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Evolving Integrally
The Descent of Consciousness!  The descent of the supreme Reality into Matter and as Matter...
Nolini Kanta Gupta   |   The Incarnate Word   //   Images (from left to right): Zohiaib Ahmed (Buy at: www.saatchiart.com), Huta - Sri Aurobindo Ashram (www.exoticindiaart.com), Aiyana Gunjan (www.mojarto.com)
“When consciousness has reached the farthest limit of its opposite, when it has reduced itself to absolutely unconscious and mechanical atoms of Matter, when the highest has descended into and become the lowest, then, by the very force of its downward drive, it has swung round and begun to mount up again. As it could not proceed farther on the downward gradient, having reached the extreme and ultimate limit of inconscience, consciousness had to turn round, as it were, by the very pressure of its inner impetus. First, then, there is a descent, a gradual involution, a veiling and closing up; next, an ascent, a gradual evolution, unfoldment and expression.

Now this imprisoned consciousness in Matter forces Matter to be conscious again when driven on the upward gradient. This tension creates a fire, as it were, in the heart of Matter, a mighty combustion and whorl in the core of things, of which the blazing sun is an image and a symbol. All this pressure and heat and concussion and explosion mean a mighty struggle in Matter to give birth to that which is within. Consciousness that is latent must be made patent; it must reveal itself in Matter and through Matter, making Matter its vehicle and embodiment. This is the mystery of the birth of Life, the first sprouting of consciousness in Matter. Life is half-awakened consciousness, consciousness yet in a dream state. Its earliest and most rudimentary manifestation is embodied in the plant or vegetable world. The submerged consciousness strives to come still further up, to express itself to a greater degree and in a clearer mode, to become more free and plastic in its movements; hence the appearance of the animal as the next higher formulation. Here consciousness delivers itself as a psyche, a rudimentary one, no doubt, a being of feeling and sensation, and elementary mentality playing in a field of vitalised Matter. Even then it is not satisfied with itself, it asks for a still more free and clear articulation: it is not satisfied, for it has not yet found its own level. Hence after the animal, arrives man with a full-fledged Mind, with intelligence and self-consciousness and capacity for self-determination.

Thus we see that evolution, the unfolding of consciousness follows exactly the line of its involution, only the other way round: the mounting consciousness re-ascends step by step the same gradient, retraces the same path along which it had descended. The descending steps are broadly speaking (I) Existence-Consciousness-Bliss, (2) Supermind and its secondary form Overmind, (3) Mind—(i) mind proper and (ii) the intermediary psyche, (4) Life, (5) Matter. The ascending consciousness starting from Matter rises into Life, passes on through Life and Psyche into Mind, driving towards the Supermind and Sachchidananda. At the present stage of evolution, consciousness has arrived at the higher levels of Mind; it is now striving to cross it altogether and enter the Overmind and the Supermind. It will not rest content until it arrives at the organisation in and through the Supermind: for that is the drive and purpose of Nature in the next cycle of evolution.

Physical Science speaks of irreversibility and entropy in Nature's process. That is to say, it is stated that Nature is rushing down and running down: she is falling irrevocably from a higher to an ever lower potential of energy. The machine that Nature is, is driven by energy made available by a break-up of parts and particles constituting its substance. This katabolic process cannot be stopped or retraced; it can end only when the break-up ceases at dead equilibrium. You cannot lead the river up the channel to its source, it moves inevitably, unceasingly towards the sea in which it exhausts itself and finds its last repose and—extinction. But whatever physical Science may say, the science of the spirit declares emphatically that Nature's process is reversible, that a growing entropy can be checked and countermanded: in other words, Nature's downward current resulting in a continual loss of energy and a break-up of substance is not the only process of her activity. This aspect is more than counterbalanced by another one of upward drive and building up, of re-energisation and re-integration. Indeed, evolution, as we have explained it, is nothing but such a process of synthesis and new creation.”
Read Forward //
August 2021
The Metaphysical Basis for Integral Health — Will-Power and the Body
Dr. Soumitra Basu    |    NAMAH Journal
Seers and sages from the ancient Indian heritage considered the “physical body to be an obstacle, a grossness of matter reeling under the rule of the Inconscience.” Is the human body as a physical system necessary for us to enjoy health and well-being on this earth? Is it necessary for us to be in a well-being state to enjoy the worldly benefits and also to experience happiness in life? Is the evidence-based medical practice of the West superior to the intuition-based healing practice of the East? Probably, these are some of the most-debated matters and also the most answered ones by thinkers, philosophers, and spiritualists from ancient and modern times. Answers and clarity started emerging with the arrival of the Indian seer and philosopher Sri Aurobindo and the spreading of Integral Yoga philosophy, a yoga-based practice he developed with The Mother. He included the human body as an integral part of his Yoga of Perfection and believed that “without a new poise of progressive health. And without an open-ended program of integral well-being, the vision of higher evolutionary beings could never succeed.”

In this write-up, Dr. Soumitra Basu, author, and Director of the Institute of Integral Yoga Psychology in India writes about the importance of the physical body, the vehicle; and Integral Health and will-power, the fuel that empowers.
August 2021
“OM. Dawn is the head of the horse sacrificial. The sun is his eye, his breath is the wind, his wide open mouth is Fire, the master might universal. Time is the self of the horse sacrificial. Heaven is his back and the midworld his belly, earth is his footing, the regions are his flanks and the lesser regions his ribs, the seasons his members, the months and the half months are their joints, the days and nights are his standing place, the stars his bones and the sky is the flesh of his body. The strands are the food in his belly, the rivers are his veins, his liver and his lungs are the mountains, herbs and plants are his hairs, the rising is his front and the setting his hinder portion, when he stretches himself, then it lightens, when he shakes his frame, then it thunders, when he urines, then it rains. Speech, verily is the sound of him.”
Brihadaranyaka   Upanishad,   Chapter 1.1.1
Image (bottom): Jan Patrik Krasny (krasnyart.eu)
August 2021
“
At present mankind is undergoing an evolutionary crisis in which is concealed a choice of its destiny; for a stage has been reached in which the human mind has achieved in certain directions an enormous development while in others it stands arrested and bewildered and can no longer find its way. A structure of the external life has been raised up by man’s ever-active mind and life-will, a structure of an unmanageable hugeness and complexity, for the service of his mental, vital, physical claims and urges, a complex political, social, administrative, economic, cultural machinery, an organised collective means for his intellectual, sensational, aesthetic and material satisfaction. Man has created a system of civilisation which has become too big for his limited mental capacity and understanding and his still more limited spiritual and moral capacity to utilise and manage, a too dangerous servant of his blundering ego and its appetites. For no greater seeing mind, no intuitive soul of knowledge has yet come to his surface of consciousness which could make this basic fullness of life a condition for the free growth of something that exceeded it. This new fullness of the means of life might be, by its power for a release from the incessant unsatisfied stress of his economic and physical needs, an opportunity for the full pursuit of other and greater aims surpassing the material existence, for the discovery of a higher truth and good and beauty, for the discovery of a greater and diviner spirit which would intervene and use life for a higher perfection of the being: but it is being used instead for the multiplication of new wants and an aggressive expansion of the collective ego. At the same time Science has put at his disposal many potencies of the universal Force and has made the life of humanity materially one; but what uses this universal Force is a little human individual or communal ego with nothing universal in its light of knowledge or its movements, no inner sense or power which would create in this physical drawing together of the human world a true life unity, a mental unity or a spiritual oneness. All that is there is a chaos of clashing mental ideas, urges of individual and collective physical want and need, vital claims and desires, impulses of an ignorant life-push, hungers and calls for life satisfaction of individuals, classes, nations, a rich fungus of political and social and economic nostrums and notions, a hustling medley of slogans and panaceas for which men are ready to oppress and be oppressed, to kill and be killed, to impose them somehow or other by the immense and too formidable means placed at his disposal, in the belief that this is his way out to something ideal. The evolution of human mind and life must necessarily lead towards an increasing universality; but on a basis of ego and segmenting and dividing mind this opening to the universal can only create a vast pullulation of unaccorded ideas and impulses, a surge of enormous powers and desires, a chaotic mass of unassimilated and intermixed mental, vital and physical material of a larger existence which, because it is not taken up by a creative harmonising light of the spirit, must welter in a universalised confusion and discord out of which it is impossible to build a greater harmonic life.”

“What then would be the consequence for humanity of the descent of Supermind into our earthly existence, its consequence for this race born into a world of ignorance and inconscience but capable of an upward evolution of its consciousness and an ascent into the light and power and bliss of a spiritual being and spiritual nature? The descent into the earth-life of so supreme a creative power as the Supermind and its truth-consciousness could not be merely a new feature or factor added to that life or put in its front but without any other importance or only a restricted importance carrying with it no results profoundly affecting the rest of earth-nature. Especially it could not fail to exercise an immense influence on mankind as a whole, even a radical change in the aspect and prospect of its existence here, even if this power had no other capital result on the material world in which it had come down to intervene. One cannot but conclude that the influence, the change made would be far reaching, even enormous: it would not only establish the Supermind and a supramental race of beings upon the earth, it could bring about an uplifting and transforming change in mind itself and as an inevitable consequence in the consciousness of man, the mental being and would equally bring about a radical and transforming change in the principles and forms of his living, his ways of action and the whole build and tenor of his life.”
Sri Aurobindo
(Aurobindo Ghosh)
Legendary Scholar, Revolutionary, Philosopher, Poet, Mahayogi —
(Son of India who became the Sage of Humanity)
August 2021
Why Biology is Beyond Physical Sciences?
Bhakti Niskama Shanta & Bhakti Vijnana Muni    |    Scientific & Academic Publishing
“In the framework of materialism, the major attention is to find general organizational laws stimulated by physical sciences, ignoring the uniqueness of Life. The main goal of materialism is to reduce consciousness to natural processes, which in turn can be translated into the language of math, physics and chemistry. Following this approach, scientists have made several attempts to deny the living organism of its veracity as an immortal soul, in favor of genes, molecules, atoms and so on. However, advancement in various fields of biology has repeatedly given rise to questions against such a denial and has supplied more and more evidence against the completely misleading ideological imposition that living entities are particular states of matter. In the recent past, however, the realization has arisen that cognitive nature of life at all levels has begun presenting significant challenges to the views of materialism in biology and has created a more receptive environment for the soul hypothesis. Therefore, instead of adjudicating different aprioristic claims, the development of an authentic theory of biology needs both proper scientific knowledge and the appropriate tools of philosophical analysis of life.

Scientists and philosophers were always puzzled by the nature of life, the symptom of being alive. In the modern era, to study an organism, scientists have mainly adopted Descartes’ ontological view of the organism as a complex machine [2]. The continued usage of physicalist science to comprehend biological systems is the biggest hurdle in the path of understanding life. The materialistic understanding of reality depends on natural laws, mathematics, determinism, and reductionism. This materialistic science has continually failed to provide a theory for biology [3]. There were several repeated attempts to explain life materially and all of them have repeatedly come full circle, because, physical sciences mostly deal with questions that begin with “what?” and “how?” On the other hand, biological sciences will be incomplete without addressing the functional questions of purpose that begin with “why?” Biology as the study of life seems to involve much more complex subjects like mind, sentience, consciousness, and subjective experiences like love, affection, anger, happiness, motherhood and so on. However, Darwin and his followers have tried to bring biology under the domain of the Newtonian sciences, which are based on certain material laws. Even now there is a general consensus among many biologists that the Darwinian paradigm is a legitimate foundation for the philosophy of biology and human ethics [4]. These views on life deeply affect the thinking of every modern educated person. Therefore, a serious analysis is needed to clearly understand whether the laws that deal with matter can ever address the basics of biology, which are based on concepts. ...Material science cannot explain how an artifact/machine can regenerate its lost parts or how it can replicate itself. However, many living organisms effortlessly perform such tasks. The fusion of two gametes (two individual living entities) produces a zygote (a new individual living entity), and symbiogenesis explains that different living entities and their environments are related to each other as an organic whole. Apart from their complexity, even simple biological systems (say, bacteria) have splendid capabilities like sentience, [5] cognition, [6] reproduction, metabolism, replication, regulation, adaptability, growth, hierarchical organization and so on. We do not observe such features in the inanimate world. Can materialistic science ever succeed in making machines imitate many such basic features of life?”
August 2021
Interpreting ‘Integral Yoga and Health’ with Focus on Divine Consciousness
Vladimir Yatsenko    |    Indica Yoga
Scholarly work requires scholarly translations and scholarly interpretations, especially if the work of art is an epic literary poetry manuscript in a narrative form. There cannot be anyone much more appropriate than Vladimir Yatsenko, a scholar of Sanskrit language and literature, theoretical linguist, and the facilitator of online Vedic and Vedantic Studies to interpret the philosophy of Maharishi Aurobindo and ‘Savitri’, his major literary work of 1916.

Speaking at the 2021 Indica Yoga ‘Global Festival of Yoga’ interaction, Vladimir Yatsenko re-presents Aurobindo’s interpretation of Upanishads and Vedas while admitting that he’s probably not the right person to speak on the topic of health and healing. As a seeker who finally found answers to his questions on consciousness and immortality in the Integral Yoga philosophy and practice developed by Aurobindo and The Mother, Yatsenko feels that it is time we start living a life according to their teaching and their vision. In this conversation followed by a question & answer session, Yatsenko touches upon a wide variety of topics from “Vyadhi”, the acts of external forces of resistance on the ‘evolutionary human being’ which The Mother interprets as a man’s voluntary effort to “allow forces of nature trying to pierce into our consciousness” to the ongoing global pandemic while accepting the challenge of being in an embodied state where Integral Health is not available. Listen to him.
August 2021
On the Origins of Faculties of Consciousness
Vladimir Yatsenko    |    Integral Paradigm of Knowledge
“The fundamental question is, what are these faculties? Where are they from? It must be quite obvious that they are not independent formations, but are they the modulation of some higher Consciousness? It is through them that Brahman gets access to the physical existence, but they cannot perceive Brahman (cf. Kena Upanishad 1.1). So, they are originated from the source and become intermediaries, as it were, of the original Consciousness and creation. In the essays on the Kena Upanishad, Sri Aurobindo (2001) describes the four major operations of the original Consciousness — Samjñāna, Ājñāna, Vijñāna, Prajñāna — as mentioned in the Aitareya Upanishad (3.2). He says that they are the secret operations of consciousness in the person present on all the levels of his functioning, from the innermost to the most external.

