As spring breathes new life into nature, it's the ideal moment to rejuvenate and replenish our bodies. Ayurveda, the ancient art of healing, offers gentle yet potent methods to cleanse and renew both body and spirit.

In this episode, immerse yourself in the world of Rasayana — the revitalizing and age-defying facet of Ayurveda. Uncover an effortless regimen to refresh your system and delve into three easily accessible herbs that promise a harmonious blend of bodily and mental wellness.

But that's not all! Get ready to be enlightened by revelations from a groundbreaking book that exposes startling truths about our food chain and the power players behind it. A journey of rejuvenation and revelation awaits you! Join us and embrace spring with holistic wisdom and informed choices.

 Read the full transcript here: 

0:01
This is Laura Lummer, the breast cancer recovery coach. I'm a healthy lifestyle coach, a clinical Ayurveda specialist, a personal trainer, and I'm also a breast cancer survivor. In this podcast, we talk about healthy thinking and mindfulness practices, eating well, moving your body for health and longevity. And we'll also hear from other breast cancer survivors who have reengaged with life and have incredible stories to share. This podcast is your go to resource for getting back to life after breast cancer.

0:38
Hello, I am Laura Lummer and you are listening to the breast cancer recovery coach. This is episode 24 cleanse and restore rebuilding your strength and vitality naturally with our your VEDA. And I'm super excited about the show because I love it Aveda. And I know the more you learn about it, the more you'll love it as well. First of all, thank you so much for taking the time to download the show to listen into the breast cancer recovery coach. And thanks to all of you who have left reviews and comments for the show in the iTunes store if you're listening for the first time, or if you're a regular listener, and you can find the time to go to the iTunes store and just leave a review, click on a couple of stars, or write a comment. I really, really appreciate you taking that time and making this show easier for more people to find. So let's get right into it. We are still in the first month of spring. And traditionally spring is a time for cleansing, right spring cleaning. And that doesn't only apply to your dressers and to your attics, but to your body as well. Personally, I'm not a huge fan of extreme cleanses. Because I really believe that the body has its natural ability to heal and cleanse itself in the right environment. And that means that we can't be filling our bodies with chemicals and crappy food and then expecting it to cleanse and restore itself properly. So today I'll talk a little bit about cleansing and a very gentle Ayurvedic way, knowing that there are many more deep cleanses you can go into in our VEDA, but I'm just going to touch on this introductory part of it. And then I'll talk about restoring and rejuvenating the body with some important and powerful Are you Vedic herbs that are called reciting us. These herbs restore your body's energy and its ability to heal itself. And to slow the onset of aging, which who doesn't want that, right? It's important to recognize, though that I talk about cleansing and rebuilding. Because those go hand in hand, right? When you're going in and you're cleansing yourself. And you're getting all the gunk out of your tissues, it's important then to come back into rebuilding your health from a really stable platform, using very nutritive and restorative foods and herbs to support that. So one of the ways that we cleanse our body is of course by cleaning up our diet. But what if you have cleaned up your diet, and you're eating whole foods, but those Whole Foods and tons of fruits and veggies that you're eating aren't all organic, which oftentimes is not an affordable thing. And they're tainted because of the chemicals that are used to grow and harvest them. I bring that up because I want to refer you to an incredible book, it came out I think, just in February, and it's called whitewashed the story of a weed killer cancer and the corruption of science. This book is written by Kerry Gilliam and the reason I bring up the book is not only because it's really well written, but more importantly, I think the bringing more awareness to what our food is being exposed to is at a very critical point. Now I try not to get too political, because my platform and my passion are health and wellness. And I don't consider myself to be well informed when it comes to many political issues. However, when politics and corporate chemical mongering taint our food supply, I really think it's time that we pay attention, and that we begin to create awareness, with as much as 90 to 95% of cancer diagnosis attributable and that's all kinds of cancers, not just breast cancer, attributable to lifestyle and environmental causes. It's crucial that we become informed of the potential risks that are out there, so that we can make informed decisions about what is acceptable in our lives in our diets and the diets of those who we love. And I know many times I'm sure you've said I've heard myself say oh my gosh, if I had to protect myself from everything that might cause cancer, I'd literally not be able to eat or drink anything. And there's a lot of truth to that, you know, lots of places you go, you see may cause cancer may cause cancer, but it's important, I think in this book and the attention that Carrie Gulen brings to what is happening to our food supply, that we have that information so that we have an understanding that this is something we can actually take action against because it It doesn't have to be this way. This book whitewashed is written by a very experienced journalist Carrie Guillen. Her career led her to becoming a senior US correspondent for Reuters covering