Articles

रागादिरोगान् सततानुषक्तानशेषकायप्रसृतानशेषान् औत्सुक्यमोहारतिदान् जघान योऽपूर्ववैद्याय नमोस्तुतस्मैः Aṣṭāṅga Hṛdayam:I:1  rāgādi-rogān satatānuṣaktān-aśeṣa-kāya-prasṛtān-aśeṣān autsukya-mohāratidān jaghāna yo’pūrva-vaidyāya namo’stu-tasmai //1//   Obeisance be unto that unique and rare (incomparable) physician [that’d be God] who has completely eliminated limitless diseases that are closely associated with and spreading all over the body and mind, perpetually causing...

ऋ॒तं च॑ स॒त्यं चा॒भी॑द्धा॒त्तप॒सोऽध्य॑जायत ṛtaṃ ca satyaṃ cābhīddhāt tapaso 'dhy ajāyata Truth was born and the order of truth from the kindled fire of energy of consciousness. Rig Veda 10.190.1 I’ve been reflecting on the relationship between the Sanskrit words, “satyam” and, “ṛta” or, “ṛtam.” Satyam: The Chandogya Upanishad tells us...

Osteoporosis (An Excerpt from the beginning of chapter 16 of Balance Your Hormones, Balance Your Life, by Claudia Welch) Americans spend about $5 billion a year on drugs to protect bone health, roughly 50 percent more than they spent for this just five years ago. Thinning...

By Dr. Ramkumar, Dr. Robert Svoboda & Dr. Claudia Welch Note: This is an evolving work. We have already changed the title and edited the article a bit in response to thoughtful input from readers. We have added links at the bottom of this article to...

By Dr. Claudia Welch Disclaimer,  Introduction and entry into svādhyāya (self-introspection): While certainly Black people and people outside the US are welcome to read this, I am a white woman, and it is generally intended to speak to the perspective and perhaps shared experience of other...

by Dr. Claudia Welch With a crazy percentage (and that link is to an article that only includes percentages of the leading causes of death; there are many other causes we'd have to add) of disease being caused by poor lifestyle (stress, overwork, too much or...

Dear Friends, I hope this finds you finding, good in the, “bad” and with a strong footing in the, “good.” I recently returned to North America from Eastern & Northern Europe where, among other things, I co-taught some events with my dear friend and colleague, Dr. Robert...

By Dr. Claudia Welch For a long time I have reflected on something that my guru said on more than one occasion. Here are the exact words, in one case: “And then we should have confidence, because a coward can never achieve any success. Only a strong-hearted...

(Like the pithy title?) I just finished the second of two books I read back-to-back. Well, actually I listened to them on Audible (www.audible.com). (While in many cases I prefer reading books, this one is particularly wonderful to listen to I find the reader, Simon Vance,...

Today, in the wake of the 2016 US Presidential election, there is shock, daze, awe, grief, disbelief, or all of the above, on all sides of the political totem. It feels familiar to me. I think maybe because I have been involved in birth and death before. What the...

By Dr. Claudia Welch As of January 2011, a Kaiser Family Foundation study found that, if you were an average young American, you would be spending almost every waking minute, outside of time in school, on either a smart phone, computer, TV or some other electronic...

Gentle Reader, I am guilty of this too. I could pretend I’m not, but then there would be pretense on top of pretense. Today’s New York Times reported something we probably already knew. (One of my favorite kind of studies and forms of reporting…so satisfying). Fake smiling...

I was thinking lately… I was thinking that traditionally the Aghora sect of Hinduism has, at least in part, at least according to my understanding, embraced practices that would seem extreme to non-Aghori Hindus. Or just about anybody else. Meditating in graveyards, maybe on corpses, inviting a...

Some of us are exercise junkies. Some not. Some of us enjoy a good, brisk, long walk. Provided some tidy conditions are met: the weather must be perfect and there must be a perfect chat companion. If the weather is cold, companion taciturn or absent, or...

