Top Ayurvedic Protocols for Summer Health with Vaidya Jay [Episode 901]

 

This week’s topic: Top Ayurvedic Protocols for Summer Health with Vaidya Jay

Namaste everyone and welcome back to our Monday interview show. I am thrilled to have back on our show Vaidya Jay who is my very own dear close to my heart Ayurvedic teacher for many years. I absolutely love Vaidya Jay. He is so knowledgeable about the wisdom of Ayurveda which is the oldest medical science on the planet. Vaidya Jay has been in practice for many years. He’s originally from India. He also has a wonderful organic herb company called Atreya Herbs. And we bring him on time and time again because the knowledge and wisdom of Ayurveda runs so deep and is…

About Vaidya Jayagopal Parla (Jay) BAMS, Masters in Ayurveda, CMT, MAOM

Vaidya Jayagopal Parla (Jay) is a world-renowned speaker. professor of Ayurvedic medicine and a NAMA registered practitioner. Jay has more than 23 years of experience in Ayurvedic practice and teaching.

He is a professor of Ayurvedic medicine at American University of Complementary Medicine. Beverly Hills. California. He is also a visiting faculty member at Southern California University of Health Sciences, Whittier. California and Japan School of Ayurveda, Tokyo. Japan. His area of expertise includes pain management, chronic health conditions. healthy weight management. musculo-skeletal conditions, skin care, digestive imbaLances, women’s health and anti-aging therapies.

Jayagopal Parla (Jay) holds an Masters in Ayurvedic Medicine from Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences. Bangalore. India. He also holds a Masters in Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine from Southern California University of Health Sciences and is a certified Yoga teacher.

Guest Resources

• Vaidya Jay Website : https://www.athreyaayurveda.com/

Episode Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Vaidya J and Ayurveda
02:56 The Power of Amalaki
07:28 Food as Medicine in Ayurveda
09:44 Amalaki for Reproductive Health
21:36 Balancing the Tastes of Fruit
27:43 Using Coconut Oil for Summer Cooking
32:02 Understanding the Effects of Coffee
35:24 Coffee and Body Types
38:13 Cooling Spices and Activities
43:27 Using Brahmi Oil on the Scalp
49:42 Cooking with Intention

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OTHER PODCASTS YOU MAY ENJOY!

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• How to eat to reduce anxiety with Harvard nutritional psychiatrist Dr. Uma Naidoo [Episode #867]

 

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Transcript:

Note: The following is the output of transcribing from an audio recording. Although the transcription is largely accurate, in some cases it is incomplete or inaccurate. This is due to inaudible passages or transcription errors. It is posted as an aid, but should not be treated as an authoritative record.

Kimberly Snyder (00:00.718)
Namaste everyone and welcome back to our Monday interview show. I am thrilled to have back on our show Vaidya J who is my very own dear close to my heart Arya Vedic teacher for many years. I absolutely love Vaidya J. He is so knowledgeable about the wisdom of Ardhiveda which is the oldest medical science on the planet. Vaidya J has been in practice for many years.

He’s originally from India. He also has a wonderful organic herb company called Atreya Herbs. And we bring him on time and time again because the knowledge and wisdom of Ayurveda runs so deep. And there’s always questions that I have for Vaidya J who is Dr. J to me. The word Vaidya in Sanskrit means Dr. Vaidya J. Thank you so much for being back here with us.

Vaidya Jay (00:56.916)
Thank you, thank you Kimberly for making that change. I know it’s hard but taking that name Vaideh Jai makes it much more you know dear and near to me because that’s why Ayurvedic Vaidehas are the Ayurvedic doctors. So nice to have you come into this podcast with the Ayurvedic knowledge for all your

Kimberly Snyder (01:10.446)
Yes, of course.

Vaidya Jay (01:24.82)
community out there, Kimberly. It’s amazing that you’ve been so rich knowledge of all modalities, but taking up Ayurveda and helping people to know about Ayurveda is really something that I love to do with you.

Kimberly Snyder (01:45.07)
You know, it made a big difference in my life. I did, Jay, I went from being a raw foodist for a few years and starting to feel a bit spacey, a bit imbalanced, just there was something going on in my body. And then I started taking a deep dive in Ayurveda and I studied with you for over four years. This is when the clinic was in Beverly Hills and it was an amazing eye opening experience for me to learn about these incredible rhythms and the self care practices.

