Elements of Ayurveda Podcast

Divya Alter is a certified nutritional consultant, educator, and chef. In this episode she discusses snacking with Colette and in particular, Ayurveda's view on snacking. They discuss the following: The general principles of good snacking. Having awareness around the impulse behind your snack i.e. hunger, thirst, emotions etc. The importance of routine in eating, good food combinations and nutriti...

Dr. Avanti Kumar-Singh, is an Ayurveda Wellness Expert on a mission to show how Ayurveda is a health catalyst to achieve optimal wellness in modern life. In this episode, Colette chats with Dr. Avanti about hormonal health and how Ayurveda can help to prevent and heal hormone dysregulation. They discuss the following: Dr. Avanti's personal journey with Western medicine and Ayurveda. Zooming in on...

Monica is a busy single mother with her own prenatal massage and yoga business. She had been practicing yoga for many years and when she discovered Ayurveda it deeply resonated with her.  Monica connected with Colette in 2021 to help her tailor the Ayurvedic wisdom to her needs and help her implement the practices into her life. She then went forward to do the Ayurvedic Digestive Reset Cleanse in...

August 17th is the 5th anniversary of this podcast!!! I started this podcast back in 2017 as I couldn't find any regular podcasts on Ayurveda, so I decided I had to share this amazing ancient wisdom with the world. Here I am 5 years later and now on episode 249!!! In this episode I share a little about the start of this podcasting journey, podcast reviews and a recent chat with my client Amy. Amy...

Ashtanga Hridayam, one of the primary ancient root texts of Ayurveda lists eleven types of headaches. In this episode, Colette details the following: The eleven types of headaches. What causes headaches. How to determine which dosha(s) are aggravated and manifesting in a headache. How to treat a headache. The four stages of an Anantavata headache or migraine. * Thanks to the sponsor of this episod...

Dorothy has had many life changes since starting her journey with Ayurveda and she shares her experience with incorporating an Ayurvedic lifestyle as a new mother. We chat about the following: Dorothy's introduction to Ayurveda. Adapting the cleanse to her busy life with her young baby. Feeling lighter physically, emotionally and psychologically. Setting boundaries to avoid overwhelm. Letting go o...

Dr. Claudia Welch has practiced Ayurveda and is licensed as a Doctor of Oriental Medicine. She has lectured internationally on Oriental medicine and Ayurveda, exploring how Eastern medicine applies to Women's Health, and today's reality in general. In this episode we discuss the emotional transition between the Pitta stage of life into the Vata stage of life, the challenges that can arise and how...

Monica from Tasmania shares her experience with the Digestive Reset Cleanse. Her jobs as an engineer and yoga teacher keep her busy and tailoring the cleanse to her lifestyle was essential. We wanted to make sure there was no added stress creating overwhelm in her already hectic schedule. We discuss the following: Monica's introduction to Yoga and Ayurveda. The mental and physical imbalances exper...

Colette talks about the importance of regular cleansing in Ayurveda and how it plays a major role in keeping the doshas in balance, preventing aggravations and disease. She discusses the following: How toxins form in the body. Signs of toxins in the body and mind. How dosha accumulation during the seasons can affect our health. Details of an Ayurvedic cleansing program. The benefits of cleansing t...

Dr. Paul Dugliss returns to the podcast and we discuss our previous two podcast episodes in the context of healing. In episode #219 Dr. Dugliss talked about 'Ayurveda, The Chakra System and Human Needs' and in episode #227  he discussed 'The Ten Facets of the Heart.' In this episode, we get a deeper understanding of what healing is and why radical acceptance can be crucial in promoting healing. We...

In part one of this discussion on Ayurveda's empowering approach to aging and longevity, Colette covered five of the six components of aging according to Ayurveda: Physical health Mental health Diet Sleep Stress management In this episode Colette talks about the sixth component of aging, rasayana. Rasayana is the study of anti-aging, longevity and rejuvenation in Ayurveda. The main purpose of rasa...

Our modern society has a negative outlook on aging and we tend to glorify youth and oftentimes our elders are ignored and considered to be of no value to society.   This glorification of youth leads to a battle against aging, along with a huge industry of anti-aging products. This is a battle that we will never win and one which can lead to feelings of disempowerment and a lack of self worth as we...

Kamalesh Ginger Hooven is Provost of Mount Madonna Institute and she is the Director of the Ayurvedic Yoga Therapy program.   In our previous episode together #234 titled, Integrating Yoga Therapy and Ayurveda we discussed the three bodies, five sheaths, tanmatras and the internal limbs of Yoga. In this episode we discuss the eight limbs of yoga in detail and how to tailor an Ayurvedic Yoga Therap...

