot less stressful for your mind and your body. The third thing I’ll share is it helps to also have more or less fixed meal times and not to eat your last meal of the day too close to bedtime.

Ananta Ripa Ajmera 33:41
The ideal meal timings would be between 7 to 8 30 for your breakfast, between 12 to 1 30 for lunch, and ideally between 5 to 6 30 for your dinner, no later than 7 or 7 30 because we like to sleep by 10 p .m. It’s important to have that gap of at least three hours between your dinner and your sleep so that you’re not going to bed on a full stomach. We want our bodies to feel as though they are not being pulled into sleep just by the weight of our stomach and the feeling of the food in the stomach.

Ananta Ripa Ajmera 34:18
We want to feel still a sense of spaciousness so it really helps to practice mindful eating too. I actually have written my first book called the Ayurveda Way which gives 108 different practices that help you with sleep and stress and digestion so if you wanted to You know look up any of these further or just get some other ideas.

Ananta Ripa Ajmera 34:41
There’s a lot more Practices that you could incorporate but these would be the top three that come to mind

Shrankhla Holecek 34:47
Thank you so much for sharing those. I can see so many people Jumping on the support that these can lend right away and I know That some of these things have known a long time to pull back and Continue to do once best to have these practices in Once life because I know that every time I am being good in way of Ayurvedic practices that serve me My body just feels so much better and emotionally and physically better rested Everything works like it should so so yes, I’m I probably will have to start the 15 minutes Going back Myself and this is this is a great reminder Thank you and I I love that you mentioned that sometimes it can feel a little bit intimidating and and I loved your hack for lack of a better word to help your body back Into some of the practices that are best for us You’ve worked with a lot of people that have Gone benefits from Ayurveda.

Shrankhla Holecek 36:09
Can you share some of the things? people most struggle with when Incorporating Ayurvedic changes in their life, you know, I My husband is American and was brought up on this concept of just salads and raw veggies are so healthy for you But I can see that he has a lot of water.

Shrankhla Holecek 36:32
He sleeps poorly and it took me a little while to counsel and to eat more well -cooked foods and with spices. And sometimes I just find that culturally, we are wired to think of salads as the best thing for us.

Shrankhla Holecek 36:51
Whereas for some of us, especially those that have excess butter, they are not as great and they can compound their butter in you. So what have you found to be some of the challenges you come up against when teaching the Ayurvedic way of life? And what are some of the success stories or ways to navigate that skepticism?

Ananta Ripa Ajmera 37:16
You know what I often tell people is that experience is your best teacher. Don’t take anything that I said or that anybody has said for granted.

Ananta Ripa Ajmera 37:28
It’s really important to Test anything out that you hear about in the laboratory of your own life I always say to give it a fair trial See if in doing some of the things you feel better you feel relieved Usually that is the best way to come to a better Appreciation of what it will and will not perhaps work well for you Like you were observing how when you follow this kind of timing of the circadian rhythms You feel better physically and emotionally and when you feel better you feel motivated to Continue those behaviors and practices even if you might have fallen off the wagon for a little while It’s like you just pick yourself back up and get back into it because you know how good it is for you therefore I say Definitely, it’s very important and helpful to learn as much as you can There’s always going to be a lot of conflicting information out there but I feel that it’s just so important that you try something and See how it works for you before really judging whether it’s for you or not for you because you ultimately will be your best guide and You know to to go based off of inspiration is also very important

Ananta Ripa Ajmera 38:51
I always tell people that out of whatever I might share in my teaching or the 108 practices in my book Don’t get intimidated or overwhelmed by that number Just simply like with the book for example I tell people to flip to any page and just do something that speaks to you do something that inspires you Being able to reflect also on what inspires you and then committing to a practice That inspires you is a really great way to put the practice of having a practice into practice It’s ultimately you that needs to direct you your journey.

Ananta Ripa Ajmera 39:30
It’s you who has to wake up. It’s you who has to eat. It’s you who has to sleep. So the more you can feel empowered, knowledgeable, and excited about something that will help you create more wellness in your life, the more you will be able to stick with that long term.

Shrankhla Holecek 39:51
That’s such a powerful answer, because it goes back to honing into one’s intuition. And it’s so empowering to know that to be well, to have the best life that you want, all the answers are often within you.

Shrankhla Holecek 40:11
So trusting and honing your intuition is such a good way to live that best life as it were. You’ve been so generous with your time, Ananda. I just want to get a few more questions answered before we let you go. One of them being about the journey of writing your book. You know, you have a beautiful book that you’ve already written and you’ve embarked upon this journey second time now. I’d love to hear more about the process.

Ananta Ripa Ajmera 40:51
Wow, that’s a great, very well timed question. It sure is a process. The writing of a book and somehow one book I’ve been writing has turned into two books simultaneously. It’s definitely a practice of having a practice.

Ananta Ripa Ajmera 41:08
It is such a process and it requires so much of what I was talking about in terms of karma yoga. It really has demanded giving my absolute full best effort and then completely letting go of any attachment to that work and to that expression and to the outcome of what I’ve written.

Ananta Ripa Ajmera 41:30
I’ve been working on the one book, actually the book proposal, not even the book, but just the beginning of it, the whole organization and the structure of it, the introduction of it, the first chapter of it for almost two years now. My first book came so easily to me. I was writing all these articles on Ayurveda online and I had a publisher approach me and request that I write this beginner friendly Ayurveda book and then they guided me through the whole process.

Ananta Ripa Ajmera 41:59
I got an agent in the process. I had my choice of agents because I already had an offer pretty much in hand. The second book has no such thing. I still have the same fabulous agent who I worked with on the first one and she really is so good that she keeps on pushing me to really like, bring out the essence of what I’m writing.

Ananta Ripa Ajmera 42:22
It’s a much more spiritual book and there’s some memoir that is incorporated and woven into it along with the teachings of yoga, the deeper spiritual teachings of yoga. It is so deep that it’s been really quite a journey to distill the essence of it but it’s so fitting for the project.

Ananta Ripa Ajmera 42:41
It is to really get to the essence of what is yoga and when we talk about like getting to the knowledge of the self in the spiritual tradition it’s a journey or a process of what is called neti -neti. Neti neti means not this, not that, not or not this, not this. There was a whole lot of not this, not this that went into the kind of turning away to get to the essence of what I was trying to say and what this book is really all about.

Ananta Ripa Ajmera 43:20
It has been such a tremendous journey that took me from California back to New York and helped me to make so many full circles in my life emotionally in terms of relationships and especially with my relationship with my own self and my own soul. It has helped me to make a lot of personal breakthroughs. I really approached the second book as my own personal transformation project. I didn’t just want to write a great book that can sell a bunch of copies.

Ananta Ripa Ajmera 43:50
I really wanted to write something that would be so deeply from the heart that it would change and transform me in the process. In that sense, this second book really is writing me as much as or perhaps more than I am writing it. I just asked to be the instrument and to channel whatever knowledge is meant to come through me in a way that will be most accessible to the modern context. I’ve been so grateful for all the support that I’ve received on it.

Ananta Ripa Ajmera 44:23
However, from my agent and from a really wonderful editor, she’s connected me to work with. We’re almost finished now for real. The agent is finally feeling like, yes, this is ready to go out to publishers and now there’s this cookbook that is coming out as well and hopefully it will come through the publishers or I might even self publish it if not because it just feels like such an important project.

Ananta Ripa Ajmera 44:49
Just by immersing myself in one process, the second process of the second book has just been a lot more natural because so much went into the thinking and the conceptualization of the one project that somehow the second project has come out of it. I never thought you That was what was going to happen. I never knew it was gonna take me almost two years just to write a book proposal, but I’m so happy that I’ve taken this long, hard, difficult journey with it because it really has helped me to find freedom from my own inner mental and emotional prisons and to just feel so much freer and more joyful.

Ananta Ripa Ajmera 45:31
And I feel that because of the journey that I’ve gone through with it, it can hopefully help readers that much more because it’s coming from such a real and such a deep place within myself.

Shrankhla Holecek 45:44
Wow, it sounds like it’s going to be an incredible read for substance and for its heart. I think it will read, as I said, sort of with the power of the heart. practical guides and insight, but I’m also looking forward to sort of reading or picking up on cues within it that I see about your personal journey.

