Blog Update

I came away from sharing Ayurveda, in the recent ‘Ayurvedic Head Massage Workshop,’ with an even deeper appreciation of how relevant and simple, and yet profound, this science really is. It was inspiring to hear feedback from the participants, and seeing the energetic change in people, after just one day of being immersed in Ayurveda, touched my heart.

Somehow it feels like the further I delve into Ayurveda, and the more places in my life where I use the principles with myself and my patients, the more I see its simplicity and practical common sense nature, despite its vast complexity. It’s as if, however we are introduced to the principles of Ayurveda; whether it be a workshop like this one, an Ayurvedic training for yoga teachers or a simple consultation, there are easy ways to bring the benefits into our lives with practical steps. These, often quickly, begin to re-balance our mind and bodies, bringing more harmony. It’s also empowering in that it doesn’t matter whether you have a lot of money or not, you can still bring more balance, and relieve symptoms you may have, by introducing lifestyle changes alone.

I love how, from the simple things like which spices to use in our food to the more complex things like which direction to massage a marma point, Ayurveda is like a journey. Wherever we are right now we start on the journey, and as we see and enjoy the benefits, we become further inspired to continue.

Saturday 28th June 2008
9.30am to 4.30pm

Learn and receive the powerful healing technique of traditional Ayurvedic Head Massage in a beautiful setting near Mullumbimby NSW

Ayurveda recognizes the unique blend of the elements within each of us and thus helps us in bringing more balance. In this workshop you will be shown the basics of Ayurveda and how to incorporate them into your life.
The head has many marma’s, or vital energy centres, and is a map or energetic reflection of the entire body. Thus Ayurvedic Head Massage (or Shirobhyanga) promotes rejuvenation to the whole being. It helps relieve insomnia, headaches and stress related disorders while boosting the immune system. This massage blissfully relaxes and balances mind body and spirit.

$175 (including lunch). For concessions – talk to me!

* Ayurvedic lunch provided
* Detailed Handouts provided

Bookings : Ring me on 02 66843165
You can download a pdf of the poster below. Feel free to print it out and give it to anyone who may be interested.

Head Massage Poster

I also ran this workshop and an Introduction to Ayurveda in Adelaide on Monday 19th May at the Australasian Massage Therapists annual conference.

I am delighted to be offering some women’s work again.

The Rose Tent is a saturday afternoon event for women only and will be held on 21st June near Mullumbimby,.

The focus of the Rose Tent is to connect with, nourish and celebrate the unique blessing of our feminine nature. We may do a range of things depending on the feeling of the moment and the group of women that gather. We focus more on being in the body than on talking although there will often be an opportunity to share if something needs to be spoken. We may use dance, sound, breath work and gentle touch. Often we will have a short meditation or guided visualisation, maybe some chanting and some paired and group work. You are never required to do something that does not feel right to you.

The four of us that are offering the tent have journeyed together in our own women’s circle for 8 years. We cherish the nourishment and support that we gain from our group and would now like to share some of the fruits of our time together with a wider community of women.

Please click on the flyer to view it in full size and feel free to share the details with other women who may be interested.

Panchakarma 2007

My partner and I recently returned to Australia after receiving Panchakarma treatment in India, so I will share some of my experience there. Panchakarma is the ultimate in Ayurvedic rejuvenation and healing. Called the five actions (Panch = 5, karma = action), it eliminates ama (toxins) from the system and returns the elements or dosha’s to their proper home.
These processes are cleansing to the body, mind and emotions. The first part is referred to as “the gathering of ama” where the thick, sticky ama becomes increasingly liquefied and is able to be moved from places where it is stuck.
The middle part is the more intense cleanse section, where the ama is expelled from the body.
Then the last part is the more rejuvenating time, where deep nourishment is given to help maintain ongoing balance and an ama free state of health.

I’ve always wanted to receive Panchakarma so I was quite excited to finally be able to go to India and do it, whereas my hubby was a little unsure about it initially. He was willing to give it a go though as he has a chronic back condition which gives him quite a lot of pain. So off we went.