Vijñāna is the original comprehensive consciousness, which holds an image of things at once in its essence, its totality and its parts and properties; it is the original, spontaneous, true and complete view of it, which belongs properly to the supermind and of which mind has only a shadow in the highest operations of the comprehensive intellect. Prajñāna is the consciousness, which holds an image of things before it as an object with which it has to enter into relations and to possess by apprehension and a combined analytic and synthetic cognition. Samjñāna is the contact of consciousness with an image of things by which there is a sensible possession of it in its substance; if prajñāna can be described as the outgoing of apprehensive consciousness to possess its object in conscious energy, to know it, samjñāna can be described as the in bringing movement of apprehensive consciousness which draws the object placed before it back to itself so as to possess it in conscious substance, to feel it. Ājñāna is the operation by which consciousness dwells on an image of things so as to hold, govern, and possess it in power. These four, therefore, are the basis of all conscious action. . . . . There are secret operations in us, in our subconscient and superconscient selves, which precede this action, but of these we are not aware in our surface being and therefore for us they do not exist. If we knew of them, our whole conscious functioning would be changed. (p. 51)”
fasting culture
2021 : Voices & Sounds, by & for the Tribe!
Fasting for Future
Self-eating and Self-killing: Crosstalk Between Autophagy and Apoptosis
M. Chiara Maiuri, Einat Zalckvar, Adi Kimchi and Guido Kroemer | Nature Reviews | Molecular Cell Biology
“The functional relationship between apoptosis (‘self-killing’) and autophagy (‘self-eating’) is complex in the sense that, under certain circumstances, autophagy constitutes a stress adaptation that avoids cell death (and suppresses apoptosis), whereas in other cellular settings, it constitutes an alternative cell-death pathway. Autophagy and apoptosis may be triggered by common upstream signals, and sometimes this results in combined autophagy and apoptosis; in other instances, the cell switches between the two responses in a mutually exclusive manner. On a molecular level, this means that the apoptotic and autophagic response machineries share common pathways that either link or polarize the cellular responses.
Similar stressors can induce either apoptosis or autophagy in a context-dependent fashion. It is possible that different sensitivity thresholds, the exact nature of which remain to be determined, can dictate whether autophagy or apoptosis will develop. Alternatively, the choice between apoptosis and autophagy is influenced by the fact that the two catabolic processes exhibit some degree of mutual inhibition. In some cases, a mixed phenotype of apoptosis and autophagy can be detected at the single-cell level. Although autophagy mostly allows cells to adapt to stress, massive autophagy can also kill cells.
… the current knowledge on the molecular intersections between the autophagic and apoptotic pathways is incomplete and fragmented. Systems-biology approaches should yield precious information on the cross-regulation, hierarchy and interdependence between both catabolic phenomena and, hence, open the way to new concepts and novel strategies of intervention.”
Read Forward //
April 2021
‘Be Water!’ — Dr. Goldhamer’s Perfect Remedy for ‘SOS’, the Modern-Day Distress Signal
Dr. Alan Goldhamer    |    Tom Bilyeu
When Alan Goldhamer, known Chiropractic doctor who co-founded TrueNorth Health Center almost four decades ago, had to hire a defense attorney — simply because recommending fasting to a patient was then a gross violation of standard medical practice, equivalent to criminal negligence. Collective ignorance of the system and the society slowly turned into a ladder to success making his integrative approach, one of the largest institutions in the world specializing in medically-assisted water-based fasting. Fasting is no more perceived as a malpractice based on beliefs.

“You are not treated for your health condition, but for your diet that caused the chronic condition and illness,” says an angry but confident Dr. Goldhamer in a conversation with Tom Bilyeu, co-founder of Quest Nutrition and the host of Impact Theory. He believes that overconsumption of SOS (Salt, Oil and Sugar) has resulted in the explosion of chronic degenerative diseases among masses and Intermittent Fasting (IF) and water-based fasting could be a meaningful remedy if practiced correctly. In this ‘Health Theory’ episode, Dr. Goldhamer touched upon a number of topics such as the benefits of long-term water fasting; the right diet for a wrong body; problems with modern medicine; fad surrounding vegan diet; choosing the right fruits and organic foods and many other aspects of optimal health. Listen.
April 2021
Dr. Pradip Jamnadas
April 2021
“
Take absolutely identical circumstances, not even a day, a few hours apart; identical circumstances: the same outer circumstances and the same inner circumstances, in other words the “psychological state” is the same; the circumstances of life, the same; events, the same; people, no appreciable difference. And in one case the body (I mean the cellular consciousness), feels a sort of eurhythmy, a general harmony, everything dovetails so marvellously well, without rubbing, without friction — everything functions and organizes itself in a total harmony; everything is marvellous and the body feels well. And then, in the other case ... everything is the same, the consciousness is the same, and that's when something escapes, that harmony is no longer there. For what reason? — You don't understand any more. And then the body starts malfunctioning. Yet everything is identical and ... there's something elusive, as if you were running after something that escapes you. … It’s incomprehensible. Which means that it eludes all mental laws and all psychological laws entirely: it's something self-existent. ... it's almost like being on the borderline between two worlds. It's the same world, and it's completely different...
... And it's so subtle: if you go like this, it's perfectly harmonious; if you go like that, it's at once absurd, meaningless, and laborious, painful. And it's the SAME thing! It's all the same thing. Then really, if you stand back from it and use high-flown words, you would say: all this is truth, and all that is falsehood — but it's the SAME thing! In one case, you feel carried (not only the body but the entire world, all circumstances), carried, floating in a beatific light, and in the other case, it's deadening, heavy, painful — ex-act-ly the same thing! Almost the same material vibrations. What is it? Perhaps if we found that, we would have it all — the total secret. That must be how truth became falsehood. But “how,”…What’s the mechanism?...there's a sort of prescience that only the body can know, that’s what is extraordinary!” – 1961
Mirra Alfassa
(The Mother)
April 2021
Innate, Intuitive and Freely Accessible — An Approach to Fasting Shared by Dr. Will Cole
Dr. Will Cole    |    Interview by Dr. David Perlmutter
Dr. Will Cole, who is named as one of the top 50 functional-medicine and integrative doctors in the nation, consults people around the world via webcam and locally in Pittsburgh. Dr. Cole specializes in clinically investigating underlying factors of chronic disease and customizing a functional medicine approach for thyroid issues, autoimmune conditions, hormonal imbalances, digestive disorders, and brain problems. Listen to his intuition as he discusses: Why chronic calorie restriction and intermittent fasting are not the same thing; The ways fasting benefits health beyond weight loss; What metabolic inflexibility is and how it affects your health; How to get out of your head and into your body when it comes to food; How history supports fasting and why our culture moved away from this model of eating.
April 2021
IF? Can an Ancient Practice Offer Multiple Health Benefits to the Modern Humanity?
Ruth E. Patterson and Dorothy D. Sears    |    Annual Review of Nutrition
Be it pollution or food, anything that is restricted will have a tremendous positive impact on the possible outcomes. There is enough scientific evidence to prove the ultimate health benefit of various forms of Intermittent Fasting (IF) and the improved health condition. And it costs nothing. So it's wrong to say nothing comes for free.

Ruth E. Patterson and Dorothy D. Sears from the University of California present a review paper titled “Metabolic Effects of Intermittent Fasting” with the objective of “providing an overview of intermittent fasting regimens; the evidence on the health benefits of Intermittent Fasting, and discussing the physiological mechanisms leading to improved health outcomes.” The authors do not underestimate the power of the Internet and the vast information available on various health benefits of Intermittent Fasting. Yet they understand the lack of evidence-based support and studies available on controlled fasting and its ability to reduce or even reverse chronic diseases such as cancer, diabetes etc. Read the review published by the Annual Review of Nutrition to understand various eating regimens and the nonpharmacological approaches to improve the health of our population.
April 2021
Autophagy and Langhan: Two Sides of An Ancient Coin
Ramteke Sujata Laxman, Chougule Avinash and Inamdar Mahesh    |    International Ayurvedic Medical Journal
While Plato fasted for physical and mental efficiency, Gandhi used fasting as a tool in his search for truth. By now, fasting is accepted widely and globally as one of the most scientific ways to one’s spiritual, psychological and physical wellbeing. Fasting is no doubt beyond religions, cultures and philosophies.

Studies reveal that fasting helps remove Aama or metabolic toxins from the human body and opens channels of the digestive system, it also targets damaged cell components and even recycles. In this research paper titled “Concept of Autophagy With Special Reference to Langhan for Healthy Life,” published by the International Ayurvedic Medical Journal (IAMJ), three researchers — Ramteke Sujata Laxman, Chougule Avinash and Inamdar Mahesh from the Shri Annasaheb Dange Ayurvedic Medical College present the correlation between the modern revelation of Autophagy and the Ayurvedic practice of Langhan Chitiksa (Healing through Fasting), as mentioned in ancient medical texts such as Charaka Samhita, Sushruta Samhita and Astanga Hrdayam. The study recommends fasting as a remedy to modern-day illnesses arising from the toxic pollution through air, water and food. Read the research paper to understand the parallels between the process of autophagy and the practice of langhan; and the significance of fasting at this critical juncture in our history.
April 2021
Mark His Words on the ‘Law of Aging’ from an Evolutionary Perspective
Dr. Mark P. Mattson    |    TheIHMC
Prof. Mark P. Mattson is a trail runner who runs at the heart of nature on uneven and unpaved surfaces, something he considers “a quintessential human experience”. The runner is also the former Chief of the Laboratory of Neurosciences at the National Institute on Aging and a Professor of Neuroscience at Johns Hopkins University. As in trail running, Prof. Mattson acknowledges the spiritual aspect of Intermittent Fasting (IF) and the unrealized and undocumented cognitive benefits of the very same practice.

In a lecture titled ‘Optimization of Cognitive Performance: An Evolutionary Perspective’, Prof. Mark Mattson establishes a correlation between Intermittent Fasting followed by physical exercise and the possibility for bolster brain function to develop therapeutic strategies to prevent psychiatric disorders and neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's Disease and Parkinson’s Disease. Studies he conducted show a combination of Intermittent Energy Restriction (IER) or fasting upto 24 hours several times a week and vigorous exercise improve the body condition; enhance the brain function and mood to cope with stress; promote neuroplasticity and autophagy; and even reduce the risk of neurodegenerative disorders. Listen to Dr. Mark P. Mattson, popularly known as ‘The Godfather of IF’.
April 2021
Dr. Alessandro Ferretti’s Insight Into Fasting Dynamics for Quality Sleep As Well As Physical-Performance
Dr. Alessandro Ferretti    |    Interview by Mike Mutzel
In this episode of ‘High Intensity Health’, Dr Alessandro Ferretti, a leading nutritionist in the UK speaks about fasting as a tool to deepen one’s sleep and shares his latest findings in the realm of time-restricted feeding, ketogenic diet applications and using nutrients to rebalance circadian rhythms. Along with the fasting-benefits for body's quality rest, he also addresses in depth, the body's performance for people who are devoted to workouts or sports.
April 2021
April 2021
AutophagEye: the Self-Eating Mechanism That Feeds the Insight of Our Visual Science
Dr. Patricia Boya    |    www.nature.com/eye
We live in a highly polluted environment, making each one of us vulnerable to air and water pollution. Studies prove that environmental stressor damages our eye and the retina leading to age-associated alterations, genetic mutations, glaucoma and even optic neuropathies. Here comes the significance of Autophagy or the ‘self-eating’ mechanism of the body while fasting or exercising capable of promoting the degradation and recycling of cellular components. Thanks to Japanese Cell Biologist Prof. Yoshinori Ohsumi and his experiments from a one-man lab in the 70s to study the DNA duplication in yeast which eventually resulted in groundbreaking discoveries on the physiological mechanisms of Autophagy that made him win the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine in 2016.

In a research paper titled “Why Autophagy is Good for Retinal Ganglion Cells?” prepared by Patricia Boya of the Autophagy Lab of Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas, Spain and published by Nature, the researcher presents data from her studies showing the “essential role of autophagy for Retinal Ganglion Cell health from development to aging” and what autophagy could do to retinal adult tissues.
April 2021
“
This crossing of the wall or the web does not take place once and for all — that's it, you are out of it, and then it's all over, you are in another milieu. If it were thus, the old body would probably die, having fulfilled its evolutionary function which was simply to get us to the other state. The amphibian does not lose its old body: it acquires the possibility of a new respiratory mode, pulmonary, which makes it land in another state, in the open air, on the shores of this good earth, and gradually, the very conditions of this new milieu force it to develop new organs and a new way of being on earth. …A tremendous change of “program.” But you do not land on the new shore once and for all, since it does happen that you fall back into the old fishbowl (probably because of the need for a slow adaptation). What is it then, that causes you to fall back into the old state and what causes you to cross into the new one? What is the mechanism of the passage? For years, Mother went back and forth, or oscillated between the two states, and it is exactly this in-between moment, this hybrid state, one could say, that has enabled us, not only to explore the conditions and the secrets of the new milieu, but to discover the very reality of our own milieu, the one our physicists, biologists and physicians think they have recorded and codified so well. But that code is worthless! It is adapted only to a certain thinking fishbowl. In fact, it is a revolution, the consequences of which have not been fully assessed.”
Bernard Enginger
(Satprem) French Author and Disciple of Mirra Alfassa
fasting culture
2021 : Voices & Sounds, by & for the Tribe!
February 2021
Opening An Invisible Door to Quantum Physics and Ayurvedic Healing
Dr. Rama Jayasundar    |    Indian Institute of Technology (IIT): Gandhinagar
According to Ayurveda, “behaviour and thoughts create health or ill-health in one’s physical body”, a concept that reverberates what quantum physics says — “our thoughts create the physical reality”! The ancient system of Ayurveda, the life science of well-being and longevity is structured on its quantum logic. Originated in the Indian subcontinent, the Ayurvedic philosophy finds parallels with western medicine and resonates with the concept of quantum physics and modern science, based on logical reasoning. It also defines the physical universe from a logical and spiritual perspective.

Dr. Rama Jayasundar from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi has specialized in Biomedical Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, Radio Frequency Pulse Sequence Programming and Clinical Imaging and Spectroscopy and spent several decades researching, discovering and propagating the knowledge on the science of Ayurveda. In this essay titled ‘Quantum Logic in Ayurveda’, Dr. Rama states that “By incorporating the Vedic worldview, which is similar to the quantum view, Ayurveda integrates the concept of interdependent interconnectedness in humans, thus opening the door to an interesting dialogue between Quantum Physics and Ayurvedic approach to health and disease.” Read about Quantum Physics and the Vedic hypothesis of interrelatedness in Ayurveda.
February 2021
Lynda Lester
February 2021
“
Now, it happens that the body has the sense not only of a terrestrial movement, but of a universal movement which is so fantastically rapid that it's imperceptible, beyond perception. As if there were “something” that doesn't move WITHIN a space, but is both beyond immobility and beyond movement, in the sense that it's so rapid as to be absolutely imperceptible to all the senses. This is something new. I've noticed that in that state, the movement exceeds the force or the power that concentrates the cells into an individual form. And it is a state that seems to be all-powerful. It must be the passage to the true thing. And it is constant. It's a constant phenomenon: passing from this to that, from this to that, to such a point — it's so strong — that there is a second, or a minute, or anyway a certain interval, I don't know, when you are neither this nor that; then you have a feeling of nothingness. It's almost instantaneous; if it lasted longer, it would probably result in fainting, or I don't know what. But it is constant, from one to the other, from one to the other, this, that, there is a passage.... It's a bizarre life which is neither this nor that, nor a mixture of the two states, nor a juxtaposition, but as though both were operating through each other. It must be intercellular, which means that the mixture must be very microscopic, on the surface.” — 1963
Mirra Alfassa
(The Mother)
February 2021
Immanuel Kant’s Prediction: “...human science will never be able to explain how a living being can originate from inanimate matter.”
Bhakti Niskama Shanta    |    Communicative & Integrative Biology
You cannot Google-search truth or consciousness. But if Google Trends data reflects what people actually search on the Internet, some of the tiny nations and islands in the world — Ivory Coast, Morocco, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Philippines make ‘consciousness’, one of the most searched keywords.