Shrankhla Holecek 46:12
I think it will be such an incredible read. You know, you can sign me up for being the first person buying the book as soon as it’s out.

Ananta Ripa Ajmera 46:20
Aww, thank you so much.

Shrankhla Holecek 46:23
No, thank you. This has been so eye -opening, fun, interesting.

Shrankhla Holecek 46:30
I’ve so enjoyed talking with you and I know that everyone will so enjoy listening to this. We can’t wait for your second book to come out and you know, hopefully the well will open soon and lots of exciting things coming down the pipe with Ayurveda and you.

Shrankhla Holecek 46:51
So Ananta, thank you so much for your time and good luck with everything. I’m sure we’ll be talking soon.

Ananta Ripa Ajmera 46:58
Thank you so much. I so enjoyed connecting with you and I so appreciate the work that you’re doing to spread Ayurveda in this pure way. It’s so nice to see fellow Indians really embracing what our culture has gifted us and then sharing that with so many people. I’ve heard so much about the Uma oils from so many different people and it’s such a treat to now be able to connect with you and to have this really special time and dialogue together.

Shrankhla Holecek 47:28
Thank you so much for saying that, Ananta. Have a wonderful rest of the day and we’ll talk soon.

Ananta Ripa Ajmera 47:34
Sounds great. Thank you.

Shrankhla Holecek 47:35
Bye.

Shrankhla Holecek 47:35
Ananta presently leads a spiritual warrior certificate program and a circle of life community program.

Shrankhla Holecek 47:44
Please visit the ancientway.co to learn more about Ananta and her work. As we conclude this episode, we invite you to delve deeper into the world of Ayurveda with Uma. Please subscribe to the Uma Ayurveda podcast to continue this transformative journey with our series of conversations that we hope you’ll find enlightening.

Shrankhla Holecek 48:09
Visit umaoils.com that is U -M -A -O -I -L -S .com for an even more immersive experience exploring not only our luxury Ayurveda products but also an array of inspired wellness inside and lifestyle tips.

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THE UMA AYURVEDA PODCAST- BEAUTY UNVEILED WITH JESSICA DEFINO: THE CRITIQUE CHRONICLES

Shrankhla Holecek 00:03
Hello, I’m Shrankhla Holecek, the founder and CEO of UMA, an ayurvedic beauty and wellness collection. This is the Uma Elements podcast. Each week, I’ll be having a conversation with someone I greatly admire on the topics of ayurveda, holistic healing, spiritual well being, and alternative health. By sharing wisdom together, we will unlock a secret that, as ancient as they are, Ayurveda and other ancient modalities are as modern and relevant today as ever.

Shrankhla Holecek 00:41
Today we’re chatting with Jessica Defino on the Uma Ayurveda podcast. Jessica is a beauty culture critic writing for multiple outlets like the New York Times, Vice, and Vanity Fair. Referred to by the Sunday Herald as the woman the beauty industry fears the most, Jessica fearlessly offers unfiltered insight into the world of beauty products. Her expertise encompasses natural, holistic, and sustainable skincare as she delves into the profound impact of beauty culture on individuals physically, psychologically, and spiritually. In this captivating episode of the Uma Ayurveda podcast, we engage in a thought provoking conversation with Jessica, exploring her unique perspectives on beauty and its products in the modern world.

Shrankhla Holecek 01:33
So, Jessica, welcome to the Uma Ayurveda podcast. You know, and as I was just saying, I absolutely adore your work, and I’m so excited to talk through this undoubtedly scintillating ideology experience body of work that you’ve accumulated over such an incredible period of time. But we must start with the two gripping lines in the opening paragraph of your introduction, which is ghost writing for Kourtney Kardashian and going head to head with dermatologists. Tell us a little bit more about that.

Jessica Defino 02:11
Well, first of all, thank you so much for having me. I’m so excited to chat with you. And yeah, it’s funny, I always get questions about this ghostwriting for the Kardashian business, and it does kind of relate to my skincare journey and going head to head with dermatologists. So before I started writing in the beauty industry, specifically, one of my last positions was working as an assistant editor on the Kardashian Jenner official apps. So I was part of the five person launch team that launched all five of those apps in 2015, I think it was. And part of what my job entailed was creating content for the Kardashians and the Jenners. So I primarily worked on Khloe Kardashian and Kendall Jenner’s apps.

Jessica Defino 02:57
But I wrote a little bit for all of the sisters. So it was content, everything from outfits to beauty, know, Kourtney’s healthy recipes and things like that. And it’s interesting because I think it did inspire a lot of my skincare journey because it was a super high stress environment. There was a lot of pressure. I was on call twenty four seven, and you’re creating content that’s going to be read by millions and millions of people. So it was super stressful. And a lot of skin conditions are triggered by chronic stress, as we all know. So towards the tail end of my time working on these apps, I developed something called dermatitis, which is like a chronic skin condition. That dermatitis is kind of a catch all phrase that means, like, something’s going on with your skin, but we don’t really know what. And so I was going to dermatologist all the time, just, like, praying for an answer, and nothing seemed to work.

Jessica Defino 03:57
And I’d kind of always had, quote unquote, problem skin. I don’t like saying the words problem skin because, as I found out over the years, any skin issue or skin problem is really just your body trying to communicate with you. But over the years, I dealt with acne.

Jessica Defino 04:12
I had been on accutane, I’d been on antibiotics, I’d had medicated treatments, I’d had retinoids, all of it. And what dermatologists prescribed for my stress induced dermatitis was topical steroids. I ended up being on topical steroids for two years, and they really got rid of the dermatitis at first, which was wonderful, but eventually they triggered this steroid resistant case of dermatitis that took over my whole face and thinned my skin barrier and caused something called skin atrophy, which is basically like the permanent thinning of your skin, to the point where my skin was too sensitive to handle anything. I couldn’t use the steroids anymore because it was too dangerous.

Jessica Defino 04:56
I couldn’t use really anything topical, even, like washing my face with water hurt, because that’s how compromised my skin was. And so I didn’t really have anywhere to turn except trying to heal my skin from within, through diet, through lifestyle changes, through mindfulness practices, and through really soothing, gentle, natural ingredients, and through healing my own skin that way, without any help from dermatologists, I learned so much about how the skin actually functions. And I started to ask, like, wait, why isn’t anybody talking about this? How come all the women’s magazines I’ve read over the years haven’t mentioned any of this? How come a dermatologist never told me how my skin really works? And how this medication is really going to affect it. And it kind of kick started this passion I have for really getting the truth out there about skincare.

Shrankhla Holecek 05:55
Thank you for sharing that. There is so much in there, starting with the fact that a not surprised at all that the Kardashians have to thank you for, for their success over the years. I appreciate the candor about that journey because one of the things about Ayurveda that I find more and more gratifying every day is how empowering the idea of your wellness and your beauty and the most profound ways to help that is within you. Most of the angles in us, and it’s nice to have one other very important data point in you that resonates with that conclusion. So thank you for sharing that with us and thank you for all the work that you continue to do in this space. And speaking of that work, and I think you started to go in this, in this world, or at least until very recently.

Shrankhla Holecek 07:08
And predominantly, beauty writing has traditionally been very product driven, mostly sort of product reviews. And you see that it’s an ecosystem where a lot of the revenues are driven by magazine revenues, are driven by ads, and that’s just how things work. How have you found the courage and now the audience to pursue writings about minimalism, personal experience with healing yourself, which is not really driving dollars, but is at the truth, what our skincare and wellness approaches should at least start from going all natural and listening to your intuition. How have you gone so successfully against the tide?

Jessica Defino 07:57
Right? I think you mentioned the word courage, and I don’t think it was courage at first. I think it was just being really naive about the beauty industry. Like I said, I wasn’t super involved in the beauty industry at all, or beauty writing or beauty media before I had healed my own skin post steroids. So to me it was a genuine question, like, wait, why isn’t this stuff being talked about? Does nobody know? I’m going to get out there and I’m going to tell the truth.

Jessica Defino 08:25
So my first push to really start writing about this less product heavy approach to skincare and approach to beauty, I think I was just very naive. And the more that I worked in the beauty industry, the more I realized, oh, this is why nobody’s been talking about it. Because finding the answers within yourself and through natural ingredients that you can’t put a patent on doesn’t make anybody any money.

