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Thai Yoga Concepts: Sustainable Eating and Sustainable Health: Part 4 of 4

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Thai Yoga Concepts: Sustainable Eating and Sustainable Health: Part 4 of 4

By Dr. Anthony B. James DM(P), ND, MD(AM), SMOKH

(Repost: Transcribed from a live talk at the Florida Sustainable Living and Perma-culture Conference, Plant City Florida, March 26, 2011)

Edible should also mean to buy local

Besides the lowered impact on the environment, another reason to buy local is to support your local community! We buy food from Peggy and Jeff at Eco-farm because they are our neighbors! That’s it, that’s the reason. We want to support them, they are up to good things, they are helping us to have a longer, healthier, happier life and by God, if I’m going to support anybody in the world, before I send 100 bucks to the American Red Cross, I’m going to send 100 bucks to Peggy and Jeff with my local CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) and buy some food with it. I need them and they need me and that’s why I do it. Buy local. Make it personal. If you don’t personally know someone that you can buy food from, you need to cure that by getting out and meeting somebody who grows food.

A clear conscience makes the food taste better!

These choices to bring consciousness to what and how we eat need to be personal and emotional. That is conscience, by the way, and we need conscience. Edible means to eat food with a clear conscience. To have a clear conscience about what you eat. What does conscience mean? I’ll give you my definition. Conscience is an emotional realization of the truth. So its very important for me to have a good conscience about what I eat and to emotionally know that I am doing the best that I can. If I don’t know that and I go ahead and I consume it anyways, then I am acquiescing to the possibility that the food may cause harm to me and to somebody else. That’s tough, I know.

5% Meat

Edible means to eat less meat. Research from many sources suggests minimum 95% plant-based nutrition and 5% animal products. That’s just science, its nothing personal. You want to live happier, healthier, longer lives? You want to support the soil on the inside and out? You want to support the ecology and reduce global warming? You want to have more support for democracy in the world? Eat less meat. And then, whatever meat you do eat, make sure that you’re supporting the local farmers, that it is organic, grass fed, free range, chemical free, antibiotic free, etc.

Don’t expect to change overnight! I use the 95/5 idea because it is unrealistic to expect everyone to become a vegetarian now. We have several thousand years of indoctrination into “eating meat equals prosperity” to overcome. We’re not going to be able to turn on a dime. You vegetarians and you vegans, get the freak off the backs of your meat-eating friends! Get off their backs, because what you resist, persists. The harder you push them, the harder they will hold on to those unproductive ways of eating. If you want people to change the way they eat then do it by example. Make the most nutritious, happy, fun-filled, exciting food that you can to share with them, so that they feel like it would be crazy not to eat your delicious food. That will make it easier.

95% Plant Based Diet

Edible means to prefer a plant-based diet. Aside from the morality question of cruelty to animals from factory production of animal based foods, animal food factories are the single largest users of antibiotics. 70% of all manufactured antibiotics go to animal food production. You need to know this especially if you are against the use of antibiotics and you think that the epidemic increase in antibiotic-resistant methicillin and staph bacteria is not a good thing. 70% of the antibiotics are not being used on human patients, but they are going to the cows that people eat. Then they go from their urine and their feces into the water supply. Then from aquifers into the water supplies of the hospitals where it is then recycled into the bodies of people with deficient immune systems, where they then become susceptible to antibiotic resistant bacteria. See? It’s the circle of life. Eat less meat. Prefer a plant-based diet.

Eat the widest variety of foods you can manage

Why? That’s the way foods naturally grow in the world, in a healthy ecosystem, and it is also the way they are supposed to come into our system, in great variety and in seasonal rotation.  Every type of food offers a different nutrient profile and benefit towards helping you living a full healthy and happy life. Give every good thing in nature the possibility of sharing its life enhancing qualities with you. Variety and diversity strengthen your immune system and make your taste buds happy. There is research that suggest that rotating your foods and diet can reduce allergies and may even be part of a productive strategy for mental and emotional health. Ortho-molecular Medicine and research specializes in this field.  Try more. Try everything!

For everyone sake grow something!

Grow a good perma-culture based garden in a little square foot of land- you should be able to grow 6, 8 or 10 different kinds of plants. If you don’t have that little plot then invest in a pot of some kind and put an edible plant, vegetable, herb, or flower in it. Practice becoming a more conscious person by nurturing and caring for it until it matures and then eat it! Everyone can and should grow something. No reason why not!

I’m serious, grow something to eat!

ANYTHING! Everybody here should be growing one food item. Grow anything! Grow a chive! I mean come on, grow something. Anybody can grow a Chia pet. You can eat them! It’s about elevating your consciousness and bringing energy, attention, consciousness, breath and pressure to changing your environment. GROW SOMETHING.

Perma-culture experience in Thailand

Go to Thailand, you’ll see farms that if you’re not paying attention you would never know it was a farm because it looks like an overgrown jungle. You say, “What do you mean, this is a farm?” And they say, “This is a multi-generational farm! We’ve been farming here for years.” You say, “But we’re on a trail in the jungle!” And they say, “No, no, you’re on a trail through the farm!” You look around saying, “What farm? What are you talking about?” The guy reaches out and plucks a leaf off a bush and says, ‘”Put this in your mouth.” You take a bite of it- its green tea! “Whoa! Oh! There are tea plants here!” He says, “No, there are ten thousand! This is a tea plantation.” This all happened to me and I thought I was in a jungle. I said “Well, what is all this other weeds and under-growth around the base here?” He says, “Oh, that’s edible morning glories, and these are coffee.” Did you know coffee and tea grow together? They can! You don’t have to mono-culture either coffee or tea! I said “Oh, well what is this kind of viny thing here that looks like it’s choking the life out of these plants?” “Oh,” he says, “that’s edible morning glory.” Turns out to be one of my most favorite edible green foods on the whole planet.

Reasonable eating means seasonal eating

Edible means to eat seasonally for your region of the country. A billion years of survival data in our DNA tells us that the most appropriate foods for us to eat at any given time are the foods that are ripe and ready for harvest right this moment. That’s what we are supposed to be eating right now. If you don’t know what that is, well that shows the measure of separation from the environment that you are currently suffering. The proper treatment is education and experience!

Stick out your nose, open up the window, look outside, talk to a friend and say, “Hey! It’s the end of March, what is in season? What foods are in season in my geographic area?” Seek them out as your primary foods. It will change! The foods you eat are supposed to rotate, just like in nature. The soil isn’t always the same. The variety that you see in the natural ecology in December is not the same as you see in March. There will still be an equally great diversity but it will just be different. “Same same but different” as the Thai’s say “Munkan mai munkan.”

Edible should mean- eat only foods that you know you’re not allergic to!

Stop eating that which inflames you! I’d bet that everyone in this room knows or suspects something that they eat that they are allergic to. When you eat foods that are allergens, they cause a histamine reaction in your brain. This triggers an inflammatory response in your tissue, which triggers edema. Inflammation and edema are the hotbeds of disease. So one of the ways to prevent disease through your eating habits is to stop eating the foods that you already know you’re allergic to. That means stop eating any food that when you eat it regularly it makes you feel bad. It’s really easy, but we’re so out of touch with our inner ecology that we don’t know this.

Consider your overall attitude towards eating new food in general, if it has a label, READ IT.

Don’t buy it until you actually read the label. You will be surprised how many times you will put something back that you were 99% sure you were going to buy after you read the label.

Don’t waste food- compost food waste

Composting is one of the very best ways to justify our existence on this planet. It’s one of the proven simple technologies that actually feeds the earth. As a practice it runs contrary to the trends overwhelming the eco-systems and environment with harmful waste. Composting keep the useful biomass out of the land fill and on the soil where it belongs. Keep in mind that “circle of life” thing. Using your own compost to enhance the soil of your garden, or your friends garden will help insure more vital and amazing foods. These foods have more minerals and bio-available nutrients and healthy bacteria. Composting supports the process of these foods becoming our essential medicines. Everyone should compost.

Make the best possible food choices according to your understanding

Before shopping, make a list- if it is not on your list it is probably not edible. Involve your family, friends, church, social network or group in a food project, or join one. Edible should be part of that.