What is consciousness? Where does consciousness come from? Are we, humans, the only species on this planet to have consciousness? What happens to consciousness when we die? How is the consciousness of a human different from that of an AI-powered ‘conscious’ car? Scientists, philosophers, researchers and spiritualists worldwide compete to find answers to some of the most significant questions surrounding consciousness. German-American neuroscientist Christof Koch admits that “Studying consciousness is much more difficult than studying viruses, black holes or nerve cells”. In this Open Access article titled ‘Life and Consciousness: The Vedantic View’, Bhakti Niskama Shanta of the Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Institute, India, presents his findings on the complex topic by going beyond popular beliefs to assimilate the science of consciousness. The author also highlights the “relevant developments supporting a sentient view of life in scientific research, which has caused a paradigm shift in our understanding of life and its origin.” Read to explore.
February 2021
The Science of Spirit, The Matter of Life: Interconnected and Discovered as One!
Anne Baring    |    annebaring.com
India was a revelation for Anne Baring, who reached the subcontinent soon after her Oxford education in the 50s in connection with a project associated with the Italian Encyclopedia of Art. While covering the dusty roads of India, she learnt more about Hinduism and Buddhism followed by Taoism to go deeper into Christianity. Often haunted by some of the recurring questions of the soul — “Why Am I Here?”; “Who Am I?” and “Why Am I Reincarnated on this Planet?”, Anne Baring abandoned her lucrative job of a fashion designer in London to become a Jungian Analyst! And her passion for cosmology, mythology, religion and psychology made her write several books which include ‘The Dream of the Cosmos: A Quest for the Soul’.

“I have no scientific background and I am no good at Maths,” reveals Anne Baring before she starts her thought-provoking presentation on the ‘Unified Field Physics and a New Vision of Reality’ at Schumacher College, England in 2015. Concerned about the future of the human race and our planet, Anne Baring reminds us that “Our life is a gift from the living Universe and how we choose to live is a gift to the Universe!” Listen to an inspiring and informative lecture by Anne Baring.
February 2021
Human Species Invaded the Earth: the Milieu Manifested by the Bacteria, the Delegates of the Divine?
Eva Khattab    |    Sutra Journal
We are not what we appear to be. Biologically speaking, our body is composed of one trillion human cells and ten trillion bacterial cells, making us less human, more bacterial! The finding led to the creation of a hypothetical Phylogenetic Tree, similar to the ancient interpretation of the Tree of Life in which the bacteria is the ‘cosmic bindu’ in the Mandala, from where all animal and plant life originate, tracing the journey of human evolution over many millennia.

The book “Evening Thoughts: Reflecting on Earth as a Sacred Community”, authored by Thomas Berry states that “Earth is not in danger of dying. Instead, human, animal and plant life is in danger of becoming extinct as a result of an assault of an unprecedented violence”. Eva Khattab, researcher in Yoga Studies who often quotes Berry, believes that in order to bring a balance between the ‘most intense expression’ of the Universe and the Mother Nature, we, the human race, need a new language, and a new ‘religion’ which can integrate every aspect of human lives down to bacterial ancestors to help understand the biome we call — Earth! In this essay published by Sutra Journal, Eva Khattab draws together the unexplored connection between our bacterial ancestry and human consciousness through the philosophy of Integral Yoga, a Yoga-based philosophy developed by Sri Aurobindo and The Mother. Read ‘The Divine Mother's Yoga’.
February 2021
Measuring Health and Wisdom Using Intention-Driven Research
Krishna Madappa    |    Ayurway
Is it possible to measure human happiness and pain? Scientists say yes. They have even developed devices which could do the job of measuring the unmeasurable. Can we also see Chakras and quantify them? Can we energize our own Chakras or rewrite our DNA?

Krishna Madappa, renowned educator, water researcher and holistic consultant who dedicated his life measuring health and wisdom using GDV/Bio-Well (bioelectrography), a device he developed in association with Dr. Konstantin Korotkov, Russian inventor known for his Gas Discharge Visualization Technique (GDVT) has answers to these questions and even developed a measuring method using intention-driven research. As a strong believer of collective consciousness and the power of Transcendental Meditation, Krishna Madappa has taken his beliefs and experiments to a pragmatic level by collaborating and transmitting good vibrations using collective meditation with a group of physicists, students and meditators to influence and improve the well-being of the people living in some of the crime capitals of the world. These experiments are believed to have resulted in dropping the ‘incoherence level’ of cities to a record level! His research on the power of biodynamic water and collective consciousness, has made him realize that if a group of people came together with a unified and coherent intention, they would prove capable enough shifting the consciousness of humankind — because we, the human beings are predominantly water! Watch now!
February 2021
David Crow Distillates the Essence of Living, Breathing Earth: The Essential Oil
from ‘Life’
David Crow    |    Floracopeia
“Once you have heard the meadowlark and caught the scent of fresh-plowed earth, peace cannot escape you!” The Native-American words of wisdom seem to be true with essential oils as these oils derived from botanical sources that are not only the aroma of the plants, but fresh earth with a scent of rain! Welcome to the world of botanical intelligence!

The on-going pandemic panic resulted in an explosion in increasing awareness as well as demand for natural and aromatic products meant for therapeutic purposes. Even small farmers of India’s high-altitude region of Ladakh started ‘smelling’ revenue in cultivating high-value aromatic crops supporting traditional Sowa-Rigpa practitioners and their centuries old art of aromatherapy. In a keynote lecture on “Essential Oils as Expressions of Botanical Intelligence”, David Crow, renowned herbalist, aromatherapist and the author of “In Search of Medicine Buddha” reminds us that “Essential Oils are not just fragrance of the plants, but also the perfume of the living, breathing soil and the countless microscopic beings”. According to David Crow, who is also the founder of Floracopeia Aromatic Treasures, essential oils are in fact the “true expressions of botanical and evolutionary intelligence.” Listen to this guru of essential oils!
February 2021
Divine Life in a Divine Body: Confluence of Ayurveda and Integral Yoga
Dr. Swarupa Nishar & Govind Nishar    |    NAMAH Journal
For many of us, Ayurveda is all about the disappearing art of Pulse Diagnosis and the healing of the sick and oppressed. This joint presentation by Ayurvedic physician and therapist Dr. Swarupa Nishar and Govind Nishar on the Siddhi Day of Sri Aurobindo at Matagiri, USA tells us a different story. They abolish the popular understanding of the ancient wisdom of Ayurveda by presenting the origin; history; the ultimate purpose and the real nature of Ayurveda way of life. They also present the complex and the vast world of Ayurveda by reflecting on the teachings of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother whose Yoga-based philosophy and practice gave birth to a new ‘religion’ called the Integral Yoga.

According to Dr. Swarupa Nishar, “Ayurveda is not merely a science which was developed through a process of experimentation and trial and error solely on the basis of unaided reason. The practice is nothing but the way of life adopted by the sages of India in order to maximize their life-potential and to maintain their health at the best possible level because this body was the first requirement and an essential prerequisite for the successful attainment of their spiritual realization.” Find the truth of Ayurveda.
February 2021
A Zero-Budget Alternative to Your Unrewarding Portable Health Gadgets!
Dr. Suhas G. Kshirsagar    |    American Nutrition Association (ANA)
The ancient technique of fasting is being promoted worldwide as a practice of abstaining from food. But for some, fasting is also about reuniting the spiritual and moral strength. Mahatma Gandhi who perfected the art and philosophy of fasting in modern times, believed that “Fasting cannot be undertaken mechanically as it requires complete self-purification, much more than what is required in facing death with retaliation even in mind. One such act of perfect sacrifice would suffice for the whole world.” Fasting has something more to offer to humanity beyond diet and weight management!

This ANA motivational speech by Dr. Suhas G. Kshirsagar, Ayurvedic physician and educator is a brief overview of his best-seller ‘The Hot Belly Diet’. The author highlights the psychological and spiritual benefits and the profound changes that could happen in our body while undergoing fasting. As an authority and practitioner of fasting, Dr. Kshirsagar believes that “there is nothing mystical or magical about fasting and our health is a by-product of enlightenment.” Listen to transform.
February 2021
“
We share something very simple with animals: the cell. Even if our amino acids weave human proteins rather than rat proteins, the functioning is the same. What differs is this mental excrescence, which may finally only be a temporary excrescence to enable us to rediscover consciously and individually the power which is subconsciously and collectively at the heart of the animal cell. We have mistaken the means for the end, rather like a crab that would take its claws for the supreme organ of knowledge. But if there is an evolution and if there is a secret of evolution, if these millions of species, since the virus, that were strewn over the face of this good earth have a meaning (and we must admit that there is a progressive meaning in the knowledge of the milieu or successive milieus and the power over the milieu, and perhaps in the joy of the milieu, which our own species particularly lacks), then we have to assume that this meaning, this power, this knowledge, and above all this joy, if they do not fall from heaven, must be hidden in the very heart of Matter's primordial constituent: the atom and the cell. Only that which is “involved” can evolve, said Sri Aurobindo: the seed or the atom already contains its fruit. Our entire evolutionary route, with various claws, antennae, vibrating cilia or cranial protuberances on the way, has no other meaning than to rediscover what is there, which was momentarily concealed by the main organ we used to explore the outside of the milieu. We explore the power of the atom indirectly through our claws and cyclotrons, but we do not know the power of the cell and the knowledge of the cell, because that cannot be manipulated from outside: it has to be lived. Our body is the thing we live the least: our head has taken all the place, with a few more or less happy passions.”
Bernard Enginger
(Satprem) French Author and Disciple of Mirra Alfassa
February 2021
fasting culture
2021 : Voices & Sounds, by & for the Tribe!
January 2021
Dr. Douillard Invites You for a 30-Day Digestive Journey Through the Lymph Road
Dr. John Douillard    |    LifeSpa.com
For Dr. John Douillard, author, health practitioner and the founder of LifeSpa.com, healing is not just another favorite topic, but a mission. He is known for his unique ability to ‘decode’ ancient Ayurvedic principles to present scientific findings and observations to modern-day health seekers. In this detailed study, Dr. Douillard explains ‘Rasayana’, an ancient Ayurvedic therapy dedicated to one’s optimal health and longevity. The lymphatic system, one of the first systems evaluated traditionally by Ayurvedic doctors is hardly understood by the medical system practiced in the West, even measuring lymph flow was an unknown practice till recently. According to Ayurveda, each taste or rasa carries an emotion and “it is important to have all six major tastes — Sweet, Sour, Salty, Pungent, Bitter and Astringent at each meal to create a balanced emotional taste”, according to him. It is also said that the mood, feelings and environment we are in during a meal determines the state of our rasa.

Join Dr. John Douillard for an informative journey through the Lymph Road!
January 2021
Dr. Surendra Kumar Pathak
January 2021
“
It's as if the consciousness were not in the same position with respect to things, so they appear quite different. Ordinary human consciousness, even if it has the broadest ideas, is always at the centre, and things exist in relation to a centre: in the human consciousness, you are at one point, and everything exists in relation to this point of consciousness. While now, the point no longer exists! So things are selfexistent. You see, my consciousness is WITHIN things, it is not something that “receives.”.... I don't know how to put it. Yes, it's almost as if it had become fluid. And it's not like someone who has widened in order to take others into himself, that's not it: it's a force, a consciousness which is SPREAD OUT over things. I don't get the sense of a limit: I have the impression of something spread out, even physically...” – 1971, 1970

“...When the experience [of the other state] comes, it's quite prevalent: “it” flows in the blood, it vibrates in the nerves, it lives in the cells, and everywhere, not just the cells of this body: I have an impression of many bloods, many cells, many nerves participating. Which means that the central consciousness of individuals isn't always aware of it, the individual isn't aware of it (it has an extraordinary feeling, but it doesn't know what it is), whereas the cells are aware of it, but they cannot express it. You see, there are DEGREES of consciousness...” – 1963
Mirra Alfassa
(The Mother)
January 2021
Fate of Our Health in the Time of Genetically-Guided Precision Nutrition
Dr. Jonathan I. Robison, Dr. Karen Wolfe & Lisa Edwards    |    Sage Publications
The harm systematic farming did to traditional and conventional farming is now done to food, our necessary fuel. Thanks to our commercial, biomedical and mechanistic approach. We have seen that more than the intake of “unhealthful” food, health professionalism and technical approach to human health have created behavioral and chronic conditions followed by undernourishment, eating disorders, confusion, anxiety and exercise obsession among masses.

In this review titled “Holistic Nutrition: Nourishing the Body, Mind, and Spirit” published by the Complementary Health Practice Review, three researchers — Jonathan I. Robison, Karen Wolfe and Lisa Edwards make an honest attempt to redefine health and question the ultimate goal and purpose of holistic nutrition. According to the authors of this review, we must go beyond our traditional understanding of health and start “promoting holistic perspectives to empower individuals to learn from their own body’s internal signals to rediscover the internal mechanisms for guiding food intake” — while not ignoring the need of understanding basic nutrition and wellness guidelines. Download to read the Review.
January 2021
Explaining Pranayama Science and the Power to Restructure Our Consciousness
Dr. John Douillard    |    LifeSpa
Be it chanting or breathing, Dr. John Douillard, creator of LifeSpa.com will always have something scientific to offer you. As an authority in the field of natural health, Ayurveda, sports medicine and an author of health books and free e-books, he has dedicated his life not only learning ancient practices from other cultures but also finding joy in sharing knowledge and understanding with others.

Ancient text on Yoga and Ayurveda has elaborated on Pranayama techniques for maintaining and balancing one’s mental, physical, emotional and spiritual health. And in Buddhism, ‘Anapanasati’ or ‘Mindfulness Breathing’ is considered a much more important practice than thinking as they believe that right breathing could convert greed into generosity; ignorance into wisdom and even violence into kindness while antagonizing the process of aging. If you are someone suffering from sleep apnea, snoring, anxiety or even from the emotional trauma of Covid-19, this one-hour lecture by Dr. John Douillard is certainly chosen for you. Watch now!
January 2021
How ‘Angry People’ Could Change the Course of Our Healthcare System
Dr. Andrew Weil    |    DrWeil.com
“Whether you are a Democrat, Republican, Liberal or Conservative, you can never become the POTUS without making deals with rich pharmaceutical companies with vested interests!”

