What's the difference?
A visit to a local health food store allowed me to overhear a conversation between the shop owner, also a practicing pharmacist in the ordinary clinical sense, and a member of the public. The converstaion highlighted the misconceptions surrounding alternative and complementary medicines and therapies. When the member of the public asked, "How do you know which one to recommend to a customer?", the answer was straightforward and that understood by anyone with an understanding of such practices. That is, that it is not a case of choosing one over the other, one can be used instead of the other or both used simultaneously. Complementary medicines are just that: complementary to "Western"/"modern" or "mainstream" medicine. According to the US National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH), this is a practice "used together with conventional medicine". On the other hand, alternative medicines are defined by NCCIH as practices "used instead of conventional medicine". 1 Complementary medicines and therapies and alternative ones are therefore exactly the same thing. The only distinction is how and when they are used in relationship to the conventional clinical world. How does nutritional therapy support me? The foundation stone of the nutritional aspect of these practices is simply live well to be well: adopt lifestyle and nutritional practices to prevent illness - or disease (dis-ease). When you are in this ideal state you boost your immune system which is in turn preventative. Although many of today's medical and healthcare practices have derived from this and are encouraged by mainstream healthcare professionals (mindfulness, yoga, for instance), prevention is how this 5000-year-old science taking a holistic approach contrasts with modern medicine in that the latter often fails to take a whole system holistic view of the person. However, recommended natural remedies also exist to assist us when ailments afflict us. Even when eating a carefully thought out diet that is nutritionally beneficial to our own personal constitution and following healthy lifestyle practices, it is easy for our bodily systems to fall out of balance. Consider how everything surrounding us is in constant flux: weather patterns, seasons, even the change between night and day influence the balance in our outer environment. This, and other actions such as eating incompatible food combinations (there are several), also influences the balance of our internal environment i.e. our physical and mental responses, processes and actions. These in turn impact on our physical and mental health and wellbeing often due to the accumulation of bacteria in the gut. Often there are simple ways to rectify such an imbalance and general advice can be given to anyone. What's so great about this therapy? A great thing about Ayurveda is that it does not assume a one-size-fits all approach. Other than adopting a holistic approach to wellbeing and treatment, it recognises that we all have our unique personal constitution and therefore some guidance, dietary in particular, can be highly personalised to help with the condition or imbalance experienced, both physical and mental. Introduction to Ayurveda is an online, on-demand mini-course explaining these basic principles to improve your wellbeing. Take 5 minutes to discover a little about Ayurveda for free! IMPORTANT: Advice on natural remedies, nutrition or lifestyle is NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR ADVICE FROM A QUALIFIED MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL OR PROFESSIONAL COUNSELLING SERVICES. It is offered as a complementary therapy and not as a guarantee to prevent or cure any condition, illness, disease or ailment. 1www.nhs.uk/conditions/complementary-and-alternative-medicine/
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Scroll for more.... First feedback on the Introduction to Ayurveda course received. This is the first of a series of online courses on health and wellbeing based on Ayurvedic teachings that are on-demand so can be taken at a time to suit you. Find out a little more about Ayurveda and how closer connections with the natural world can help us maintain and gain better health. Info and guidance also on the natural home remedies blog. "For me the knowledge of the history and the combination of the yoga and mindfulness appeal because you have a complete package so to speak. For me their has to be something that makes ourselves tick and it makes sense to me that we are in a way different and we all have these elements within us which are natural and were born with. I intend to look into this way of eating and living life because its common sense, well that's how I see it. Its not complicated , its practical . I also intend to complete the dosha forms and find out what makes me tick and why sometimes I feel a low mood I have loved watching and reading this course and would reccomend friends who are interested in this introduction. to be honest it has fired me up and a certainly would like to know more and what courses there are avaliable ." Register for this first health and wellbeing course, "Introduction to Ayurveda". Most of us have experienced that awful moment when we realise things have gone horribly wrong. We look in the mirror and realise everything about our hairstyle, or hairstyle that was, is completely different, and not in a good way. Too much has been cut off. Or too much has been cut off where it was unnecessary and too little where a little more was needed. Or, as in my case, sections of my hair have been "thinned out" with no obvious motive or request to do so! It's in that same moment that we know we are back to waiting months for our hair to grow back and/or thicken up and hoping that when our hairdresser is called on to simply cut those sections that need to be cut and leave the ones that need to grow back during this waiting process, she will do just that and nothing else. From a self-esteem point of view, not feeling right because we don't look as we feel we should, can bring us down and feel we want to hide away until it grows out. The options we resort to for being seen with our overcut/undercut/thinned out hair we can barely style become