As soon as we arrived we were encouraged to deeply relax, and everything was taken care of. Simple, but yummy, sattwic(pure) food was served. We had a basic but comfortable and clean cottage, where we could sit on the verandah and gaze at the paddy fields and forest. All cleaning etc was also done for us by friendly Indian women. After an initial thorough consultation our specific Panchakarma routine was established.

For both of us the whole time, everyday we received an Ayurvedic massage. For the gathering part, after the massage, we then received Shirodhara and then whole-body-dhara (which meant warm medicated oil being poured over our entire bodies, and we both absolutely loved this). During this time old pains, which for me was the sciatica I suffered a few years ago, resurfaced as they were moving. Practically this meant for me I had a day of pain. For my partner it meant four or five days of intense pain, which was of course challenging, and eventually they gave him herbal pain relief support to get through it. They say that it’s a bit like peeling an onion, and we are going backwards through and eliminating the residues of traumas, diseases, bad habits (alcohol, cigarettes etc), and the like. We also found it a little challenging to be doing absolutely nothing. I was at least allowed to have little walks whereas my partner spent most of the time lying flat.
The daily Shirodaras were very nourishing for me. It was also good to experience how deep they went, and to be on the receiving side for a change.

The cleansing part of course always depends on ones condition, age, current state, etc. For both of us the treatment was massage then steam (with our head out of the box so we didn’t get all hot-headed) and then the medicated enema. It was this part that my partner especially had worried about before coming, but as it turned out for both of us it was not that challenging and we felt amazing afterwards. After the treatment we would come back to our cottage and ly down and rest. For me this part really seemed to open up my intuition and let go of old stuff, not just physical but mental and emotional as well. Our meals while cleansing was Kunji, which is a sort of wild rice gruel. I came to love this, luckily!!

Then the last main part, which focused on nourishing and rejuvenating, began. For this the treatment consisted of warm massage, shirodharas and then medicated rice poultice treatment. It sounds simple but, again, was quite profound and very very nourishing for mind, body and spirit. At the completion of the Panchakarma you are supposed to rest at least for a few days.

We both also loved being able to see our medicines grow in the herb garden and being made welcome to watch the medicines being made in the herb kitchen.

My partner stayed longer than me. After the treatment I traveled to Arunachala, the sacred mountain of Shiva and Ramana Maharshi. I participated in a meditation retreat, which was again very nourishing and easy after the Panchakarma.

Overall it was a powerful and life changing treatment for both of us. We are still feeling the difference on many levels. My partner is returning for more treatment actually, as to really change his chronic condition he needs longer… The initial treatment inspired and helped him so much that he is happy to be going back alone this time…
Om Shanti
Jacinta

I have been teaching Ayurveda lately as a part of Yoga Teacher trainings here in Byron Bay which has been fun and inspiring. I have been a Yoga teacher myself for over 20 years, as well as practising as a Naturopath and Ayurvedic Consultant here in Mullumbimby. To check out my Herbal and Naturopathic Dispensary called Mullumbimby Herbals have a peek at our website.

In my personal Yoga practise for the last few years I have been playing with balancing whichever element (or dosha) is excessive or causing symptoms with Yoga asana’s and specific breathing exercises as well as meditations. Now Im getting this great opportunity to share my yogic/ayurvedic balancing experiences with dedicated yoga practitioners which is exciting as well as humbling. This has been a deepening for me in my understanding of Ayurveda and how to make it relevant for the times we live in..

Once people understand the basics of ayurveda then they can use it as a daily tool to help bring more harmony within and without. So for those of you who dont have much Ayurvedic theory I thought I would write a little here to share.

Introduction to Ayurveda

Ayurvedic Medicine is traditional Indian medicine. It encourages a life lived in harmony with nature’s rhythms, with an awareness of balancing all levels of being - body, mind and soul.
It is believed to have begun as far back as 6000BC when a group of Rishis (or enlightened beings) had compassion for mankind’s suffering. Through Divine inspiration and observation of the Laws of Nature, they devised a complete “science of life” otherwise known as Ayurvedic Medicine.
As Natures Law’s are unchanging, Ayurveda is still a completely relevant healing system today.