Sounds like a political discourse? Well, this is how Dr. Andrew Weil, founder and director of The Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona welcomes his students and future practitioners of Integrative Medicine. Healthcare all across the world is regrettably a political issue and Dr. Weil very well knows that no meaningful change in the field of healthcare would come from the governments or the elected politicians but from grassroot movements of people ‘angry enough’ to question the existing system. Talking sarcastically, Dr. Weil who once testified before the U.S. Senate Committee reveals that his country, unfortunately runs on a disease-management system in the absence of a healthcare system! This short video has some amazing tips on healthcare reforms, diet, stress management, wellness and healing while offering some practical breathing sessions as demonstrated by the renowned doctor and author of several bestsellers on healthy lifestyles and healthcare — Dr. Andrew Weil. Listen to him.
January 2021
A Brief History of ‘Medicine’ and How It Became ‘Alternative’
Jennie Rothenberg Gritz    |    The Atlantic
This is probably one of the most debated and discussed topics in the medical world. Like the word 'Propaganda', the word 'alternative' too got its negative connotation only in the last century. What was once mainstream medicine, practiced traditionally worldwide, was pushed aside by the Western medical practices to make it appear to be an alternative or supportive therapy.

Never mind, not all news emerging from the developed world is bad news. According to official data published in the United States, in the year 1990 alone Americans made about 425 million visits to institutions and centers that provided some sort of unconventional therapy compared to 388 million visits to primary care physicians! And this number keeps increasing. Jennie Rothenberg Gritz, a former senior editor at The Atlantic and the author of this story learned about alternative medicine from her father who happened to be a family physician and she later studied Ayurveda. Titled “The Evolution of Alternative Medicine”, Jennie talks about the rising trend among American physicians to suggest alternative therapies such as acupuncture, meditation and yoga to their patients challenging the medical status-quo. Read The Atlantic story.
January 2021
What Heart Desires: Identifying the Wrong Villain in Cardiovascular Diseases
Anjula Razdan    |    Experience Life Magazine
There is nothing wrong with dying as death is a natural phenomenon. But there is something seriously wrong if we all ‘volunteer’ to die of heart ailments, stroke and other cardiovascular diseases by blaming the wrong villain — Cholesterol! Physicians look at elevated cholesterol as a symptom, not the main culprit — the food that we eat! According to experts, “the future of heart-disease prevention and treatment lies not in mere symptom management — lowering cholesterol, blood pressure and blood sugar via pharmaceuticals but in identifying the underlying causes of those symptoms.” This seems to be the most logical approach to transform the way we prevent and manage cardiovascular diseases.

In this essay titled ‘Rethinking Heart Health’ written by Anjula Razdan, the author lists a number of popular myths in order to create a new paradigm in heart health and also to remove centuries-old misconceptions surrounding the adverse effects of high cholesterol. Read, rethink.
January 2021
The Simple Task of Changing Genetics That Evolved Over 2.5 Million Years
Dr. Pradip Jamnadas    |    The Galen Foundation
No one asks a question without knowing the answer. When we ask “Can fasting help us to heal and to be healthier than before”, we already know the answer from our own subconscious mind, yet we want to ensure that we do not go wrong with our assumptions. Here comes the ‘intervention’ of Dr. Pradip Jamnadas, Founder of Cardiovascular Interventions and The Galen Foundation, a non-profit organization. He provokes us and teaches the beneficial biochemical changes that happen inside our body when we undergo fasting. He even encourages us to take the challenge of practicing controlled and Time-Restricted Fasting (TRF) for various health benefits including rejuvenation and mental clarity, as Greek philosopher Socrates did with his philosophy of frugality — in order to become closer to Gods!

Dr. Jamnadas has advice to his patients — take things into their own hands in order to prevent health situations and approach a physician only in a crisis. In this Galen Foundation lecture, which he himself describes as “highly controversial”, Dr. Jamnadas narrates the rationale behind dietary restriction and fasting with greater emphasis on prevention measures — something modern-day physicians are not very comfortable discussing. Listen to him!
January 2021
Dr. Mimi Guarneri on What Trauma Centers Did Not Teach Her
Dr. Mimi Guarneri    |    The Chopra Well
There is always a reason to change. For Dr. Mimi Guarneri, Integrative Medicine Cardiologist, researcher and author, it was probably the time she spent with clinical laboratories and trauma centers that motivated her to replace stents and angioplasty with yoga and meditation. When she realized true health is beyond supplements and antibiotics, she turned to Integrative Health and Medicines and science-based therapies and healing practices. She spent less time studying surgical techniques, but her own patients and their real experiences; she spent less time studying heart, but heart affected by emotions which she believes is the root cause of most chronic illnesses. According to Dr. Guarneri, health is much more than the absence of disease and one’s own spiritual practices and lifestyle changes could ultimately lead to true healing and transformation. Author of “The Heart Speaks: A Cardiologist Reveals the Secret Language of Healing”, she firmly believes that the day we replace "integrative or alternative medicine" with the holistic term “medicine”. She goes on predicting that choosing acupuncture over surgery is not too far if Western medical practitioners start treating the whole person instead of human body compartments.

This lecture given by Dr. Mimi Guarneri at the Chopra Center's 'Journey into Healing' event would be an eye-opener for many. Watch now!
“I understand living with an invisible chronic illness, and putting self-care last on the list. As a teenager, I had severe Rheumatoid Arthritis. I had all kinds of support and braces on the outside of my body and drugs on the inside, and at the age of nineteen I walked with a cane. The RA was severe for ten years, despite conventional western medical treatment. In my mid-twenties, I went rogue. I knew I could be healthier, and I knew I needed to adopt a new way for being in the world. I chose a path away from the medicine I grew up with and started meditating, studying movement therapy, thinking, reading, wondering.

I lived with pain for fifteen years. And now I don’t. I spent a lot of years trying different methods and practices, and I went back to grad school to receive a Masters in Holistic Health Education. A few years after completing my degree, I began specific study in a five-year program in Classical Ayurveda Clinical Medicine at Vedika Global, where I became an adjunct faculty member.

It would have been a far more direct path to health, had I learned about Ayurveda sooner. Ayurveda is my medical toolbox, my kaleidoscope for seeing the world, my map for understanding myself and finding the way back to being healthy. Ayurveda and Yoga taught me about my connection with myself and the world: what makes me well, what makes me sick. And when I understood that, then the fun happened: I began to re-establish the natural rhythms of my body and mind, recover my voice, my faith, and my health. I learned to consciously use my environment, my senses, the spices in my kitchen, my movement routines to support my being fully, healthily, wholly me.”

KATE SADOWSKY, MA, AP, CMT
(from www.embodiedhealth.com)
Rasayana
Rasāyana (रसायन) is a Sanskrit word literally meaning path (āyana) of essence (rasa). It is an early ayurvedic medical term referring to techniques for lengthening lifespans and invigorating the body.

Rasayana therapy enriches rasa with nutrients to help one attain longevity, memory, intelligence, health, youthfulness, excellence of luster, complexion and voice, optimum development of physique and sense organs, mastery over phonetics, respectability and brilliance.

Types of Rasayana
Kamya Rasayanas are promoters of normal health. These boost body energy levels, immunity and general health.
Pranakamya — Promoter of vitality and longevity.
Medhakamya — Promoter of intelligence.
Srikamya — Promoter of complexion.
Naimittika Rasayanas help to fight a specific disease.

In pursuit of these matters, herbal prescriptions with many herbal substances, preserved in ghee and honey are given. Chyawanprasha is one of the traditional rasayanas. Specific adaptogenic herbs are also included in rasayanas including haritaki, amla, shilajit, ashwaganda, holy basil, guduchi and shatavari.

Several rasayana herbs have been tested for adaptogenic properties:

