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Over the counter and specialty lotions and creams are what most people do to keep their skin and hair looking great each day.  There is, however, a growing trend these days toward the concept that looking great year after year as you age requires paying more attention to being healthy on the inside in order to achieve a healthy looking outside.

A new book brought to you by Tuttle Publishing authored by Kim Inglis entitled Ayurveda, Asian Secrets of Wellness, Beauty and Balance takes a look at healing holistically, beautification secrets of old and some exercises that will improve the over health of the body.

Inglis explores some other ancient traditional medicinal practices popular with the Arabs called Unani.  She also shows the connections of Ayurveda and Soba Rig-pa (Tibetan medicine) to Siddha, which is popular among Tamil practitioners.  Many similarities, too, can be drawn between this and traditional Chinese medicinal practices.

The book is very insightful and extremely easy for the laymen to understand with its abundance of illustrations and explanations on therapy methods that treat all parts of the body.  These range from massage, use of stones, herbs, oils, and more.

Discussed also are methods of meditation and other practices that improve health through serenity, sensation and soothing.

The end of the book includes a directory of approved practitioners to help find treatment facilities of your own, since after getting into the book, you’ll feel compelled to sooth your own muscles and nerves.

The book talks about wellness and therapeutic massages, treatments that use heat and steam and other popular Ayurveda therapies using medicated ghee that may seem very foreign to us.

Some of the Ayurvedic recipes listed for their healing ingredients can be understood it might be tough to follow these ancient beauty secrets for keeping your hair, face, eyes, hands and feet looking beautiful because many of the ingredients are not as accessible as you would hope.

Honey can be used to help retain moisture in the skin and pureed apples will rehydrate and revitalize your facial complexion because of the high antioxidant counts.  Combining these and applying will keep you ageless and wrinkle free.

Another chapter in the book talks about regular meditation, practice of yoga, breathing techniques, and physical and mental exercises that will keep your stress levels manageable.

Kim Inglis’ Ayurveda, Asian Secrets of Wellness, Beauty and Balance, is a comprehensive look at ancient Ayurveda secrets that are brought current by her simple presentation methods.  The book is perfect for anyone looking to rejuvenate, look younger and healthier and explore a new realm of ancient secrets to a more beautiful and healthy image.

The National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS) has pledged to start prescribing to mentally ill patients a natural Ayurvedic herbal supplement known as Ayush Manas instead of only prescribing multiple cocktails of psycho active pharmaceutical drugs.  Ayush Manas is a preparation of four natural herbs blended and put into tablet form and has shown to improve and rehabilitate neural cells.  It has also been helpful as a memory enhancement and improves the brain’s overall function.

“Three years of research study, and we have come up with a new formulation called Ayush Manas, which will help improve and restore intellectual functioning of mentally retarded patients” explains the Assistant Director for Ayurveda, Nimhans, Dr. B. Chandrashekar Rao.

Ayurveda medical sciences have always been superior to Western allopathic medical systems in that they can be equally effective but do not come with any particular side effects.  Rao continues, “Unlike the MRI scanning which mentally ill people undergo, this natural medicine, in the form of Rasayana (a kind of rejuvenating medicine), stimulates the surviving capacity without any side effects, and even if it is given in higher doses it will not create much of a problem.”  In the spirit of Ayurvedic science, Ayush Manas will work on treating the body and bringing it back into equilibrium so that it may become healthier, rather than the Western approach of treating the disease.

Unlike traditional pharmaceutical prescriptive, Ayush Manas can be taken as an herbal supplement by healthy individuals, too. “While it helps in restoring the health of the mentally retarded, it also helps in maintaining the health of otherwise healthy people” Rao adds.

Ayurveda is the science of life. However, ignoring it, the younger generation is running behind the life sciences. The golden mean of traditional knowledge of Ayurveda and the modern science will show the way to them, asserted scientist Dr Raghunath Mashelkar. He was speaking at the inaugural function of the ‘Santulan Ayurveda - the Ayurveda Store’ here on Monday.

The first retail store in the chains of the Santulan Ayurveda Store was inaugurated in the presence of playback singer Asha Bhosale, industrialist Pralhad Chhabria, actor Dr Amol Kolhe, managing director of Santulan Ayurveda Private Limited Dr Balaji Tambe, chairman of Sakaal Papers Ltd Prataprao Pawar and managing director of Sakaal Media Group Abhijit Pawar.

Recalling the success of turmeric patent case, Dr Mashelkar, who is also the chairman of the Globalising Ayurveda Commission, formed under Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Sidha and Homoeopathy (AYUSH), said, “Before globalisation of Ayurveda, it should be promoted in each corner of the country. For getting the international status and acceptability to Ayurveda, there should be Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) compliance, along with modernisation.”

Asha Bhosale, revealing the secret of her health, too gave the credit to the Ayurvedic practices at home.

“The traditional knowledge and practice of Ayurvedic medicines since the days of our great grandparents, has really been a blessing. The medicine like Triphala churn still keeps me away from the spectacles at this age,” she said. The versatile singer later regaled the audience with a few of her songs.

Sudhir Gadgil anchored the function. Sanjay and Sunil Tambe were present on the occasion.