Make your food beyond interesting and nutritious

We have to be ninja. I’m a ninja for food! You want to know I am a healthy food ninja? How I went from a raging carnivore to a plant based diet? Know how I do it? Julie and I, we craft in the secret dark recesses of our attic with our candles and our sigils on the floor and our sacred tomes of secret knowledge (I mean favorite recipe books) and we flip the pages and we recite the ancient magic incantations of holistic, organic, local, fresh, seasonal ingredients and we put them (boil, boil, toil and trouble) into our cauldron (our safe crokery) and we put our own energy and our own sacred essence in to that boiling cauldron of magic elixir and we call it to allurement, we call it to glamor, and healing affirmation and we call it to create life and we call it to manifest our vision for the world as we see the swirl of the world inside that pot and then we serve that on the table and its an irresistible force. People are drawn to it, “OOOOHHH! What is that?” And Julie goes, “Dinner!” Then they eat and they are like, “oh, uh, um, how?” You can see it, the trying to adjust, trying to adapt, trying to encapsulate the idea that the tastiest thing that’s ever crossed this inner and outer brain barrier, has no meat! And it’s tasty! And it’s medicine! Then they start to make these little adjustments. “Hey, do you have a recipe? What are the ingredients? Is it hard to make?” “Nah,” we say, “you just throw some healthy ingredients, veggies, herbs, grains, herbs, minerals in a bowl and stir it up! It’s easy!” And then they start to do it and next thing you know, you’ve saved a soul, you’ve got another person who is going to live a longer, healthier, happier life.

Thai Yoga Concepts:Sustainable Eating and Sustainable Health Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

Learn SomaVeda® Thai Yoga!

Disclaimer:

All Information is provided for educational purposes only and not intended to be used for any therapeutic purpose, neither is it intended to diagnose, prevent, treat or cure any disease. Please consult a health care professional for diagnosis and treatment of medical conditions. While all attempts have been made to ensure the accuracy of this information. The author and ThaiYogaCenter.Com does not accept any responsibility for any errors or omissions.

Copyright© 2011, Dr. Anthony B. James   All rights reserved under International and Pan American copyright conventions. World rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Inquires should be addressed to: Dr. Anthony B. James, 5401 Saving Grace Ln. Brooksville, FL 34602 ·  http://www.ThaiYogaCenter.Com

Thai Yoga Concepts: Sustainable Eating and Sustainable Health: Part 3 of 4

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Thai Yoga Concepts: Sustainable Eating and Sustainable Health: Part 3 of 4

Dr. Anthony B James receives the UTTS Hanuman Award

By Dr. Anthony B. James DM(P), ND, MD(AM), SMOKH

(Repost: Transcribed from a live talk at the Florida Sustainable Living and Perma-culture Conference, Plant City Florida, March 26, 2011)

Food and eating strategies need to be based on non-violence

We are utterly and completely dependent on the viruses and the bacteria in the soil for our life. Somehow we lost that connection and so when we begin to experience them in our body, we think that they are foreign invaders and so we have to cut, kill and burn them. We think we have to destroy them so we do the same thing as when we apply pesticide to the soil outside, we kill them! Then the soil is no longer is able to sustain the biodiversity that life is dependent upon, monoculture prevails and diversity dies. Inevitably there is a dissolution of life and a cascading domino effect on other ecologies and eventually everybody draws the same picture: if we continue to create monoculture, the world is going to be unsuitable for human existence at a definite point in time. Everybody comes to the same conclusion. If we do the same inside of our body, guess what? We come to the same conclusion. We don’t need to kill the bacteria in our body, we don’t need to kill the viruses in our body; they have ALWAYS been with us. We need to learn how to be an ecosystem within our selves and we need to learn how to communicate. Non-violent communication, how about that? NVC applied to your body’s internal ecology. I am not trying to kill the bacteria in my body; I am negotiating an existence that is compatible, mutual, and supportive. That’s what my food strategies are about.

If it’s not right we fix it not kill it

People will say, “Well, what about infection?” Yeah? What about it? What do you do when the soil PH is not right? What do you do if you look at the soil and the mycology and bacterial structure of the soil is not right? Do you then kill it? What do you do? You AMEND it. You actually bring in plants and structure that out of their life cycle will create the balance that you want. Why? Because that is sustainable. If you dump chemicals on it, it will chemically give you a balance on a test and then you will have the imbalance that will be the consequence of the chemically induced state and it won’t be sustainable. The longer you do that to the soil and the longer you force it to produce, eventually it looks like desertification. You will kill it and reduce its ability to sustain life at the microbial level to a point to where it is no longer possible for life to be sustained. The soil will turn to sand and rock, no longer able to sustain life. We are going to end up doing the same thing to our selves because we don’t eat right and we don’t have productive eating strategies. We need to bring the same sustainable strategies to eating that we would to the soil, inner soil and outer soil, that’s what I’m saying.

Do you want to know how to get connected to the earth?

The easiest way in the world to re-establish and to revitalize your connection to the earth is to bring consciousness to what you eat. It’s so simple and you don’t have to get all big and spiritual about it. My late, adopted father Chief Floyd Real bird would have said it the same way. He would have said, “I don’t give a damn about ritual and external ceremony, the only thing mother earth cares about is how you live! Mother earth doesn’t care if you do a smudge, you light some sage or you whoop a pipe around in the air. Mother earth doesn’t care! Mother earth is all about how gentle you walk on her, how compatible you are with her other children and these kinds of things.” It is more important who you are than what you do. You want to get in touch with the planet, you want to get in touch with your roots, and you want to get in touch with your most fundamental spiritual essence? You want to get in touch with the source of life? Bring consciousness to your food. It’s the easiest way.

I am the laziest person that you’ve ever met in your whole life so I’m looking for the easiest way. What is the easiest way I can make all these universal connections? Cause’ I’m a lazy guy, right? So I’ve figured it out. The easiest way to handle all those things is to bring consciousness to what I eat! And guess what? Just by doing that not only do I get to live healthier and happier and be more functioning, but my family does too. Just by doing that alone, I lost 50 lbs in the last 2 years. I haven’t been on a diet for one minute. I eat like a freaking horse because I love to eat! I just brought consciousness to my food and my body. Soil harmonized. It equalized. It balanced. It looks like me 50 lbs lighter.

Get down on the food chain

Lets run through a couple of things. One, consider eating lower on the food chain. Ever hear the justification of “the little things eat the bigger things and then it goes on until we’re at the top of the food chain eating every damn thing else?” When you start thinking of sentient beings in the company of other sentient beings, that’s not going to work is it? It is not sustainable if we eat and or consume everything else. It’s not going to work! We need to eat a little bit lower down. On the food chain we are about where the herbivores are. Eating much above that doesn’t work and looks like were going to destroy the planet. We have that whole food chain thing wrong and we need to get down on the food chain. As a perma-culture person would say it, we need to get our hands dirty!

Get your hands dirty

What do you have to do if you want to know what is going on with the soil?

The finest, most sophisticated technological instrument ever created for agriculture is the finger! I think that’s why we have them. Some people say it’s for tools. Maybe if a tool is a hoe but that’s not the only reason we have fingers. We have fingers so we can point at each other and say “Hey! You aint’ doin’ the right thing!” We have fingers so we can put them in the dirt and know what’s happening. That’s how we make our connection, right? Want to develop superpowers? Spend more time with your fingers in the dirt. In yoga we call them Siddhas. You want to develop Siddhas? You want to become a Reishi yogi, a magnificent supernatural superman or woman? I’ll give you a secret- get your fingers dirty, get your hands dirty and it will change your life.

Change your definition of what is “edible”

Second, consider changing your definition of “edible.” I want to challenge what that means. One idea that I would recommend to you is to bring consciousness to your definition of the word edible because it may be enlightening and very helpful for you. In that context I have a corollary, and I want you to be crystal clear about this: “Substantially the same as food,” does NOT equal food. Whenever you see something that’s labeled, marked or promoted to you as “substantially equivalent to food,” that means it is not food. Food is food and anything that’s not food is something else!

Oil, tar and coal and their derivatives are not edible

Most likely the “substantially equivalent” is chemical and it actually a derivative of crude oil. 99% of “substantially the equivalent of food,” is a derivative of oil, and as a species we were never meant to consume oil or oil byproducts.