The whole, aqueous, standardized extracts of selected plants (Tinospora cordifolia, Asparagus racemosus, Emblica officinalis, Withania somnifera, Piper longum and Terminalia chebula) were administered orally to experimental animals, in a dose extrapolated from the human dose, following which they were exposed to a variety of biological, physical and chemical stressors. These plants were found to offer protection against these stressors, as judged by using markers of stress responses and objective parameters for stress manifestations. Using a model of cisplatin induced alterations in gastrointestinal motility, the ability of these plants to exert a normalizing effect, irrespective of direction of pathological change was tested.... All the plant drugs were found to be safe in both acute and subacute toxicity studies. Studies on the mechanisms of action of the plants revealed that they all produced immunostimulation. The protection offered by Tinospora cordifolia against stress induced gastric mucosal damage was lost if macrophage activity was blocked. Emblica officinalis strengthened the defence mechanisms against free radical damage induced during stress. The effect of Emblica officinalis appeared to depend on the ability of target tissues to synthesize prostaglandins. Recent data obtained with Tinospora cordifolia have led researchers to suggest that it may induce genotypic adaptation, further opening the arena for more research and experimentation.
fasting culture
2020 : Voices & Sounds, by & for the Tribe!
November 2020
Dr. Douillard Unveils the Contextual Relationship Between Ayurvedic Cleansing and Fasting
John Douillard    |    LifeSpa
“Did you know that the number one cause of gallbladder disease is a low-to-no-fat diet? Considering gallbladder removal is the number one abdominal surgery in the US, I think this is worth talking about! In order to contract the gallbladder and use our bile properly, you need good quality fats. If you don’t eat enough fat, the gallbladder does not contract and empty properly. You need at least 10 grams of fat per meal to contract and empty the gallbladder. ...Decades of research has found that a low- or no-fat diet or prolonged fasting can cause the gallbladder to not contract fully, leaving concentrated bile to form sludge and stones. Ayurvedic cleanses employ a low-calorie diet of ghee, to force the gallbladder to fully empty, and a monodiet of kitchari. This supports the same benefits as fasting, including stem cell activation and autophagy (cell cleaning and repair).”
November 2020
Sraddhalu Ranade
November 2020
“
She puts forth a small portion of herself,
A being no bigger than the thumb of man
Into a hidden region of the heart
To face the pang and to forget the bliss,
To share the suffering and endure earth’s wounds
And labour mid the labour of the stars.
This in us laughs and weeps, suffers the stroke,
Exults in victory, struggles for the crown;
Identified with the mind and body and life,
It takes on itself their anguish and defeat,
Bleeds with Fate’s whips and hangs upon the cross,
Yet is the unwounded and immortal self
Supporting the actor in the human scene.
Through this she sends us her glory and her powers,
Pushes to wisdom’s heights, through misery’s gulfs;
She gives us strength to do our daily task
And sympathy that partakes of others’ grief
And the little strength we have to help our race,
We who must fill the role of the universe
Acting itself out in a slight human shape
And on our shoulders carry the struggling world.
This is in us the godhead small and marred;
In this human portion of divinity
She seats the greatness of the Soul in Time
To uplift from light to light, from power to power,
Till on a heavenly peak it stands, a king.”
Sri Aurobindo
(Aurobindo Ghosh)
Legendary Scholar, Revolutionary, Philosopher, Poet, Mahayogi —
(Son of India who became the Sage of Humanity)
November 2020
Pranayama: Art of Regulating the Breath or Becoming One With It?
Godfrey Devereux    |    Sutra Journal
Nothing seems to be a difficult task for someone like Godfrey Devereux who embraced yoga and meditation at the age of 16. In this essay titled ‘Pranayama in the Light of Consciousness’ by Devereux is an excellent read for those who want to understand Pranayama beyond the practice of regulating one’s breath. While ‘decoding’ Pranayama from ‘Classical’ yoga text as presented by Patanjali, the author observes that it is difficult to find a particular prescription or technique in any of the presentations of Asana, Pranayama, Pratyahara, Dharana, Dhyana or Samadhi but easy to see a systematic “infolding of awareness from the body and its breathing via mind and into consciousness”. Devereux suggests the way of distinguishing between self-inquiry and self-development and “therefore between Pranayama as self-development, practiced to improve our skills or develop our power, and Pranayama as self-inquiry where it is simply a means to explore the subtleties of our nature. Although self-development can never deliver the fruits of self-inquiry, the very same practice naturally generates many of the benefits that self-improvement is undertaken in pursuit of not least clarity, tranquility and understanding.” Read the essay.
November 2020
Quantum Physics, Consciousness, Health: A New Worldview and Potentiality to Discover Love & Life in the One
Amit Goswami    |    Mormon Transhumanist Association
“A critical level of confusion permeates the world today. Our faith in the spiritual components of life — in the vital reality of consciousness, of values, and of God — is eroding under the relentless attack of scientific materialism. On the one hand, we welcome the benefits derived from a science that assumes the materialist worldview. On the other hand, this prevailing worldview fails to satisfy our intuitions about the meaningfulness of life. ...During the past four hundred years, we have gradually adopted the belief that science can be built only on the notion that everything is made of matter — of so-called atoms in the void. We have come to accept materialism dogmatically, despite its failure to account for the most familiar experiences of our daily lives. In short, we have an inconsistent worldview. Our predicament has fueled the demand for a new paradigm — a unifying world view that will integrate mind and spirit into science. ...The world is not determined by initial conditions, once and for all. Every event of measurement is potentially creative and may open new possibilities. ...With nonlocal connection, we are forced to conceptualize a domain of reality outside space-time because a nonlocal connection cannot happen in space-time. There is another paradoxical way to think of the nonlocal reality — as being both everywhere and nowhere, everywhen and nowhen. This is still paradoxical, but it is suggestive, isn’t it? I cannot resist playing on the word nowhere, which as a child I read (the first time I encountered it) as now here. Nonlocality (and transcendence) is nowhere and now here.”
November 2020
November 2020
True Mystical Experience, Even for One Brief Duration, Shakes the Individual to the Roots, and Lives in the Memory as a Beacon of Light…
Pandit Gopi Krishna    |    The Institute for Consciousness Research
“In the study of consciousness it has been thoerized that there is a difference between the creative life-energy, prana-shakti, and the energy of consciousness, chit-shakti. This distinction is crucial to the resolution of the question of whether Kundalini is the basis of all mystical experience. ...What mystery surrounds the phenomenon we do not know even at the present advanced stage of knowledge of the brain. ...That there must be some variation in the brain or some other factor responsible for genius, extraordinary talent or paranormal faculties in human beings no one can deny. If it were not so, every average human being who tried hard for it could become a Plato, a Kalidas, a Shakespeare or a Newton. But such a transformation has never been possible to this day with any methods of education known to us. ...It is extremely hard, even for the most penetrating intellects, to grasp the nature of metaphysical entities. In spite of incredible laboratory facilities, atomic scientists face almost insuperable obstacles in determining the nature and properties of sub-nuclear particles. Bioelectricity or prana is far more complex than even sub-nuclear particles or matter. I, therefore, feel at a loss to understand how a distinction is made between ‘prana-shakti’ or ‘chit-shakti’. Since Consciousness is one, so must be the Shakti or Energy through which it acts, thinks, knows and feels.”
November 2020
Yogic Seeing of the One — Seeking God in Religion, Ideology, Philosophy, Science and Art
Dr. Alok Pandey    |    NAMAH Journal
“Since the divinity within us is One in its infinity, we also wish to see this sense of the One expressed in every other life. But since our idea of the One is limited by our narrow conception, therefore we try to either eliminate or crush down or relegate to an inferior position all that does not conform to our own belief system, be it religious or ideological since they are two sides of the same coin, for religion like Ideology is mind-born. They both catch the shadow of something true but neither understands what this shadow is nor how to realise it in life. The only difference is that while religion approaches it through the heart and hence sees behind this shadow a personal God, ideologies approach it in a secular manner by the thought and hence see behind their seeking an impersonal and universal possibility which man must attain. But both being in ignorance end up waging wars and become the source of much evil! ...What religion and ideology seek to worship, though mistaking the shadow for the Real, what science and art discover and experience in some utter moment of self-transcendence, that Yoga attempts through more direct means and with much more completeness.”
November 2020
What is Integral Yoga? A Birth of a New Species in the Divine Womb of Supramental Consciousness?
Manoj Pavitran    |    SOPANAM MEDIATRIX
This yoga accepts the value of cosmic existence and holds it to be a reality; its object is to enter into a higher Truth-Consciousness or Divine Supramental Consciousness in which action and creation are the expression not of ignorance and imperfection, but of the Truth, the Light, the Divine Ananda (Bliss). But for that, the surrender of the mortal mind, life and body to the Higher Consciousness is indispensable, since it is too difficult for the mortal human being to pass by its own effort beyond mind to a Supramental Consciousness in which the dynamism is no longer mental but of quite another power. The Sadhana [practice] of the Integral Yoga does not proceed through any set mental teaching or prescribed forms of meditation, mantras or others, but by aspiration, by a self-concentration inwards or upwards, by a self-opening to an Influence, to the Divine Power above us and its workings, to the Divine Presence in the heart and by the rejection of all that is foreign to these things. It is only by faith, aspiration and surrender that this self-opening can come. It is not merely to rise out of the ordinary ignorant world-consciousness into the divine consciousness, but to bring the supramental power of that divine consciousness down into the ignorance of mind, life and body, to transform them, to manifest the Divine here and create a divine life in Matter. (from the ‘Dictionary of Sri Aurobindo’s Yoga’ // auroville.org)
November 2020
When What Gets Repeated Heal and Transform the Initiator
Prof. Jai Paul Dudeja    |    International Journal of Advanced Scientific Technologies in Engineering and Management Sciences
The biggest challenge a reader faces in a vast library is in choosing the right books. Similarly, any beginner to Meditation may also struggle to choose the right kind of meditation that suits the requirements from a large number of techniques offered. In this research paper titled ‘Scientific Analysis of Mantra-Based Meditation and Its Beneficial Effects’, Prof. Jai Paul Dudeja, Director of Amity University, India goes deeper into the practice of Mantra-based Meditation and scientifically analyze the health benefits of the ancient practice. Prof. Dudeja has published more than 66 research papers and authored several books which include ‘Ajapa-Japa: Sohum-Hamsa Mantra’, an eternal chant-less Mantra which had a magical effect on him. The author who lists a number of health benefits one can achieve from the sound of Mantras — from regulated blood pressure, clarity of thoughts, improved immunity, alertness, happiness, peace, bliss and even enlightenment, cautions that “reciting a mantra without proper pronunciation of vowels and consonants in a faulty manner does not convey the intended meaning. Instead, it gets converted into a verbal thunderbolt and may harm the one chants”. Read more.
November 2020
Gregor Maehle Opens the Door to Spiritual Freedom Through Yoga Meditation
Gregor Maehle    |    Sutra Journal
Sometimes you need an authority to open the door to an invisible room with imaginary pillars. The job of defining the pillars that support an invisible world of Yoga and even measuring emptiness is best done by ‘Yoga Meditation: Through Mantra, Chakras and Kundalini to Spiritual Freedom’, the best-seller from modern-day mystic and Yoga guru Gregor Maehle. A practitioner of both Raja Yoga and Hatha Yoga since 1978, Gregor spent more than four decades in India practicing Yoga under renowned masters like B.K.S. Iyengar and K. Pattabhi Jois. Being a teacher of traditional Vinyasa Yoga, he is undoubtedly an avid critic of ‘posture-based Yoga’ and ‘Instagram Yoga’. Gregor categorizes various dimensions of Yoga and shows you the royal path, yet keeps the act of Grace of the Divine as the most important factor in attaining Spiritual Liberation. The excerpts from his book ‘The Hatha Yoga or the Physical Dimension of Meditation’ give us a systematic description about the significance of Hatha Yoga, the physical dimension of meditation; Raja Yoga, the mental dimension of meditation; Bhakti Yoga, the spiritual dimension of meditation and the final culmination with the Divine. You may begin your journey here!
November 2020
“
…physical mind is an extraordinary discovery. Yet it comes and goes under our very noses, drones in our ears and controls our slightest gestures, only we take no notice of it, or if we do, we find it so ridiculous that we discard it or drown it in the din of our noble thoughts, our noble feelings, and all our superior nobleness, all of which collapse in the end because we have not taken this microscopic bizarre character into account. The greatest discovery is to find out what is impeding us. If every species knew what impedes the next species, it would soon turn all its values upside down and find the way. But for that to happen, you must feel ill at ease in your own species, you must start suffocating a little — such is our privilege among all the little creatures happily going around in circles in their bowl. If a few fish had not started suffocating in their dried-up ponds, they would never have invented pulmonary respiration and transformed their fins into legs to become amphibians. This physical mind is precisely what suffocates us — insidiously, innumerably and quite implacably. It is our cage. It is the very wall of our human fishbowl. We do not need extraordinary mutations to break out of our bowl: we need to suffocate enough to find the means. Perhaps our species is precisely reaching the time of suffocation. ... a considerable degree of suffocation or demolition of the prevailing milieu is needed for another milieu to manifest. The obstacle is the lever. Our times strangely resemble those of the end of the dinosaurs on an earth they had ravaged — another means of living and breathing, or of not suffocating, has to be found. And each species has always its pioneer: a first fish that experiences pulmonary respiration, or something else — a being who takes the first step.”
Bernard Enginger
(Satprem)
French Author and Disciple of Mirra Alfassa
Japa & Mantra
“What is Japa? What is its rationale? What is its process? Japa is the repetition of a Mantra, a potent syllable or syllables, a word or a combination of words, done with the object of realising the truth embodied in the Mantra. The object may be mundane like the achievement of certain states of affluence, health, power; or it may be spiritual, say, the attainment of God in any or many of His aspects. In either case the Mantra which is chosen for Japa has the necessary power within it and by constant repetition under proper conditions the power can be evoked into operation to effectuate the purpose. The vibrations set up each time the Mantra is repeated go to create, in the subtler atmosphere, the conditions that induce the fulfilment of the object in view. The Divine Name, for instance, has the potency to stamp and mould the consciousness which repeats it into the nature of the Divinity for which the Name stands and prepare it for the reception of the gathering Revelation of the Godhead.

At the basis of the Science of Japa is the ancient perception of sages all over the world that Creation proceeds from sound. The universe has issued out of Nada Brahman, Brahman as sound. Each sound has a form, a subtle form which may not be visible to the physical eye. Equally each form in the creation has its own sound-equivalent, the sound which preceded its formation on the subtler planes of existence. When this particular sound is reproduced — even in its transcription on the human level in terms of our speech, — vaikhari as it is called — it sets in current the very vibrations which brought and therefore can bring that entity into being. Thus the Rishis perceived the sound-bodies of the Devatas, Deities, in their spiritual vision and audience and they instituted them as Mantras, as terms of Call to the respective Deities. When a Mantra is uttered effectively it sets in motion vibrations that evoke the corresponding Deity into the atmosphere where it is uttered. This in brief is the principle underlying the Mantra and Japa Yoga. That sound has form is a truth which is being confirmed today by Science…” (from JAPA by M. P. Pandit, DIPTI Publications)
fasting culture
2020 : Voices & Sounds, by & for the Tribe!
September 2020
Autophagy and Cell Autonomy: Connecting the Human Cells
Nina Fenouille, Anna Chiara Nascimben, Joëlle Botti-Millet, Nicolas Dupont, Etienne Morel & Patrice Codogno    |    Portland Press Limited on Behalf of the Biochemical Society
The Japanese Cell Biologist Yoshinori Ohsumi’s path-breaking discoveries on cellular components won him the 2016 Nobel Prize in Medicine. His findings also reshaped our understanding of autonomous cells and how they function. The quiet, low-profile professor from the Tokyo Institute of Technology always feared that young scientists would go after temporary comforts and would refuse to take risks in their field of activity. Soon after the Nobel recognition, a research paper published by a group of researchers from France added value to the existing human understanding about how the cell recycles its content. According to them, the primary objective of their review paper is “to discuss the non-cell-autonomous functions of autophagy and its systemic role as a mediator of the cross-talk between organs which is critical for normal physiological function.”

Download to read the Review.
September 2020
September 2020
“
The world will be made better only in proportion as we make ourselves better. The Vedantic truth that the world is only a projection — a function — of our consciousness is as pragmatically true as it is spiritually true. The ills that humanity suffers from — collectively and individually — stem from the errors that lie at the roots of our ignorant nature. We must be cleansed of these evils — individually first of all — if we ever hope to see a clean world outside. A yoga of self-purification is the condition precedent to a yoga of perfection.

But, in the end, a Higher Destiny leans over earth’s children and its ways are beyond calculation.” — 16 August 1967
Mirra Alfassa
(The Mother)
September 2020
In the Beginning There Was Light… Followed By A Rhythm
Dr. Satchidananda Panda    |    Interview by Dr. Rhonda Patrick
The first chapter of Genesis says “God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night”. Later, the holistic statement was deciphered and scientifically interpreted to be infused with the rhythm theory. The much-discussed Circadian Rhythm, a process that describes how we respond primarily to light and darkness is now a new dynamic market.

The experiments and discoveries on ‘Molecular Mechanism of Mammalian Circadian Rhythms’ and ‘Circadian Photo-entrainment’ conducted by Prof. Satchidananda Panda and his team led to the establishment of ‘Panda Research Lab’ at the historic Salk Institute for Biological Studies, USA. Maybe it is a coincidence that the 1965 Salt Institute was built by Louis Kahn, celebrated ‘architect of light’ who famously said “We are born of light. We only know the world as it is evoked by light.” In this video, Dr. Rhonda Patrick, biochemist and researcher gets into a conversation with Dr. Panda, exploring the relationship between light and food and their impact on out gut microbiome. Watch the video.
September 2020
Human Gut Microbiome and the Least Expected Connection With the Soil
Winfried E.H. Blum, Sophie Zechmeister-Boltenstern & Katharina M. Keiblinger    |    Microorganisms
Does soil contribute to the human gut microbiome? Well, the answer is there in the question itself. Believe it or not, the soil contributes to the development of the human gut microbiome according to studies conducted by scientists and researchers. It is also one of the major providers of the beneficial gut microorganisms, a community of millions of microbial genes. This research paper from the Institute of Soil Research, Austria establishes the relationship between the soil microbiome and the human intestinal microbiome. Does this mean the loss of soil biodiversity due to aggressive use of agrochemicals and unscientific soil management practices would lead to the loss of alpha diversity in the human gut?

Find out more and seek answers from this Review Paper.
September 2020
Duane Elgin Re-Introduces A Universe Different Than We Ever Imagined
Duane Elgin    |    Kosmos
A Native American proverb says, “Once you have heard the meadowlark and caught the scent of fresh-ploughed earth, peace cannot escape you.” This seems to be the case with Duane Elgin, citizen-voice activist and the author of ‘Awakening Earth’ and ‘Choosing Earth’. Yet it took almost 26 years for him to write the best-seller ‘The Living Universe’ as it is never an easy task for a writer or a serious researcher to bring together evidence from cosmology, biology and physics to prove the conventional scientific understanding of our universe as lifeless and monotonous.

According to Duane Elgin, “the most urgent challenge humanity faces today is not climate change or unsustainable population growth but how we understand the Universe and our intimate relationship within it.” Click to join Duane Elgin's pilgrim to our living Universe.
September 2020
Dr. Michael Klaper and His Unusual Prediction of ‘Angry Widows’
Dr. Michael Klaper    |    Interview by Rich Roll
Dr. Michael Klaper aka ‘Dr. K’ served NASA as an advisor on nutrition for long-term space colonists on the Moon and Mars while remaining immersed with one of the most difficult tasks back on earth — educating the next generation of doctors and medical practitioners! As a known vegan and health educator, he has guided thousands of people in the last four decades to lead a healthy lifestyle through plant-based improved nutrition. ‘Dr. K’ believes that “restructuring the way we look at medicine” would change the fate of the world’s health graph.

‘Dr. K’ predicts that “it is only a matter of time before an angry widow walks into the hospital to question the cardiologist on why he withheld the information that whole-food plant-based diet could have dissolved fatty, waxy plaque from the artery walls to save her husband's life.” According to ‘Dr. K’, the ‘angry widow’ deserves to win the lawsuit for the wrongful death of her husband on the operation table. In this edition of ‘Rich Roll Podcast’, hosted by Rich Roll, Dr. Michael Klaper reveals the future of medical education and the need for a plant-based diet in our complex and confused times!
September 2020
Healers of the Earth Vs. Dealers of Extractive Economy
Dr. Vandana Shiva    |    EcoFarm
The 40th Annual EcoFarm Conference, one of the largest get-togethers of organic farmers happened shortly before the Covid-19 pandemic engulfed and divided the world. In the keynote address ‘Two Paths to the Future of Food and Farming’, Dr. Vandana Shiva, food sovereignty advocate and environmental activist from India talked about three common principles around food and farming — “Principle of Diversity”, “Law of Return’ and “Sharing the Earth’s Gifts” or “Reclaiming Our Common Diversities”. She exposes multinational companies and corporations who ‘do nothing’ but are fortunate enough to be the ‘rent collectors of the environment’ and being indirectly responsible for hunger and famine across the globe.