Ayurveda is a science that is widely acknowledged to be the worlds oldest system of healthcare. The World Health Organisation recognizes the antiquity of Ayurveda, regarding it as “the world’s most ancient, scientific, wholistic, complete, natural system of healthcare”.

The purpose of Ayurvedic medicine is to avoid (or help reverse) serious illness by understanding how and why we become ill. Ayurveda impresses upon us the art of daily living in harmony with the laws of nature, so we learn how to maintain our health and vitality as well as how to heal disease. It is a wholistic system of healing in the truest sense, embracing body, mind and spirit. In working to create health Ayurveda takes into consideration all the different levels of life and their interconnectedness.
As a science of healing Ayurveda encompasses diet and nutrition, lifestyle, exercise, rest and relaxation, meditation, breathing exercises and medicinal herbs and other medicinal substances. It also includes cleansing and rejuvenation programs for healing body, mind and spirit. Other therapies such as sound, mantra, colour and aromatherapy may also be used, depending on the individual and the state of imbalance.

Ayurveda is empowering, giving us choice in dealing with our own health. Depending on our current state of health and well being, it can mean simple changes or adjustments in our diet and lifestyle which will greatly improve our health. Of course if dis-ease is manifesting more strongly then the treatment will also require stronger balancing agents like medicinal herbs, or hands on treatments. But if we catch an out of balance state early enough, then it is easy to rebalance.
Ayurveda recognises that each of us are unique, and teaches us our constitutional type which is our own unique blend of the elements. Once we recognize these in ourselves then bringing balance becomes like common sense. For example if we have too much heat in our system and this is manifesting as heartburn or a skin rash, first we understand the need to cool down. This cooling may be best achieved with avoiding heating foods and choosing cooling foods instead, or by taking cooling herbs, or using cooling breathing techniques.

In Ayurveda we understand the inseperable link between body, mind and spirit. ie if someone is manifesting a disease, it is never just the body that is imbalanced. Usually the root cause of physical disease is in the mind or spirit (80%). Traditionally Ayurveda was used to bring back balance, even before disease manifested physically. We use practices like yoga, meditation, mantras, pure actions, devotion, compassion, pure foods as well as lifestyle adjustments etc to balance and strengthen and purify. Where there is imbalance, or depletion, Ayurveda also uses counselling, herbs, and specific foods, as well as therapies like nasya, massage, and shirodara.
Daily ayurvedic routines provide a system of not only bringing balance but, even before that, helping us to see our imbalances (vikruti) so that we can then know how to balance. In this way we can understand which steps need to be taken, which energy we need more of and which energy we need less of.

I personally love Ayurveda as it is not just a healthcare system, but a complete approach to living. We can adapt the basic principles of ayurveda into any cultural traditions of the world. In practicing ayurveda we do not have to become like Indian’s, but by simply understanding the basics we can bring balance to our lives wherever we live.

The science of Ayurveda, like the science of yoga, is a huge body of knowledge which is best learnt and understood through practice. Ayurveda recognises that much of life is non-physical and cannot be studied objectively. Thus the necessity of incorporating Ayurvedic principles into your own life so it becomes an experience rather than merely a theory.

Understanding our Constitution/Prakruti

First we need to understand the elements and how they are manifesting in our body, mind and spiritual tendencies. Our prakruti is our original fingerprint, or our own magical blend of the 5 elements. To be in perfect health on all levels we gently bring ourselves back (or as close as we can), to this original state. Ayurveda uses Vata, Pitta and Kapha as ways of classifying or understanding this elemental blend. Each of us has all three dosha’s, but we will also have a more dominant dosha or two more dominant ones and it is these which will tend to become over dominant and lead us out of balance and into possible disease. ie if you are mainly Vata then Vata qualities (like a windy day or too much cold dry food), will take your Vata into excess and imbalance you. To come back into balance you will need Vata balancing qualities to soothe and quieten down this Vata excess.
In our modern lifestyles most of us have some Vata imbalance so it is usually a good dosha to start with.