We evolved as a species over billions of years from plankton to human beings or if you take the creationist biblical perspective it has only been 6 or 7 thousand years. However you do it, the entire time we have been here, it is only in the last hundred years that we have been exposed to byproducts of carbon and oil because they were underground. There were a few sources of natural tars and natural oils but 99% of humanity didn’t have access to them. So biologically in our DNA we do not have the ability to metabolize crude oil in any form, derivative or solvent. Oil is one of the primary ecologic contributors that has contaminated our food supply. One of the biggest things we can do is be clear that “substantially the same as food,” does not equal food.

Edible should mean organic, fresh, whole, non-GMO food

If it is not organic we should automatically question whether or not it is adulterated and to what degree. We have to keep the idea in the back of our mind that there are no known safe levels for any chemical in the human body. It is not a true or scientific statement to say that the amount of contamination with XYZ chemical has been deemed to be safe for humans. Don’t take my word for it, research it yourself and you will find that scientifically speaking, there are no known safe levels of any chemical substance in the human body. If anybody says otherwise then they actually haven’t looked at the science.

Edible should mean the reduction of adulterated food consumption

Adulterated food includes foods that on the surface are advertised as “natural” or “real” but have been adulterated by the manufacturing process and include things such as trans fats, hydrogenated fats and oils, high fructose corn syrup, refined sugar, aspartame, etc. Though these foods are advertised and promoted as natural or as derivatives of natural substances, they are not! From a marketing standpoint all additives, chemicals and constituents that are derived from oil are technically derived from natural substance because oil is natural. All of them, which are coming from the parent, are equally harmful, including baby oil! Just because it says “baby” doesn’t mean that it is healthy for you. For example, baby oil contains Benzene. Benzene is considered to be one of the most deadly, dangerous, immune disrupters that man has made. Plutonium is the most dangerous, but Benzene completely, immediately and instantaneously disrupts your immune system. It’s in baby oil and chapstick!

Edible should be local

Weigh and measure what you eat based on how far it travels to get in your mouth. The further from you the origin of your food is the higher the carbon footprint. That means more oil in the air. Your carbon footprint is your contribution to environmental toxicity, contamination of water, support of the fossil fuel industry, oppression of native peoples due to deforestation, etc. All of this eventually comes back around to increase your own toxic exposure. That’s the way it works. I have my favorite foods that come from other countries.

For me, it has been a challenge to reduce the amount of food that comes from foreign countries. That includes herbs, spices, the kind of rice that I prefer, etc. It has been a real challenge and I’m still working on it. I’m not perfect at it, I’m transitional and it’s very hard when you have a beautiful kitchen like I have that is fully stocked with spices and 8 different kinds of rice and all kinds of stuff. It all represents an investment. See, mentally I have a problem tossing out everything in my closet that has a foreign origin because I can’t help but think of the economics of it. However, when I start to think about the economics of it, I start to be able to let it go a little better.

Continued in Thai Yoga Concepts: Sustainable Eating and Sustainable Health Part 4.

Sustainable Part 1, Sustainable Part 2, Sustainable Part 3, Sustainable Part 4

Learn SomaVeda® Thai Yoga!

 

Disclaimer:

All Information is provided for educational purposes only and not intended to be used for any therapeutic purpose, neither is it intended to diagnose, prevent, treat or cure any disease. Please consult a health care professional for diagnosis and treatment of medical conditions. While all attempts have been made to ensure the accuracy of this information. The author and ThaiYogaCenter.Com does not accept any responsibility for any errors or omissions.

Copyright© 2011, Dr. Anthony B. James DNM(P), ND(T), MD(AM), PhD, RAAP, SMOKH  All rights reserved under International and Pan American copyright conventions. World rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Inquires should be addressed to: Dr. Anthony B. James, 5401 Saving Grace Ln. Brooksville, FL 34602 ·  http://www.ThaiYogaCenter.Com

Thai Yoga Concepts: Sustainable Eating and Sustainable Health: Part 2 of 4

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Thai Yoga Concepts: Sustainable Eating and Sustainable Health: Part 2 of 4

UTTS issues Dr. Anthony James Lifetime Credentials

By Dr. Anthony B. James DNM(P), ND(T), MD(AM), SMOKH

(Re-Post: Transcribed from a live talk at the Florida Sustainable Living and Perma-culture Conference, Plant City Florida, March 26, 2011)

An amazing possibility is occurring right now!

Right now this second there are groups just like the group in this room who are having the exact same conversation about exactly the same topics in about a hundred different locations around the planet! Right now this minute! That’s never happened before, so that’s our possibility of hope. But what are we going to do with it? That’s the question.

Its one thing to philosophically get it and it’s another thing to have practical solutions. I’m going to go through some practical solutions. We’re ahead of the curb, right? I’m a hopeful guy, I actually do believe that there is hope that we can come out of this and we can actually survive in a good way. That is what I work for.

What’s the core issue with sustainability?

I want to focus on what I think is really the fundamental issue in sustainable eating and health. Pardon me if this is elementary because I know there are some experts in the room, but I’m just speaking across the board.

I believe the number one issue is food. I have all these doctor technologies and no matter what I learn I keep coming back food as the number one issue. It’s the one issue above all others that we actually have the capacity to substantially control. So because we have the ability to have some input in relation to what we eat, where it comes from and what the impact is of our food on ourselves and on our environment, it’s one of the places where we can add our influence, both internally and externally. That’s why I choose to focus on food. I’m going to keep coming at it from a health point of view because I just can’t help it!

Whatever it takes to live a long and happy life!

Hippocrates said “let they food be thy medicine and thy medicine be thy food.” So what is medicine? There are a lot of misconceptions about what medicine is. The definition of medicine is same as the definition of sustainable living! There’s a source of conflict and confusion right there. We compartmentalize and create distinctions and say, “medicine is over here, and food is over here.” There is some crossover but it is a misconception and a misperception that they are unrelated. Let’s go back to the definition of sustainable living: Whatever it takes to live a long healthy and happy life, while respecting and caring for the community of life in which we live. Well guess what? That’s the definition of medicine too: whatever it takes to live a long and happy life. Let food be your medicine, let food be part of your strategy of whatever it takes. Let whatever it takes to be happy be your food, so let’s stop eating things that don’t make us happy. That’s a real simple way to say it isn’t it?

Stay away from the dominant cultures medical system

Statistically speaking, other then changing your eating habits the number one thing you can do to prolong your life and guarantee that you’ll have a long healthy life in this country (I’m not necessarily talking about the whole world) is to do whatever it takes to stay out of hospitals and to stay out of the conventional medical system.

The current system has failed. Where is the outrage?

I’m a pastoral medical doctor so I get a copy of JAMA and the different journals that are published under the banner of JAMA. According to JAMA, give or take, some 380,000 people a year die directly from medical malpractice. I think this is a conservative estimate because it might be a little self-incriminating. We drive down the highway and see billboards of the sheriff with the reflective glasses and the words “drive drunk and pay the price.” We see MADD billboards with the cameo of the teenage son or daughter who will not live a long and happy life because of an incursion due to drunk driving. Virtually every city in the country including has federal, state and local funding of millions of dollars for the formation of DUI task forces, random roadblocks, and breathalyzers. There have been 12,000 constructed expansions of prisons in the US just to take the additional prisoner loads of DUI’s into the jail system and the legal system. There are about 48,000 deaths a year on average as a result of drunk driving.

It gets worse

I’m not saying that I support drunk driving, but compare that to 380,000 deaths a year due to medical malpractice. When is the last time you were driving down the road and you saw a billboard with a man or a woman in a white jacket with a stethoscope hanging around their neck with a “have you seen this person? Call “1-800-STOPDOC” to report that you have seen one of these people wanted for murder, mayhem, malpractice and for just damn not trying to help you and being part of a system that kills you at 4, 5 and 6 times the annual rate of drunk drivers.” That’s not the bad news; it gets worse. I’m not quoting the national inquirer, although technically it might be more accurate and I’m sorry to say that.