our best friend: accessories. For me, head bands or head wraps are my go-to remedy to see me through. However, all is not lost. Although we cannot produce overnight miracles for our hair or appearance, we can look to nature for non-chemical, inexpensive remedies to help our hair on its way. First of all, seeds are not only great for promoting hair growth, they are also natural producers of serotonin (nowhere near in the quantities of chemically manufactured medicines). With that, they can be mood enhancing to a degree which depends on the individual and their constitution. On top of that, they are a healthy snack to grab when one is needed. In particular, a handful of sesame seeds every morning is enough to strenghthen hair follicles and encourage healthy growth thanks to its (approximately) 1200mg calcium and magnesium content. A second more hands-on remedy option and two items that have become increasingly easy to buy in recent years are coconut oil and aloe vera. Coconut oil is suitable for external use on most constitutional types and is very nourishing to the skin including the scalp. Meanwhile, aloe vera is a real friend to females young and old with its multiple uses in different forms. Its renowned moisturising qualities, the nourishment it provides the skin and scalp and the reality that only a small amount is ever needed make it a wonderful product to keep to hand. Combine both coconut oil (raw, cold pressed - I get mine from Aldi!) and aloe vera mixing pea-sized amounts of each and you have a highly nourishing and moisturising scalp treatment that will ultimately promote healthy hair growth. This is particuarly good for recovering moisture into dry, damaged hair.
Rather than rub the mixture into your hair, part the hair in different sections to apply the mix onto the scalp itself, gently massaging it in from the top downward toward the ears and base of the skull. More wellbeing posts offering guidance on natural home remedies. Natural home remedies from alternative therapies or traditional medicine are not complicated or expensive. Usually, many spices or herbs that can resolve a lot of simple issues are already in your kitchen or easily purchased at a low cost in most food stores. It's just a matter of knowing how to use them, other than to flavour your meals!
Here are two simple tips. You are welcome to get in touch with any questions. See Ayurveda Natural Home Remedies for more information and to message me. More advice and tips in earlier blog posts below. Eating habits - basics to avoid overeating Snacking between meals is a common habit that comes about for many reasons including boredom, emotional eating, cravings (possibly through some imbalance within our bodies) or just plain habit that is hard to kick. We all know the saying, “Old habits die hard”. If you have taken the quiz on the Therapy page to determine your constitution and the foods to avoid and favour, eating according to this will always be helpful for staying in balance. Eating the freshest food you can afford too and according to the season is recommended. If you really feel the need to nibble in between a meal, make a handful of raisins or a liquorice sweet the preferred option. Liquorice is a mild diuretic and helpful to water retention issues and reduces build-up in the body that creates the heaviness and sluggishness associated with weight gain. Bear in mind, people with hypertension issues should not consume too much liquorice root or liquorice based products as this can be harmful to the condition. Similarly, light crackers, some cereal or millet or rye grains or a drink of fruit juice can ward off the temptation to overeat. Lighter food rather than heavy or oily foods will help stop the hunger but not add weight. Adopting healthy eating habits where you eat the right things at the right times mitigate the need for snacking in between meals and generally support a healthy digestive process. This is a key concept in Ayurvedic nutrition. Some advice which is very simple and common sense follows below. Eat only when you are hungry! Firstly, a very simple rule: don’t eat unless you are hungry and don’t drink unless you are thirsty! When the last food you ate is properly digested, you will know this. If you aren’t genuinely experiencing pangs of hunger, the digestive process has not fully taken place. Eating in this state taxes the digestive process by overloading this process. If you throw more and more in while it is churning away, you are giving more and more to process, which is aggravating if you have already eaten too much. Think about an overloaded washing machine. Never eat too soon after a full meal or when you are constipated, for the reason given above. If your overeating leads to indigestion, the juice of half a lemon squeezed into a cupful of water, with a pinch of baking soda added and stirred just before drinking the mixture quickly will be of some aid. Another method to soothe indigestion is to roast a teaspoonful of coriander seeds and a teaspoonful of fennel seeds (fennel is good for anxiety too) in a dry pan (no added oil), without letting them burn. After roasting, add a pinch of salt, leave the mixture to cool and eat it as it is. Chew without haste! Always chew well and don’t rush. This will allow the digestive enzymes in the mouth to work as nature intended. A couple of handy rules to follow when serving a meal is never eat more in a portion than what you can hold in two cupped handfuls, but make your heaviest meal as early as possible (ideally lunch). If you leave your stomach one third filled with water, one third filled with food and one third empty, this allows digestion to complete more efficiently. If you have overeaten you will feel the urge to eat more as your stomach has expanded. If you drink instead of eating, you water down the digestive enzymes which subsequently reduces the digestive capacity. If you have eaten something perhaps not suited to your constitution or that is difficult to digest, or even an incompatible food combination (there are a few), drinking at this time will not help. It can result in upset stomach problems. The same occurs when you drink too much during a meal, or drink absolutely no water at all. Drinking very cold