Understanding our Vikruti/Present state

Our current state of health in mind body and spirit is called our Vikruti. It is the particular blend of the 5 elements which is manifesting in us right now. For most of us we are not totally in our original state of ideal health, so the first step in regaining or improving our health is to understand honestly our current state. Then as we recognize which elements and which dosha’s are in excess we can take the appropriate steps to balance them. If we are dry, depleted, ungrounded, stressed or anxious we realize the need to balance Vata, with the opposite qualities. If we are more impatient, hot (with hot flushes or reddish eyes say), or strung out from over pushing ourselves, then we need to balance our Pitta. If we are toxic, overweight, feeling sluggish foggy or depressed then we need to balance our Kapha.

So quite a lot of information for you all…… I hope this is helpful and relevant.

I am looking forward to presenting Ayurvedic Womens Health in a unique way at the upcoming Australian Goddess Conference. My workshop Goddess Health Naturally will be based around the 5 elements which form the basic building blocks of who we are. I am planning to give women a more experiential taste of the dosha’s or intelligences which govern us…rather than just the theory.
The conference is to be held on the Gold Coast (southern Queensland), on the 12th and 13th October.
If you want to check it out have a look at their website

I feel quiet passionately about preconception and fertility awareness as it immediately affects not only us but the future generation. As a health professional for over 25 years I have noticed the definite decline in my patients overall health, wellbeing and fertility. Our modern capitalistic society pushes us, and conditions us in ways that I see undermine and ultimately decrease our happiness, our sense of self, and thus our health and fertility.

The more out of balance with ourselves we are the less fertile we become. The push/ conditioning for us as women, to be slim and model-like seeps into many aspects of how we live. By living on low-fat foods we, over time, deplete our bodies from essential lubrication for our joints, our digestive system, and especially we deplete the healthy medium that our nervous system needs to function well. New research (Nature June 2006) shows that fertility is declining generally. It also shows that a combination of stress, a calorie restricted diet, and over exercise actually magnifies the decline. So especially if you, or your partner (both male and female fertility declines - not just the woman’s), are over 30 and trying to conceive then you need to address your lifestyle as well as your foods. And this is even more the case if you are over 40.

Regular exercise to re-oxygenate, strengthen and reinvigorate the body and mind is important, but over straining and over pushing is actually depleting. In a similar way avoiding junk foods like sugar filled, salt filled, de-nourished, over-processed, and/or deep fried fatty foods is obviously a good idea. Having friendly oils (vitamin E especially, but also Omega 3 and 6 rich foods), and whole foods as unprocessed as possible is important for optimal fertility. The ideal is to eat a balanced diet full of vegetables and fruit, and regular easy-to-digest proteins. A favourite protein for enhancing fertility is quinoa (pronounced kee wah), which is an easily absorbed, alkaline grain that is high in protein and also high in vitamin and minerals. Also for nourishing your tissues to the deepest level, Ayurvedic medicine recommends unhomogenised (this is important as its less allergy causing) organic milk. This is best taken warm with a few spices like cardamom and cinnamon to aid digestion. Try it before bed.

Alcohol, cigarettes, and caffeine, reduce your fertility (again for both partners) so eliminate or at least limit these as much as possible. Stress is a major cause of reduced fertility too, so reassessing your lifestyle becomes a priority. Take some time out to nourish yourself more.

There are many aphrodisiacs on the market these days, as well as products pushed as “all you need in one pill for health” sort of products. My advice is to see a good naturopath and/or Ayurvedic practitioner and work out together what your deficiencies are and where your lifestyle could be more balanced. Then use the inspiration of a healthy baby to inspire you to take the needed steps.

Common deficiencies which play a role in reduced fertility are as follows;

· Vitamin E
· Essential Fatty Acids
· Calcium
· Magnesium
· Iron
· Zinc
· Protein

For many couples their fertility enhancement needs to begin by cleansing out old toxins first. A program could therefore begin with cleansing and eliminating junk and then move on to more nourishing.
Some wonderful herbs I have used with great success over the years are:

· Triphala - this gently cleanses and heals digestion and absorption.