According to these medical statistics, another 400,000 die simply from unsuccessful procedures that were properly applied. In other words, it wasn’t malpractice. They did exactly what was the standard medical practice according to standard medical disciplines, according to standard medical procedures. 400,000 people died from operations that were considered a complete success. They did everything right and the patient died. These numbers are per year, not in the last 100 years, but the annual numbers! 400,000 people died from side effects.

There are no side effects!

There is no such thing as a side effect! How many people have heard that there is such a thing as a drug side effect? You have been misled and that is a programming issue and propaganda issue because there are actually NO side effects of any known prescription drug or procedure. There are secondary effects that we don’t want, which are less popular. You can get a copy of a Merck Manual or the Physician’s Desk Reference to Drugs and for every single drug there will be the primary benefit listed and immediately there will be up to 92 different secondary effects. For marketing, they are referred to as “side effects” as if they are optional.

A chemical doesn’t know what a side-effect is

A relative of mine has an advanced degree in pharmacology. He would say that it is all chemistry- you ingest the chemical and get the effect. The chemical doesn’t know primary from secondary. The chemical doesn’t know what a side effect is, it just does what it does. For many of these drugs there are up to 92 side effects and I’ve even seen a drug that has more than that. Generally there are between 70 and 90 secondary effects and about a third of them are fatal. That’s how you get these 400,000 deaths. We need to be logical, so how do we get there? That’s not the malpractice, that’s when everybody agreed that it was appropriate for you and it still caused you harm.

The source of your primary health care has to be your eating habits

So what is the alternative? If we are not going to rely on the conventional medical system as our primary health care, then “let food be your medicine and medicine be your food.” The source of your primary health care has to be your eating habits. You have no choice! There is no other alternative. I know some of you that might be offended to even hear me say so, but I am giving you my professional medical advice. As you would with any doctor, or perhaps as you should do with any doctor, take my advise or leave it.

Health is a fluid balance between toxicity and deficiency

Traditional Chinese Medicine theory postulates that health is a dynamic equilibrium between internal and external pernicious influences. Health is a constant balancing act. This could be anything that reduces our capacity to live the full natural possibility of life or whatever life as a human being on this planet could be. That includes everything from the environment and landscape, both internal and external. Internal pernicious influences are what take place when harmful influences bridge the world-skin barrier and become part of us causing changes within us. This includes mental and emotional psychology, the ecology of our inner world and how we handle toxins, virus, bacteria, and cancers. The external landscape is everything outside of your skin that has the ability to affect your longevity, health and well being.

We can also talk about the 5 elements because we have fire, earth, metal, water, and wood, or in Chinese medicine and Ayurveda we have ether, air, fire, water and earth. Any way you slice it, whatever is out there is part of us and then we have this really funny philosophy that says that we are also part of everything that’s out there.

We are children of the soil

So health is about managing this equilibrium between the inside and the outside, the two landscapes. Sometimes we use the word soil, and I know perma-culture people really want to talk about the soil a lot; in fact, that’s one reason I love them! The first book I ever read on the soil was Secrets of the Soil and I developed this whole different idea about the ground and what the nature of the soil was. I learned that it was alive and there was energy in it and that it was communicating to me!

Of course I knew from my bible lessons as a child that eventually I would become the soil. I thought, “Whoa! Dirt to dirt! So what you’re saying is that I’m actually a child of the soil and that I am soil in a flesh bag walking around for a while and then I go back to my origin which is the soil?” Somewhere I had lost the connection or the conscious knowledge that I was really just a bag of dirt walking around. What is my function then, as mobile dirt?

I realized that part of the reason why we are so unhealthy is because we have been separated from our proper relationship to our mother ecology, which of course is the soil. Now that we are ego-encapsulated soil flesh bags we think that we are separate and somehow isolated from the total environment that surrounds us. We pretend and we act and we create structures that are based on this false idea that we are somehow separate from the soil. We no longer rely on the soil as our nutrient base and we no longer honor the fact that its part of our lifestyle to sustain the soil.

What is my path in life?

When we say, “Oh, I’m looking for my path,” we are really wondering, “What is the purpose of a human being?” A human bring is a mobile expression of the vital life of the planet. There are probably lots of purposes for human beings but part of the reason why we were given legs in the first place was to act as landscapers, caretakers, moderators and enhancers of the vital communication capacity of the earth that is expressed in the life of the soil. It is the proper time to rejoin the community of other sentient beings and the earth which all return their essence to the dirt. You might say, “Oh my god, that’s just crazy!” You know what? If you start to think about it like that for a minute, I think some things might come clear.

We are not that special

Like the Native Americans say, “What is a human being? An upright two-legged being.” No different than any other! No different than the four-legged, no different from the ones with wings, no different than the ones that swim. No different than the ones who crawl through the earth and no different than the microbes. Guess what? Microbes are sentient. How about that? Bacteria is sentient, virus is sentient. Like the Dalai Llama says, “ALL LIVING BEINGS ARE SENTIENT.” We pray for all sentient beings, so when we are praying for all sentient beings we pray for the virus and the bacteria.

Sustainable Eating Part 1, Sustainable Eating Part 2, Sustainable Eating Part 3, Sustainable Eating Part 4

 

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Disclaimer:
All Information is provided for educational purposes only and not intended to be used for any therapeutic purpose, neither is it intended to diagnose, prevent, treat or cure any disease. Please consult a health care professional for diagnosis and treatment of medical conditions. While all attempts have been made to ensure the accuracy of this information. The author and ThaiYogaCenter.Com does not accept any responsibility for any errors or omissions.

Copyright© 2011, Dr. Anthony B. James.  All rights reserved under International and Pan American copyright conventions. World rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Inquires should be addressed to: Dr. Anthony B. James http://www.ThaiYogaCenter.Com

Thai Yoga Concepts: Sustainable Eating and Sustainable Health: Part 1 of 4

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Thai Yoga Concepts: Sustainable Eating and Sustainable Health: Part 1 of 4

Veda Vyasa Award August 2017

By Anthony B. James DNM(P), ND(T), MD(AM), OMD, Ph.D., RAAP

(Transcribed from a live talk at the Florida Sustainable Living and Perma-culture Conference, Plant City Florida, March 26, 2011)

Welcome! I am so happy that you all have come to share this Sustainable Living and Perma-culture conference with us and explore what sustainability is. There is clearly a lot of passion in this group about what sustainability is and what a sustainable life means. I’ve been going around and talking to lots of beautiful people with really succinct, clear and dynamic visions about what they are trying to achieve. These are big goals!

I am a medical doctor (Monastic Physician), Traditional Naturopathic physician, Oriental Medical Doctor, Vidya (Classical Indian Ayurvedic Physician) and Aachan i.e. traditional master teacher/ professor of Thai Traditional Ayurveda and Yoga Therapy. I am what you think of when you hear about alternative medicine or complementary medicine. What you think of when you hear about wacky medicine that actually has conscience. I am one of those people and I’m proud to be one of those people. I teach medicine, alternative medicine, holistic health, yoga, and everything to do with what it means to try and survive in this world as a healthy balanced person.

At first when I was brainstorming for this talk sustainable living I thought, “well maybe I can talk about 10 principles of health for sustainable living.” The more I thought about it the more I realized “well that’s just crap! I’m not going to be able to do that!” First of all, anybody who knows me knows that one thing I like to do is get behind the curtain and go behind the scenes to get to the real issues because I’m one of those crazy doctors that thinks that in order to balance and achieve optimal health we actually have to go to the origin of the symptoms of our dysfunction. The problem with that is that there are a lot of causes, and some of them are kind of big! There is such a thing as geo-pathic stress, there is such a thing as economic stress, there is such a thing as social stress, there is such a thing as ecological stress, interpersonal stress, toxins, poisons, bacteria, viruses, chemicals and especially radiation right now. Add to that mix of external stress the internal truth that we can be our own worst enemies. Whew!

All these things are contributing to whether or not you feel happy and well right now in this moment. How are we going to achieve that? Even more complex, how are we going to sustain it? Oh my god! That’s a complicated issue. But we have to start somewhere. I have taken some insight from some of the other presentations here and I may not be able to remember the individual names of the presenters because I was so tied up in the really beautiful messages that they speak. I want to always pay respect that I learn from other people, that’s basically how I got here. I’ve been fortunate to have really good role models for sustainable ideas about personal health, wellness and balance and that’s what I’m trying to perpetuate.