As mentioned in her best-seller ‘Oneness Vs. The 1%: Shattering Illusions, Seeding Freedom’, Dr. Shiva warns about the disastrous consequences of Silicon Valley joining hands with the poison cartel for the next colonization of the world. Irrespective of where you stand on the issue of human impact on our diversity or sustainability, Dr. Shiva’s prophetic words may guide you in the right direction. Listen to her.
September 2020
Fasting for Life: Emerging Evidence for Optimal Health and Longevity
Valter D. Longo & Mark P. Mattson    |    Cell Metabolism
Is the longevity of a person predestined or dependent on free will and willpower? The answer can surface only after endless trials and applications of scientific findings based on evidence. Latest studies indicate that Intermittent Fasting (IF) and food deprivation have no impact on the lifespan of a fly but the very same factors are capable of increasing the lifespan of a human being “if worms in the body are fed little.” This happens when “both bacteria and yeast enter a hypo-metabolic mode that allows them to minimize the use of reserve carbon sources and accumulate high levels of the ketone-body-like acetic acid, analogously to mammals,” according to this Review Paper published by researchers from the Longevity Institute and the National Institute on Aging Intramural Research Program, USA. The study acknowledges the role of IF and the great potential for lifestyles during adult life which could eventually help to achieve optimal health and reduce the risk of chronic diseases.

Download to review.
September 2020
Why Jeffrey Smith Wants You to Eat Healthy and Also Talk About It?
Jeffrey M. Smith    |    The Real Truth About Health
Jeffrey Smith may be a failed politician, but he is a successful activist. The ‘consciousness-based education’ system promoted by the Maharishi International University, Iowa where he studied would have influenced Jeffrey Smith’s thoughts and his personality as a socially-conscious filmmaker, author and a known science communicator. A meditator since 1975, all efforts of Jeffrey are now focused on creating global awareness about the unsafe Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) and the impact on the human body and environment.

In ‘The Real Truth About Health’ video, Jeffrey explains how GMOs promote the growth of pathogens and exposes the real mission of Monsanto followed by a narration on why scientists from Monsanto refused to drink milk that contained hormones and why no study was ever conducted on livestock that are fed genetically-engineered feeds. Listen to Jeffrey Smith.
September 2020
The Ancient Practice of Kalabhojanam and the Wait for Unconventional Interpretations
Neha Pandey Prakash & Team Researchers    |    Annals of Ayurvedic Medicine
‘Kalabhojanam’ is as simple as Kala (Appropriate Time) and Bhojanam (Food or Meal). Charaka Samhita, the 4th century Sanskrit text on Ayurveda describes the strategy of Kalabhojanam as “food taken in time is responsible for good health”. Yet this ancient Ayurvedic method of healing was neither a trend nor a controlled strategy like Time-Restricted Feeding (TRF), but a common practice.

This research paper prepared by a group of Indian researchers and health practitioners make no attempt to portray Kalabhojanam as the only factor in the process of metabolism, but one among them. The researchers also present an interpretation of the ‘Kalabhojanam’ practice and TRF strategy for a greater understanding and comparison. However, they admit that the future of Ayurveda needs fresh interpretations to deal with modern-day challenges while integrating facts and theories from ‘Samhitas’ in order to change ground realities. Download, read and share.
September 2020
“
The gut is the seat of all feeling. Polluting the gut not only cripples your immune system, but also destroys your sense of empathy, the ability to identify with other humans. Bad bacteria in the gut creates neurological issues. Autism can be cured by detoxifying the bellies of young children. People who think that feelings come from the heart are wrong. The gut is where you feel the loss of a loved one first. It’s where you feel pain and a heavy bulk of your emotions. It’s the central base of your entire immune system. If your gut is loaded with negative bacteria, it affects your mind. Your heart is the seat of your conscience. If your mind is corrupted, it affects your conscience. The heart is the Sun. The gut is the Moon. The pineal gland is Neptune, and your brain and nervous system (5 senses) are Mercury. What affects the moon or sun affects the entire universe within. So, if you poison the gut, it affects your entire nervous system, your sense of reasoning, and your senses.”
Suzy Kassem
American Writer, Poet, Philosopher and Human Rights Activist
Phagocytosis
The ingestion of bacteria or other material by phagocytes and amoeboid protozoans.

Phagocytosis (from Ancient Greek φαγεῖν (phagein), meaning 'to eat', and κύτος, (kytos), meaning 'cell') is the process by which a cell uses its plasma membrane to engulf a large particle (≥ 0.5 μm), giving rise to an internal compartment called the phagosome. It is one type of endocytosis.

In a multicellular organism's immune system, phagocytosis is a major mechanism used to remove pathogens and cell debris. The ingested material is then digested in the phagosome. Bacteria, dead tissue cells, and small mineral particles are all examples of objects that may be phagocytized. Some protozoa use phagocytosis as means to obtain nutrients.

Phagocytosis is one of the main mechanisms of the innate immune defense. It is one of the first processes responding to infection, and is also one of the initiating branches of an adaptive immune response. Neutrophils, macrophages, monocytes, dendritic cells, osteoclasts and eosinophils can be classified as professional phagocytes. The first three have the greatest role in immune response to most infections.
fasting culture
2020 : Voices & Sounds, by & for the Tribe!
June 2020
Immunity and Impunity: Corruption in the State‐Pharma Nexus
Dr. Paddy Rawlinson    |    The International Journal for Crime, Justice and Social Democracy
WHO estimates that it is going to cost the world US$8 billion to develop a vaccine capable of preventing Covid-19. Never mind, 114 vaccines are already in the development and even pharma giants like Johnson & Johnson, which has a reputation of bribing government officials and health workers worldwide, is in the race to develop one after abandoning the production of its cancer-causing talcum powder! Be it charity or sex — anything that would eventually take the shape of an industry is likely to bring in economic benefits but do more harm to human societies. When it comes to both the pharma industry, and the governments, which is an industry of industries, we really do not know who was born first, but they are certainly born for each other. What makes pharma one of the most vulnerable industries to corruption and inefficiency?

Prof. Paddy Rawlinson who teaches International Criminology, Human and Development Studies at the Western Sydney University, Australia looks at the US$1.3 trillion worth pharmaceutical industry and its questionable nexus with governments and institutions across the globe — with the ultimate goal of controlling the world population. Read to know.
June 2020
Dr. Valter D. Longo & Dr. Satchidananda Panda
June 2020
“
Life is a perpetual choice between truth and falsehood, light and darkness, progress and regression, the ascent towards the heights or a fall into the abyss. It is for each one to choose freely.” — 29 February 1952

“At the very moment when everything seems to go from bad to worse, it is then that we must make a supreme act of faith and know that the Grace will never fail us.” — 1 January 1947

“It is when all seems lost that all can be saved. When you have lost confidence in your personal power, then you should have faith in the Divine Grace.” — 28 January 1970
Mirra Alfassa
(The Mother)
June 2020
A Parent’s Greatest Fear Transforms Into Her Most Empowered Decision
Dr. Cilla Whatcott    |    pathwaystofamilywellness.org
Cilla Whatcott was a parent who never questioned vaccines and health protocols, till one of them had an adverse reaction on her children. She set out on a quest to educate herself more so she could take more informed decisions in the future. As part of her quest, she experienced a total reorganization of her belief system and realized that no one was going to look out for her kids as she does — after all the others were motivated by factors such as adherence to education, dogma etc. She, on the other hand, was motivated by her love and responsibility towards them. Her children depended on her to be there for them and to know what the right thing is for them. She also came away with several other learnings, such as vaccines being nothing short of Chemical cocktails, and Homeoprophylaxis being a viable choice for parents who don’t want to select between the extreme choices of vaccinating or not vaccinating their children. Cilla Whatcott, a certified classical homeopath and the co-author of ‘The Solution: Homeoprophylaxis, The Vaccine Alternative’ writes about the alternatives and possibilities of a vaccine-free world. Read more.
June 2020
Dr. Zach Bush Dives Deep into an Engaging Discussion about the Human Body, Virus, Ecology and Cosmos
Dr. Zach Bush    |    Interview by Del Matthew Bigtree
Zach Bush, triple board-certified M.D., joins Del Matthew Bigtree for a deep-felt discussion about the Coronavirus. Dr. Zach, one of the most respected doctors of our time, educates us on how millions of viruses circle around us and are responsible for balancing the entire ecosystem. He combines subjects such as bacteria and viruses, human body and homeostasis with environment and ecology. He adds, if biodiversity is balanced, the life around us will remain in homeostasis. As we are familiar with the language of genomics and microbiomes, soon we will need to understand and retell the story of our life as being adaptive, regenerative and always looking for the next solution to the present crisis. In this evolutionary journey, experience the beauty of our life in its wholeness and realize that we are all spiritual beings! Watch this fascinating interview.
June 2020
Does a Yogic View on Bacteria and Microbes Have an Answer to Our Complex Lives and Healthcare Challenges?
Sraddhalu Ranade    |    Interview by Richard Eggenberger aka Narad
A scientist, scholar and educationist Sraddhalu Ranade, answers questions asked by Richard Eggenberger on virus, nature, and origins of the microbe from a yogic perspective, based on Sri Aurobindo's and The Mother's teachings. This conversation not only addresses the problem of viruses and bacteria but also the role good bacteria plays on a healthy body. Most medical practitioners today never focus on and share the features of good bacteria and its function in the gut. A healthy gut stores enough good bacteria to do wonders for a person’s health, and act upon existing deficiencies by converting food into Vitamins. However, the area of influence of bacteria and viruses is no longer limited to health and nutrition, but rather has entered the unfavorable territory being used as weapons against humanity. Watch video.
June 2020
Silence on Vaccine: Do You Hear Shots in the Dark?
Lina B. Moreco    |    NFB
It takes only a little effort to examine the safety and efficacy of vaccination, to witness the harsh realities. The documentary ‘Shots in the Dark: Silence on Vaccine’ by Lina B. Moreco, brings comparable views on public health dilemmas and vaccination — the fears and worries of our generations. The corporations who promote vaccines, never lose a single opportunity to make money, even during a global crisis, such as the ongoing pandemic. They have profited with dollars in both their hands, over these years on vaccines unless, we wake up to the reality! The number of vaccine victims are not less in this world, they have suffered, protested and still continue to undergo health difficulties due to the use of highly toxic substances in vaccines. Better the awareness and action from our generations, better the choices may get for the next generation. Watch video.
June 2020
Charles Eisenstein’s Profound Pondering on ‘Conspiracy Myth’
Charles Eisenstein    |    charleseisenstein.org
The conspiracy myth gives narrative form to an authentic intuition that an inhuman power governs the world. What could that power be? The conspiracy myth locates that power in a group of malevolent human beings (who take commands, in some versions, from extraterrestrial or demonic entities). Therein lies a certain psychological comfort, because now there is someone to blame in a familiar us-versus-them narrative and victim-perpetrator-rescuer psychology. Alternatively, we could locate the ‘inhuman power’ in systems or ideologies, not a group of conspirators. That is less psychologically rewarding, because we can no longer easily identify as good fighting evil; after all, we ourselves participate in these systems, which pervade our entire society. Systems like the debt-based money system, patriarchy, white supremacy, or capitalism cannot be removed by fighting their administrators. They create roles for evildoers to fill, but the evildoers are functionaries; puppets, not puppet masters. ...the prevailing Hollywood formula for righting the world’s wrongs: a heroic champion confronts and defeats the bad guy, and everyone lives happily ever after. Hmm, that is the same basic formula as blaming ill health on germs and killing them with the arsenal of medicine, so that we can live safe healthy lives ever after, or killing the terrorists and walling out the immigrants and locking up the criminals, all again so that we can live safe healthy lives ever after. Stamped from the same template, conspiracy theories tap into an unconscious orthodoxy. They emanate from the same mythic pantheon as the social ills they protest. We might call that pantheon Separation, and one of its chief motifs is the war against the Other.
June 2020
The Art of Surviving an Epidemic by Refusing Illness and Infusing Confidence with Trust in the Power of Grace!
Sri Aurobindo & The Mother
While an individual’s energy, thoughts and vibrations determine his/her experiences in life, ‘fear’ too plays an integral role in attracting these experiences and generating certain vibrations in our life. Sri Aurobindo and The Mother spoke about how fear is the basis of most illnesses one contracts, especially in context with the Spanish Flu influenza epidemic of 1914. Fear could be of various types — Mental, Vital or Physical and among all, physical fear or the fear in the cells, attracts illnesses the most. This type of fear is one where the body is afraid of everything that is unpleasant, painful, and as soon as there is any unease, even if insignificant, the cells of the body become anxious, since they don’t like to be uncomfortable. The only way to overcome such a physical fear is to undertake genuine yoga, so that the cells of the body which are afraid of everything that is unpleasant and painful, can be overcome with conscious will.

In Mother’s own words, “If one has a minimum of control over the body, one can lessen the effects of physical fear, but that is not immunity. It is this kind of trembling of material, physical fear in the cells of the body which aggravates all illnesses.” Read.
June 2020
Compulsory Vaccination? Who Plays A Big Role on Public Health and What You Can Do About It
Dr. Christiane Northrup    |    Interview by Matthew Belair
There should be a solid reason for why do medical statements or advice make no scientific or logical sense to most to us while we expect transparency behind every major healthcare decision. Dr. Christiane Northrup, 2013 Reader’s Digest's one of the ‘100 Most Trusted People in America’ unfurls stories to awaken us from the false ideas narrated by our so-called public health authorities over many years. Dr. Northrup is a visionary pioneer and leading authority in the field of women’s health and wellness. She is also firmly rooted in the concept of the unity of mind, body, emotions and spirit. No fear and influences, the interview combines her professional knowledge and inner wisdom. Listen to her!
June 2020
This American Physician Warned Us of A Pandemic Before Any Responsible Nation, World Leader or a Health Organization!
Dr. Michael Greger    |    The Humane Society of the United States
The pandemic that emerged from the novel Coronavirus is changing the way we lived our lives; the way we worked; and even the way we looked at things around us. The ‘unexpected’ virus outbreak also made scientists and astrologers irrelevant — for failing to prepare the mankind to face future pandemics and for not predicting the future of the very same mankind. This is where the relevance of Dr. Michael Greger, internationally-recognized expert on health issues, known also for his radical views on public health and diet.

In this prophetic speech delivered by Dr. Greger in 2008 as the Public Health Director at The Humane Society, Washington DC, he talks about some of the worst pandemics in our history, and how to treat the cause by preventing the emergence of pandemic viruses in the first place. Dr. Greger predicts almost all environment and health hazards humanity would probably undergo — from Climate Change to an emerging influenza pandemic. All he probably ‘missed’ in his lecture is the term — Covid-19, an official name developed by the World Health Organization (WHO) only in 2019. The message from Dr. Greger remains relevant even today as it was more than a decade ago. It is important that before any discussion on Covid-19, we understand a brief history of pandemics and the human factor. Watch before the next strike!
June 2020
The Illusion of Freedom of Choice in Medicine
Paula Rennings    |    P&P regisseurs
Are we conscious of our health? Do we mindfully choose our doctors when we fall ill? When each of our lives are inundated under the vast ocean of the modern medicinal system, we should make every attempt to awaken and protect our mind-body-soul before they collapse! The documentary titled ‘Freedom of Choice in Medicine’ shows a positive approach for cancer healing through ‘Homeopathy’, the known alternative medical discipline developed by Samuel Hahnemann. Watch this video to discover more about an alternative but a mindful way of healing with Homeopathy!
June 2020
Do We Know The Economics of Happiness?
Helena Norberg-Hodge, Steven Gorelick & John Page
Ladakh, one of the remotest places in the Indian Himalayas has a unique beauty which is reflected in the landscape and also in the local culture. Life in Ladakh was once a great example of ‘localization’ when people were happy to choose a sustainable community life at a time they believed that source of one’s happiness is not wealth, but a simple and healthy life. With globalization; wrong economic policies and understanding; migration and population transfer, Ladakhis are steadily losing their traditional knowledge and understanding; indigenous culture and even their connection with the environment. This is just one of the many such communities across the world which needs to refocus on building ecological economies and sustainable local cultures.