Jessica Defino 08:53
It doesn’t make the platforms and the publications that are publishing these articles money. It doesn’t make beauty brands money. It doesn’t make dermatologists money. So eventually I started to realize, okay, this is why it hasn’t been talked about. But by that point, I was so driven in my mission that there was no choice for me. I’m not going to write about products. I’m not going to push more products on consumers, because I always say, if products were the answer, we would all have perfect skin. There are millions of products out there. None of them work. None of them work. Otherwise, we would have no skin issues left to solve. And I think it’s resonating with a lot of people.

Jessica Defino 09:36
I think that we have reached this peak of consumption, especially with the skincare boom of the past couple of years, two to three years at least, with the ten step skincare routines and the overflowing shelfies. And I think it’s finally starting to hit the general consumer that, wait, I have all these products, and I still have all of these skin issues, and I’m still trying to solve them with more products. And something doesn’t add up.

Jessica Defino 10:05
So I’ve been so pleasantly surprised that this message is really resonating with people. And I think collectively as a whole, we’re kind of fed up with having to buy into these solutions that don’t actually work. And yeah, I think people are ready for this message. And because they are ready for this message, it’s in turn helping push this kind of content on major publications. Some of the stories that I’ve had published, I’ve kind of been in disbelief, like that Vogue would publish something on a super minimalist skincare routine. Know, I wrote a piece for Vogue about sheet masks and how we shouldn’t be using sheet masks anymore.

Jessica Defino 10:48
And it’s like, very exciting to see some of these publications which have previously pushed very consumerist messages catching on to kind of this less is more ideology.

Shrankhla Holecek 11:00
And in what you were saying, I think those are sort of the valuable cues that we must all seek and respond to, even if our personal journeys don’t take us on the path of minimalism, realize that, look, there is something to be said because a lot of these magazines and publications do eventually respond to where the populist belief system is going. They’re not going to publish something, in my humble opinion, that people are going to be like, what? I’ve never heard of this phenomenon.

Shrankhla Holecek 11:36
So, like you said, touches upon a tide of curiosity and changing mindsets about this very vital piece of knowledge. Evolution in our skincare journeys, if you will. One final question on your relentless pursuit of sort of true north. And we’re starting to talk about sort of some of this budding enthusiasm and awareness in people. However, I think still we’re maybe a few steps away from sort of this mass adoption of feeling like we’re empowered to jump on our own journey of exploration and understanding what’s right for us until, let’s say, we have 100 of you talking very plainly and openly about these topics.

Shrankhla Holecek 12:34
Sometimes claims do feel meaningless, and we are in positions to get influenced by greenwashing, for lack of a better word, or other claims that really are meaningless. And you do such an excellent job of just sort of quite provocatively taking them head on. How do you recommend people find authenticity in everything, sort of their personal selection of minimalist products or what to use? What are some of the things that you found helpful?

Jessica Defino 13:07
I think the best answer to this is also very simple. And it’s just like, be curious and ask questions, and that will lead you to the brands and the products and the practices that are right for you. For example, if a brand launches a new product and it says this moisturizer reduces wrinkles, ask how. Look for that information. How does it do that? What ingredients is it using to do that? How do those ingredients interact with my skin? What are the studies on that? Don’t take anything that a brand tells you at face value. Really be curious about it.

Jessica Defino 13:48
And I think the more curious you are and the more digging you do, the more you can kind of see where the cracks are in some of the marketing language and some of the logic and where it aligns with facts and truth and where it aligns with just pushing a product and making money. I think another thing that’s really not talked about enough is listen to your intuition. I think in modern society, we don’t really trust ourselves anymore.

Jessica Defino 14:18
We’ve gotten so used to companies and corporations telling us what we need and what’s right and what will help that we kind of ignore our own instincts. And some of the most profound healing that’s happened to my own skin has been because I followed my gut about what to leave behind, what natural ingredients to try, what practices to incorporate. Even with ayurveda, there are so many healing systems that I could have chosen when I was looking for something. But something about learning about Ayurveda just felt right in my gut. And that led to profound healing, not only in my skin, but in my gut, in my digestive system. And I think it’s really undervalued. Just listen to your instincts. Ask questions.

Jessica Defino 15:12
I think something that’s also been helpful for me in terms of what brands and what products to trust is. There’s this great quote, and it says, who profits from your insecurity? Who profits when you have this feeling? And if you’re feeling insecure about something, about something, about your skin or the way that you look, or aging, just ask yourself, who profits when I feel this way? Is it good for me or is it good for a brand and their bottom line? And just asking myself that simple question has helped me realize, like, okay, I don’t actually need this certain product.

Jessica Defino 15:52
I don’t actually need like a retinoid or botox or lip filler, because it’s not benefiting me, it’s benefiting somebody else. And I know inherently that that’s not the right choice for me. It’s not something that’s going to serve my highest self or my highest good, because it’s not for me. It’s for a corporation to make money off of me.

Shrankhla Holecek 16:14
I love that. And a lot of that resonates with me personally on account of sort of some of the healing philosophies of ayurveda, which in my mind, sort of live alongside traditional western treatments that you might need to go to an emergency room for. But one of the first things when someone is exploring ayurveda, and they come from a very traditional western medicine mindset, is the subjectivity of ayurveda versus the objectivity of western medicine.

Shrankhla Holecek 16:47
And those two often clash. Often in the west, what works for 70% is often chosen as the thing that must work for everyone. Whereas in ayurveda, healing is very personalized and individual. Sort of how a vaccine receives approval versus how an ayurvedic physician will take you through your life. And again, this is not a comment on what we should do when it comes to medication. It’s just about opening our mind up to taking that leap of faith in going back to trusting our intuition and what might be right for me.

Shrankhla Holecek 17:28
Because you might be the 30% when it comes to retinol or a steroid not being right for you. And if it’s not feeling right on your skin, persevering in using that, just because it’s worked for 60 70% of the people can sometimes be ignoring that intuition that’s keeping you alive, that’s there to protect you and nurture you. I sort of try to think about that balance a lot in life, and I’m glad you touched on that. Before we move on, I realize that everything that you are sharing and saying has come from such an incredible body of research. You’re talking to so many experts. As I can see in all your work, is there any resource in terms of a book or, I don’t know, a website that you have found very valuable as a resource in your journey?

Jessica Defino 18:35
Oh, there are so many. I love going on submed submed.com to research the skin and the skin’s inherent functions. Obviously, like scientific data for a lot of natural ingredients, natural healing practices is sorely lacking, and that’s because you can’t really make money off of it. And studies cost a lot of money.

Jessica Defino 19:01
So if there’s not money making potential for something, it often doesn’t get studied. That being said, there are some really fascinating studies out there about how the skin inherently functions, what it’s designed to do, how it works, all of these intricate moving parts. And that has been an amazing learning resource for me. The book Skin Cleanse by Adina Grigore was my first introduction to this kind of more minimal take on skincare, and I find myself constantly referring back to that book. I also found the book the beauty of Dirty Skin by Dr. Whitney Bow really helpful.

Jessica Defino 19:40
It’s all about the microbiome and the skin barrier and how that’s basically like the skin’s built in protective system. And when your barrier is intact and your microbiome is healthy and thriving, the skin really does take care of a lot of the hard work itself. We don’t need to rely on products as much.

Jessica Defino 19:59
And there’s a book that just came out that I am fascinated by. It’s called Clean the New Science of Skin by James Hamlin. And it’s kind of about the rise of soap and how soap and all of the kind of cleansers that we use today are really marketing inventions and not necessarily the best things for our skin. So it’s all about how to be hygienic and clean without relying on these traditional, very stripping cleansers and soaps and shampoos. It’s a fascinating read.

Shrankhla Holecek 20:33
Thank you. People are undoubtedly going to love those, and we’re going to put them at the bottom of the podcast just for easy sharing. Moving on from that and sort of honing into some of the things that you have come to see as myths, and you just talked about one great one around the use of soap and marketing. Tell us a little bit about the favorite myths you’ve debunked over the years.

