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The Ayurvedic Perspective on Infertility

This is a small part of the group research paper I am writing as a part of my Ayurvedic courses.  Would love your feedback – just wanted to share!  My responsibility was to write about the Ayurvedic perspective on this disorder.  I may also share other sections of the paper if I get permission from my group members.

“Fertility depends on nature’s rasa; a fruitfulness, sweetness, wetness, happiness. When these rasas are depleted, sterility, dryness, loneliness, and isolation are bound to set in. The rishis predicted that the increase of fear in modern culture would result in the decline of the earth’s fertility.” – Maya Tiwari, “Women’s Power to Heal”

Dr. Chauhan of the Jiva Institute says that “Ayurveda considers begetting a child equivalent to planting a tree, for which we need four essential conditions — seed, field (soil), time and nourishment.”  It is important to remember that infertility, as with any other disorder according to Ayurveda, is a completely individual case. Infertility is not an independent disease, rather a cardinal feature of many imbalances.  Reproducing is one of the most important responsibilities we have as living beings.  In order to conceive a healthy child one should be “swastha” or fully healthy oneself. Ayurveda defines a healthy person as “one who is established in the Self, who has balanced doshas, balanced agni, properly formed dhatus, proper elimination of malas [wastes], well functioning bodily processes, and whose mind, soul and senses are full of bliss.” (Lad, p 275) This optimum state of health provides the fertile ground for the embryo to implant and grow.  If conception does not occur, there may be an imbalance in any of the above categories, making the cause of infertility sometimes difficult to determine.

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Kapha Moves in – 21 Day Commitment

It is easy to explain the Kapha dosha at this time of year – all I need to tell someone is well, look out your window.

Thank you Sahej.com

Spring is Kapha season.  We like to think of Spring as the time then sun comes back, the time of new beginnings, and it is, sort of – but we have to think about the literal signs of Spring.  Flowers don’t come right away – the thaw comes first!

Going for a walk yesterday, we inevitably commented on the weather and the world around us: “The ground feels so soft!” “Oh man, there is mud everywhere, the roads are getting slippery.” “The fog was so thick it was hard to see driving…the air is so heavy and cold.” Guru, manda, hima, snigda…and so on.

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The Kitchen Table – How to Eat Meat

For Jamie’s birthday we went down the road to one of our favorite Vermont restaurants – The Kitchen Table Bistro.  It’s located in an old house right off of the Richmond exit of route 89.  They’re part of the Vermont Fresh Network, and are dedicated to supporting local farmers and serving regional and seasonal food.  It’s always hearty and we leave happy, ready to come back.

Jamie and I shared a bottle of wine, a salad, and appetizer, entree and dessert – we love to share one of everything, and taste a lot.  We went for the special that night – Rabbit Shepard’s Pie.  The head cook and co-owner, Steve Atkins, was kind enough to share his recipe:

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Mama Tulsi

My friend Andrew Snavely, owner of Dobra Tea in downtown Burlington, is leaving us to open another branch of the tea shop in his hometown of Asheville, NC.  For me, Dobra has always been inked into my Burlington experience – throughout college I’d come on rainy or wintry days to take off my shoes and feel a bit bohemian, inviting the steam facial full of exotic smells to remove all worries of finals or boyfriends.

I am a big lover of Pu-er – fermented teas from the Yunnan province of China that taste best served in unglazed ceramic cups – perhaps made from Yixing clay, another region in China.  My friends ask what it’s like when I say it’s my favorite, and all I can tell them is that it tastes like dirt…yeah, and I love it.  The tea menu at Dobra caught my attention when it describes Puer-la as ‘like the cool earth of a temple floor.’  (Not a direct quote, but you get the idea.) MMM, my kind of flavor.  Puer comes with a subtle kick though, it actually has a lot of caffeine which can creep up on you unawares.

But I’m really here to talk up mama tulsi, pictured above.

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