To know more about two opposing directions of human life and culture, watch the documentary ‘The Economics of Happiness’.
June 2020
A Primer on Priming Immunity: What Works and Why?
Dr. Laura Kelly    |    drlaurakelly.com
A group of scientists believe that novel Coronavirus is here to stay while some believe that the deadly virus may soon die out without even having a vaccine. The immune system and its reaction to Covid-19 have come under much discussion since the beginning of this year. Dr. Laura Kelly, an integrative physician shares an interesting research about commonly available ingredients, such as Mushrooms, which could all have a positive impact on our immune systems. Any immune enhancement regiment should not only increase endurance and reduce fatigue but should also interact directly with immune system cells. Mushrooms meet all these requirements and can easily be combined with conventional Western treatments too. Herbs such as Glycyrrhiza, Ashwagandha, Astragalus, Ginseng combined with a focused approach on gut health, supplementation, quality sleep, listening to music and/or meditation are also effective ways to boost immunity. This approach also proves the truth of the old age adage of “prevention is better than cure” in the case of Covid-19. Find out more.
Holobiont   
A holobiont is an assemblage of a host and the many other species living in or around it, which together form a discrete ecological unit. A holobiont is a collection of species that are closely associated and have complex interactions, such as a plant species and the members of its microbiome. Each species present in a holobiont is a biont, and the genomes of all bionts taken together are the hologenome, or the "comprehensive gene system" of the holobiont. A holobiont typically includes a eukaryote host and all of the symbiotic viruses, bacteria, fungi, etc. that live on or inside it. Holobionts include the host, virome, microbiome, and other members, all of which contribute in some way to the function of the whole.
fasting culture
2020 : Voices & Sounds, by & for the Tribe!
March 2020
The Science of Tridosha Theory: Our Brain‑Types, A Neural Model of Individual Differences
Dr. Frederick T. Travis & Dr. Robert Keith Wallace    |    Journal of Ayurveda & Integrative Medicine
Successful practices made the ancient science of Ayurveda one of the richest traditions with deepest insights on life. Today, we live in an age where ‘scientific validity’ is much more crucial than successful practices and clinical experiences. Frederick T. Travis and Robert Keith Wallace, researchers associated with the Maharishi University of Management, USA present a combined study on ‘Tridosha’ or the ‘Three Humour Theory’ as defined by the traditional Ayurvedic system. The paper which presents different patterns of functioning of Vata, Pitta, and Kapha Brain-Type models could be an eye-opener even for the critics of Ayurvedic tradition and knowledge. This is also a study on “reported patterns of blood chemistry, genetic expression, physiological states, and chronic diseases associated with each dosha type.” Read to know more and to find out which Brain-Type you are — based on your behavior patterns of functioning.
March 2020
Andrea Zaccaro & Team Researchers
March 2020
“
This body is not at all its former self: it is scarcely more than a concentration, a kind of agglomeration of something; it's not a body in a skin — not at all. It is a sort of agglomeration, a concentration of vibrations. And even what is normally called an “illness,” even these functional disorders do not have the same meaning for this body as they have for doctors, for instance, or for ordinary people — it's not like that, it doesn’t feel them like that. It feels them rather as ... like a kind of difficulty in adjusting to a new vibratory need.”
Mirra Alfassa
(The Mother)
March 2020
Nada Yoga: A Tool for Meditation or A Form of Meditation?
Film: Courtesy of Gaia.com
Ann Dyer is a community creator, Yoga teacher and a sound practitioner who dropped out of school to study music. She now teaches SoundYoga, a term coined by her for practices of personal transformation. In a Gaia video titled ‘Nada Yoga: Transformation Through Sound’, Ann Dyer explains the origin, practices and principles of ancient Indian metaphysical system of ‘Nada Yoga’ to Rodney Yee, renowned Yoga instructor. In her own words, “The entire universe is composed of sound vibration. Nada Yoga is an act harnessing the power of sound as a yoga practice. Nada Yoga is not just a tool for meditation, but every form of this practice is a meditation itself. It is also the sound of the void!” Listen to Ann Dyer and the Sound of Yoga.
March 2020
The Clock Vs. the Scale: How to Handle the ‘Elephant in the Room’ with Time-Restricted Feeding (TRF)
Kelli L. Vaughan & Julie A. Mattison    |    Cell Press
Doctors describe symptoms of Diabetes as the ‘tip of an iceberg’ and the rising medical expenditure as an ‘elephant in the room’. Is Diabetes a chronic or progressive disease? Doctors agree and disagree. Originally titled ‘Watch the Clock, Not the Scale’, this Cell Metabolism report focuses on Time-Restricted Feeding interventions as a clinical tool to deal with Type 2 Diabetic which has already developed among 387 million people worldwide. This study challenges the popular concept of body weight loss to achieve metabolic benefits and shows a way forward. Read the report.
March 2020
The Distant Sun: A Free Energy Source or The Face of God?
Dr. David Frawley    |    The American Institute of Vedic Studies
Be it a Sunbath or a Sun Salutation, the Sun remains an integral source and the spiritual force of our existence on this planet. In a thought-provoking essay, Dr. David Frawley aka Pandit Vamadeva Shastri, an expert on Vedas, Yoga, Ayurveda and Vedic Astrology writes about the Vedic religion of ‘Sun’ — often defined as the ‘Face of God’ and the spiritual and supreme force of life on Earth. According to the author, “as beneficiaries, we, the human beings need to cultivate the external Sun not only as an energy source but the inner Sun, the source of inspiration and meditation in this ecological age.” Read more.
March 2020
What Makes Birds and Bats to Share an Unusual Microbiome Structure?
Se Jin Song, Jon G. Sanders, Florent Mazel & Holly L. Lutz    |    American Society for Microbiology
Not all creatures depend on their gut microbiomes for digestion, immunity and survival. A recent discovery shows that birds and bats are found to have an unusual microbiome structure, just because they cannot afford to carry and feed the necessary bacteria while flying! Sounds simple? Well, it takes a dozen researchers, zoologists and biologists to collect, process and assess gut microbiomes from the faecal samples collected from 900 vertebrate species, including 315 mammals and 491 birds from Auckland Zoo in New Zealand to the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg in an attempt to establish a point. Read about the recent discovery from an unusual institutional collaborative mission. Click to access the research paper.
March 2020
Abdominal Brain, the Wisdom Behind the True Healing and Emotions in the Small Intestine
Osnat Livni    |    Journal of Natural & Ayurvedic Medicine
Ever wondered why some people never get a good night’s sleep? Probably we completely ignored the trillions of good microbes that live inside the human body making our gut a true world of diversity — consisting of bacteria, fungi, viruses, bugs, single-celled microorganisms etc. Chinese healers call the Gut ‘The Abdominal Brain’ or the ‘Second Brain’ responsible for instinctive wisdom and emotional intelligence. Latest scientific studies show that poor sleep is closely connected to poor diversity of microbiota in our gut. And there is a long list of health issues such as Parkinson’s, depression, stress, Inflammatory Bowel Disease and many autoimmune diseases that are results of a poor microbiota diversity.

What makes our ‘Gut’ sensations a mysterious one? Read more to find out.
March 2020
Energy from Food Vs. Energy from the Cosmos: Can Breatharianism Ever Become a New Reality?
Viliam Poltikovic    |    MAITREA
No one really knows when God created food. But fasting, a creation of human beings has a documented history. As a wandering ascetic, Shakyamuni Buddha who lived in the 5th Century BC went on fasting seeking enlightenment. And in the tenth century, Gelongma Palmo, a princess-turned Buddhist nun, either from the region of Kashmir or Afghanistan worshipped by Tibetan Buddhists is believed to have meditated and fasted for years without food or drink and got cured from leprosy that almost crippled and decomposed her body. Centuries later in the year 1600, Martha Taylor, a ten-year old girl from England with a history of poor health from birth had completely given up nourishment to survive for almost a year. The end of her life was also the end of popular myths on fasting.

Directed by Viliam Poltikovic, ‘Living Off Energy, We Are Energy’ (2015) documents the lives of modern-day Breatharians who’ve chosen to live on universal energy instead of solid food. Watch and Fast!
March 2020
Dr. Neal Barnard Reveals Possible Answers to Why the Dairy Industry Wants You to ‘Say Cheese’
Dr. Neal Barnard    |    vegsource.com
It's hard to find a young Tibetan not carrying a piece of hard ‘Churra’ or the dried cheese produced from the female yak milk in his pockets. Storing and carrying fat-calorie-containing cheese in solid form help the mountainous people to survive in high-altitudes. This old school of making hand-made cheese from milk is dead! The sophisticated cheese industry worth US$69 billion has taken over the control of consumption and marketing of cheese across the globe. It is estimated that cheese market may reach US$112 billion by 2025!

In this video, author of the best-seller ‘The Cheese Trap’ Dr. Neal D. Barnard talks about the ill-effects of dairy; cheese addiction of our generation and the collusion between government institutions and dairy corporations. Watch now!
March 2020
Do You Wonder About the Impact of Intermittent Fasting on Your Health, Aging and Disease? Time to Explore!
Dr. Rafael de Cabo & Dr. Mark P. Mattson    |    The New England Journal of Medicine
Fasting is understood by different cultures differently. For some, ‘Upvas’ or fasting also meant ‘Being With God’, in which therapeutic or physiological benefits are not the primary objectives of the act. The intent of every modern-day fasting regime including Intermittent Fasting (IF), is the reduction of calorie intake. Fasting is beyond belief systems and alternative energy stores. In this Review Article published by The New England Journal of Medicine, Rafael de Cabo and Mark P. Mattson systematically outline the therapeutic effects of Intermittent Fasting on health, aging, and disease. The study concludes with the ratification that “safety and efficacy of pharmacologic approaches are likely to be inferior to those of intermittent fasting.” Review the publication.
March 2020
Michael Pollan Cautions About the New Ideology of ‘Nutritionism’
Michael Pollan
We live in a world of paradoxes. We are a generation blessed to have tasted the traditional food cooked by a loving mother or grandmother. We are also a ‘fortunate generation’ to have tasted the food cooked, processed and packaged by the greedy corporations. Food was all about love, generosity, appreciation, sharing, knowledge, community, traditions, beliefs, spirituality and even truce, until taken over by the rich food industry destroying the traditional knowledge system and our diet. In a 2009 lecture given at the Temple Judea, Florida, Michael Pollan, social activist and the author of ‘In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto’ talks about our functional relationship to food and the American people’s unhealthy obsession with healthy eating. He coined the provocative term ‘Nutritionism’ — defined as the “ideology of looking at food through a pseudo-scientific lens.”