Jessica Defino 21:02
Sure. I think my favorite is the idea that dead skin cells are bad and must be exfoliated away every day. I think this is a really common myth that we kind of all grow up with, like, even the name dead skin cells. Sounds like, oh, that’s bad. You don’t want something dead on your face. It makes your skin dull. It makes your skin dry and flaky. In reality, that’s not the case at all. Dead skin cells, scientifically, they’re known as corneocytes.

Jessica Defino 21:32
They actually are part of the body’s built in defense system, moisturization system. They hold moisture. They actually shape shift. Like, once your skin cells reach the corneocyte stage, they become wider and flatter so that they can hold on to more moisture. There’s so much built into dead skin cells that our skin actually needs. They serve a purpose, and our skin actually self exfoliates when they are ready to be shed. So we don’t really need to go in with an exfoliator every day or even at all. Most people, once or twice a week is fine, or you don’t have to exfoliate. But learning the actual function and biological purpose of dead skin cells was such a game changer for me.

Jessica Defino 22:21
And I’m constantly telling people, like, no, you really want your dead skin cells. They’re helping you so much.

Shrankhla Holecek 22:29
And indeed, it is a very fitting revelation in a time that a lot over exfoliation is happening in all sorts of ways. At home in dermatologists office, it again keeps going back to sort of thinning skin barriers and sort of forgetting how our skin and our body is our best defense against everything.

Shrankhla Holecek 22:54
We’re talking about tens of thousands, millennia of evolution versus something that may have just been discovered. And I think sometimes we forget to respect our bodies for what they’re able to do and how they’ve come up with mechanisms to thrive, such as dead cells that sort of evolve to protect you. I’ll encourage everyone to check that article out and do some of their own research on this. And speaking of your stories, I also found the story on seed cycling fascinating and magically informative. A lot of us struggle with acne in big and small ways.

Shrankhla Holecek 23:37
It’s not something that leaves us in adolescence. And, of course, while inviting everyone to go check out that story on Cosmo, could you share some high level takeaways for our listeners from that story?

Jessica Defino 23:52
Sure. So seed cycling was something I discovered maybe two years ago when I was dealing with a lot of hormonal acne, and nothing that I was trying was working. And the biggest realization that I had about hormonal acne eventually was like, it’s happening because of my hormones, which is an internal issue, and no amount of external skincare is really going to change that. So I started looking into ways to balance my hormones from within with food, and I discovered seed cycling.

Jessica Defino 24:22
So, basically, the premise of seed cycling sounds a little wacky, a little out there, but it’s eating different seeds every day in accordance with the phases of your menstrual cycle. So on day one of your cycle, to day 14, you eat a tablespoon each of pumpkin seeds and flax seeds. And then on day 14, to the end of your cycle, to the next time your period starts, you eat a tablespoon each of sesame seeds and sunflower seeds. And each of these seeds has nutrients in it that help naturally balance your body’s natural hormone fluctuations throughout your cycle.

Jessica Defino 25:02
So some of the seeds are really good at binding estrogen when there’s excess estrogen in your system, and they help the body kind of eliminate that excess estrogen more easily. Other properties are antiandrogen. So when your progesterone and the different androgens in your body are surging around the time when you would normally PMS, these seeds help kind of mitigate that surge so that your hormones stay kind of on an even keel throughout your whole cycle.

Jessica Defino 25:32
And this normally isn’t used as a way to treat hormonal acne. Seed cycling has been known as a natural remedy for PMS, for PCos. It really helps with mood regulation, with bloating, with cramping. But when I read all that, I was like, wait. Hormonal acne really is just another side effect of PMS, of imbalanced hormones. I bet this would help my skin. So I tried it, and within a month, my skin had transformed. So it’s something that I still practice to this day.

Shrankhla Holecek 26:07
How encouraging. Thank you for sharing that. So, knowing all that, you know, what are the two or three practices that you recommend someone first turn to in making the leap to this whole intuitive, sort of raw and native pursuit of beauty?

Jessica Defino 26:29
I think the first thing is to really learn about how your skin inherently functions. The skin is built to self cleanse, to self moisturize, to self exfoliate, to self heal. And I think for me, it was very transformative to kind of learn about how my body already knows what to do.

Jessica Defino 26:54
And it really helped me trust my body and trust my skin and kind of thank it and acknowledge it and have gratitude for all that it’s trying to do for me. And part of understanding how the skin and the body inherently function is understanding how everything is so interconnected, and that anything that pops up on my face, whether it’s like a blemish or a dry patch of skin or a dermatitis outbreak, these are all communications from within. And that communication could be, hey, your hormones are out of balance.

Jessica Defino 27:28
Or it could be, hey, you’re under a lot of stress right now, and you need to kind of slow down and reevaluate what you’re doing day to day. Or it could be, hey, you’re using way too much skincare, and your barrier is compromised. But kind of understanding how it all fits together really helped me find some sort of appreciation and love for my skin, even when it was not, quote unquote, cooperating with me. And then I think it’s also really important to reevaluate your relationship to beauty and how it impacts your life. For me, when I first started to dive into this more intuitive, mindful take on skincare and beauty, it was because dermatitis had taken over my whole face, and I was red, scaling, flaky, oozing. It was bad. I couldn’t wear makeup. And I realized that I had been basing all of my self worth on how I looked.

Jessica Defino 28:33
And when I couldn’t look what I considered to be pretty or beautiful, and I couldn’t wear makeup, my sense of self worth was completely shot. And it made me really think about the ways I had related to beauty and the beauty industry and beauty marketing my whole life. And really kind of based a lot of my identity on what I looked like. And I think just understanding that and thinking about it and maybe trying to detach a little bit from this value we place on external appearances has been invaluable. One in my skin healing journey, but also in my emotional and mental health. And to do that, some of the tools that I used were daily meditation, breath work, a gratitude practice. And it sounds funny, because none of them are products and none of them really have to do with your skin. But I credit those things with healing my skin more than anything.

Shrankhla Holecek 29:38
That makes a tremendous amount of sense to me. Jessica, when you talk about, especially coming from my personal experience on this, even though I grew up with ayurvedic principles and within nature, I think that when I moved here, I was so fascinated and enthralled by a different lifestyle, I went headlong into trying different things and products. And I think somewhere along the line, my personal intuition did get weakened.

Shrankhla Holecek 30:10
I would throw coffee and alcohol at problems and sheet masks at things. So sometimes going back to listening to that intuition and just embracing all of you does require practices that don’t seem like traditional skincare practices, but instead journeys of just knowing yourself emotionally, metaphysically and so on. So that totally makes sense to me. And some of those were also tools I relied on and still rely on when I feel a little bit off kilter or off balance and different strokes for different folks, as it were. Traditional meditation doesn’t really work for me.

Shrankhla Holecek 30:57
So I practice a form called transcendental meditation, which I find is I should be doing more of. But that’s the one practice that I found I was drawn to when I first learned it and that I was able to practice. So even within those pieces of advice, I think there’s a lot of personal exploration. But I love those and can definitely endorse that they worked for me. I know those are practices and I know your work in ingredients and what to avoid has been profound. What are two or three ingredients that you actually love for your skin?

Jessica Defino 31:42
I love this question. So the first is manuka honey. Manuka was kind of the first natural ingredient that I used and saw such a huge improvement in my skin and my dermatitis and my acne. And it kind of turned me on to this whole concept that, wow, natural ingredients actually can be very powerful. There’s always this misconception that if it’s from nature, it’s weak or it’s not going to have the same effect as like a prescription or a pill, but they can be so powerful. But manuka honey, I love. I use it as my cleanser every morning.

Jessica Defino 32:15
So I just put raw honey on damp skin and massage it in and then rinse it off. I’ll use it as a face mask. So just slather it on for like 20 minutes and rinse. It’s a really great spot treatment too. So if I have any pimples, I just dab a little bit of manuka on it. I’ll leave it there all day if I’m just working from home. And it’s so healing. Manuka specifically has very high antimicrobial properties, higher than any kind of honey. It’s also full of DHA, which is really great for your skin barrier. It’s a humectant, so it draws moisture into your skin. I mean, there’s really nothing that manuka can’t do. It’s my favorite. I’m also a huge fan of jojoba oil. That’s what I use kind of as my daily moisturizer.