And I mentioned this to you briefly before the show, Dr. J. Bye, DJ. There you go again. We launched our glowing greens powder recently. And one of the star ingredients is Amalaki, who I learned about originally from you. And there’s so much written in the text, in the Charaka Samhita, about the rissaina herbs. And Amalaki has been so amazing in my life. I’m so excited to share it. It has these beautiful properties. It’s this amazing berry from India. It’s got all the vitamin C. It’s…

to inflammatory. So thank you so much for sharing about Amalaki with me and just know through me, it’s reaching these Ayurvedic herbs and this knowledge is reaching out into the ether, into the community.

Vaidya Jay (02:56.084)
Yep, yep. So when it comes to rejuvenating herbs, in Ayurveda, the king herb, I would say, is not Ashwagandha. It is amalak. Yeah, you will be very proud that you mixed that in your.

Kimberly Snyder (03:09.71)
Mmm, beautiful.

Yes, I learned it from you. I remember, by the way, sitting there with our textbooks and there was a shloka or a section of the Charaka Samhita, which you brought up over and over again in class. And there is, Charaka says it was, it is the, you know, paraphrasing here, but the King rejuvenative are very powerful.

Vaidya Jay (03:28.116)
Yeah.

Vaidya Jay (03:35.892)
Yeah. So the difference is this. Ashwagandha is like something that you can compare it for short term rejuvenation and energy. Let’s say you’re exhausted and you’re tired. Ashwagandha can immediately boost your energy up and keeps you at a functional or a higher functional level. Whereas Amalakki is gradual.

Kimberly Snyder (03:51.566)
Yes.

Vaidya Jay (04:05.492)
And it promotes health to not short duration, but longevity, long term is what is amalaki is recommended for. Among the section in Charaka Samhita, as you know, Kibli, there are many herbs that are listed. And the formulations that come for each of these rasayana for our listeners, rasayana means something that is a

Kimberly Snyder (04:13.92)
Mm -hmm.

Vaidya Jay (04:35.093)
adaptogen or a rejuvenator or an anti -aging herb. That’s what we call it as a racina. So this racina is, you know, formulations and formulations of these herbs are given. The highest number of formulations come in respect to…

Kimberly Snyder (04:54.478)
Mmm, incredible, incredible.

Vaidya Jay (04:56.756)
So that shows how valuable this herb is. One time I was sitting in a vehicle and driving down the mountain curvy roads. And there were like 15 vehicles behind us. And we were a little bigger vehicle. So we were just this curvy road. And suddenly I shouted, say, stop, stop, stop. And then the driver slams at the brake. And all these.

Kimberly Snyder (05:00.271)
Yes.

Vaidya Jay (05:25.14)
15 -20 cars behind us honking at us and I jump out of the car out of this minivan and then I grab a twig of avalachia from this tree.

Kimberly Snyder (05:37.518)
Whoa, where in India were you?

Vaidya Jay (05:40.948)
It was in South India in this area called as Western Ghats. Western Ghats. I get so excited about finding the Amalek that I could not stop myself being excited about this. And then I went out and afterwards I felt so guilty. All these people felt, why would this guy jump out? And they just got a flick out of the tree.

Kimberly Snyder (05:45.454)
I love it.

Kimberly Snyder (06:08.942)
They’re like, this guy’s crazy. He’s running in the trees. He’s grabbing things. But that passion by Yajay. And this is what I also love about Ayurveda, where there’s this blurred line between foods, right? Amalaki is a berry and herbs, and we can take it in this really potent powdered form. And then just the medicinal properties. There’s this way of working with these incredible plants in Ayurveda and also taking your Ayurvedic nutrition class.

Vaidya Jay (06:11.064)
Yes.

Kimberly Snyder (06:38.734)
which I loved, or several classes that I’ve taken with you. We’ve also cooked together several times at home. We can use these plants in different ways. And sometimes we use fresh ginger and sometimes back to the Amalaki, we’re able to take it into our bodies with the ashwagandha through these powdered herbs. So can you speak a little bit about that? Yeah.

Vaidya Jay (06:58.452)
Yeah. So there is not a big difference between food and medicine in Ayurveda. Food is medicine. And we see, when somebody asks me, what am I taking? I say you’re taking just potent food. You’re not taking anything like a medicine because Ayurveda hardly differentiates between what are the properties of food and what are the properties of medicine. Only thing that we…

Kimberly Snyder (07:15.502)
Mmm.