the agricultural industry in the late 1990s. And her experience her travels and her relationships with both farmers and corporate agricultural companies gave her a ton of insight into not only the American food supply but into our global food supply. In 2015, she became the research director for the US right to know and that is a nonprofit organization with a mission to educate and inform consumers about political and corporate actions that influence our food system. This book focuses primarily on the herbicide Roundup, whose main ingredient is Glyphosate. Glyphosate was patented by Monsanto, and it is being promoted as safe for humans and wildlife, and environmentally as being one of if not the safest herbicide in history. According to Monsanto's website, after hearing Gillen present political and scientific facts about this widely used herbicide, I mean, well, much more widely used than I had even understood and the actions that have been taken to protect the reputation of the service side. And to discredit anyone who claims that glyphosate is a human carcinogen. You might think twice about the food purchases that you make. Oddly enough, the day after I finished reading this book, I was talking with my husband about the concerns that I had over what I had read. And an article came out that same day by eco watch and was posted on Flipboard, and moms across America's website. And this article was talking about nearly a dozen of the top beer and wine brands tested positive for glyphosate. This chemical has been shown to have links to non Hodgkins lymphoma, kidney disease, birth defects and other types of cancers too. So I highly recommend that you check it out. And although Gillam refers to a lot of science in this book, it is anything but dry. It's really an engaging page turner. And if you do read it and feel compelled to take some type of action, know that currently the EPA, the Environmental Protection Agency is accepting comments from the public until the end of this month, April 30 2018. As the registration for the use of glyphosate and some other herbicides are under review whether or not there'll be renewed to continue to be used at the level they're being used. So I'll post the links to the book and to the website where you can go and post comments to the EPA if you choose to do so on the show notes for this episode. So let's stay informed and let's stand up for the safety of our food supply. Okay, moving on, let's talk about recycling as Rasayana is one of the eight branches of item, and it's most closely related to the western concept of anti aging. resigner is an entire science in itself. And it includes lifestyle practices, improving digestion, incorporating foods and herbs that are known to strengthen the tissues of the body, promoting a stronger immune system and restoring health while slowing the aging process at the same time. So rasa in our Veda is the plasma of the body, it's considered the primordial tissue of the body. And whatever improves the rasa is called a Rasayana. Now, this word literally means the path that rasa takes. So plants are considered to be reassigned as if they have the following properties according to our VEDA, if they re establish youth and prevent aging, they strengthen the brain, the mind and life overall. They help to prevent disease and to promote longevity. So I want to talk about resigning today, because I was actually inspired to do this show by a conversation I had earlier this week, I was talking with a woman who's my age and early 50s. And she's having some significant issues with moving her body around. And she noticed that she's losing a lot of muscle tone, and she's feeling weaker and weaker. And in talking with her, I was reminded how often I meet people who think that they're either too old to improve their physical health, or to increase their strength, or they just believe that many physical limitations they're experiencing and choosing to live with are part of this new normal, and that there's nothing that they can do about it. I want to assure you that from both an Eastern and a western approach to health, you are never too old to strengthen your body and to improve your health. I can remember long into the process of watching my dad deal with type two diabetes. I tried to encourage him to take action, knowing knowing not guessing but knowing that he could improve his situation and I knew He was hearing the same information from his own doctors. Improving his health was not a question of options, but a question of intention and commitment. And this is the case with pretty much anyone in the absence of disease, of course. So resign is not only a practice for someone who's ill and trying to recover. But it's also a practice for those who are healthy and want to remain strong and live a vibrant life. So it's really for everybody. Now resign, it is an entire lifestyle practice, as I mentioned earlier, it includes healthy thinking, having a nourishing diet, having healthy social interactions, meditation, which is a big part of a Sinem, practicing peaceful management of worry and stress. And we don't have time to go into all of that this episode. So what I'm going to do is just give you this simple outline for an Ayurvedic approach to restoring your body. And then we'll talk about these herbs that are considered resigning us. And we'll look at what the herbs do for you. Ways that you can incorporate them into your life and of course, with your doctor's permission. So I'll post an awesome resource for herbs, because I know the first question is when you heard about herbs is where do I get them. And I've posted this resource on other shows also on Show Notes Pages. And I put it out there not because I get paid to promote them. But because this is the resource that I use. They're very high quality. They're wonderful, dependable, and this company itself is very