“Alas, I have good news.” In late May 2010, I got this cheerful voicemail message from Renee Sedliar, the affable and talented Executive Editor at Da Capo. I stood in the Baltimore airport, between flights, slightly confused. She quickly corrected, “I mean, at last, I have good news.” Da...

Hi all. I just spent a couple weeks in New Zealand, or “Aotearoa”– “land of the long white cloud,” as a stopover on my way to teach in Australia. There is a reason clouds occupy a prominent position in the Maori name for New Zealand. [caption id="attachment_55521" align="alignnone"...

Dr. Welch talks about two major considerations in breast health - considerations she wished all women knew about so we could all have the best mammarian (yes, she knows that is not a word) health possible....

In this special interview Dr Claudia Welch, Ayurvedic Practitioner, gives a refreshing holistic perspective on hormones, the difference between adrenaline and cortisol, male and female sex hormones, and perspective on how to balance your hormones....

I suppose that, at any given time, there are always at least a few places on this planet that manage to manifest lofty ideals in practical ways that inspire and transform whoever participates. In my estimation, vaidyagrāma, an Ayurvedic eco-village that provides education and Ayurvedic treatments...

Ancient Āyurvedic texts describe four qualities one must possess to become an effective physician: Excellence in theoretical knowledge, lots of practice, dexterity and purity. Dr. Welch explores some of the weird and interesting aspects of these qualities and how cultivating them can enhance our ability...

I just spent such a delightful weekend with the Kripalu School of Ayurveda students, who should be graduating, like, any minute now. It was truly, madly, deeply enjoyable for me to spend time with them. Hopefully it wasn’t lousy for them either. I am also aware...

Sometime in maybe the 2000s, I started hearing a lot about, “oil pulling.” How it was an ancient Ayurvedic practice used extensively for thousands of years. And it seemed to cure everything from cavities to cancer. I had never heard of it. I had been studying Ayurveda...

by Dr. Claudia Welch Note: You can find organic doṣa-pacifying oils listed in this article at Banyan Botanicals and other places. Good to check that they are made with organic herbs that are harvested in a sustainable way. We do not get commissions for naming Banyan...

Note: While much of this article is about plants and medicine, all these ideas apply equally to animals and food. Treating animals as commodities, packing them into unnaturally crowded areas and interacting with them in those environments has been shown to be clearly associated with...

Masters come to tell us this. They address us either as a man, from the level of man- “O, man, awake!”-or from the level of the soul, the conscious being—“O, children of Light, awake! You are asleep. Being under the control of mind, your attention...

  Ayurveda Ayurveda, literally “the science of life,” is a science of medicine that originated in India between two and five—even ten—thousand years ago (depending on who you ask). It includes a comprehensive study of anatomy, physiology, pathology, diagnostic systems and treatment strategies. Even today, in India,...

This article was actually guest-written for Diaforlife.com, a resource-full website dedicated to Connecting and inspiring people around the world to live their full potential and become part of a growing change for the planet. But they graciously let me repurpose it for my October 7, 2012...

If you are a student of Ayurveda, Chinese Medicine, Western medicine or simply nature and health, you have probably learned or noticed that some people have stronger constitutions than others. Those of us with weaker ones may bemoan our fates and envy our stronger brethren...

Years ago a new patient came from out of state for an office visit. Over the course of the consultation, I learned she had several health issues that had been plaguing her since early childhood. She felt they were possibly related to her birth, and...

Most medicine comes with side effects. What’s really swell is when the side effects are good. One of Ayurveda’s powerful tools for healing and change is called dinacharya: a healthy daily routine. A healthy dinacharya may help heal physical and mental maladies, but a less...

A Conversation with Dr. Claudia Welch - by Juliana Swanson Juliana Swanson: Thank you so much for taking the time for this interview. Do you prefer I call you “Dr. Welch” or “Claudia”? Dr. Claudia Welch: Let’s go with, “Claudia” for the rest of this, shall we? And...

New: Women’s Health & Hormones online course taught by Dr. Welch, with an innovative approach to understanding women’s hormones and health conditions. Designed for everybody, regardless of medical background, from MDs to professionals of Ayurveda or TCM, to anyone interested in women’s health.