Vaidya Jay (07:27.284)
see abundant in any of the herbs is the potency. The potency, if you curate it as food, the potency is milder. If you curate it as a formula or a herbal concoction, then its potency is higher and faster. So it’s all about the processing.

Kimberly Snyder (07:40.206)
Bye.

Kimberly Snyder (07:48.366)
Mmm. Yes.

Vaidya Jay (07:52.244)
I will tell you an interesting ritual that it’ll make sense why it is food. Now we are talking about summer salsas and winter salsas, near and on winter salsas. We have a festival where only women folk in the house will celebrate. Men are not allowed to celebrate this. Or they can just be on the periphery sitting outside waiting for the food to be prepared.

Okay All the women are doing Tulsi’s wedding So they have a Tulsi plant in every household in the middle of the house or in front of the house and there is a wedding this is a wedding for Tulsi and Tulsi is the bride and you know who’s the groom? Amalaki is the groom Yes, they get the value

Kimberly Snyder (08:21.87)
my gosh.

Kimberly Snyder (08:39.47)
Who? Come on! Is that true? Whoa.

Vaidya Jay (08:47.156)
And then during this festival, the women at the house should eat fresh amalaki fruit in as many forms as possible. They will make ghee lambs out of these amalaki fruit. And then they lit it up. And when it is done, they take the amalaki fruit that is partly cooked in the ghee. And then they will eat it. Yeah. So the purpose there is in the winter, it is the women.

Kimberly Snyder (09:08.782)
Wow.

Vaidya Jay (09:16.02)
are more at home, the fields are now harvested, there’s not much agriculture going on. So there’s more chances that the parents or the male and the female have the intimacy and the mother will be conceiving and will have pregnancy. So in order to prepare for this, the amalaki fruit is eaten during the winter.

And that’s what, you know, bringing to that aspect of health, food and fertility, this amalek fruit is at the core of preparing the female to get into a healthy pregnancy or healthy state of, you know, reproductive health, you know. So that’s something that I wanted to stress upon here.

Kimberly Snyder (10:07.342)
You know, amazing, Vaidya Jai. I love, I was literally just going back into my textbooks recently, and I keep them on my desk, near my desk. I love them so much. All the ones that I took in my courses with you. And it says that quite clearly in some of these textbooks about how traditionally Amalakki, as you said, so rejuvenative, it’s been helpful in conception, in fertility. It’s been used for thousands of years by, you know, these Vedic,

you know, the information. Yes, the sages and being prescribed to all these families and these women. So it’s amazing that this knowledge is passed down and it’s so much it’s so needed today as we know, Vita J, as we move into this age where there’s so much technology and there’s so much processed food and there’s so much pollution and microplastics and confusion. But there’s this deep grounded intelligence in nature and ingesting these plants that.

Vaidya Jay (10:36.66)
Seiges.

Vaidya Jay (11:03.924)
Absolutely.

Kimberly Snyder (11:05.774)
you know, the more we do that, the more we align to our natural vitality.

Vaidya Jay (11:11.668)
Yeah, 100%. So Amalaki is something that can be taken every day. And yeah, it has, as you said, a very rich source of vitamin C. The type of vitamin C that is present in Amalaki is very different. There are different types of vitamin C, ascorbic acid. The bioavailable and bioactive ones are the ones your body readily absorbs.

Kimberly Snyder (11:12.27)
No.

Kimberly Snyder (11:18.798)
Yes.

Vaidya Jay (11:41.076)
And that’s, you know, highest in case of AMA.

Kimberly Snyder (11:45.294)
Mm, incredible. Well, I’m very grateful to have learned about these amazing plants right from you, Vijay Jay. And some of them, you know, ashwagandha has gotten trendy, it has clinical research behind it. Curcumin, turmeric has gotten trendy. But there are so many other plants that I learned about from you and some that are not as popular, some that you use in your own Atreia herbs formula.

which I want to talk about in just a moment, but another thing that really inspired me, Vijay J, when we were creating this Glow in Greens powder and any formula I will create, it’s very simple and paired down and only has seven plants because I remember working for you in the clinic. Remember, I would go up and down the steps tools until I was so pregnant with EE. You said, Kimberly, you cannot mix the herbs anymore. And because we see, you know, in modern times, we see marketing, Vijay J, we see all these

Vaidya Jay (12:30.74)
Hehehehehe!