knowledgeable in our VEDA. So even on the website, the website itself is a great resource to learn about our Aveda and to learn about herbal medicines. So for me, it's just a very trusted place to go. And it's the place that I refer anyone who asked me about herbs and where to get them. So check out the show notes page for the link after you finish the show. Now when we're aiming to restore the body to restore health and to strengthen the tissues of the body, it's important to prepare the body for these restorative treatments. And part of that preparation is to cleanse the body. So you want to support the body with non toxic nourishment and give your body the ability to strengthen its own power to heal. And this can be as simple as committing to a week of eliminating sugar, alcohol and processed food from your diet. Or focusing on eating as many fruits and vegetables as you can just for one week, try for one week, you can do anything for one week, right? If you went through chemotherapy for the many months you did, you can do something good for yourself for one week. If you know a little bit more about cleansing, or you like to go into a deeper and you have a routine that you like that involves other ways of addressing the tissues of the body, that's fine too. But what I'm saying is you can just start simply eliminate some of these foods that we know are toxic, and incorporate lots of things that are healthy and fiber and phytonutrients for that week just to cleanse that body and kind of strengthen your body's ability to heal. While you're eating this cleansing diet, you want to stimulate the lymphatic system and the flow of blood through giving yourself vigorous self massage. And by vigorous I mean applying warm oil to your body using a modest amount of pressure and friction. So you really, you know, using kind of quick up and down strokes creating a little bit of heat and friction as you're giving yourself this massage. So you're rubbing yourself think of as if you were really cold and trying to warm yourself up. Do this each morning before showering with the oil on your body and use a pure non perfumed oil like sesame or coconut or olive oil. Another preparatory step is the cleansing of the internal organs. So are you VEDA can go really deep into this and there are places that you can go to to experience what's called punch of karma. And this is an intense and often can be a pretty expensive cleansing process if you find a place in the United States that that does it. But you can also do some things yourself very easily at home. And again, know that this is a suggested part of the ritual and preparing yourself for rebuilding and resigner. But if you're not comfortable with any of these practices, then don't do them. So some things that you can do at home, are to cleanse the large intestine by using an enema or conducting a deeper intestinal cleanse by using products that you can purchase over the counter at your local drugstore. Just as you would if you were preparing for a colonoscopy or another similar procedure. You can cleanse your respiratory passages with a practice called nauseam. And nasiha is basically lying down with your head tilted back and then dropping one or two drops of a medicated oil into each nostril and then deeply inhaling this oil into the sinuses. Many argue that IT companies make nausea oils or you can just use a good quality olive or sesame oil without any herbs in it. This is what I do and this is what I have my husband do to help with his allergies at home First cleansing with the neti pot that saline solution through the nostrils and then following with the inhalation of oils. And it's really therapeutic. And I've seen some amazing results, for people have had chronic sinus issues and even eye infections and issues with their eyes clear up when they use this practice regularly. If you're looking for a nausea oil, or if you're looking for any type of these intestinal cleansing products, you can ask the pharmacist at your local drugstore about what people use for cleansing for a colonoscopy. And they can give you the right referral. And there are a couple of other traditional Ayurvedic practices. But they're very intense. And they involve things that could cause harm if you don't know what you're doing. So we're not going to go into deeply to those, we're not going to go into those at all, because it's really some practices that you want to be working with an experienced ru Vedic practitioner or a physician when you're doing so the ones that we talked about are easy, and they're safe to do at home. And these are ones you don't have to worry about. So during this preparatory stage, it's also good to incorporate meditation daily, even if it's just for five minutes, or at least to try to reduce the stress and the overexertion in your life so that you can feel calm and connected with yourself during this period of becoming prepared. So going through this preparatory stage, it's important to get your body ready for the rebuilding process, so that the rebuilding process is more effective. I hear from a lot of people, oh, I can't meditate, I don't do that I just My mind is too busy, I have too much, I can't even possibly think about sitting down for five minutes. And that's why you do it, that's even more important for you. If you're saying, I can't calm my mind down that you need to work on calming your mind down. And very simply just closing your eyes. And noticing the breath entering the body, that sensation of the breath as it hits the nose as you breathe in. And just try to focus on that sensation following the breath for five minutes. It doesn't have to be anything more than that. You don't have to start off with extravagant mantras or trying to clear your mind of thoughts, you know, just follow the breath for five minutes. And this will give remarkable results for you just in and of itself.

