Eight Directions Wellness

12/21/2025

"Yad bhāvam tad bhavati.”
As is the state of being, so is the becoming.

Happy Winter Solstice. Contemplate what it is you will become in the lengthening days ahead.

12/20/2025

Brahmari prānāyāma is “bee’s breath” Humming.

12/18/2025

Let's think about sumo wrestlers 🤼 again for a moment - because they illustrate another important Āyurvedic concept. Āhāra rasa (microchyle or "food juice" that's released into circulation during the process of digestion) feeds the first tissue or dhātu of the body, rasa (lymph/plasma). From rasa, rakta (blood) is nourished/formed, from rakta, māṃsa (muscle) and from māṃsa, meda or fat tissue/lipids (etc). If the digestive fire (agni) of any of these tissues is sub-par, the formation/nutrition of the next tissue will be affected.

In the case of sumo wrestlers, their training not only keeps meda dhātu warmed and liquified (preventing stagnation), - they also have well-developed māṃsa or muscle tissue. If the digestive fire of that māṃsa were low, meda or fat/lipids would be formed in large quantity and low quality. That is where we see imbalances like visceral fat surrounding organs, high cholesterol, etc.

This is why so much boils down (no pun intended) to healthy digestion in Āyurveda. If the main digestive fire is too low, too high or functioning irregularly, the whole sequential nourishment of tissues (called dhātu poshana) is affected.

Ok, I'm done thinking about sumo wrestlers for the time being. 🤼 🇯🇵 But thank you for reading and helping me keep my Āyurvedic brain functioning. Can you tell I miss teaching?

Get thee to the gym and build some māṃsa dhātu!

12/15/2025

We all know Sumo Wrestlers = 🤼 ⬆️ guru (heavy) quality. But is their weight healthy? And if so...why?

My dog Bear thought this would be a great video to participate in, as he has many Kapha qualitites to demonstrate, including his ability to sleep comfortably anywhere.

12/11/2025

12/09/2025

Increased Vāta manifests as jerky, quick movements (watch someone rapidly tapping/waving their foot in the air as they sit with their legs crossed, for example) and anxious, fearful, scattered thoughts. Bringing awareness to thi , as this person is suggesting, is an excellent starting strategy, which helps in focusing the mind and containing the dispersing energy (and focus).

12/08/2025

🤦🏼‍♀️ Sorry, but ‘tis the season!

12/08/2025

We can discuss Āyurvedic samprāpti or pathogenesis in two ways - the sāmānya (general) samprāpti that we learn from textbooks, and the viśesa (specific) samprāpti that unfolds from the client -this is the samprapti we must address. This individualized approach is a strength of Āyurveda. How have you experienced samanya vs viśesha in your own practice?

12/05/2025

Āyurveda looks at the body in terms of doṣa (Vāta, Pitta, Kapha), dhātu (plasma, blood, fat, muscle, bone, marrow/nervous system tissue, reproductive tissue) and mala - waste/inferior byproducts. By waste I mean f***s, urine, and sweat - which help maintain electrolyte and fluid balance, eliminate waste/toxins and regulate temperature.

By inferior byproducts I mean the excretory products generated during the metabolic transformation of each dhātu (tissue). While these may be described as “waste,” their formation, excretion, and physiological regulation are, in Āyurveda, critical for health because they must be produced and eliminated in proper quantity and quality for homeostasis.

I took college level Anatomy & Physiology before studying Āyurveda, but it was Āyurveda that gave me a whole new appreciation for the inherent intelligence of the body.

12/04/2025

Happy Full Moon! 🌕 Happy Dattatreya Jayanti. Dattatreya is often illustrated as having three faces, as he is the incarnation of Brahma the Creator, Vishnu the Sustainer and Shiva the Destroyer in one form. I'm going to share a link in the comments to Dr. Robert Svoboda telling the story of how this came to be. This little text, Avadhūta Gīta or "Song of the Free Soul" describes the vision of non‑duality - the spontaneous realization and free state of one who knows the Self as absolutely beyond body, mind, caste, gender, and all ritual or social distinctions. For whom sattva, rajas and tamas (as I discussed in my last post) are transcended. I am particularly enchanted with chapter 4 of this text, in which each verse ends with the line, "svarūpa-nirvānam anāmayo'ham" or "I am free from disease — my form has been extinguished."

"Know me beyond all doubt to be boundless.
Know me beyond all doubt to be undivided.
Know me beyond all doubt to be stainless.
I am free from disease — my form has been extinguished."

Om Dram Dattātreyāya Vidmahe Digambaráya Dhīmahi, Tanno Dattaḥ Prachodayāt

A good mantra for fire ceremony tonight will be "Om Drām Dattātreyāya Svāhā." 🔥