Jessica Defino 33:02
I love jojoba because it’s a very close match chemically to human sebum. So sebum is kind of your skin’s built in moisturizer. As we all know. My skin particularly doesn’t produce enough sebum. I was on accutane for a long time, which kind of attacks your sebaceous glands. So my skin is kind of chronically dry now. And so I love jojoba to give me the kind of moisturization that my skin is naturally inclined to want. And that means it’s also pretty universally compatible. Like anybody with any skin type, whether you’re dry or oily or sensitive, will do well with Jehovah for the most part. So, yeah, I would say those are my two heroes.

Shrankhla Holecek 33:46
That is tremendous, along with just everything that you’ve shared with us over the last 30 minutes. Jessica, in parting, is there anything else that we didn’t touch on that you’d like to share with our listeners today?

Jessica Defino 34:03
I don’t know. I feel like we covered so much. The one thing that I was going to add in somewhere that I forgot to mention was, I know a lot of the times, the things that I write about, especially the more mindful aspects of beauty, the inner work of skincare can come off as a little out there. And a lot of people are like, nah, I’m not into meditation for my skin. Just, like, give me the active ingredients.

Jessica Defino 34:28
Give me something to put on. So, one thing that I have found super helpful for anybody who’s kind of skeptical about the idea that what you do on the inside will reflect on the outside, is there is an entire branch of dermatology that is dedicated to this mind skin connection, and it’s called psychodermatology, and it’s the merging of psychiatry and dermatology. And realizing that there was, like, a scientific link between the two really helped me trust what I was experiencing from this more mindful approach to beauty.

Jessica Defino 35:03
So I’ll just go through the basics of psychodermatology to give a brief explainer. But in utero, your skin, your brain, and your gut start off as the same bit of tissue, and there they form a link that lasts forever for your entire life. So the brain, the skin, and the gut are just inherently interconnected in ways that science can’t even fully explain. But that’s why if you have digestive issues, you’ll often see that show up on your skin.

Jessica Defino 35:34
If you’re super stressed out, you’ll see that show up on your skin. Even things like goosebumps. When you’re afraid and you get goosebumps, that shows the Mind skin connection. Or if you’re embarrassed and you blush, that shows the Mind skin connection. So psychodermatology really explores all of this connectivity in scientific terms. And what they found is that things like stress, if you’re stressed out from anything that’s happening in your life, it actually compromises your skin barrier.

Jessica Defino 36:07
So your skin barrier doesn’t work as well. Your skin starts to leak moisture, it becomes dry, it becomes more susceptible to bacteria and sunlight and pollution. So there really is that clear link between stress and how it’s affecting your skin negatively. What I find really fascinating is the research into how your mind can control your skin to heal.

Speaker 4 36:35
So there’s some really fascinating research on how meditation actually strengthens the skin barrier, how gratitude actually does the same thing. And so for anyone who’s kind of skeptical about some of these more woo woo, for lack of a better word, concepts, I always love to point them in the direction of psychodermatology and the studies that are there, because I just think it’s so fascinating to see western medicine and scientists acknowledge this connection in a way that people can say, okay, maybe this works. Maybe I’ll try it.

Shrankhla Holecek 37:09
I love that. Jessica, is there one or two places, or should we just google that? Because even as someone who sort of buys into that philosophy hook, line and sinker, I am so excited to learn about sort of like a scientific basis behind this. Where do you recommend we might look for an early peak?

Jessica Defino 37:29
So I’ve written a few articles on it. So there’s an article on fashionista.com just about psychodermatology in general that I wrote. I’ve written about breath work and how it affects that kind of mind skin connection for the cut. I’ve also written about gratitude and the mind skin connection for the cut. And the book that I mentioned earlier, the beauty of Dirty Skin by Dr. Whitney Bow. She has a whole chapter on how meditation affects the skin barrier, as I would, I would recommend those. And then from there, from those articles, there are individual experts in each one that you can kind of research and look into because there is so much to share there.

Shrankhla Holecek 38:11
Amazing. Love that. Jessica, thank you so much for taking the time and sharing this wealth of information with us as well know sort of leaning into your personal experience, because I think that makes it resonate so much more with every human being in that you’re sort of exploring beauty and wellness and everything in between in such a personal, wholesome, education led way. It’s been lovely chatting with you. It’s always lovely reading all of your work, and I look forward to bringing more of you to our audiences over the next few months and years.

Jessica Defino 38:55
Thank you so much. It was so great to talk to you.

Shrankhla Holecek 38:58
And likewise, thank you.

Shrankhla Holecek 39:01
You can learn more about Jessica’s work through Jessicadefino.substack.com. That is Jessicadefino.substack.com, as well as her newsletter, the Unpublishable. As we conclude this episode, we invite you to delve deeper into the world of Ayurveda with Uma. Please subscribe to the UMA Ayurveda podcast. To continue this transformative journey with our series of conversations that we hope you’ll find enlightening, visit umaoils.com, that is umaoils.com. For an even more immersive experience exploring not only our luxury ayurveda products, but also an array of inspired wellness, insight, and lifestyle tips.

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THE UMA AYURVEDA PODCAST- GETTING STARTED ON AN AYURVEDIC WAY OF LIFE WITH DR. ZEEL GANDHI

Shrankhla Holecek 00:00
Hello, I’m Shrankhla Holecek, the founder and CEO of Uma, an Ayurvedic beauty and wellness collection. This is the Uma Elements podcast. Each week I’ll be having a conversation with someone I greatly admire on the topics of Ayurveda, holistic healing, spiritual well -being and alternative health.

Shrankhla Holecek 00:24
By sharing wisdom together, we will unlock a secret that as ancient as they are, Ayurveda and other ancient modalities are as modern and relevant today as ever. Our guest today on the podcast is Dr. Zeel Gandhi.

Shrankhla Holecek 00:42
Dr. Zeel, an experienced Ayurvedic physician, has dedicated over a decade to the treatment of patients. Beginning her career in France, she’s specialized in metabolic and musculoskeletal disorders. Throughout her journey, she has held esteemed physicians at renowned Ayurvedic institutions worldwide and has also served as the head of R &D for a celebrated Indian Ayurvedic haircare brand.

Shrankhla Holecek 01:10
With the wealth of experience, she has acquired comprehensive knowledge of panchakarma, internal medicine and Ayurvedic formulations. In this podcast, she enlightens us on the application of the Ayurvedic science in managing hormonal, skin and hair concerns.

Shrankhla Holecek 01:30
Hi, Dr. Zeel. Such a pleasure to have you on the podcast. I’ve really enjoyed chatting with you recently, including at the event we did with the editors. And I’m excited to dig in more into your expertise and all the lovely insight and recommendations you have to share. So welcome.

Dr. Zeel Gandhi 01:53
Thank you, Shrankhla. Thank you for having me. It’s always a pleasure to talk to you. And it’s always nice to talk about about Ayurveda as well.

Shrankhla Holecek 02:01
Amazing. And Dr. Zeel to dive right in, I would love your perspective as such a seasoned expert of Ayurveda. And a doctor who’s seen thousands of patients over a decade, what in your mind are some of the conditions that Ayurveda particularly shines in, especially when compared to traditional Western medicine. You know, some of the things that Ayurveda most helpfully addresses where some other treatment approaches may have failed.

Dr. Zeel Gandhi 02:35
So Ayurveda, it has eight parts. And for, I mean, it would surprise a lot of people, but it also includes surgery, pediatrics, all sort of medical fields that we now explore.

Dr. Zeel Gandhi 02:54
So even geriatrics, so there are, it’s a strong Ayurveda, eight parts of Ayurveda. I believe that the modern science has advanced leaps and bounds in terms of surgery and antibiotic treatment. But I truly believe the pure Ayurvedic potential lies with diseases which basically concern your metabolic system, meaning your hormonal system, your digestive system, and all kinds of chronic problems.

Dr. Zeel Gandhi 03:27
I think with Ayurvedic guidance, lifestyle, and therapies, therapies especially the detoxification therapies are the highlight of Ayurveda, panchakarma. I think when you have problems, let’s say like irritable bowel syndrome, or when you have problems like polycystic ovaries, or not just that, it could be a simple problem of insomnia, but I know the way patients suffer because of it, or it could be just let’s say erectile dysfunction because of chronic dyslipidemia.