17:20
So again, it doesn't mean that any of these things are mandatory or that restorative herbs won't be beneficial for you if you decide to just begin incorporating them. So don't let the idea of cleansing for a week stop you from incorporating restorative herbs into your life. Just know that that cleansing process is just a really neat way to get the body ready and also to get your mind and your emotions ready because it gives you that time to really connect with yourself and see how you're feeling. So although there are a lot of Rasayana herbs, we're going to look at three easy to find you can go to Whole Foods or sprouts or Amazon and get these and if you need a refresher if I refer to doshas, you want a refresher or you never heard episode 17 What is a dosha? You can go back and listen to that. And that might help you feel a little more informed as we talk about the effects of these Rasayana herbs. So one of the most well known and very effective are scientists is called Shavon. Prakash. Chuan Prakash is literally the stuff of legends in Iveta. And so it has a story behind it as so many things in our Aveda do, which is another reason I love it. The story goes that there's an old sage named Chihuahuan. And he's meditating in the forest and this young girl comes dancing by him and she accidentally touches his head. And because of that, because of that contact, she becomes obligated to marry him and in order to please his new young life, this sage seeks out some are your Vedic physicians to create a combination of herbs to restore his youth and vitality. And this combination of herbs over the centuries becomes known as Chuan, Prakash. So you can find your own Prakash made by many different companies. And now each company might even tweak the recipe a little bit. So you may find Chuan Prakash that has anywhere from 20 to 40 different herbs and they're all mixed into this it's a jam or like a jelly. And some of the restorative herbs that are cooked into this jam are traditionally a Malachy pippali ashwagandha, cardamom, and lots of others and they're mixed into honey or jaggery. And that creates this type of a jam. So you can mix a teaspoon of this jam into warm water and make kind of a tea out of it. That's my favorite way to do it. You can eat it by the spoonful. I know a lot of people who love to Omprakash by the spoonful, or you can put it on toast or on crackers. So it really depends on taste preference. For me to Omprakash is a little strong to just take as a regular jam, but I love it is a tea it's got a nice sweetness and it doesn't have an off putting flavor at least the ones that I've experienced happens really kind of nice and again, I do know a lot of people who love eating it by the teaspoonful who really enjoyed the flavor. So it's packed with vitamin C and it's considered to be one of the most powerful resigns in our Aveda charm project pressure said to strengthen the immune system, rejuvenate the mind and body stimulate the metabolism and support the respiratory system. And again, it's actually quite tasty so it makes it easy to incorporate it into your life as a daily supplement your already healthy diet. A Malachy one of the main ingredients is shabam Prakash is the next resign and we're going to talk about a malarkey is a rejuvenated and detoxifying herb. It's good for all doshas. But it's especially helpful for people who have a lot of heat or what's known as Pitta in their body. And this can present itself as inflammation, heartburn, rashes, diarrhea, just to name a few symptoms of very high Pinto. I'm a lucky powder is made from the fruit of the omelet, or I'm a lucky tree. And it's one of the three ingredients in triphala. And Triphala is a renowned bowel tone of fire in area Veta. Triphala is something that people can use every day. And rather than being a laxative in the terms of irritating the bowels in the intestines to encourage movement triphala strengthens and restores the colon and the intestines and it's really an amazing herb that we'll have to do a whole nother show on triphala. So I'm lucky strengthens tissues, it's especially good for bones, teeth and hair. And it also relieves inflammation, especially with the stomach and the colon according to Ayurveda. So you can see why it's an important component in triphala. It's a natural antioxidant, and it's the main source of the vitamin C into Omprakash. In our VEDA amalaki is used to support functioning of the liver, the spleen, pancreas, and the lungs and to support the regulation of blood sugar. It's used as an expectorant and to reduce frequency of headaches and to improve memory. In scientific studies on malarkey has been shown to be an antioxidant, antimicrobial to improve hyper acidity to improve cholesterol levels and to have anti tumor effects by increasing the activity of natural killer cells in tumor bearing rats. A log is a cooling herb, and it's got a sweet post digestive effect or V Pakka. In our VEDA, we look at the flavor. So you're looking at the taste of each thing and how those tastes affect the body. And even though something might taste one way on the tongue, it may have another body another effect on the body afterwards. So once it gets into the system, and I'm lucky that taste is said to be sweet. In our VEDA, it's the sweet taste of food and in herbs that has the restorative effect on a very energetic level. So this is not applied to sugary foods, you can't get the same thing with ding dongs. But foods with a natural sweetness like fruits or whole grains, oatmeal for instance, the sweetness of these foods which restores the body can be likened to sweetness of say love, which we know love is healing and restorative, which is why we refer to cakes and pies and ice cream and cookies as comfort food. They're the foods our parents gave us on special occasions. And they remind us of love and comfort, which we know has nothing to do with the food itself. But everything to do with the energetics of that food. And the energetic of sweetness is restorative, calming and comforting.