Kimberly Snyder (12:40.11)
things where things are just put together and suddenly there’s 70, 80 plants in dust -sized quantities that isn’t, you know, the efficacy may not be there, the amounts of the plants. So I know you have always taught me this. It’s better to have fewer plants, more amounts of them, and allow your body to absorb the benefits of the plants.

Vaidya Jay (13:01.724)
Absolutely true. Never any herb or plant substance should be force fed into the body. It goes back to your point, Kimberly, that the intelligence, the nature has an intelligence, body has an intelligence. You know, we learn these things that something is good and it…

you know, brings us to a place where we get confused and we get so many substances combined together, nutritionally potent and dense. We don’t know how they combine. And nobody has ever, you know, made an experiment. If you take a few, you know, the active principles and combine them and take them, how does it signal your gut? How does it signal your brain? How does it signal your endocrine system? Nobody knows. So simpler.

Kimberly Snyder (13:45.134)
Right.

Kimberly Snyder (13:59.118)
Yeah.

Vaidya Jay (14:00.948)
the formula and really true ingredients it has, the effect is profound.

Kimberly Snyder (14:09.454)
Yes, and that’s what I love about your Treia herbs formulas as well is that there’s few herbs and you can take them in a powdered form or what I personally prefer sometimes just for ease of use, you also have capsules. So the herbs are in there and you can take them. There’s a great one for hair for anyone that’s new to Vita J’s formulas. There’s one for women. There’s some for, I mean, a million different ones. Vita J, you’ve been…

Vaidya Jay (14:36.564)
Thank you.

Kimberly Snyder (14:37.966)
formulating and working with these plants for so many years. But again, the through line is that they’re powerful, they’re potent, and they’re simple. There’s only a few herbs in each of your formulas as well.

Vaidya Jay (14:49.172)
That’s right. That’s right. Yes. Yes. When we take the wisdom from the ancient sages of Himalayas, their knowledge flow is not ego tinged. So if I think that I have to bring this formula, then I’m forcing a knowledge out of me. But Ayurveda as a knowledge came from wisdom of the sages who were…

you know, doing it for not name, fame or popularity, but they were doing it for human well -being. And, and yeah, and just because of mercy that everybody has the potential to live a long, healthy and happy life. That’s what motivated them to bring all these Ayurvedic herbs through their deep state of meditation.

Kimberly Snyder (15:27.182)
Yes.

Vaidya Jay (15:44.148)
Ayurveda is not discovered in the lab, it is discovered in the heart. So that’s why it makes the difference.

Kimberly Snyder (15:52.462)
my gosh, Vyjeejay, this is so beautiful. And I just want to share with you briefly that I just wrote a children’s book about the heart and heart coherence, heart -brain communication. And my next adult book is also about the heart, Vyjeejay. And you are so of the heart. I know that was your motivation for leaving India with your wife, who is also a Ayurvedic doctor, coming here to spread the knowledge of Ayurveda. It’s just so…

powerful your passion and the purity of your passion. So it’s really getting out there by JJ. And so thank you so much again for this work.

Vaidya Jay (16:26.932)
Thank you for helping to do that also, Kimberly, because one is to have the knowledge, another is to communicate to people that they can relate to it, right? So you help in putting together this type of a communication where the knowledge exists and there are people who need it and you’re channeling it.

Kimberly Snyder (16:47.342)
Yes. thank you, Vaidya J. And don’t forget, one of these days, we’re going to do our Ayurvedic cooking course together. I’d love to create that recipes and some videos. We’ve been talking about this for years. When the timing aligns, I think people would absolutely love it. And so in the show notes, everyone, I’ll just mention it here and also at the end, we’re going to have direct links to Atreia herbs, to some of Vaidya J’s amazing formulations.

Vaidya Jay (17:03.284)
We’ve been, we’ve been.

Kimberly Snyder (17:15.118)
So let’s shift for a moment and talk about summer solstice. These pivotal shifts, these junctures in time, I love how Arya Veda has a lot to say in spring, it’s punch of karma and detoxing and cleansing. What should we really be aware of as we move from spring into summer? There’s different elements at play, there’s different things going on in nature. What are the vulnerabilities as well that we wanna protect our bodies from?

Vaidya Jay (17:18.708)
Hmm.