Dr. Zeel Gandhi 04:05
I think such problems are very well treated in Ayurveda, especially via panchakarma treatments.

Shrankhla Holecek 04:13
That makes so much sense, and I think there’s also a lot of anxiety people have around these topics because they know they’ve been notoriously trying to deal with in just a traditional western medicine mindset. So it is encouraging to know that Ayurveda does have some promising clues in these areas. And you touched on panchakarma comes up a lot, and we also know that panchakarma is a little bit of a commitment.

Shrankhla Holecek 04:54
Tell me a little bit more about panchakarma as you view it. Is it time to actually go down the panchakarma route? And what are some of the ways to make sure your panchakarma is successful?

Dr. Zeel Gandhi 05:10
Right. So panchakarma comprises five treatments.

Dr. Zeel Gandhi 05:16
The first one is Vaman, there you undergo illnesses when you have excessive kapha. Now kapha disorders, especially if you suffer from asthma or let’s say allergies, any congestive disorders or even obesity for that matter.

Dr. Zeel Gandhi 05:34
I think Vaman gives excellent results in these problems. Also, it’s not necessary that you do these panchakarma treatment only when you are suffering from let’s say some diseases. Ayurveda believes that even naturally throughout the year because of the change of seasons, you experience a vesicular brain of doshas.

Dr. Zeel Gandhi 05:59
So let’s say when it is spring season, we all know that during spring season, the allergies are on a high, immunity is lowered, if you have breathing problems, asthma, skin diseases are very commonly seen during the spring season.

Dr. Zeel Gandhi 06:13
So that is the time when I have the reckonance, in spite of you being healthy, if you undergo panchakarma treatment regularly at certain times. So I’m coming to Vamana now, so talking about Vamana in spring season.

Dr. Zeel Gandhi 06:26
So if you undergo Vamana in spring season, chances are you may have a healthy body weight, you may not have cough, cold, infections, flu, etc. For the rest of the years, your allergies may, I mean the bouts of allergies, even if you’re allergic to something, the intensity of the attack would tremendously go down. So then the next treatment is virechana. virechana is for pitta, the very element in your body. This panchakarma is recommended in the autumn season. During autumn, although the temperature starts to cool down, but we know the heat has been, the heat is being collected in your body throughout the summer.

Dr. Zeel Gandhi 07:15
And autumn is the time when your pitta is on the highest. And that is when you may suffer from problems of blood, like in India, I think, although we do believe that blood disorders like malaria are mosquito, I mean, it’s spread by a vector, the 80s Egyptian mosquito, spreading dengue or the anaphilism mosquito spreading the malaria.

Dr. Zeel Gandhi 07:44
But we in Ayurveda also believe that in spite of these parasites, if you’re strong, you can resist it. But your natural immunity, your blood immunity goes down during the autumn season. And it is… commonly observed that during the season blood related problems are on a rise.

Dr. Zeel Gandhi 08:06
So we recommend either bloodletting during the season or virechana during the autumn season to keep your pitta down. The third vata is high during this season, this exact season that you’re sitting in right now.

Dr. Zeel Gandhi 08:23
In Ayurveda, this is prevalent in the Indian subcontinent to be experienced rainy season, monsoon season. But in the rest of the world, let’s say Shrankhla you’re in North America right now. Here also the peak of summer causes dryness in the body and pains, digestive troubles and hair fall, all kinds of vata problems are on a rise during the season. So in spite of you being healthy otherwise to prevent these problems also you can undergo a treatment called Bastikana. which is enema. It’s a series of enema, oil and decoction enema given in a series alternatingly.

Dr. Zeel Gandhi 09:05
And this is excellent to balance your Vata in the Korma. So these three, four, Rakta Maksha body we talked about it, bloodletting in autumn season again for Pitta. And the fifth one is Nasya. Now Ayurveda recommends instilling drops of ghee or oil in your nostril every day, two drops of it.

Dr. Zeel Gandhi 09:28
But let’s see if you’re suffering from problems like sinusitis or you have migraines or you have general debility of your sense organs, meaning you feel that your eyesight is chronically getting weaker or you have some retinal problems, vertigo, for all these troubles, especially concerning above your shoulders and your head region, even for hair fall and acne.

Dr. Zeel Gandhi 09:55
The Nassya treatment is excellent and that can be taken anytime throughout the year. There is no seasonal dependence for this particular Pancha Karma. But Vaman, Emesis, Virachan, Vargaishan and Vasti, I think these are best done during the season when your natural state of use doshas are high. Pancha Karma, like you said, Shrankhla is a very involved process. You have to have a very specific diet during this entire process. You have to take care that you’re not eating anything that could disturb the acting of the drugs because these drugs are strong.

Dr. Zeel Gandhi 10:40
They are actually detoxifying the things and you do not want this process to get interfered with. Thus, we recommend this to be done in a good institution, under good care and with proper care. dietary and lifestyle guidance.

Shrankhla Holecek 11:00
Dr. Zeal, this has been mind blowing hearing you say these things and I have so many follow -up questions. Even as someone who knows Ayurveda, I like to think, well, what’s been interesting to hear is your framing of the various processes within the Panchakarma as necessary based on the seasonality. So the first question I suppose I have is, does each Panchakarma session does not involve all five of the karmas?

Dr. Zeel Gandhi 11:42
No, it generally starts with Snehan and Spade, meaning we get the dosha from your periphery to your koshtha.

Dr. Zeel Gandhi 11:57
So we start with something called as Sneha Paan meaning we give you ghee and very high amount of medicated ghee which helps you collect all the doshas that has been, you know, they have been spreading all through your body. Get them to your gut and then push them out of your system with the medicine. So for the first 3, 5 or 7 days we prepare your body for death. The Panchkarma is done after, you know, external abhyangam also.

Dr. Zeel Gandhi 12:31
Once this Panchkarma is done, then comes the part where we help you restore your health again. Detoxification is a very toxic process on your body. So with proper dietary guidelines and proper medicines, we help you restore how many of your doshas so you get back to functioning normally as you were before.

Shrankhla Holecek 12:57
That makes sense. The process of Rasayana totally makes sense. Dr. Zeal, now breaking down your guidelines around Panchkarma and actually doing it under proper care. I cannot underscore this enough. Even though I haven’t gone through undergone a Panchkarma myself, I do know it’s very, very vitally important to do it in the right environment.

Shrankhla Holecek 13:28
For many of our listeners and people I often interact with, sometimes a full Panchkarma at a reputed facility isn’t really an optional, especially something that feels seasonal as you underscore. So in the absence of that, what are some of the recommendations you might have that might mirror the natural detoxification that the body needs around seasonal changes.

Shrankhla Holecek 14:02
And when one is ready to do a Panchakarma, what should one prepare for in terms of, you know, is it a three week process? How can you make the best of the process? Tell us about both things, please.

Dr. Zeel Gandhi 14:19
Okay. So coming back to the first part of the question where you do not have the liberty to undergo an extensive Panchakarma process, how can you manage your doshas in different seasons? So coming with Kapha first, Vamana in spring season.

Dr. Zeel Gandhi 14:40
So let’s say, yes, emesis is a very, you know, very tricky process. Pergation is perhaps easier because it’s within actual flow of the body. For emesis, let’s say if you’re not ready for a full blown emesis or you do not have the time to do it.

Dr. Zeel Gandhi 14:56
There is a process called Nishthevan in Ayurveda, where you hold certain drugs at the end of your mouth near your throat and let all the secretions, in fact, in these medicines that are helped, these medicines help you salivate, get all the secretions into your throat and then you can simply spit it out.

Dr. Zeel Gandhi 15:24
This is also recommended for people who are weak, you know, have a weak constitution, especially the ones who are pregnant or very old or children. So, and also for people, let’s say who do not have the means of undergoing an entire process of chemesis, you can practice something called as Nishthevan.

Dr. Zeel Gandhi 15:47
If you’re interested, I can send your recipe, Shrankhla, how this is done.

Shrankhla Holecek 15:52
I most certainly am.

Dr. Zeel Gandhi 15:55
Yeah, so these are simple ingredients which you can use and you can keep them at the back of your mouth near your throat and let yourself salivate, let all the secretions connect and you can do this regularly throughout the spring season for two months straight.

