Ayurveda A Natural Way to Restore Health and Well-Being: The Fight Against COVID-19 and Its Counterparts

According to our individual composition, or Prakriti, we are lovingly designed by the 3 main doshas. Vata, Pitta, and Kapha. Vata dosha is responsible for movement, communication, and transportation. It tends to flourish the most in the winter season as it has gunas or qualities known to be cold, rough, coarse, dry, brittle, airy, spacious, and irregular. Pitta is responsible for the metabolic processes of digestion and is the governor of our Agni or digestive fire. There are 13 agnis, which I go into in AYTT, that contribute to how we digest the information taken in and how it is nourished within our dhatus or tissues. Pitta qualities (gunas) tend to be sharp, hot, pungent, aggressive, and become aggravated when more heat is applied. Pitta season is the summertime and its peak time is mid-day and mid-night. Kapha is the sweet, subtle, soft, stable, and structured version of ourselves. Responsible for lubrication, cohesion, and foundation. I like to think of Kapha as the root chakra of our being. Kapha dosha is quite content where it is and does not like many surprises. More like Eyore from Winnie the Pooh. 

So now that you have a little background of the doshas in Ayurveda, the rest of this will make more sense. With having this understanding, in order to prevent and or treat disease or to eliminate the cause of it, we need to get to the root. This can be done by self-reflection of when the onset of the dis-ease occurred, as well as through Nadi Vigyan, which is known as Self Pulse reading. If you want to know what your dosha is, then head over to jbyfnola.org to take the dosha quiz and assessment.

Through the practice of Dinacharya, (morning routine) and Nadi Vigyan, you can actually discover which dosha is aggravated and then begin to apply certain foods to support rebalancing the aggravated dosha. Food is medicine and we must begin to discover how to utilize foods and herbs to re-establish balance back into our lives and heal from the inside out. 

According to Dr. Frawley and Dr. Lad, authors of the book “The Yoga of Herbs,”  "A fully developed system does not need refinement but rather translation and adaptation." (Frawley, Lad p.1)

‘I thought I was healthy. I thought I was taking all the necessary precautions to NOT get COVID. Washing my hands, wearing my mask, changing it out after eating, practicing social distancing as much as possible, not leaving my home unless to go to the store and part-time job, etc….’

Then one good day, after an incredible amount of stress build up it happened. I got “sick” so fast that I could not move. Sensitive to light and sound with a headache and body aches so painfully I could not move, and a fever well over 100. 

I took a moment to reflect on where I could have been exposed to COVID, and immediately solidified, I got it from my part-time job. Which, by the way, has reported now 4 cases of their employees to include me. With the ongoing uncertainty of wearing masks, and not, and the visitors from all over with their respective opinions about wearing masks and not adhering to social distancing standards, or keeping their masks on, I can see where my exposure and contracting this terrible illness, manifested. 

However, it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. As my friend Andre Love said, “you will come out stronger.” Honestly, I completely believe it. I am still going through the tail end, but I have been able to put my Ayurvedic remedies to the test and they have proven to work 100%. As my brother, Chintu said, “We are the doctor of our own body.”  Ayurveda has proven time and time again to bring light to this very statement. 

I find that food has always been a method of medicine since our ancestors. The indigenous tribes of our ancestors globally had unique systems to integrate botany as a method of healing through various tribes, and dependant on the season, so too would determine the quality of the plants, herbs, vegetables, fruits, and animals that would be honored and then consumed to enrich and nourish the human being. Based on the illness, war wound, pregnancy, and the like, food, in all its consumptions is a significant source of vitality and healing which evolved over the centuries. However, today, these ancient practices are still practiced in the remaining indigenous tribes around the world.

I am an advocate of utilizing herbs within the food to support simple remedies such as detoxification, purification, cleaning wounds, and restoring balance. Take licorice for example, which is used for coughs, colds, bronchitis, sore throat, ulcers, hyperacidity and is an effective way to discharge mucus from the body without taking cold medicine by using its root in a milk decoction which also decreases Vata and Pitta and increases Kapha ("if used long term" says Dr. Frawley, Dr. Lad p.127). 

