Glowing health usually requires balance, moderation, and routine. But variety is the spice of life— travel enlivens the spirit and new adventures feed the soul! However, many travelers find it difficult to happily hop around the country (or the world) without feeling some common travel woes, like disturbed sleep, poor digestion , constipation , or mild anxiety . From the perspective of Ayurveda (yoga’s sister science), most travel discomforts are due to increased vata dosha, the energy governing all movement in the body-mind. Despite constitutional differences, everyone has vata dosha, which supports movement in the respiratory, circulatory, nervous, and digestive systems (and elsewhere). When vata is in a healthy state, these systems run smoothly—breath is fluid, elimination easy, thoughts well communicated, etc. But when the momentum of external travel increases the momentum of internal vata, the emotional result is feeling wound up, scattered, forgetful, or anxious, while the p...
Liver disease has been on my radar. I seem to be getting more questions about diet and lifestyle changes for a healthy liver. I am seeing and hearing a lot of cases of decreased liver enzymes levels, non-alcoholic fatty liver and cirrhosis in otherwise healthy adults. This trend is important because liver malfunction not only can lead to compromised body functions but also to other conditions like infection, or impaired cognitive function. The liver is the largest internal organ and has hundreds of functions. It is the main organ responsible for detoxification. Other important functions include: Production of most proteins needed by the body Production of bile, a compound needed to digest fat and help absorb important vitamins Help regulate blood clotting Help fight infections Break down nutrients to produce energy Store minerals, vitamins and sugar, helping avoid shortages of these nutrients Stress caused by the pandemic has also increased unhealthy coping mechanisms, including heavy...