Ayurveda is an ancient medical system from India that was developed thousands of years ago through deep meditation and *millions* of case studies. When I first started studying Ayurveda in 1991, I was in my pre-med years at UVa (how did I get this old). Pre-med is a pressure cooker… to say the least. And one day, my digestion just stopped working. I’ll spare the details 💩 It was exhausting never to feel nourished, and I was concerned enough that I went to the student health clinic.

Now one might say right person, right advice if you look at the long arc of my life; though at that moment, the physician who saw me in the student clinic figured that the best option to help “slow things down” was phenobarbital. I must say that I NEVER prescribed this medication for this condition in my career. However, I will also add that it was just outrageous enough that I decided to look into other options. And at that moment, my journey of healing began in a way that there was no turning back.
And as I learned in the Ayurvedic model, “Agni” or digestive fire had been severely impacted by the stress of studying, not eating well, and numerous other bad habits that invariably come up in college.

Agni does not translate just to digestive enzymes; it is a philosophy and poetry.

Dr. Lad, my teacher at The Ayurvedic Institute, once told us, “You are as old as your AGNI”.
AND just this week, there was a study, “Gut microbiome pattern reflects healthy aging and predicts survival in humans.” (Wilmanski, 2021), that begins to elucidate that. See more on the study in IG stories.
LOVE WHEN modern science begins to connect with ancient observations. It is humbling to realize that ancient physicians had vital information to help us heal in modern times – disruption of Agni is part of what is happening for COVID long haulers from an Ayurvedic standpoint.

Dr. Lad on AGNIi:
🌱Awareness that governs cellular processes
🥬 Governor of digestion, assimilation, and transformation of matter into energy
🌟 Nutrition of all bodily tissues and processing of cellular waste
🌸 Intelligence of cellular selectivity and expression
I’ll be sharing about AGNI from the ancient Ayurvedic texts this week.

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