Vaidya Jay (17:42.204)
So in summer, until spring, we have the body’s nourishment still somewhat in abundance or to the level where the body can function very healthy and normal. But when the summer starts, the sun starts depleting. So in Vedas, in Ayurveda too, there are two distinct phases of

Sun one is northern movement another one is the southern movement So we call Uttarayana and Dakshinayana So that’s basically because of the earth 23 degrees tilt that we have like 23 .5 degree tilt so it’ll expose more of the Earth surface to the intensity of the Sun when it is moving towards this spot, right? so

Kimberly Snyder (18:35.374)
Vaidya Jay (18:38.068)
What happens to us is including not only human body, but all the plans and all the resources on the earth will get slightly depleted. So the earth is being sucked out of, human body is being sucked out of all the fluids, nutrients, etc. So there is a need to replenish it.

Kimberly Snyder (18:50.894)
Mmm.

Kimberly Snyder (19:05.038)
Mmm.

Vaidya Jay (19:06.068)
So how do we replenish? Everybody may think, it’s dehydration. No, dehydration is only you’re looking at the surface.

Kimberly Snyder (19:13.486)
Right? I don’t know. There’s a lot more to it than that.

Vaidya Jay (19:17.044)
Exactly. You have to just go under the surface. Then you will see that the fluids that support your skin, the fluids that support your heart, the fluids that those support your brain and lung tissues, fluids that drain from the kidney, all of them are under a somewhat depleted amounts. So if the kidney wants to effectively flush out all the fluids, it cannot do it in the season.

Kimberly Snyder (19:39.502)
Mmm.

Vaidya Jay (19:47.412)
until and unless we facilitate it. So there are selections of food substances and even herbs and formulations of preparations that we do to help the body fluids to spread evenly. It’s now getting concentrated in certain areas, like heart gets concentrated fluids that are irritable to it. So people may become a little more

agitated, angry, and snappy on small things. That’s because a menstrual cycle is more intense during the summer season because there’s no body fluids to support it. So that’s not all dehydration. It’s basically somewhat the extra and intracellular fluids being somewhat challenged by the heat that the sun is.

Kimberly Snyder (20:28.11)
Mmm.

Vaidya Jay (20:45.46)
Now as we speak in the northeastern states of America now there’s heat wave going on right like very hot and those are the people who will be experiencing this type of a change in their bodies to a higher level.

Kimberly Snyder (20:57.806)
Mm.

Kimberly Snyder (21:01.454)
Mm. Mm. So you’ve talked before Dr. J, sorry, by Dr. J, it’s so hard for me to switch over. Sorry. Sanskrit. Sanskrit. By Dr. J, you’ve talked about juicy fruits. We talked about this natural attraction that we have. You’ve also talked about how sometimes when people are getting dry or you think you’re dehydrated, we also need fats and oils, not just

Vaidya Jay (21:03.572)
So yeah, great.

Vaidya Jay (21:11.668)
No worries!

Vaidya Jay (21:29.94)
Mm. Mm.

Kimberly Snyder (21:30.862)
water and fluids. So can you talk about two of those two things, the fruit and the fats and the oils?

Vaidya Jay (21:36.116)
Yeah, beautiful. So the fruit, fruit has two benefits in this season. That’s why the native gives it in abundance in this season too. Like if you go to farmer’s market, even in my garden, we have plums coming up, golden plums, peaches are almost ripening. We have, you know, apricots that are coming up. So all of these fruits,

Kimberly Snyder (21:47.182)
Mm -hmm.

Vaidya Jay (22:05.172)
which are meant for supporting the gut, right? It all starts from the gut. Gut bacteria at this time of the year need sweet and fiber. Sweet, not sugar, but fructose. So natural fruit and fruit and fiber, that’s what the fruit is. So we take that, and it starts very uniquely. It starts from sour.

Kimberly Snyder (22:18.574)
Hmm.

Kimberly Snyder (22:23.086)
Beautiful from natural fruits.

Kimberly Snyder (22:28.462)
Yes.

Vaidya Jay (22:35.924)
somewhat astringent and sweet fruits. Like if you take a bite into, let’s say even peach. A peach is slightly sweet, somewhat sourish and astringent. These three tastes are the best taste for summergut.

Kimberly Snyder (22:53.614)
Mmm.

Can you give other examples of that combination with the astringent? Because some as American or Westerners, sometimes we don’t think in those tastes, the Ayurvedic taste. So can you give us a few more examples? Love figs.

