vatta-enhancing, tend to make this condi- tion worse. Kapha-enhancing treatments such as oil massage of the abdomen, or drinking warm tea with milk and aro- matic spices, soothe conditions like gas by reducing excess vatta dosha. Preserving health, thereby preventing disease, is the primary aim of Ayurveda. Curing disease is viewed as a process of restoring the doshic balance of the consti- tution, and purging accumulated toxins so that self-healing can occur. Therefore, many of Ayurveda’s curative treatments focus on detoxification, restoring vital energy, and supporting the body’s natural processes of sleep, digestion, and elimina- tion.


To keep in balance and free of disease,


Ayurveda recommends a lifestyle that prioritizes the following:


• Pure food and water is consumed (a high-vibrational, Sattvic diet)


• Sleep is moderate (neither too much, nor too little) and restorative • The mind is calmed through meditation


• A peaceful spirit is maintained by ac-


knowledging one’s connection to all life


When the balance of health is lost, as often occurs in the everyday world, Vaid- yas use all five senses to diagnose the patient. They listen to the quality of the breath and speech. They observe the pa- tient’s skin tone, eye clarity, and other physical characteristics. They may touch the patient’s skin to feel if they are hot or cold, oily or dry, rough or smooth. The pulse is taken, and possibly stool and urine samples. Once the nature of the disorder is determined via this intensive examina- tion, a combination of detoxification practices and powerful herbal preparations called rasayanas, are typically prescribed to correct the imbalance. Herbal rasayanas are defined in the


Sanskrit tradition as “that which negates old age and disease.” Rasayanas are typi- cally a combination of ghee (clarified butter), fruits, herbs, honey, roots, and minerals. The exact mixtures are made in accordance with whatever energies need to be increased, or decreased in the pa- tient. These medicinal preparations come in many forms: a thick paste of honey and fruit, designed to be consumed like food;


combined with alcohol to make tinctures; mixed with warm water to make infusions. Some dried rasayanas can be taken in capsule-form. Ayurveda has identified numerous important herbs for healing, along with potent superfoods that show up repeat- edly in rasayana preparations. Here are three popular herbs used in rasayanas and herbal medicines by Vaidyas the world over.


Amalaki Amla is the Hindi word for “sour,”


given to the tree that bears the gooseber- ry-like amalaki fruits used in Ayurveda. A potent stimulator of the sour guna, or taste, amalaki has been used for thou- sands of years to restore the body. One of the three fruits in Triphala, an Ayurvedic wonder drug, one amalaki fruit contains the vitamin C of nearly twenty lemons, and thirty times the antioxidant potency of red wine. Scientific studies of the amla fruit


have examined its many superpowers, including:


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