And for nourishment:

· Shatavari
· Withania
· Chaste Tree
· False unicorn root
· Red Clover
· Nettle
· Raspberry Leaf

These herbs are excellent sources of vitamins and minerals and they also re-balance hormone functioning. Often an organic herb is easier to absorb than a synthetic vitamin pill.

Ayurveda/ Natural Health Care teaches us that our state during conception and pregnancy will influence both the mind and body of our child. Traditionally a woman was cared for and nourished in mind and in spirit, emotionally and physically. Emphasis was given to her emotional happiness and spiritual contentment as this was considered the greatest influence on the developing baby. These days we may not be able to live the ideal but we can make conscious choices and take steps, on all levels, to live a more balanced and harmonious life. Educating yourselves and taking steps towards balance before conceiving will obviously benefit you, your partner, and your family. It will also encourage others to live more balanced lives and will therefore ultimately benefit us all.

I’m excited to be offering the first residential ‘Living Ayurveda’ weekend workshop in early July. Our herb gardens look fantastic at the moment and the house is newly renovated and ready to welcome the group. It feels very special to be coming together with Leanne and presenting Ayurveda in a very practical, accessible and fun way.

I have been teaching Ayurveda recently as part of a Yoga teacher training happening here in Byron Bay and appreciating more and more the relevance of Ayurveda to us here in Australia. I am finding a way to offer the concepts of this rich science in a simple way that we can use in our daily lives. As a busy mum myself I love how practical and user-friendly it is. You don’t need to know the complicated Indian words to apply and benefit from Ayurveda.

The workshop runs from 6th - 8th July. Please see the Workshop Brochure or contact me for more information.

Good health starts with whole, pesticide free, nourishing foods, which are easily digested by our bodies. Paying attention to improving digestion generally, is a step for most of us towards better health. More than 90% of our clients at Mullumbimby Herbals have some degree of lowered absorption and/or digestion. This is the root cause of many diseases.

What to do?
Sipping a little fresh ginger or fennel seed tea before or after meals is a simple home digestive aid. Or try the wonderful herb, Meadowsweet, ten minutes before meals.

It is also our approach and attitude to food which often needs addressing. Sitting and relaxing (centering), having a circle or saying some meaningful blessing on the meal, brings more respect and reverence to the food and actually enhances digestion and absorption. Our food can then nourish us on many levels. This can also be a daily way of bringing the family together. In our rushed modern lives, these little rituals which bring us closer are easily lost, and yet simple daily habits like these can add to the intimacies and rhythms of family life and are therefore, in their own way, prevention against childhood diseases.

Recently at mullumherbals.com we have been creating a special series of articles on childhood diseases. Here I wanted to talk about wholistic attitudes to these common, and in my view, important stepping stones in childrens healthy development.
Generally, allopathic medicine has treated the common childhood diseases as a meaningless invasion of germs requiring elimination at all costs. A more wholistic approach understands that these diseases are necessary for the healthy development of the immune system and act as a stimulus for the spiritual, emotional, mental and physical, growth of the child. As such these diseases become transitional markers in a childs development.

If however your child shows signs of immune weakness, like constant colds, sore throats and tummy upsets, and if she doesnt bounce back to health quickly then it would be wise to focus on your childs immunity and general health - so when the common childhood diseases strike there are resources within the body to make best use of the challenge and return it to good health.

Many parents worry when their child has a fever. Fever is the bodies protective mechanism of burning up and eliminating toxins. These toxins can be a result of unhealthful living or a direct symptom of a virus or bacteria. Always watch fevers, especially in young children, as high fevers can cause damage. Take your child’s temperature and try to keep it below 38.5 C. Use cooling cloths, herbs or homeopathics. If you bring the fever down quickly with a tepid bath ensure that your child does not become chilled.

If your child’s symptoms are severe then always seek professional help.