Our common survival is linked

So I am Dr. Anthony James and I live here. This is my home, this is my classroom and this is where I teach every day. I want to welcome you to share our space and to bring your energy and contributions on a personal level because I think one of the core concepts that we have to focus on in sustainability is that while we get caught up in the environment, we get caught up in ecology, we get caught up in the external landscape issues, the bottom line is that we are people and we are concerned with ourselves and each other. One of our primary motivations to try and find sustainable solutions to the questions that the world is giving us right now is so we can survive as humans, so we can survive as people! I think one of the most important ideas that we have for sustainability is that we keep reaching toward connectivity with each other and that we don’t let these issues separate us and cause us to fracture and to go off in our own little survival corners with our own little survival strategies. I think our survival as a species or as individuals is absolutely connected to us remaining connected to each other. No matter the kinds of strategies we’re working with, we’ve got to hang! Our survival is dependent on one another. No matter what else I say it’s always going to be in the context of community because the more research I do, the more I realize that I don’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of surviving long term if you personally aren’t going to help me do it. It’s not going to happen! On many simultaneous levels I am completely dependent on my community for survival. No matter what our individual strategy of sustainability we have to keep bringing it back to our family, to our friends, to our community, which are all flesh and blood people. You know, “you prick at them, they doth bleed” kind of thing, that’s the core of it right there.

In this community I know we have some people in our midst that are hardcore sustainable educators and perma-culture educators. But we also have a few people here who don’t really know what the word means. They’re not really sure- What is this sustainability thing? What does that even mean? I am going to start with that and then take my marching orders and try to get through as much of what I have to talk to you about as possible. I know you’re probably not going to remember anything other than the “hello,” however, I also believe that there is such a thing as the Akashic record. I also believe that the ‘stress adaptive human biological transformational machine’ that is sitting in the chair has an absolute perfect ability to mimic, record and adapt to external environments and circumstances. If in fact I can say anything at all that has substance and resonates with any core truth within you then you will have a perfect memory for it and at some point you will recollect it in context, although you may not remember where it came from and I’m OK with that.

What are the principles of sustainable living?

Whatever it take to live a long, healthy, and happy life while respecting and caring for the community of life in which we live.

–Working to improve the quality of our life, enabling human beings to realize their full potential for life expression. Building self-confidence and leading lives of dignity that are in and of themselves fulfilling.

-Living in such a way as not to be a burden by creating suffering for ourselves or others while seeking health education, a decent living, political freedom of expression, human rights, and freedom from violence. Sustainable means stepping away consciously from the origin cycle of the creation of suffering for ourselves and for others.

Some of you might recognize that last phrase. It is the last statement in the Metta Sutra Buddhist mantra that is considered to be the most perfect example of Bodhichitta or generating a perfect thought. An example of the most perfect thought a person can have in their head is, “May all beings be happy, may all beings be free from suffering.” Regardless of high, low or middle status, may they be free from suffering. The last sentence in the Metta Sutra says, “May I no longer participate in the origination cycle for the creation of suffering for myself and for other beings.” Essentially those are the principles of sustainable living!

We have the technologies, ideals and philosophies of sustainable living, but how do we get there? How do I no longer participate in the creation cycle of suffering for myself and for other beings, and then how do I explore, experience, and receive the effect of that philosophy? This is where we get into our green technologies. We get into to our democratic social imperatives, our holistic medical paradigms, and we get into our geologic viewpoint of “think global, act local.” These are technologies to actually implement the imperatives.

I am connected to the global paradigm of life

I know that I want to say no to pain, suffering, disorganization, disease, manipulation and coercive ideologies. How do I do that in real terms for myself, my family, my friends, my neighborhood, my community, my town, my county, my state, my country, my nation, my ocean, my sky, my world? How do I do that? Is there a way that I can be functional on all those hierarchies? I do believe that it is possible. Again, I’m another one of these holotropically and holographically minded people and I believe on some level that simultaneously within the context of my humanity and expression of physiology and my DNA that energetically physically, emotionally, and mentally I am connected to the global paradigm of life, I am part of the thin veil or film on the surface of mother earth that we call organic life. On some level, we all serve a function and we’re all interconnected in that way. There is a way to live within the framework of internal and external natural equilibrium’s and sustainability is the key. There is a way to conserve the earth’s vital resources and diversity while promoting our own for our selves, our friends and families, children and children’s children. As the Native Americans say, “we work for the life of seven generations.”

Not being sustainable is counter-intuitive to you own survival

The main reason to be sustainable is that it’s crazy not to be! It’s crazy! If you really understand what’s going on, it would be insane to not be. So, I don’t want to be crazy! It has been part of my path of life to move myself through whatever means was available towards a progression of sanity. I want to be more; I don’t want to be less. Not to be sustainable is counter intuitive to your survival. Thoughts, actions and deeds that are counter intuitive to your survival and those around you are freaking crazy! I don’t want to be crazy and that’s one reason I want to be sustainable.

Planetary die-off cycles of humanity?

Did anyone hear the lecture yesterday on paleo-human life here in the state of Florida? Did you hear the part about periodic human die-off? 12,000 years ago there was proliferation, anthropologically speaking there were millions of humans in our geographic region. Then they just kind of go away and there was a period of time where they weren’t here. Several thousand years later we start to see a continuation but it’s not too good. The technologies aren’t too good and it’s like they lost something. Then they kind of pick it up and they get going again and the arrowheads get a little sharper and a little more precise – and then, they go away for a couple thousand years! Then they come back again.

My understanding is that we are at the precipice of one of those cycles right now and we are arrogant to ignore that these cycles exists.  They have been repeated several times in the last 12,000 or 15,000 years! We will be subject to the consequences if we ignore our external environment and internal environment. Anthropologists say that the disappearance and resurgence of the population is a result of conflict over harvesting of food and inappropriately harvesting of food that led to massive die offs. Spreading of disease without containment strategy also led to massive die-offs. Not understanding the impending doom by noticing the changing planetary conditions led to planetary die off.

Guess what folks? We have all of these things happening right now. The only difference between us and our paleo brothers and sisters is that we have the internet so we have more of a real-time communication network that allows us to address these issues a little bit faster whereas our paleo brothers and sisters were dependent on the “telephone game” to communicate this information. “The sky is falling! The glaciers are coming!” Then a couple of thousand miles away: “I heard something about…there is some guy with snow-cones coming?” “Well I don’t even like snow-cones, so screw that!” They were subject to that problem. We have the possibility of hope because we have a greater ability to communicate. It’s not necessarily technology, but the possibility of simultaneous global communication. Continued in “Thai Yoga Concepts: Sustainable Eating and Sustainable Health Part 2“.

(Sustainable Eating Part 2, 3, 4)

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Sustainable Eating and Sustainable Health: Part 1 of 4… Copyright© 2011, Anthony B. James, DNM(P), ND(T), MD(AM)  All rights reserved under International and Pan American copyright conventions. World rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Inquires should be addressed to: Anthony B. James, DNM(P), ND(T), MD(AM), 4715 Brooksville ·  http://www.ThaiYogaCenter.Com

Seven Unique Characteristics of SomaVeda® Thai Yoga Therapy for Multiple Therapists

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Seven Unique Characteristics of SomaVeda® Thai Yoga Therapy for Multiple Therapists

(two to six practitioners)

Thai Yoga Therapy for Multiple Therapists

The benefits of SomaVeda® Thai Yoga Therapy for Multiple Therapists and the group dynamic in therapeutic interaction are well known. I would like to bring a higher awareness of this to the SomaVeda® community, specifically, and to the wider community of Yoga and Oriental Bodywork practitioners in general. There is a dynamic quality and energy that is only available when two or more practitioners concentrate on one individual.

As individual practitioners, we are seeking to create promwihan sii, the four divine states of mind: loving kindness, compassion, vicarious joy and equanimity. With two or more practitioners working together, the element of promwihan sii is demonstrated in the atmosphere of community. The client is surrounded with love, compassion, joy, and equanimity. The practitioners also partake in this experience as partners with each other and with the client.