Adam McGuigan is an artistic director and his creativity and international charity theatre work is inspirational. However, Adam can become immersed in his creative endeavours which in the past has led to burnout. In this episode Adam discusses his journey with Ayurveda and how it helps him maintain balance, allowing inspired creativity to flow. We discuss the following: Adam's charity theatre work...

Vaidya Jayarajan Kodikannath is a classically trained Ayurveda doctor and an accomplished teacher representing a lineage of Ayurveda Practitioners from Kerala, India. Dr. J is CEO of Kerala Ayurveda (USA) and is President of NAMA the National Ayurveda Medical Association in the US. "Ayurveda is not a disease management system, it's the management of the individual with the disease". - Dr. J I hear...

Ayurvedic educator, Mary Thompson discusses the eight factors affecting food utility and digestibility. The eight factors which Mary breaks down are: Prakruti - the nature of the food. Processing - its impact on the quality of the food. Food combining - choosing ingredients. Quantity - tips on portion size and when to stop eating. Habitat - where your food comes from. Time - time of day, time of l...

Durga Leela is a person in long-term recovery, a certified Ayurveda Practitioner, yoga teacher and yoga therapist from the UK and now based in the US. Her book, Yoga of Recovery - Integrating Yoga and Ayurveda with Modern Recovery Tools for Addiction published in May 2022 and it presents a complete resource for working with individuals recovering from addiction. Durga and I chat about the followin...

Divya Alter is a certified nutritional consultant, educator, and chef in the Shaka Vansiya Ayurveda tradition. In 2016 Alter and her husband Prentiss founded Divya's Kitchen, a plant-based restaurant in New York City that reimagines classic dishes through an Ayurvedic lens. In this episode, Colette chats with Divya about how Ayurveda describes food through the five properties of: Rasa or the six t...

Kamalesh Ginger Hooven is Provost of Mount Madonna Institute.    She is the Director of the Ayurvedic Yoga Therapy program.   Kamalesh has a Master's degree in Ayurveda and is a Certified Ayurvedic Practitioner as well as a Certified Yoga Therapist. Colette chats with Kamalesh about the following: What is Ayurvedic Yoga Therapy. Working with the subtle and gross body for healing. Using the tanmatr...

Colette takes questions from the Elements of Ayurveda Community and she answers the following questions: Miranda: I would like to know when is the most opportune time to have juices and smoothies. Sophie: We're moving into the cooler season here in Australia and I would like to know what shifts should I be making in my diet. Mary: What does Ayurveda recommend for heartburn? * Visit Colette's websi...

We're living in challenging times and this is resulting in a feeling of uncertainty and lack of stability in our foundational needs, like that of safety and security. T his underlying stress can affect our body, our mind, our emotions and our behaviour. In this episode, Colette gives some great advice from Ayurveda on how to manage these stressful times. She focuses on simplifying the information...

Judyth Shamosh, Ph. D. is a systems herbalist and has been a clinical practitioner since 1994. She practices Ayurvedic, Classical Chinese, and Western herbal medicines.  In this episode Colette chats with Dr. Judyth about her new book The Poetry and Physics of Eastern Herbal Medicine. They discuss the following: Dr. Judyth's journey with Eastern medicine. The science and poetry of the  experientia...

The first female lineage-holder of her distinguished Vedic tradition, Acharya Shunya is an internationally renowned scholar, teacher, author, speaker and scholar of nondual wisdom (Advaita) from India, and a classically-trained master of Yoga and Ayurveda. In this episode, Colette chats with Acharya Shunya about her most recent book, Roar Like a Goddess: Every Woman's Guide to Becoming Unapologeti...

Jennica's career in aquaculture has spanned 20-years. Currently, she is the Research Director for Ocean Era, a Hawai'i-based small business that focuses on developing, and commercializing, ways that marine aquaculture can combat climate change and decrease pressure on wild fisheries. Jennica and I discuss the following: Jennica's work in aquaculture. Seaweed for ocean health, food and as a biofuel...

Robin Mastro is co-founder of Vastu Creations, LLC, and the American Institute of Vastu - consultancy, design, and educational companies that focus on eliminating environmental stress for greater productivity, improved health and wellbeing. Her research in accessing the power of altars in the Vedic tradition led her to study ancient cultures around the world and how they connected with unseen forc...