Listen to Michael Pollan.
March 2020
‘V’ for ‘Victory’ or ‘Veganism’? May Be Both!
Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics    |    eatright.org
If numbers are true, we have a reason to rejoice. According to GlobalData, there is an unbelievable 600% increase in the number of US customers identifying themselves as Vegans between a short period of 2014 and 2019. With more and more plant-based alternatives to meat and dairy are capturing people’s minds and the food market, Veganism is on the rise and is a clear winner. This Position Paper published by the US-based Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, one of the largest non-profit organizations of food and nutrition professionals could prove to be a useful dietary guide to vegetarians and vegans. The paper presents a list of possible nutritional deficiencies with vegans and remedies; chronic diseases and therapeutic vegetarian diets; appropriate plant-based diet for all stages of life-cycle and even useful links to consumer websites. Download to read.
March 2020
Silent Consciousness: Observing the Consciousness Without Reportable Contents
Bernard J. Baars    |    Frontiers
“Silence is truth. Silence is bliss. Silence is peace. And hence Silence is the Self,” says Ramana Maharshi, Indian sage in one of his reflections on silence. From Zen Buddhism to Patanjali Yoga Sutra, we see a mention of ‘Silent Consciousness’ or the fourth state of consciousness defined as simple as — consciousness without reportable contents. In this Opinion Article, Bernard J. Baars from The Neurosciences Institute, USA writes about the scientific approach to silent consciousness, or the direct knowledge of metaphysical reality. Find out more.
March 2020
“
A little starvation can really do more for the average sick man than can the best medicines and the best doctors.”
Mark Twain
Writer, Humorist, Orator and the 'Father of American Literature'
Xenophagy
In microbiology, xenophagy is the autophagic degradation of infectious particles. Cellular autophagic machinery also play an important role in innate immunity. Intracellular pathogens, such as Mycobacterium tuberculosis (the bacterium which is responsible for tuberculosis) are targeted for degradation by the same cellular machinery and regulatory mechanisms that target host mitochondria for degradation. Incidentally, this is further evidence for the endosymbiotic hypothesis. This process generally leads to the destruction of the invasive microorganism, although some bacteria can block the maturation of phagosomes into degradative organelles called phagolysosomes. Stimulation of autophagy in infected cells can help overcome this phenomenon, restoring pathogen degradation.
fasting culture
2020 : Voices & Sounds, by & for the Tribe!
January 2020
The Joy of Fasting in the Age of Pleasure-Oriented Consumption
Lyam Thomas Christopher    |    Forbidden Realms
Sometimes, it is necessary for us to take a roller-coaster ride — from Biblical myths to civilizational diseases to understand the history of fasting and the journey of white sugar aka the white poison! Lyam Thomas Christopher, a practicing Hermeticist and bio-hacker beautifully chronicles the story of fasting and recommends ways to do an effective fasting to lead a healthy-life without carbohydrates. This well-intended essay neither makes an effort to glorify the fasted state nor neglects the ill-effects of sugar on our physical body and brain. Read full essay.
January 2020
Parallels in Ayurveda and Biomedicine suggest a deeper engagement with traditional knowledge systems. The recreation of methodologies that enabled a holistic approach to health in Ayurveda may unravel some of the complex connections with Nature.
Dr. Unnikrishnan Payyappallimana & Dr. Padma Venkatasubramanian
January 2020
“
Each time a new element is introduced into the possible combinations, it causes what may be called a “tearing of limits”.... It is obvious that modern scientific perception is much closer to something corresponding to the new reality than, say, were the perceptions of the Stone Age — without a shadow of doubt. But even that will suddenly find itself completely outdated, surpassed, and probably overturned with the intrusion of something which was not in the universe that was studied. It is this change, this sudden transformation of the universal element that will quite certainly bring about a kind of chaos in the perceptions, out of which a new knowledge will emerge.”
Mirra Alfassa
(The Mother)
January 2020
What Developed First — Brain or Gut? Trust Your Gut Feeling!
Dr. Emeran Mayer    |    Goop
For over a century, experts debated over what developed first — the Brain or the Gut. And by now, we all know that microorganisms that developed millions of years ago make our gut the second brain! According to our scientific community, it is possible to enhance the mind-gut relationship to boost immunity, change our mood or even treat chronic diseases. In this narrative presented in a Question & Answer format, Dr. Emeran Mayer, neuroscientist and the author of ‘The Mind-Gut Connection’ answers some of the complex questions surrounding the mystery of how the tiny microbes in the gut communicate with the human brain. Read the narrative.
January 2020
The Rise of ‘Sunrise Culture’ of Love and Healing
Chad Cornell    |    Our Common Roots
“Why can’t we as North American doctors prescribe herbal medicine or homeopathy as is the case in other countries like China, India and parts of Europe?” This 'trillion-dollar question' from a young doctor provoked Chad Cornell, a Natural Healing Practitioner from Canada to write about the Sunrise Culture of love and healing — our attempt to rediscover and relearn the traditional way of having a holistic approach to life and environment. He envisions of a dynamic movement toward freedom, health, and happiness sans toxic chemicals. Read more.
January 2020
Extraction to Extinction: Global Rescue Mission For A Sustainable World
Sally Angel & Josh Good
In an inspirational documentary ‘Animate Earth’, Dr. Stephan Harding, a close associate of James Lovelock, ecologist who co-developed the ‘Gaia Hypothesis’ talks about one of the root causes for the degradation and disintegration of our living earth in the absence of holistic approach to issues. In order to understand and present the core issue of traditional science without intuition vs. holistic science, the presenter brings together leading environmentalists and scientists such as — Jules Cashford, Vandana Shiva, Brian Goodwin, Iain McGilchrist, Fritjof Capra, and Satish Kumar. Watch now.
January 2020
“
I think of veganism humbly and holistically. It’s about taking personal responsibility in a world so full of needless suffering. It’s challenging one’s self to open one’s eyes and question society’s assumptions and habits. It’s about critical thinking and compassion and how we would like to see the world evolve.”
Dr. Michael Greger
Nutrition Expert and Author of 'How Not to Die' and 'How Not to Diet'
January 2020
Sounds from Silence & the Science of Mantra
Swami Rama    |    Yoga International
Swami Rama (1925-1996), founder of the Himalayan Institute talks about the science of Mantra in the ancient tradition of meditation. He believes that without the benefit of a Mantra, the task of making an inner pilgrimage to the deepest level of being would be Impossible. Swami Rama cautions that however authentic a Mantra maybe, given to a student for whom it is not appropriate, will be of no benefit, unless they are prepared to purify their body, senses and mind through preliminary practices. Read to know more.
January 2020
Global Alliance for the Sacred: An Utopia or A Possibility?
Martin Winiecki    |    Kosmos Journal for Global Transformation
Non-violence and spirituality are as old as mountains and rivers. Thousands of people across the globe continue to sacrifice the comforts of their normal lives to defend and preserve our indigenous culture and environment. From Greta Thunberg in Sweden to Malala Yousafzai in Pakistan, the young activists are demonstrating that the 21st century belong to them. They are even proving that any environmental and social movements feminine in its essence is still relevant and applicable. Activist and networker Martin Winiecki writes about the need for global collaboration and alliance for the success of spiritual movements. Read to find out more.
January 2020
Ayurveda Simplified: Regina Meredith in Conversation with Dr. Nita Desai
Film: Courtesy of Gaia.com
In this GaiamTV interview, Dr. Nita Desai, an integrated medicine doctor and an Ayurvedic practitioner talks about the wonders of the 5000-year-old Indian medical tradition of Ayurveda; ‘Tridosha’ theory — the balance of three fundamental bodily substances and the ancient skills used to diagnose diseases by observing one's face, nail, tongue, urine and pulse. “Western medicine is great for emergencies. But it is weak at solving the issue of chronic problems, as these tend to arrive from energy imbalances, and that’s exactly where Ayurveda comes in,” she states while proposing a blend of the ancient wisdom of Ayurveda with modern medical techniques.
January 2020
Demystifying Meditation Beyond ‘Normal Human Happiness’
Dr. Michael McGee    |    Psychiatry
Dr. Michael McGee, clinical instructor in Psychiatry explores possibilities with the ancient Asian technique of Meditation as a therapeutic application for healing from modern-day psychiatric illnesses. The author suggests more clinical studies followed by scientific experiments and recommends psychiatrists to receive the practice of Meditation to develop remedial applications in the field of psychotherapy. This review is an attempt to examine the effect of Meditation in treating complex psychophysiological functions and behaviors.
January 2020
Detoxing Life: Dr. Jason Fung on Fasting for Health and Longevity
Dr. Jason Fung    |    Diet Doctor
Wondering what a Nephrologist is doing at a Podcast studio discussing intermittent-fasting? In this Diet Doctor Podcast hosted by Dr. Bret Scher, renowned Canadian Nephrologist and an advocate of Intermittent Fasting, Dr. Jason Fung answers some of the common and complex questions on fasting and outlines the difference between fasting and starving. According to him, fasting is voluntary and controlled unlike starving — “like someone running for fun and running because a lion is chasing after him.” Known for unique and radical views, Dr. Fung recommends fasting as a potent antidote to obesity and Type II Diabetes. Listen to the Podcast.
January 2020
‘There Is No Planet B’ in a Divine Plan
Corinne McLaughlin & Gordon Davidson    |    The MOON Magazine
How determined and prepared are we, the ‘custodians’ of this Planet to carry out the Divine Plan or the Evolution of Consciousness? Are we worthy enough to enjoy the fruits of the Mother Earth without appreciating and understanding her plans? According to Corinne McLaughlin and Gordon Davidson, co-authors of ‘Spiritual Politics, Builders of the Dawn’, our Planet as a living-being is desperately struggling to reorient itself toward Spirit and to undergo a purification process in order to retain its sanctity and sacredness. Read and act now.
January 2020
“
Fasting is the first principle of medicine; fast and see the strength of the spirit reveal itself.”
Rumi
Mystic, Poet & Philosopher
January 2020
What Threatens Our Existence As A Living Being Is Now Identified — The Human Mind!
Prof. Nathaniel Barr & Prof. Gordon Pennycook    |    Quartz Africa
While acknowledging the technical advancements and scientific innovations made by man since creation, Prof. Nathaniel Barr and Prof. Gordon Pennycook, co-authors of this essay caution about the irreparable damage and challenges that have arisen from the very same advancements and innovations. This essay, adapted from a chapter in ‘The New Reflections in Cognitive Psychology’, unveils the ultimate source that threatens our own existence on this living planet — the Human Mind! Read the essay.
January 2020
Calorie Restriction and Our Ethical Pursuit of Immortality
Dr. Morten Scheibye-Knudsen    |    The Scientist
The Calorie, a term that was once developed to measure the efficiency of steam engines is probably one of the most used and printed words of our times. And by now, the Calorie war has divided the scientific community, calorie-conscious population as well as global food producers. As a Research Fellow at the National Institute on Aging, USA, Morten Scheibye-Knudsen focuses on brain-aging and how dietary interventions could have a positive impact on the neurological decline. The author is optimistic that possible therapeutic interventions will have the capacity to modulate or prevent the decline of brain-aging. An excellent read for weight-watchers.
Ketogenesis
Ketogenesis is the biochemical process through which organisms produce ketone bodies through the breakdown of fatty acids and ketogenic amino acids. This process supplies energy under circumstances such as fasting or caloric restriction to certain organs, particularly the brain, heart and skeletal muscle. Insufficient gluconeogenesis can cause hypoglycemia and excessive production of ketone bodies, ultimately leading to a life-threatening condition known as ketoacidosis.
fasting culture
2019 : Voices & Sounds, by & for the Tribe!
November 2019
Art of Healing Vs. Engineering of Healing: Benefits of Working With Subtle Energies
Philippa Lubbock    |    Conscious Lifestyle Magazine
Philippa Lubbock, author of ‘The Healing Power of Life Alignment’ whose evidence-based ‘Mind As the Source of Disease’ theory led to further research on healing methods. While endorsing the science and the art of healing, she cautions that any model that excludes mind, heart and spirit merely becomes a form of engineering, not art. In this essay, Philippa Lubbock offers three practical exercises to work with subtle energies.
November 2019
“Throughout the ages, certain individuals and groups have tried to create a body that could contain more light and that could therefore house the highest degree of spiritual consciousness… This is an important fact for those who wish to serve the Earth.”
Guruji-Ma
November 2019
“
Can we hope that this body, at present our means of terrestrial manifestation, will have the possibility of transforming itself progressively into something which will be able to express a higher life, or will it be necessary to abandon this form totally to enter another which does not yet exist on earth? Will there be a continuity or will there be a sudden appearance of something new?”
Mirra Alfassa
(The Mother)
November 2019
A Study on the Silent Effect of Noise on Our Brains and Our Right to Have a Silent Zone on Our Planet
Azriel Re'Shel    |    UPLIFT
It is scientifically proven that silence has a unique ability to heal our body, mind and soul. Author, editor, social worker and Yoga teacher, Azriel Re'Shel writes about the powerful physical effect of noise on our brains, causing elevated levels of stress hormones. According to her, silence may be just what we need to regenerate our exhausted brains and bodies in our noisy modern world.
November 2019
Future Medicine: A Collaboration of Modern Medical Knowledge and Wisdom of Traditional Healers
Todd Pesek, Lonnie Helton & Murali Nair    |    EcoHealth
In a research paper titled, ‘Healing Across Cultures: Learning From Traditions’, three researchers from the Cleveland State University, USA discuss the balance between the natural world and human health while proposing a collaboration capable of developing mutually beneficial learning partnerships combining modern medical knowledge with the wisdom of traditional healers around the world. Find out more.
November 2019
The Unmeasurable Prana and Quantifiable Chi: Overlapping Properties With Endless Possibilities
TM Srinivasan    |    International Journal of Yoga
In this journal, T.M. Srinivasan of Swami Vivekananda Yoga Anusandhana Samsthana examines the overlapping properties of both Prana and Electrons. The author proposes subtle ‘Prana’ and observable ‘Chi’, the Chinese equivalent for Prana are distinct in conception and activity level, hence the interaction between ‘Prana-Chi-Electrons-Health’ needs to be tested and experimented. Read the journal.
November 2019
The Ancient Practice of Fasting Finds New Takers in the Modern World
Sylvie Gilman & Thierry de Lestrade    |    Arte France, Via Découvertes
The documentary ‘Science of Fasting’ (2012), directed by Sylvie Gilman and Thierry de Lestrade examines the unknown and hidden powers of the ancient practice of fasting at a time biologists, scientists, doctors and researchers in Russia, Germany and the US are exploring a therapeutic approach to fasting based on clinical studies. Their experiments and findings are captivating!
November 2019
“Sound & Technologies of Consciousness”
Film: Courtesy of Gaia.com
This 2019 Gaia Original documentary featuring Swami Suddhananda, Sally Kempton, Yogi Amandeep, and many other spiritual masters and experts explores Nada Yoga, an ancient Indian meditation technique that uses music and sound to calm the mind. Filmed across the Indian subcontinent, this episode takes a deeper look at the ancient system of inner transformation through sound vibrations or Nadas. Watch now.
November 2019
Fasting Trends in a Starving World: A Reality Check on the Benefits of Intermittent Fasting
Dr. Andreas Michalsen    |    The Wall Street Journal
After Mediterranean and Keto diets, ‘Intermittent Fasting’ retains its position in the list of most-Googled eating trends in the United States. Author of ‘The Nature Cure: A Doctor’s Guide to the Science of Natural Medicine,’ Dr. Andreas Michalsen talks about two profound benefits of fasting — longevity and immunity. Is our modern world slowly finding the spiritual and health benefits of an ancient practice? Find out.
November 2019
“Wisdom of Ayurveda”
Film: Courtesy of Gaia.com
Can the ancient Indian tradition of Ayurveda trump modern science for bringing the body into healthy states of well-being? In this video, Natural Health Physician and the creator of LifeSpa, Dr. John Douillard talks about the avenues of consciousness that allow body and mind to access a deeper state of self-awareness and healing. He also discusses the cause of brain fog, the importance of sleep and the connection between digestion and stress.
November 2019
Strategies to Modulate Gut Microbiota, the Virtual Organ of the Human Body
Ana M. Valdes, Jens Walter, Tim D. Spector & Eran Segal    |    The British Medical Journal
Ana M. Valdes, Associate Professor at School of Medicine, University of Nottingham and her team of researchers discuss the possible strategies for modulating the gut microbiota through diet and probiotics. Their study warns about the adverse impact of antibiotics and pesticides while highlighting the benefits of probiotics and dietary fiber on the gut microbiota. Read the findings published by the BMJ.
November 2019
Breath or Consciousness? A Guide to Prana, One of the Most Important Yogic Thoughts
The American Institute of Vedic Studies    |    VedaNet
Defined as simply as breath and as the energy of consciousness, Prana, the primary energy is probably the most understood and misunderstood term of our times. This analysis by the American Institute of Vedic Studies is about Prana, one of the most important Yogic thoughts — five Pranas, Pranamaya Kosha is composed of.
November 2019
Dr. Bruce H. Lipton on ‘The Wisdom of Your Cells: How Your Beliefs Control Your Biology’
Dr. Bruce H. Lipton    |    brucelipton.com
This transcription is derived from ‘The Wisdom of Your Cells: How Your Beliefs Control Your Biology’ presentation given by renowned American Cell Biologist Dr. Bruce H. Lipton. Based on his new understanding of science, Dr. Lipton explains how disharmony in a ‘community’ of 50 trillion living cells could develop a disease on any individual human body.
November 2019
“
I believe that it may be normal, healthy, and even productive to experience mild to moderate depression from time to time as part of the variable emotional spectrum, either as an appropriate response to situations or as a way of turning inward and mentally chewing over problems to find solutions.”
Dr. Andrew Weil
Author of 'Spontaneous Healing' and an Authority on Integrative Medicine
Autophagy
Autophagy (or autophagocytosis), from the Ancient Greek αὐτόφαγος autóphagos, meaning ‘self-devouring’ and κύτος kýtos, meaning ‘hollow’, is the natural, regulated mechanism of the cell that removes unnecessary or dysfunctional components. It allows the orderly degradation and recycling of cellular components.

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