It’s actually one of the remedies I used to kick the COVID weakness out of my system from night 1. Even though I felt super weak physically, and felt incredibly drained, I started to see significant improvement by gargling with warm water that included Himalayan salt and sesame oil to pull out impurities from my mouth and throat, drinking warm milk with turmeric and a stick of cinnamon to help me sleep, and used tiger balm on my chest which is like “Vicks” but stronger to open up my lungs and soothe my body aches. For the headache that manifested on Day 1, I drank a small cup of coffee with organic oat milk and 3tablespoons of organic brown sugar and that took it away immediately.

Dearest friend Anjali dropped off Elderberry, which is an incredible immune booster and super helpful for reducing heat and inflammation. Due to the severity of the flu-like symptoms, I took 4 tablespoons a day. For alleviating the sore throat, I took a tablespoon and filled it with organic raw honey, a dash of sea salt, and a dash of lemon. Not only does it taste good, but it also knocked that sore throat right out. I also drank organic chicken broth which was the perfect balance for my digestive fire that needed that warmth and animal protein in the broth. Although I would be considered a vegetarian, there are times when your body needs the nutrients in animal proteins such as milk, broth, yogurt, ghee, and cheese to support nutrients that come naturally from their grass-fed diets. (It’s like having “mother’s milk for a baby).  Feel free to agree to disagree, but you can look up the Charak Samhita in the ancient Ayurvedic texts and see where ethical animal proteins are observed for health reasons. 

Day 2 I felt better and had more energy, even though my fever was playing hopscotch, but was able to participate in a TM (Transcendental Meditation) retreat and speak on the phone with clients again comfortably. That evening I did awake to a stuffy nose and had to run some hot water to flush it out. Like a neti pot. I elevated my head, and that helped to keep the nadis (channels) clear. 

Day 3, I was able to circle right back to star anise, turmeric, and do a tea tree oil aromatherapy steam to open up my nasal passages, and used Epsom salt and Aveeno bath soap to make a lovely body scrub to remove any surface impurities.  I was able to do laundry, do yoga, walk around my front yard and do a little bit of exercise. I have a great feeling that by days 4 and 5 I will be back at 100%. 

You can take a more accessible plant such as Hibiscus Flower that can be used for "second chakra disorders such as kidneys and reproductive systems due to heat, congestion, and contraction," (Frawley, Ladp.124), which is used traditionally in the summer to reduce heat and fever. A good option instead of Tylenol.

As cosmic beings, why are we not looking at the abundance of natural provisions like our ancestors did to restore our health? Why do we continue to look outside the Self and rely on processed methods expecting to be healed? Such ways not only disrupt the natural flow of well-being but disrupt the natural balance already cultivated within. "Diet is anything that is taken in from any field of perception, through any sense of perception, any mode of mind, and any mode of intellect." (Maharishi Mahesh Yogi)

As we enter into this intense season of COVID spreading like wildfire again, it is important to keep the immune system strong and get the calvary ready to combat the counterpart variants that are coming to light as well. Vaxxed or unvaxxed, no one is safe from COVID. It is an equal opportunity illness that has no prejudice. Be careful, wear your masks, keep your hands and food clean, eat organic as much as you can, and be SAFE!

 In the coming weeks, I’ll be sharing more home remedies for you to put in your arsenal of health and wellness. If you are not on my mailing list or haven’t gotten an email from me in a while, then be sure to resubscribe or join so you can get all my home remedies and recipes to support you and your doshas during COVID-flu and hay fever season. 

Those of you in the membership and Ayurvedic Yoga Teacher Training, you have access to  2 new recipes as well as the Ayurvedic Diet and Nutrition workbook to use as a guide to restoring your health and preventing and illness. All about building that immunity! 

References and Reference:

De La Foret, Rosalee; The Alchemy of Herbs

Frawley; David, Ph.D.; Lad, Vasant, Ph.D.; the Yoga of Herbs, An Ayurvedic Guide to Herbal Medicine; second revised edition, 2001 p.1, 124, 127

 Sala, Sultan Slide; Three Main Causes of Imbalance

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