Located at Modern College Road, the store will house Ayurvedic medicines, a range of aroma therapy, products, music therapy CDs and popular books on various subjects authored by Dr Balaji Tambe.

AYURVEDA may be 5000 years old, but it is proving to be as relevant for health today as it was all those millennia ago. The Indian holistic healing system has been described as “one of the world’s most ancient and venerated healing and lifestyle modalities”.

Its popularity is growing in SA, in the wake of the launch of the SanAquam Urban Sanctuary day spa in Durban North last year headed by an orthodox-trained medical doctor, Dr Rajen Cooppan, who is also a doctor of Ayurvedic medicine.

The aim was to combine traditional healing wisdom with the best of modern, western medical science.

Cooppan has since returned to his general practice emphasising Ayurvedic herbal medicine, and continuing to draw on his background in orthodox medicine.

And while Ayurveda involves feel-good massage treatments and therapies, it is about much more than pampering sessions you may expect to receive at a spa.

To get the most out of Ayurveda, the experts say you need to integrate it into your daily life, in and out of the office.

There are many books on the subject that can show you how to do just that. The latest is The Ayur Veda Handbook by Lisa Fromsdorf with Marie Opperman (Oshun Books).

The book is aimed at South African readers and sets out the principles of Ayurveda simply and clearly. It dispels some of the myths (Ayurveda is not a religion and you don’t have to meditate, chant mantras or be a vegetarian to benefit from it), as well as apparent inconsistencies.

For example, Ayurveda suggests that you drink warm, clarified butter (known as ghee in Indian cooking) first thing in the morning to detox your body, says Fromsdorf.

The very thought of that can be enough to make you feel ill, never mind actually having to drink it.

Taken out of context, it can seem like a counter-productive thing to do — drinking an oily, fatty substance to rid your body of all the impurities you may have accumulated from all the oily, fatty foods you often eat.

But there is method in the apparent ancient madness.

Fromsdorf will tell you that many people in the east and the west have been able to cleanse their bodies effectively, by doing that, and have gone on to enjoy improved health and vitality.

But just what is Ayurveda? It is made up of two Sanskrit words, Ayur, meaning life or lifespan, and Veda, knowledge or science. It can be used as one word or two, and it stands for the science of life.

It is aptly named, writes Fromsdorf, as it covers the full range of life from paediatrics, to geriatrics, from pathology to herbology, surgery, pharmacology, psychology and physiology.

At its heart, Ayurveda is about getting the body back into balance naturally and safely, without having to resort to invasive surgery or pharmaceutical medications that carry serious side effects, Fromsdorf says.

It is also about never having to go on another punishing eating regimen to improve your health and lose weight. Ayurveda lays significant stress on optimum eating for health and longevity.

Before you can eat properly, though, you need to know your “dosha”. It’s an important part of Ayurveda, an intricate mind/ body concept that involves aspects of your physical and mental make up, Fromsdorf says.

Working out your dosha is not as difficult as it may sound at first.

The book contains a detailed questionnaire to help you determine your dosha. Thereafter, you will be in a better position to plan not just your meals, but your whole lifestyle, according to your type, for improved health in body and mind.

Ayurveda aims to help you get back on a healthy and balanced track.

In effect, it can offer you a “practical, detailed operating manual on how to achieve a balanced life”, writes Fromsdorf. It is only when you are balanced in body and mind that you can achieve your true potential, she says.

This is especially true of the times we live in, which ancient Indian wisdom refers to as the age of “Kali yuga”.

Kali yuga is the shortest, most difficult part of the human lifespan, so the ancient theory goes. It is a particularly turbulent time both in politics and nature, says Fromsdorf.

“In this yuga, mankind abuses the earth, and … people behave erratically and are not aware of the consequences of their actions.”

Ayurveda teaches a way for people to live according to the laws and rhythms of nature, and their natural body type, not according to manmade laws and unnatural customs, she says.

It particularly involves detoxifying the body effectively and safely, through “pancha karma”, an in-depth method done once or twice a year, and eating foods that keep the doshas in balance.

Fromsdorf quotes from ancient Ayurvedic proverbs:

“When diet is wrong, medicine is of no use; when diet is correct, medicine is of no need.”

“What you eat becomes your mind; as is the food, so is your mind.”

Although food is an important part of the book, Fromsdorf makes it clear that the principles of Ayurveda are about much more than what you put into your mouth at each mealtime.

The book covers the power of correct breathing, effective stress and time management, and exercise regimens. These are based on your body type and aim to boost rather than drain your body of energy and vitality.

Healthy eating

Tips for healthy eating from The Ayur Veda Handbook by Lisa Fromsdorf with Marie Opperman

Eat freshly cooked food and don’t use a microwave for cooking.

Only eat when you are hungry. If your digestive fire is too weak, irregular or too strong, food won’t digest and toxins will form.

If you have to eat when you are not hungry, take a slice of raw ginger, put some salt on it, eat it and drink water . It can help your digestion by acting like a fire lighter on a fire.

Eat in a calm environment, with no TV, newspapers or music in the background.

Don’t eat or prepare food when you are emotionally upset.