drinks is unhelpful to the digestive system (see article for an explanation) and certainly do not have fruit juice or fruit with any meal. If you think your eating could be emotional rather than due to genuine hunger, you can test this by having a cup of a warm soothing tea such as liquorice, camomile or mint. If you are genuinely hungry, the tea might be soothing but it won’t stop you feeling hungry. Cravings for food can also be offset with a brisk short walk in fresh air. Don't forget to spice up your life! Adding some spices can prevent the urge to overeat. A little garam masala, chili, cayenne pepper, turmeric, cumin or black pepper for instance, are ideal. Ghee, clarified butter, used in many, if not most, Indian dishes, is particularly healthy with numerous benefits for a great number of ailments. In the UK, it can be bought in most supermarkets and other shops with food aisles. Chopping up a ripe banana (it must be ripe) with a teaspoon of ghee and a pinch of cardamom can help with emotional eating habits. The food of love? At the time of writing, the world is in lockdown and it is easy for many reasons to get caught up in unhealthy eating habits. If we view our personal situation negatively, it will become and remain negative and promote negative habits of all manners. When we are separated from loved ones, unable to enjoy their company, even though we are still loved in this situation, it is easy to feel loneliness or other negative emotions. It is also easy to compensate for this by substituting food for the love and companionship we are accustomed to. As Ayurveda takes into account the whole bodily system, the stimulation from these emotional factors and stress activates the stomach processes which is then translated as hunger by the body, hence increased food intake. If emotions are at play in this overeating habit, expressing them is essential. If you cannot or do not want to express these to anyone else, remember expression can take place more than verbally. Writing, drawing, colouring, music making or dance (even using the last two terms loosely!) can help release the blocked energy trapping the emotional hunger inside. Taking this time to reflect and look into ourselves can be beneficial at this time and turn the experience into a positive. Let’s face it, if we cannot come out of this lockdown period and isolation stronger and somehow “better” than we were before it, what have we, as individuals, learnt from it? Everyone is busy, busy, busy. No time for anything. If making time to slow down or taking time to look after ourselves is suggested, it can provoke indignation and defensiveness! Why? No-one can perform to their maximum capacity when they are tired, malnourished, run down, stressed etc. That is why the human body is designed for sleep. Not only does the body rest but this is when the brain processes our experiences and stores them as memories. Without proper rest, we cannot have proper sleep. Without proper sleep, our bodily systems, including our mental processes, explain - or translate things - in a distorted manner, or at least less clearly. And, of course, we also just feel tired1. Taking this time now to recuperate and “upgrade” ourselves through some inward reflection, and importantly, taking some time, no matter how little every day, simply to sit quietly and breathe will help overcome negative emotions and with them, emotional hunger. You cannot stop your thoughts but you can let them pass and simply focus on your breath - the inward and outward movement of your breath into the top of your nose. Don’t make it a strictly “physical” into the lungs or belly exercise, even though it may take a few deeper steadying breaths initially to reach a calmer, steadier breathing pattern.
Taking 12 deep breaths followed by a cup of warm water can help abate the emotional hunger too and the subsequent overeating. Some yoga positions can also help control these cravings. The “Cobra” is one such position and involves lying on your stomach on the floor. Raise your top half with your arms as if adopting a press-up position but keep your hips and legs on the floor so your top half is bent upward as if mimicking a raised cobra. Try to breathe steadily and feel the various muscle groups relax as you do this. I hope these tips are helpful. For specific ailments and conditions as well as general dietary guidelines suited to your own personal constitution, see the Therapy page. 1 “What happens to your memories when you sleep?”, Catherine de Lange, New Scientist, 27 October 2018 A lot of posts have been distributed across the web comparing symptoms of coronavirus, the common cold and flu. Often we just "know" we are coming down with "something". How it starts is surely variable in each of us, as is how it affects us and interrupts our lives. Something that stands out to me with cold type symptoms is their similarity to many allergy symptoms. In my experience dry, raspy throat, reddening, sensitive eyes and itchy, sniffly nose can be the start of some sort of cold or an allergic reaction. Taking precautions and taking action to deal with and eliminate one cause becomes priority as we all want to get on with our lives feeling energetic, clear headed and productive. Which package in your medicine cabinet do you reach for first, however? The antihistamine, the cold and flu tablet or the paracetamol? Do we put antihistamine products into our bodies in the hope we are not treating something that isn't, in fact, there? Or the cold and flu tablets containing other chemicals in the hope we are not treating something that isn't, in fact, there and hope none of it does us too much harm? This is a small-scale example of how our bodily systems are commonly experimented on with both prescription and non-prescription medicines. However, everything that takes place in our bodies has an underlying cause owing to an imbalance within our system that can, especially in these minor examples, be dealt with safely using natural home remedies. Why I say safely is because what I would recommend you use are things you can not only find in your kitchen cupboard but undoubtedly often consume in meals or drinks without questioning whether these things are doing any harm or good!