23:51
The third resigner it was a little bit tough for me to pick because there really are a lot of great herbs out there and some that I especially love Shatavari ashwagandha and the different Google's they're amazing and lots of content for a future podcast to come up and I'll save them for other shows. So I decided to go with a restorative herb for the mind. And this resigner is called Brahmin. It's also known as Gotu Kola or Bacopa. But But COPPA and Gotu Kola are a little bit different varieties of this plant. They have similar actions to Brahmi and they can be used if they're more accessible than Brahmi. It's one of the big debates in Vedic medicine is but Copa the same as Brahmi. And which variety of which plant has the most power, but they're all very similar. So the literal meaning of Brahmi is which expands consciousness or what gives knowledge. Throughout history Brahmi has been known by different names in the Hindu texts that have meanings ranging from liked by the gods and good for mental work to arrest old age so you can tell this one already has some pretty cool effects. Brahmi is a brain tonic. It has sedative actions on the brain. And it's used in our event it to relieve anxiety and insomnia and to improve memory, chemo brain or not most of us can use that right who doesn't want to improve your memory? In scientific studies Brahmi has shown to have anti cancer, anti inflammatory, anti oxidant effects, and to improve the ability to learn in the book The yoga of herbs which was written by a world renowned or Vedic physician, who I know I've referred to before Dr. Vasant LOD, and he wrote in the yoga of herbs that Rami tea taken with honey before meditation is a great aid in the practice, and Brahmi ghee is an important medicine for the mind and the heart and should be cut in every home. So ghee is a clarified butter and thanks to the Paleo movement, Ghee has become tremendously popularized in the West, and you can find it now in just about every whole food store. I've even seen it at Ralph's recently, and you can purchase it on Amazon. Ghee is often used as a delivery system for herbs in our VEDA, because you can cook the herbs into the ghee to extract the fat soluble components and infuse the herb into this butter. In this case, it's referred to as a medicated gate once you've cooked the herbs into it, and you can easily find medicated gays with a Google search online. And they can be very, very effective and easy to take because you can put this guy on toast and you can cook your food and you can use a medicated ghee that's got herbal flavors in it and cook rice or quinoa or vegetables and things like that. So it's a great way to get some medicinal herbs into your diet into your routine. Because ghee is a clarified butter and it has the milk solids removed from it. Are you Aveda says that the does not have a negative impact on cholesterol. And scientific studies have shown that up to 10% of your daily calories taken from ghee doesn't seem to have a negative impact on serum cholesterol levels either. A study that all again posted on the show notes page shows that taking medicated ghee may even help to improve cholesterol profiles. Even though that being said, especially if you have high cholesterol always check with your doctor before you incorporate something like this into your diet, if it might adversely affect your health. So this should set you up with a nice gentle spring cleanse and rejuvenation routine that you could start today. I read it is a beautiful science and herbs are nature's powerful medicines. So when you hear me talk about the effects of these herbs, maybe you think that is just sounds too good to be true. But the fact is that plant medicines healed and supported people for 1000s of years before pharmaceutical companies decided to duplicate magnify, standardize, and patent all these drugs that are basically based on what plant medicines can do. Even the chemotherapy drug Taxol or tax ID here is initially was initially derived from the bark of an evergreen tree named the Pacific u. And then so many use were being cut down to make these chemotherapy drugs that they found another way to get this key element out of the needles of another evergreen. So never underestimate the power of natural medicine. And be sure to check with your physician before you take any new herbs, especially if you're already taking pharmaceutical medications, please, your safety is the most important thing. Now if you have a spring cleansing routine or a rejuvenation routine that works for you, I would love to hear about it. Please find me on Facebook as Laura Lummer or on Instagram as the breast cancer recovery coach and post about your routine. Because I believe that knowledge is power and the more knowledge we can share with each other, the better. Thank you so much again for listening today's show. And if you enjoyed it, and you have the time to leave a rating or a comment at the iTunes Store, I'd really really appreciate it. Also, don't forget to go to my website, Laura lummer.com where you can download my free ebook The six habits of healthy happy breast cancer survivors. Alright, until next time, let your lifestyle be your medicine

29:30
you've heard your courage to the test laid all your doubts your mind is clearer than before your heart is full and wanting more your futures you know you've been waiting on your This is your