TIGHTENS THE FOCUS
Each practitioner brings his or her full attention to the client. The attention is focused in a more narrow way as the treatment progresses. This narrowing of the work perspective brings more attention to the particular area being worked as well as to the client as a whole.

INFLUENCES THE MATRIX BODY
One of the more subtle and beneficial processes observed in SomaVeda® Thai Yoga is seen when one subtle body or matrix body, interacts with another. The results of this interaction of the subtle energies found in the prana nadis, the meridians, chakras and morphogenic field between client and therapists are quite profound.  The subtle bodies of each person interact with and support one another, the influence of the stronger light body interfering, compounding and supporting the light body of the  weaker. As the practitioners are working in harmony and ‘outnumber’ the client, their healthy bio-energetic fields influence the weaker in a positive way. Time and time again, a client begins to experience shifts of energy and releases before any of the therapists even touch him.  The treatment really begins the moment the group decides to share their vitality and light with their patient.

Sometimes, I think this is where the profound treatment really takes place and the bodywork may well be what we do to keep busy in the meantime.  In other words, the most profound work of the session takes place in a Chi or Prana space. A Chi or Prana space is a space in which the air is vital and filled with Prana or Chi.

LAYING ON OF HANDS
For centuries, the laying on of hands has been a secret teaching in many religions. This healing method is common to many disparate religions and philosophies. There is significant power in having a group ‘lay on hands’ with the expressed intention of supporting a healing miracle. Often, even in the face of extreme odds, healing will manifest spontaneously as a result of the intention alone.  We should not discount this but be aware that particular clients may fall into this category of receptivity. It is important that we are gathered and focused together to touch.

No matter what your level of expertise, lay on with confidence. There is not now nor has there ever been a monopoly on the miracle of true healing. The existence of love and compassion as love’s practical manifestation is beyond reproach. Being available to actually touch the sick person manifests the thought of love into the practical manifestation of love, a compassionate act. This means to me that the universe’s wealth of energy and gift of healing light is not respectful of or limited to one man or class of men or women.  If the universe will work or ever did work through the hands of a man or woman to manifest healing, this opportunity or gift is available to all for the asking now. As one of my favorite teachers, Burmese Bando Grand Master, Dr. U Muang Gyi used to be fond of saying “No nation has a monopoly of the sunlight.

CREATES A SENSE OF COMMUNITY
The interaction between one practitioner and one client is special and profound. The interaction that may take place between multiple therapists and one client is special and utterly distinct. It is a function of community and may only take place with a high level of agreement between everyone involved.  This agreement is between the practitioners as a group and between the client and practitioners.

This is an opportunity for community expression of love and compassion. The result of this play between everyone involved is rewarding. What an incredible opportunity to live the responsibility we have to care for each other. Two, three, even five or six practitioners can work together to weave a web of love and support around the needy or lucky individual receiving treatment. A sense of real connectedness develops and is experienced by all.  This is healthy for client and practitioner alike.

The transmission of loving energy is not only on a vertical axis, it is distributed horizontally as well. This focused moment of care generates ever-widening circles of joy that impact and affect everyone in the vicinity and more. It is not unusual to see spontaneous healing’s occurring on the periphery of the treatment area. It is not uncommon to see healing and resolution of imbalance occurring within the members of the treatment team themselves. The unfolding of the healing encounter may continue long after the moment of being together has lapsed. This is why we say ‘to heal one is to heal all.’

HEIGHTENS INTENTIONALITY AND ACUITY DURING SESSION
When one practitioner works on the client there is a predictable ebb and flow of attention and manifested intention on the part of the practitioner.  More simply stated, sometimes the practitioner is more present with his client than at other times. Sometimes the practitioner is not present with his client at all!  I call this ‘cruise mode’ and I am arguing against ‘cruise mode.’ When real challenges call, only true presence can answer.

With several practitioners on the job, several things take place:

1. The practitioners stimulate each other.  Working together requires more attention and, like magic, more attention is there.

2. The cycle of attention and the ability to remain in a meditative, focused state is different for each practitioner. These cycles of attention and inattention will rarely coincide for all practitioners. One or more of the practitioners will be attentive at all times.

The potential result of this is a completely focused session for the client from beginning to end. The reason I say potential is that there must be a high level of trust and cooperation between the multiple practitioners for this result to take place fully.

LOWERS THE PHYSICAL DEMAND ON EACH INDIVIDUAL PRACTITIONER
With all sharing the work, there is a reduced requirement for physicality on the part of the individual healer or therapist. Each practitioner works with a greater sense of ease.  This virtually eliminates overexertion and burnout.  In fact, most practitioners report that working together in this way is stimulating and refreshing!

CREATES OPPORTUNITY TO WORK WITH DIFFICULT CLIENTS
I first began to research multiple practitioner bodywork while assisting World Class Power lifters at the University of Virginia in 1986.  I was working as a conditioning consultant with strength coach Bill Dunn and then World Champion Lifter John Gamble.  John was 57” across the chest and had 20” arms. He weighed in at 318 pounds with 7 to 11% body fat.

Conventional therapy was out of the question!  I could barely lift an arm much less move his whole body. I recruited some willing students and was able to treat him very nicely. Everyone worked together to move him from asana (posture) to asana, at which point I would apply the specific pressure to release or effect the key points without straining in any way.  If it worked for John, it can work for anyone!

Another example of a physically difficult is a non-ambulatory patient in a wheelchair or bed who is incapable of assisting himself. With several practitioners, there should be no difficulty at all. There are also clients with complicated pathologies or traumas that need consideration. Several caring, professional practitioners are extremely reassuring to the client.

There is a great opportunity in working with one of the most tragic segments of our population, those with AIDS. Many well-meaning therapists are afraid of or thoroughly intimidated by the thought of working with people with HIV.  Correspondingly, the people who would benefit the most from some nurturing bodywork from their community miss out.

By working together as a group of caring therapists supporting one another in the care of the HIV person, everyone benefits.  Being in a difficult place is not so scary when you have reliable support from people you know. If you are afraid of working alone with “difficult clients” for any reason, reach your hand out to someone like you or someone stronger and work together to do what is in your heart to do.  In the end you will be stronger as a therapist.

MASTER MIND THERAPY
The group mind of the group therapist can be quite insightful. The several therapists take on a new identity, that of the group master mind, sharing the qualities of all.  With practice, the group takes on the appearance and attention of a single master therapist with infinite tools available to bring about the possible healing of the client.

SomaVeda® Thai Yoga for Multiple Therapists and the group dynamic therapeutic interaction has the possibility of opening doors to healing which conventional, one on one, type of sessions can not. The experience and possibility of expanded healing are as good for the group as for the client or receiver. For example, one additional variation is for the group to rotate in, to have each member of the healing team to take turns being both a giver and or a receiver in turn!  Step up your communication and organize a partner approach to your next session and experience for your self what this wonderful SomaVeda™ Thai Yoga variation has to offer.

The multiple therapists style of Thai yoga is a standard part of the curriculum of the SomaVeda® Thai Yoga (Traditional Thai Massage)(Thai Yoga Massage) Practitioner Certification Program. Thai program is hosted four times a year at the Thai Yoga Center in Brooksville, Florida. For details on the CTP and other fine educational offering at the Thai Yoga Center Click Here!

But for now, enjoy the Thai Yoga Multiple Therapists video, be inspired to explore and expand your practice!

For SomaVeda Thai Yoga Articles Main Page Click Here!

To see the SomaVeda™ Thai Yoga Multiple Therapists application for the standard Massage, Massage Therapy table:

1) Table Thai Slide Show #1

1) Table Thai Slide Show #2

1) Table Thai Slide Show #3

For information on SomaVeda® Thai Yoga Practitioner Certification Program Click Here!

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Ayurveda of Thailand Wins 2017 eLit Award

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Ayurveda of Thailand Wins 2017 eLit Award

News Update! July 2017:  Just awarded the 2017 Silver Medal Winner in the eLit Awards (independent publishing) digital publishing excellence in the “New Age/ Mind-Body-Spirit award category!