When we hear talk of natural home remedies, a lot of the time we think of old wives tales and herbal "concoctions". It is often forgotten that nature provides until someone stumbles across a stinging nettle and remembers that a dock leaf will be nearby.
At the time of writing many people want to ensure they are in a healthy starting position to face the uncertain times ahead brought to us by the outbreak of the coronavirus. Ayurvedia has taught human beings over the centuries that our both our mindset and natural environment provide what we need to prevent illness and ensure wellbeing. Nothing guarantees against an epidemic other than sensible precautions and taking care to stay well; but to be well in the first place and have a healthy immune system is always a good starting point! Now, when many people are relying on what they have at home and avoiding venturing out among the masses, it is reassuring to know that items you may already have in your kitchen cupboard could provide natural home remedies that have been picked up in the weekly shop without even knowing their full curative or preventive potential. Rather than waiting for an online order to be delivered or heading to a pharmacy or supermarket for an over-the-counter medicine, the answer could be readily available to you without even leaving the house. This blog hopes to provide some tips and advice on ways to stay well and potentially boost your immune system through better nutrition choices and mitigate or prevent illness (or dis-ease, a state of not being fully at ease). It may not necessarily be a case of actively consuming a particular item but possibly avoiding a certain product that is known - in Ayurveda at least - to contribute to a particular issue you are experiencing. The Ayurveda Natural Home Remedies page has two webforms. One is to contact me for advice on a particular matter which will often be suited to anyone with the same issue. Sometimes there are very specific variants of an ailment which are best responded to in a more specific way. When you complete this form I may have to ask you for some additional information. The second webform is next to two forms to download then complete and send me the results which will help me determine your personal "constitution" that a remedy can be more specifically provided for or if you would simply like a what to eat and not eat guide suited to your constitution. Keeping checking back for more posts and ideas to stay well. The next article, Covid-19, Hot Water and Ayurveda considers the social media myth of how hot water can combat the coronavirus and explains why this seems to credible to many. If you have followed any guidance published here or have received personalised guidance for any issue and found something particularly helpful, please share it in the comments under this post or on a post relevant to the issue or tip.
In such times where life is anything but as we know it, keeping well and especially doing what we can to prevent illness is top of everyone's priorities. COVID-19 is a terrifying and as yet not fully understood disease. As often happens, a lot of information is shared across media channels, some of which is misinformation or passed on in good faith giving hope - sometimes false hope. Although experts across the globe are collaborating around the clock to understand the coronavirus and find treatment and a vaccine, nothing is yet officially approved. Despite claims to the contrary across various sites, there is no miracle cure or prevention, no diet or practice that can counter scientific understanding in this case.
This post therefore refers to one of the disseminated rumours that hot drinks and gargling are two ways to counter this and will focus on the first. This rumour indicates that regular sipping of hot liquids keeps the mouth moist and flushes the virus that may have entered the mouth to the stomach where gastric juices neutralise it, thus not spreading to the lungs which are the organs most severely and primarily affected by solidifed mucous in the airways that must be opened. Sensible as this sounds on first reading, I would refer you to paragraph one. However, from the perspective of Ayurveda and natural home remedies it is understandable why many people globally have taken faith in this advice which will be explained below. |
AuthorJulie Anne is a mental health speaker offering CPD accredited workshops on trauma and diversity. Her interest in natural home remedies and healthy living and a holistic approach to physical, mental and emotional wellbeing led her to study Ayurveda and gain the Diploma in Ayurveda with distinction in January 2020. She is now a registered holistic therapist with strategies for improving mindset to overcome anxiety, stress and trauma triggers and manage symptoms. Archives
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