1. Ask the Vaidya
In this new column, our resident expert in Maharishi Ayurveda will answer questions from Health and Enlightenment readers. To submit a question, please e-mail us at news@lancasterhealth.com. We hope you’ll enjoy the practical wisdom of Maharishi Ayurveda that our expert well be sharing each month.
Question: Why are onions and garlic not recommended in Maharishi Ayurveda? Does the same rule apply to leeks?
Answer: Onions and garlic have a number of medicinal properties and can be used in certain health conditions. This will depend on the type of imbalance and individual constitution (mind-body type). Onions pacify Vata and Kapha dosha, and garlic pacifies Vata. However, they also tend to create some dullness and unsettledness in the mind, which makes them unsuitable for those practicing meditation and seeking inner peace and clarity. Leeks share some of the same properties, but in a much milder form. We suggest leeks as a better alternative for people who are used to onions and garlic in their diet. Leeks should always be cooked. For those who’d rather avoid the entire onion family, yet miss their Vata and Kapha pacifying properties, we recommend spices such as turmeric, fenugreek and ajowan.
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2. Lancaster Success Stories I: It Was Transformational
“I began to think about visiting Maharishi Vedic Health Center because I had been feeling very out of balance for some months. I was not rested, was not sleeping well, my energy was very low. I was feeling quite unhappy and very concerned about what was wrong. I couldn't recognize myself. My mind seemed unsettled, noisy, cluttered with thoughts rather than enveloped in settled peacefulness to which I was accustomed.
“My husband and I traveled to Lancaster. My experience there was profound. Just entering that sublime environment was uplifting and soothing. Our meeting with the Ayurvedic health experts relieved my worries regarding my symptoms and situation. I then did seven days of the Enhanced Maharishi Rejuvenation Program. This was complete bliss. Each day, my physical symptoms diminished. My mind became deeply peaceful. Silence and happiness dominated my experience. At the end of my treatments, the symptoms were 99% gone. Even my handwriting changed, becoming more coherent and legible.
Over the next 3 months, some symptoms came and went, but always having lesser intensity. Now I am back to feeling great, happy, settled and healthy. It was transformational.”
—S. R., Businesswoman, MA
Lancaster Success Stories II: I feel so much stronger
“This is a wonderful place. I came carrying the weight of the world on my shoulders and faltering under pressure. Well, the weight of the world is still there (my life’s problems haven’t changed) but now it feels very light—like a feather. I feel so much stronger physically and psychologically that I feel capable of carrying any weight.
“I have never felt so pampered in my life, not even by my mother when I was a child. The treatments were given with such loving care and with such a spiritual attitude. I had many moments of transcendence while receiving the treatments—in fact, I had stretches of the pure bliss of enlightenment.”
—A.M., Ophtalmologist, Washington, DC
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3. Recipe From Our Kitchen
Indian Rice Pudding
Serves 4
Ingredients:
- ½ cup basmati rice
- 1 & ½ cups water
- 2 cups whole milk
- ½ cup sugar
- ¼ teaspoon cardamom powder
- 1 teaspoon rose water
- 2–4 threads of saffron
- Cook rice and saffron in water until rice is soft.
- In a separate pot, bring milk to a boil.
- Add milk to the softly cooked rice and continue cooking until the rice becomes very creamy.
- Add sugar, cardamom, and rose water.
- Let cool and serve.
Doshas (Vata, Pitta and Kapha): The three fundamental operating principles in our physiology. Vata is responsible for all movement in the body—circulation of blood, movement of food down the digestive tract, mental activity, etc. Pitta governs transformation and metabolism such as digestion of food and its transformation into bodily tissues, “digestion” of ideas and experiences, and more. Kapha gives solidity to the tissues, holds together different parts of the body and balances the bodily fluids.
Traditional Vedic texts associate each dosha with specific qualities. Vata is associated with cold, lightness, dryness and movement; Pitta with heat, light, sharpness and acidity; Kapha with cold, heaviness, oiliness and slowness.
Vata, Pitta, and Kapha are found everywhere in nature—wherever their qualities are present. Different foods, geographic locations, seasons, times of the day, etc. each have a predominant dosha associated with them. When a certain dosha increases in the environment it will tend to increase the same dosha in our physiology and vice versa.
Subdoshas: Each dosha has five subdivisions, which operate in specific areas of the body.
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® Maharishi Vedic Approach to Health, Transcendental Meditation, Maharishi Rejuvenation, and Maharishi Vedic Health Center are trademarks licensed to Maharishi Vedic Education Development Corporation and used under sublicense or with permission.
Our purpose at Maharishi Vedic Health Center is to avert the danger that has not yet come—Heyam Dukham Anagatam*.
With Maharishi Ayurveda, we now have the knowledge how to live a long healthy, happy, and problem-free life.
* Sanskrit saying from Yoga Sutras, 2.16.