Dr. Zeel Gandhi 16:11
This will help you keep congestion low, ensure, we know immune system, the first set of immune system is in your throat, you know, all these lymph nodes, tances around your nose, which actually guard everything that comes in. So when these areas are cleared, congestion -free and active, chances are you may have extremely good immunity for the rest of the year. So Nishthevan is one of the processes which can be replaced for Vamana.

Dr. Zeel Gandhi 16:43
For Bhakti, for any monthly print, if you do not have the time to undergo an extensive, you know, sequence of enima, you can simply do colon cleansing. you With 30 ml of castor oil, just that. You can buy a Cologne syringe, use a catheter, rubber catheter, oil the area well and just 30 ml of castor oil.

Dr. Zeel Gandhi 17:08
You know, every weekend, let’s say a Saturday, you can do this. The only thing to be careful about after undergoing an enima is once your colon is cleansed, you feel light and many people feel very hungry once their colon is empty. So to ensure that you’re having very light meals throughout the day, and fight the urges and cravings that you may get, ensure that your food is very light. Light meaning, warm, liquidy, like soupy and you know, nicely spiced with a little garam masala.

Shrankhla Holecek 17:44
Of course. And I, you know, at this point, I should call out, it’s probably very important to make sure everything in this process is very hygienic. And in case there are any extenuating circumstances that you know you should obviously consult with your physician before, before an emergency inserting something as castor oil.

Shrankhla Holecek 18:09
And to clarify, did you say the castor oil should be room temperature?

Dr. Zeel Gandhi 18:14
Yes, slightly warm, not exactly room temperature. I think room temperature North America can get quite cold sometimes, but yes, around 35, 37 degrees around your body temperature.

Shrankhla Holecek 18:29
Got it. Body temperature. Yes. Understood. Please go on.

Dr. Zeel Gandhi 19:03
Yes. Now coming to the next slide. So, I think that in, you know, like the end of September, October time, and you’ll be set for the rest of the year.

Dr. Zeel Gandhi 19:14
Pergation is also easy to take. You can pick a day. You can have a mild purgative. Mild purgatives could be as simple as, you know, eating a big bowl of raisins, soaked raisins that can also be a mild purgative. For many, if you’re not allergic to milk, taking good amount of milk, let’s say about one, one eater or so on empty stomach can also work as a mild purgative. Ensure that you’re eating very light meals throughout the day once you’ve undergone a small process of propagation for yourself. For many people, in fact even honey water works. So just honey, lemon and water. That’s our… I mean it’s easy to get. You can just take that in good amounts.

Dr. Zeel Gandhi 20:03
The first thing in the morning and the lemon will also help you ease your bubbles and you know remove all the excess bile and balance your bitter. So these are some simple things you can do and nasyam is simple.

Dr. Zeel Gandhi 20:16
nasyam just two drops of ghee or two drops of let’s say warm coconut oil is all you need in your nose to balance the doshas. Have radiant skin. Ensure that your hair is growing well. Your sense organs are strengthened. Your teeth is healthy. So yeah, nasim can be done regularly.

Shrankhla Holecek 20:37
This is so incredible and I will throw out that we’ll put all of these things Dr. Zeeley, including the recipe that I hope you’ll kindly share with me in the podcast link on the website.

Shrankhla Holecek 20:53
So people can find a way to detoxify their bodies seasonally to stay in tip -top shape. And I do want to pull back to that overall question of a Panchakarma under the guided care of an Ayurvedic physician at the right facility. A couple of things, Dr. Zeeley, I think a lot of people ask. One is either what diseases are the signs that your body might need a Panchakarma, or if you don’t feel a chronic disease, what are the signs that you might actually benefit from a proper Panchakarma done at a clinic?

Shrankhla Holecek 21:42
Because as I mentioned, a lot of people find it very challenging to go. So it has to rise to a level of importance. But could you share what are the situations when you would say to a patient, hey, it’s time for a Panchakarma?

Dr. Zeel Gandhi 21:58
Right. Any life altering problems, meaning you find your day -to -day life troubled with some issues. It could be infertility, because that could nag you. It could be menstrual disorders, if not infertility.

Dr. Zeel Gandhi 22:19
You have, you know, delayed meds, or menorrhage, or you have shorter cycles with excessive bleeding, and it’s extremely debilitating for women. For men, if you have sleep problems, if you have anxiety, men do not talk about it, but it troubles them.

Dr. Zeel Gandhi 22:37
If you have palpitations. Problems which do not make your everyday life life comfortable. Definitely need to be assessed and treated at a higher level. Medicines may help but in most cases they help only throughout the time when you’re taking them once you stop them the problem relapses.

Dr. Zeel Gandhi 23:00
So all such problems where you fear that the problem may relapse after stopping the medication. I think for all these problems, panchakarma is the answer. So for problems like eczema, psoriasis, sci -dica, you know, chronic pain, you have disc bulge, you have undergone surgery and you’re still not fine, found resolution to your problem.

Dr. Zeel Gandhi 23:24
So for all these problems which like first A, they alter your day to day life and B, the problem relapses as soon as you stop the medication. That is a time when I believe everybody should seek out. help the Panchakarma specialist.

Shrankhla Holecek 23:46
Really helpful. Thank you for categorizing that in that fashion. I’m going to almost do 180 and start to talk about basic Ayurveda that we can start with that feels very easy to plug into our life and integrate.

Shrankhla Holecek 24:09
So Dr. Zeel, in your opinion, for someone who’s just getting started with the concepts of Ayurveda and may not have a debilitating concern right off the bat, what are some of your go -to ways or recommendations for people to get integrated, accustomed and started with Ayurveda in their lives?

Dr. Zeel Gandhi 24:37
Very interesting. Okay, so it’s very easy to integrate Ayurveda when you start understanding your body. So Ayurveda begins with knowing you, your constitution, whether you are a Vata, Pitta, Kapha, in which age group are you in because depending on your age, your Doshas also get enhanced.

Dr. Zeel Gandhi 25:01
If you’re very young, you have high Kapha. If you’re in your middle ages, you have high Pitta, old ages, you have high Vata. So first, I think first and foremost, to integrate Ayurveda in your life, I think you should start with knowing yourself.

Dr. Zeel Gandhi 25:19
See your patterns. Observe, I mean it may sound gross, but observe your stools. That is something you do every day. Observe your stools. Are they well formed today? You have good Agni. Are they not well formed? Are they smelly? So you can start with simple things in your life. Observe your smet. Observe your urine. Observe your nutrition, observe your cravings, your sleep cycles. So everything will tell you without having the need of a doctor of knowing what are your dominant doshas at this point of time.

Dr. Zeel Gandhi 25:55
Once you have ascertained that to give you an example, let’s say you’ve had loose bubbles today and you’ve had your urination was not normal, it was scalding. Naturally your pittas high in the body. So are you supposed to have more of the vinigre dressing on a very sour salad?

Dr. Zeel Gandhi 26:20
No. Time to cool down your body instead have, you know, maybe yogurt in oats, which would cool down your body or, you know, have cooling herbs like say, Shadavari or fennel, something that would balance your pitas.

Dr. Zeel Gandhi 26:37
So I think a, in cultivating Ayurveda your knife begins with knowing yourself, knowing your patterns. The second thing is the circadian rhythm. Now, all of us are born with a natural rhythm, which the modern science also agrees, and Ayurveda has also been talking about it for many years now.

Dr. Zeel Gandhi 26:58
All of us, there’s a very nice book by Matthew Walker, by the way, which talks beautifully about your natural rhythms in your circadian rhythm. He talks about sleep in terms of circadian rhythm, and I do believe that it’s important to function based on your natural rhythm, your circadian rhythm, the things that we discussed in Dincharya.

Dr. Zeel Gandhi 27:22
So we believe that the morning time, the dawn time is a time when you naturally detoxify. So over the entire night, you have been metabolizing the food that you have eaten on the prevelous day. And this time when you have just woken up is when you release your metabolites out, detoxifying process.