 

Ayurveda of Thailand Wins 2017 eLit Award

Ayurveda of Thailand: Indigenous Traditional Thai Medicine and Yoga Therapy

PRESS RELEASE

New comprehensive textbook on the Ayurveda and Thai Yoga of Thailand!
Brooksville, FL, Release Date: 09/05/2016 –

Ayurveda of Thailand wins eLit Silver Medal 2017

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ayurveda of Thailand: Indigenous Traditional Thai Medicine and Thai Yoga are part of what makes Thailand, Thailand. The Royal ( Court or “Southern” Style) is the most classical form.

The book provides clear and concise instructions and details for the practice in a clinical setting. Over 160 photo and graphic illustrations present each traditional application in a logical format.

Readers will especially appreciate the detailed and well researched history and medical anthropology of Thailand’s great contribution to the world heritage of indigenous, traditional medicine systems. Thai Yoga Therapy is on par with Traditional Chinese Medicine and others.

It has become the nucleus of a new lifestyle and right livelihood for the thousands of US and Thai students, practitioners and teachers. Indigenous, Traditional Thai Massage (Indigenous Thai Yoga Therapy), also called “Ryksaa Thang Nuad Phaen Boran Thai” or the “ancient Chirothesia (Yoga Therapy) or hands-on healing” of Thailand, is born of a long tradition.

This unique system of indigenous, traditional, natural medicine and Yoga therapy finds it’s ancient roots first in the traditions of classical Ayurveda as far back as the 5th century BCE. Subsequently, the Vedic health and medical practices eventually became common practice in SE Asia. Burma (Myanmar) and Thailand were heavily influenced by succeeding generations of Buddhist influence, philosophy and practice. Some form of this traditional medicine has been taught and practiced in various locations for about 2500 years.

Two ways to get the book: Ayurveda of Thailand: Indigenous Traditional Thai Medicine and Yoga Therapy

Trade Paperback: Only $19.95: To review or order the paperback order on Amazon CLICK HERE!

Kindle Edition: Only $9.95: To review or order the Kindle version CLICK HERE!

News Update! July 2017:  Just awarded the 2017 Silver Medal Winner in the eLit Awards (independent publishing) digital publishing excellence in the “New Age/ Mind-Body-Spirit award category!

 

AUTHOR BIO:
The outstanding credits of Anthony B. James DNM(P), ND(T, MD(AM), DPHC(h.c.), OMD, PhD, RAAP, SMOKH include: Author, lecturer, Aachan and Master of Indigenous,Traditional Thai Medicine and Indigenous, Traditional Thai Massage, Traditional Naturopath, Medical Doctor(AM) specializing in Pastoral, Indigenous, Traditional, Natural, Native American and alternative medicine, Registered Ayurveda Clinician and Doctor of Philosophy in Indigenous Medicine.

Over 20,000 students have gone through his SomaVeda Integrated Traditional Therapies® educational programs since 1984. Honored by Royal Thai Government several times,TAT, Receiver of the Friend of Thailand award for Thai Medicine, Bangkok, Aachan and/or Master teacher and FIRST Westerner authorized to share Traditional Thai Medical Massage (Thai Yoga Therapy) in the west.

Ayurveda and Thai Yoga, Religious Therapeutics Theory and Practice

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PRESS RELEASE! New Ayurveda Text Book!

Ayurveda and Thai Yoga Religious Therapeutics Theory and Practice

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ayurveda and Thai Yoga, Religious Therapeutics Theory and Practice

By Dr. Anthony B. James DNM(C), ND(T), MD(AM), DOM(C), DPHC(h.c.), PhD, M.Sc., RAAP, SMOKH

Ayurveda, Indigenous Traditional Thai Medicine and Yoga Therapy is strongly based on Classical Indian Ayurveda. The Indigenous medicine systems of India (Ayurveda, Yoga) have been practiced in one form or another in the land we call Thailand longer than the land has been called Thailand.

Ayurveda of Thailand and Thai Yoga originated in the pre-Thai dawn of the great Indian vassal kingdoms of the Khymer and Mon civilizations and in the Theraveda Buddhist medicine practices found within the orders of monks and nuns (the Sangha). The term “Ayurveda” combines the Sanskrit words ayur (life) and veda (science or knowledge).

Ayurvedic medicine, originating in India, is one of the oldest systems of indigenous, traditional medicine in the world. Many Ayurvedic practices predate written records and were handed down by word of mouth. The ancient Thai people adopted these ancient traditions and over time adapted them to their way of life. Ayurveda of India, Khymer and Mon cultures became” Ayurveda of Thailand”!.

We now have practical means to be able to bring this medicine to our community. Life cycles out harmony with nature keep people from experiencing life in a full and productive way. These healing practices are seen as opportunities to learn a balanced way of living with nature. The nature that is outside of ourselves and the nature that is within. These remarkable teachings regarding restoration and maintenance of life have now been passed on to this generation. Thai Ayurveda/ ITTM/ Yoga Therapy incorporates elements of counseling,energy balancing, sacred nutrition and plant based diet, mindfulness, gentle rocking, deep stretching and rhythmic compression to create a singular healing experience. This work, as it brings fundamental elements and energy into harmony; creates wholeness of mind, body and spirit, in the client and the practitioner as well.

Add this Ayurveda textbook to your library today!

  1. Ayurveda and Thai Yoga, Religious Therapeutics Theory and Practice (Paperback)
  2. Ayurveda and Thai Yoga, Religious Therapeutics Theory and Practice (Kindle ebook version)

Ayurveda Perspective on Hypothyroidism

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Ayurveda Perspective on Hypothyroidism

by Scott Gerson, M.D., Ph.D. (Ayu), Medical Director, The Gerson Institute of Ayurvedic Medicine

The thyroid gland is an endocrine gland located in the neck below the thyroid cartilage (which forms the laryngeal prominence, or “Adam’s apple”). The isthmus (the bridge between the two lobes of the thyroid) is located inferior to the cricoid cartilage.

The thyroid gland controls how efficiently the body produces and utilizes energy, and affects almost every tissue and organ in the body. The only exceptions are the brain, ovaries, testes, spleen, and the thyroid gland itself. It acts by producing thyroid hormones, the principal ones being triiodothyronine (T3) and thyroxine (T4). T3 and T4 are synthesized from both iodine and tyrosine. The thyroid also produces calcitonin, which plays a role in calcium homeostasis.

Hypothyroidism is a condition in which the thyroid gland does not produce a sufficient amount of the thyroid hormones thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3). It is estimated to affect between 3.8-4.6% of the general population. Approximately 0.3% of the general American population have overt hypothyroidism, and 4.3% have subclinical hypothyroidism. Globally, iodine deficiency is the most common cause of hypothyroidism. In areas where dietary iodine is sufficient, hypothyroidism is most commonly caused by Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. It can also (rarely) be caused by post-partum thyroid inflammation, certain medications, congenital abnormalities (failure of the thyroid gland to develop), or stress.

Stress and Hypothyroidism

In fact, stress is known to be a significant contributor to thyroid dysfunction. Whenever you experience stress, your adrenal glands produce cortisol. This is an evolutionary protective mechanism that originally developed as a response to physical threats. It creates the “fight or flight” response and once the physical threat is gone, cortisol levels go back to their normal levels. Its primary functions are to:

  • increase blood sugar through gluconeogenesis in the liver • increase blood sugar through the breakdown of glycogen to glucose • raise the blood pressure   • suppress inflammation • suppress the immune system

Elevated cortisol is intended for short term stressful events. However unfortunately, your body does not know the difference between an sudden attack by a dinosaur and raising twin two-year olds. It is the duration and accumulation of stress and not the type of stress that causes high levels of cortisol.

Every cell in the body has receptors for both thyroid hormone and cortisol. Cortisol acts synergistically with thyroid hormone at the epigenetic level. Normal levels of cortisol (neither too much nor too little) need to be present bound to its receptors for optimal function of not only the thyroid gland itself but for every tissue in the body. Too much cortisol causes the tissues to no longer respond to the thyroid hormone signal. This is known as thyroid resistance, meaning that thyroid hormone levels can be normal, but tissues fail to respond as efficiently to the thyroid signal. It can cause TSH levels to be elevated while T4 and T3 are within the normal range.

