What is Ayurveda?

Ayurveda is a system of medicine that originated in India several thousand years ago. The term Ayurveda is of Sanskrit origin made up of ayur, which means life, and veda, which means science of or knowledge. Basically, Ayurveda means "science of life."

There is such a strong underlying belief in our culture that we should be striving to be more than something. Be extraordinary. Be better than your competition. Get to a new level above your neighbor. How much stress can one person be placed under?

What if a, rather than trying so hard to be extraordinary, we focused on being ordinary in our own unique ways. Truth is, there’s no one exactly like you. No one has your visions, your heart, your inner voice. Nope, just you. You already are uniquely special, you don’t need to invent something to be that. It’s inherent in your nature to be you.

Think for a moment of the energy it takes to be extraordinary. There is a trying to be more than, and underlying belief that if you can be more than, you can also be less than, and the underlying fear that others may someday see you for what you truly are, ordinary. Now think about just being you. Your ordinary self. Feel how the pressure drops. Feel how good it feels to allow yourself to be who you fully are without trying to be more or less. Feel how it opens your heart is well and allows you to be present for those around you. Imagine this being how you live. Why isn’t it.

Power is a popular buzzword today and one that invokes various responses. Some view power as leading to corruption, others as a means of manifesting. I believe thoughts on power are so diverse because the true meaning of the word is misinterpreted.

Power is often confused with the notion of force. Force is actually nothing like power. Force means a pushing of energy over an object. It’s an opposition, animalistic in nature. With force, there is an opposer and this opposer is focused on invoking a change usually in their favor. Basically force is focused outwardly on the outcome and obtaining a victory of sorts. As you can probably tell, force is more of a mental activity as it contains strategy as well as intention.

New on the Website:

Diet Types: Vegan, Vegetarian

Ingredients: 1 Spanish onion, chopped 1 large clove garlic, chopped 3 stalks celery, sliced 2 medium carrots, thinly sliced 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 cup dried lentils, rinsed 4 cups water or Vegetable Stock 1 teaspoon dried rosemary 1 bay leaf 1 15 oz. can chopped tomatoes salt and pepper to taste

Instructions: In a soup pot, saute onion, celery, garlic and carrots in oil until onion is soft, about 5 minutes. Add remaining ingredients (except salt and pepper) and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 30-40 minutes, or until lentils are soft. Remove bay leaf . Season to taste with salt and pepper. Puree half and serve.

ENJOY!!!

This months quotes are on the topic of Self- Acceptance! Enjoy!

“To wish you were someone else is to waste your own existence."

“If you believe in your dreams then they may come true, however, if you believe in yourself, they will come true.”

"Perhaps the most important thing we can undertake toward the reduction of fear is to make it easier for people to accept themselves, to like themselves." Bonaro W. Overstreet

"A man who doesn't trust himself can never really trust anyone else." Cardinal De Retz

"I prefer to be true to myself, even at the hazard of incurring the ridicule of others, rather than to be false, and to incur my own abhorrence." Frederick Douglass

What is the Autumn Equinox?

For non-scientists, the equinox is an occurrence that happens twice a year when the sun crosses the equator, and day and night are of approximately equal length.

This year's autumnal equinox occurs on Sept. 23, 2006, 12:03 A.M. EDT and marks the beginning of autumn in the Northern Hemisphere.