Dr. Zeel Gandhi 27:49
So you should pass your bubbles in the morning, clear out your urination, you can encourage it with simple herbs, your bubble movement, your urination, and also exercising in the morning to encourage sweating and massaging to clear out your pores. So A, knowing circadian rhythm and knowing that this is your detoxification time. So cleansing period is what we consider morning to be. So brushing, nasyam, applying color into the eye, scrubbing of the body with vartana and taking a bath with your new foam water is what we recommend in the morning time.

Dr. Zeel Gandhi 28:36
I mean, the midday and early afternoon, is the time when your pitta is high. That is the time you should be eating. You should be… Pitta is also the dosha which helps you, you know, organize your life and helps give you the power to execute it. So this is the time when you should be working on tasks which need braiding, intelligence, organization skills, leadership skills. So between 11 and 2, you are best at this. And also your agni is high.

Dr. Zeel Gandhi 29:15
So in short, you have a good meal during this period. After 2, your vata gets high. This is the time when you can communicate, you can ideate, you can, you know, reach out to people. Basically, a time when you can harmonize your vata. Many people who have disbalanced vata may also feel that they feel tired after 4 o ‘clock. or the energy, they feel a sudden energy slump and there’s ought to, let’s say some sort of stimulants, maybe caffeine or something, to help them, you know, rev up their systems.

Dr. Zeel Gandhi 29:56
But I really recommend if you have a balanced vata, you may not need those kinds of stimulants. So balancing, I’ll come to that, how to balance vata. So this speed from three to 70, okay. So in India, the sun sets at about six, between six and seven, but in North America, you can divide the day likewise into three, one third each comprising first kapha, second pitta and third vata.

Unknown speaker 30:26
So the last speed of the day is the vatakala. I really believe that you should have your last meal during this period because after sunset, your kaffa is on high again. Kaffa is a congestive dosha. So when you have heavy meal, especially after sunset, you are inviting metabolic problems, especially if you are kaffa dominant and already suffer from metabolic problems.

Dr. Zeel Gandhi 30:57
So kapha time and then the next period is pitta agar. I would strongly recommend that you do not stay awake at this time. Remember, the pitta kala in the morning time, between let’s say 11 a .m. to 2 p .m.

Shrankhla Holecek 31:13
And Dr. Zil, just to clarify, we are thinking the pitta kala at night is sort of the 1 to 5 a .m. window. Is that accurate?

Dr. Zeel Gandhi 31:25
More from 11 p .m. to

Shrankhla Holecek 31:30
3 a .m. Yes, yes. Understood,

Dr. Zeel Gandhi 31:34
okay. Right, so if the sunset’s at 6 o ‘clock, that’s the ideal scenario. I mean, I’m dividing the day into 12 and five. you

Dr. Zeel Gandhi 31:42
that makes sense. I suppose in North America, maybe in the summer, some of those hours get pushed out a little bit. It’s July right now and I think sunset’s around 8pm on the east coast, so I suppose that pushes the hours a little bit longer out.

Dr. Zeel Gandhi 32:02
Right, so you can take the hours of your night and just divide them into three parts equally. So considering that it is 12 -12 days, so between 11pm to 2am is when your pitta, metabolic fire is high. In the morning your jatalaakini is high, the gross fire which demands food and at the night this food gets assimilated in your body. So staying awake during this period and eating during this period is definitely calling for diseases.

Dr. Zeel Gandhi 32:40
especially of the metabolic kind and all kinds of diseases because Ayurveda believes that this is the time the food that you’re eating gets assimilated, gets converted into a part of you. And when this gets disturbed, all the fido’shas may get just harmonized.

Dr. Zeel Gandhi 32:57
So yes, this pitakal for everyone is recommended that people, if you have a job during the speed and find it difficult to sleep, try and refrain from eating anything or even drinking anything fast during the speed.

Dr. Zeel Gandhi 33:13
You can eat before or maybe afterwards, but during this period, rest your system so that the food that you’re feeding get assimilated. And sleep is definitely recommended, but I understand people may have other commitments, but try and sleep during this pittakaal.

Dr. Zeel Gandhi 33:29
The end is vada, kala again. Many people, especially people who have sleep disorders, do complain that they suddenly wake up the start of the end of the night. Again, when your vatta are disbalanced, they feel that it overfires, it makes you, since vadas, mortality moving, it excites you and perhaps does not let you sleep sound during the start.

Shrankhla Holecek 34:01
And again, just to calibrate it, it’s that 2 to 3 a .m. window at night that it starts.

Dr. Zeel Gandhi 34:06
Yes, yes. at till the sunrise is when the vata starts.

Shrankhla Holecek 34:11
That, you know, that makes a lot of sense. I know that a lot of people that don’t sleep while including my husband do get that midnight awakening at about two or three and have a lot of difficulty going back to bed.

Dr. Zeel Gandhi 34:26
Yeah, well, there’s a very simple solution for it. Shranthila, he needs to balance his vata. See why it is getting deranged. We can discuss it. that is needed by you would have the kind of dosha getting deranged and then the symptoms of course.

Dr. Zeel Gandhi 34:48
Yes, so vata is deranged for many people and that is when you wake up and start your eating vatakal. But no problem. There are medicines to cure that so definitely we can.

Shrankhla Holecek 35:02
And coming back to this Dr. Zeel, what you know in this vatakala period at night, I do want to miss the recommendations that you have. What are the dos and don’ts in this period? Right, so even let’s say even if you wake up to start during this period and many people find themselves peckish like we discussed since this is vata it just burns up your energy and you feel like eating something.

Dr. Zeel Gandhi 35:30
Also food makes you feel nice and you think they put you back to sleep but it may not. Do not put anything in your body right now. What I would recommend during this period is medicines apart. What you can do is simply take some lotion, a royal and massage your feet, massage your ears, or simply massage your head and try and get comfortable.

Dr. Zeel Gandhi 35:57
That is deep breathing and chances are you may fall asleep again. You are simply calming your vata with these simple techniques. Waking up at the end of vata kala, meaning right before dawn, is an excellent time. Especially if you suffer from vada disorder, try and wake up just before dawn. You can calibrate it whenever your dawn time is based on your geography. Practicing pranayama and yoga during this time can greatly harmonize your vada problems.

Dr. Zeel Gandhi 36:32
Especially waking up part or the slump of energy that you feel at the end of the afternoon. Both can be cured when you wake up just before dusk and do simple vata balancing exercises. Like massaging, yoga, pranayama, simple techniques apart from medicines.

Dr. Zeel Gandhi 36:52
So introducing Ayurveda. A, we discussed knowing your prakriti. B, knowing your natural rhythm. And C, seasonal rhythm also. So there is you have an internal clock but the earth has its own clock. Apart from the diner rhythms where you have day and night, you also have seasonal rhythms as we know.

Dr. Zeel Gandhi 37:14
So trying to harmonize your body around these seasons is also important. Like trying to lose weight during this season is not a good idea because it may derange your vada greatly. You may have aches, pains, troubles, you know, all kinds of vada related problems if you try.

Shrankhla Holecek 37:35
Sorry Dr. Zeel to clarify. When you say this season, you mean which season?

Dr. Zeel Gandhi 37:41
This season, now.

Shrankhla Holecek 37:43
So basically since we’re in summer I should calibrate because you know the podcast might come out later.

Dr. Zeel Gandhi 37:49
summer season

Shrankhla Holecek 37:49
In the summer season, got it.

Dr. Zeel Gandhi 37:53
So in the summer season, Yovata is on high and going on a calorie deficit diet or straining your body during this season can cause injuries, troubles, pains, bulls, herniations, all sorts of troubles. So it’s recommended that you keep your Vata low, exercise in moderation and do not attempt a very drastic diet or fasting during this season.

Shrankhla Holecek 38:24
You can learn more about Dr. Zeel by visiting her website at drzeel .com.

Shrankhla Holecek 38:31
That is drzeel.com As we conclude this episode, we invite you to delve deeper into the world of Ayurveda with Uma. Please subscribe to the Uma Ayurveda podcast to continue this transformative journey with our series of conversations that we hope you’ll find enlightening.

Shrankhla Holecek 38:54
Visit umaoils .com, that is U -M -A -O -I -L -S .com for an even more immersive experience exploring not only our luxury Ayurveda products but also an array of inspired wellness insight and lifestyle tips.