Excess cortisol has an adverse direct affect on thyroid function. It inhibits deiodinase (the enzyme responsible for the conversion of T4 into T3 in the body tissues) and also leads to an increased risk of Hashimotos thyroiditis (thyroid autoimmune disease). The latter effect is the result of cortisol causing an abnormal the ratio of T1 and T2 lymphocytes. A shift toward T1 may be associated with Hashimotos.

Symptoms

The symptoms of hypothyroidism are quite variable, depending on the severity of the hormone deficiency and of course one’s constitutional make-up. But in most cases, symptoms tend to develop slowly, often over a number of years. They typically include any or all of the following:

Chronic fatigue, weight gain, depression, low blood pressure, sensitivity to heat and cold, paresthesias, bradycardia, elevated LDL- cholesterol, reactive hypoglycemia, hoarseness, constipation, headache, muscle weakness, joint stiffness, swollen face, menorrhagia (heavy and prolonged menstruation), cramps, memory loss, visual problems, infertility and hair loss.

Ayurvedic Perspective on Hypothyroidism

Galaganda

There is no direct mention of the thyroid gland in Ayurveda. But a disease by the name galaganda is mentioned in various samhitas. The earliest description of neck swelling is found in the atharvaveda by the name apachi (a non-suppurative swelling in the neck, axilla, or groin). Charaka first described the disease as one of the 20 varieties of sleshma (kaphaja) vikaras (disease). Sushruta explicitly wrote that out of seven layers of the skin, the sixth layer, Rohini, is galaganda rogadhistana-(Su.Sa.IV/4). In the nidana sthana he describes galaganda as two encapsulated small or big swellings in the anterior angle of the neck, which hang like a scrotum (Su.Ni.XI), whereas Charaka describes galaganda as solitary swelling (Ch.Ch.XI).

The etiological factors in galaganda include climatic conditions, water supply, dietary conditions and other surroundings. Sushruta stated that rivers flowing towards east might give rise to the occurrence of galaganda. Bhela states that galaganda is more common in prachya desa (eastern part) of the country. Harita samhitakara described the role of dustambu (contaminated water) in the precipitation of galaganda. Kashyapa samhita says that any part of the country which is cold, damp, with densely grown long trees, water stagnation and heavy rains may promote the development of galaganda.

From the above descriptions it is tempting to associate galaganda can be with goiter (abnormal swelling of the thyroid gland) or some type of neck tumor, where thyroid functions may or may not be compromised. But hypothyroidism is not just a localized disease. It has many symptoms related to many systems of the body. None of these manifestations are mentioned in the ancient texts. Thus it is probably inaccurate to draw a parallel between hypothyroidism and galaganda.

Ayurvedic Treatment

According to modern Ayurvedic therapeutic science, a decrease or increase in the normal working of thyroid gland results in the ailments of hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism, respectively. Like all nija rogas (internally caused diseases), the root cause of hypothyroidism is a disequilibrium of the doshas. There is in general vitiation in the Kapha dosha and Pitta dosha (water and fire body humors).  Ayurveda teaches that thyroid disease is affected by diet and lifestyle discrepancies which further promote the doshic imbalance.

Diseases are classified in Ayurveda as either Sukhasadhya, Kruchrasadhya, Yapya or Asadhya. Sukhasadhya diseases, can be easily cured. Kruchrasadhya diseases are difficult to cure. Yapya diseases recur when the treatment is stopped and Asadhya signifies those diseases that are incurable. Ayurveda considers most forms of hypothyroidism a yapya disease.

Thyroid Therapy

Ayurveda therapy for thyroid disease is a holistic and supportive therapy that aims to correct the doshic imbalance and hence the flawed function of the thyroid gland. Therapy includes the recommendation of herbal medicines principally for dosha balance and to some extent specifically to promote thyroid function, dietary guidance, and lifestyle recommendations.

Thyroid Medicines

No dosages or methods of preparation are given to emphasize the absolute requirement for an Ayurvedic physician to prescribe these medicines.

Single medicines include: Kanchanara leaves, Guggulu oleoresin, Ashwagandha root, Brahmi leaves, Punarnava leaves.

Compound medicines include Kanchanar Guggulu, Punarnava mandoor*, Ashwagandharishta, Amritadhaya taila and Mahayogaraj guggulu**.

All medicines for hypothyroidism need to be taken under the supervision of an experienced Ayurvedic physician (Vaidya). Also, as these thyroid medicines help in regulating metabolism as well as detoxifying the body, you may need to increase your water intake and include a bland diet along with taking medicines meant for thyroid balancing.

* contains ferric oxide (iron) and is used only if there is accompanying anemia. **contains mercuric sulfide, tin oxide, ferric oxide, ferrous silicate, and silver oxide.

Hypothyroid Diet and Lifestyle Guidance

  • Assuming there is no food intolerance or lactase deficiency one can consume milk and milk products. Also rice, barley, green grams, Bengalgram (chaana dal), sugarcane juice, cucumber and fruits and vegetables which are pittakapha ahara (reduce both pitta and kapha, (see diets on our website)
  • Restrict the salty and sour tastes in your diet.
  • Ayurveda acknowledges the benefit of specific Yoga asanas and pranayama (breathing techniques) in the management of hypothyroidism. These asanas include:

Yogamudrasana Yoganidrasana Halasana Sarvangasana Suryanamaskar  Suptavajrasana Matasyasasna

  • Pranayama techniques of Jalandhar bhanda and Ujjayi Pranayaam

Iodine is a controversial subject for hypothyroid patients. One of the most classic signs of iodine deficiency is an enlarged thyroid gland and goiter: conversely, people with Hashimoto’s disease often develop goiter that can be aggravated by supplementing with additional iodine, especially in large doses.

Iodine is found in shellfish, seaweed, deep-water fish and certain vegetables, including: garlic, chard, spinach, and mustard and turnip greens, lima beans, sesame seeds, and soybeans. The iodine content in food does not seem to aggravate a Hashimoto’s thyroid in the same way as it does when administered in supplements, but it is still prudent not to consume these items in large quantities.

Selenium deficiency is also a preventable environmental factor in Hashimoto’s disease. The recommended daily allowance of selenium is normally 55 mcg (micrograms), but for Hashimoto’s patients it is reasonable to increase this to 200 mcg daily either through the diet or supplementation. Selenium foods (mcg/per serving) include: brazil nuts (540!), most salt-water fish (50-90), shellfish (50-60), mushrooms (15-20), meats (20-30), poultry (30), eggs (10), and whole grains (20-25).

As we all are constitutionally, metabolically, and genetically different, with we will respond to standard Ayurvedic treatments in idiosyncratic ways. Therefore the therapeutic approach to any disease or condition is always individually formulated.

 

Reprinted with authors permission.

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Angels Speak by Anthony B. James

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Angels Speak, The Art and Work of Crafting Consciousness

New Book Angels Speak by Anthony B. James

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This Paperback edition is a practical guide to personal and self work. This book is based entirely on the original workbook, first published in 1994 by Anthony B. James as a personal workbook for himself and his Somaveda Integrated Traditional Therapies® Thai Yoga students. The original short workbook, composed of a list of useful aphorisms, maxims and statements allegedly attributed to conscious beings, is herein discussed and elaborated on in detail. The book is based entirely on a series of 28 lectures given by Dr. J between September and November 2011. The Trade Paperback edition contain all of the text found previously in the Kindle editions Volume 1 & 2.

Now Available on Amazon.Com: Click Here to view or order.

 

  • Series: Angels Speak
  • Paperback: 248 pages
  • Publisher: Meta Journal Press (March 20, 2017)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1886338175
  • ISBN-13: 978-1886338173
  • Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 0.6 x 11 inches

 

Amazing Thai Yoga Therapy for the Hands!

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Amazing Thai Yoga Therapy for the Hands: Reusi Dottan Based Restorative and Regenerative Yoga for Hands, Shoulders and Heart

Amazing Thai Yoga therapy for the hands

Ayurveda and Yoga Therapy have been practiced as a vital part of Thailand’s indigenous culture for thousands of Years. Thai Reishi Yoga or Reusi Dottan provide the origin for the Thai Yoga therapy for the hands. This is true Hand Yoga!

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