Paras Moghtader

Ojas is one of the three vital essences that together promote and sustain our physical vitality, mental clarity, and overall health. The three vital essences—prana, tejas, and ojas—are the positive forms of vata, pitta, and kapha doshas, respectively. Whereas an increase in the doshas has the potential to create disease, an increase in the vital essences tends to support wellness. So increasing, balancing, and paying attention to these wholesome, subtle forces is worthwhile.

In Ayurveda, there is 7 bodily tissues. It is believed that the nutrition travels through these bodily tissues, from plasma to the blood then to the muscle, fat tissue, bone, bone marrow and finally after 30 days of traveling, whatever nutrition is left becomes our Ojas or vitality in the form of the reproductive energy. Ojas is a very important and powerful part of who we are, how much energy we have, our vitality, immunity and the source of our joy! This is specially important in the winter months becaus...

The quiet solitude of January makes it a perfect month for deep thought, rest, and contemplation. The dark, introspective winter seems to bury all the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, bringing the previous year to a complete rest. As the earth becomes frozen solid, all the animals are in deep sleep, trees and pants pull all their energy inwards and many birds have migrated to a warmer place, it is from this frozen place that us human beings can root down by also turning our energy inwards as we are not separate from all that is "nature". From this grounding and solid place then we can set our intentions for the next year.

Ayurveda teaches us that we are in fact a part of this natural environment, therefore any qualities that exist outside of us will in fact affect us on the inside and out. The rule of ayurveda is like increases like, opposites decrease. So what this means is when it is bitter cold outside everything dries out even water itself seems to have the dry qualities of...