Vaidya Jay (23:05.268)
Hmm. Yeah. Figs. Figs, like fresh figs are sweet, astringent, and slightly sour. Same thing, apricots. Apricots are also the same taste. Some apples, not all apples, some apples do have that sweet astringent taste in them.

Kimberly Snyder (23:17.454)
Okay.

Kimberly Snyder (23:31.758)
Mmm.

Vaidya Jay (23:32.948)
If you doubted whether this is the right fruit to have, I don’t do really well with the fruit, then you can stew the fruit. You can stew the apple, stew pear, pear, or something like that you can eat in the season. Because by cooking, you take away that significant astringent quality from it. It doesn’t constipate you. It moves through your gut. Right?

Kimberly Snyder (23:42.286)
Mm. Mm.

Kimberly Snyder (23:58.03)
Mm. Well, some people say, Vaidya J, Ayurveda says no raw food. It’s too vata enhancing. But I’ve learned from you and I’ve seen you recommend green smoothies to patients. I’ve seen you talk about fruit. So it really is this balance. It’s not all or nothing, which some people mistakenly believe.

Vaidya Jay (24:17.62)
Exactly. Just before a few minutes ago, I was explaining it to one of my clients. They said, somebody said that I should not eat this at all. I said, you know, I know there’s a fluid science. There is. Yes, sometimes and not sometimes. You should be able to make the diligent choice. Right now, it’s good for me. And later it may not be. So let go of it when it’s not. And when it is available, have it. So true.

Kimberly Snyder (24:29.774)
Yes.

Kimberly Snyder (24:40.302)
Yes.

Kimberly Snyder (24:45.966)
I love it.

Vaidya Jay (24:47.059)
So going back that the fruit that we eat replenishes these fluids that are getting depleted in the extracellular and intracellular fluids, right? Especially muscle tissue. There are three types of muscle, the tissue or muscle cells we have. Of course, we have skeletal muscle that is all over our body to make our movement possible.

Second thing is the smooth muscle that lines all our organs, like your intestines, your esophagus, the lungs. All human blood vessels have tiny, smooth muscle in them. Lastly, heart is also a muscle, which we call as cardiac tissue or muscle tissue. That’s where the hydration has to reach. So the fruits do that.

Kimberly Snyder (25:39.854)
Hmm.

Mmm.

Vaidya Jay (25:46.1)
The fruits are able to bring the hydration back into muscle, like the heart and the smooth muscle that’s lining all the blood vessels and then the intestinal walls. That’s what needs to be nourished. So fruit comes right up the alley for this season.

Kimberly Snyder (26:06.19)
So it’s providing that really deep nourishment that our body needs. What about fruits that may be accessible to a lot of people like watermelon or cherries, berries? What do you think about some of these varieties?

Vaidya Jay (26:21.012)
Those come in later in the summer. When the inner fluids get dried out and then the outer fluids. Now you’re really talking about dehydration now. So in August, mid -August, that’s when I would bring cantaloupes, honeydew, and watermelon. Yes. So immediately replenish.

Kimberly Snyder (26:25.774)
Okay.

Kimberly Snyder (26:38.414)
Okay.

Kimberly Snyder (26:45.294)
What a… Got it!

Vaidya Jay (26:48.948)
But this is what we are talking is a different type of hydration that you know that body needs.

Kimberly Snyder (26:49.006)
Mm.

Kimberly Snyder (26:52.846)
Yes, yes. And then also, Vajay Jay, naturally, we start to feel like, it’s so hot, we want more salads or lighter foods. In this winter, we may really want those, I eat a lot of kichri, the one pot meals, the curries, the coconut milk, but we still need some healthy fats and oils. Can you talk a little bit about how we adjust for that, the best forms in the summertime?

Vaidya Jay (27:15.164)
Coconut oil is one of the best oils in summer to cook. So it also shows how if you have a bottle of coconut oil on your shelf, in winter it becomes hard like a, you know, almost like a jelly, even harder than jelly. And then in summer it melts and becomes a liquid. And when it becomes a liquid, nature is telling, come on, use this for your cooking. So.

Kimberly Snyder (27:20.846)
Mm.

Kimberly Snyder (27:33.326)
Yeah.

Kimberly Snyder (27:43.406)
Mm.

Vaidya Jay (27:44.212)
Coconut oil is a great source. Second thing is, seeds that we get in this season also need to be chosen diligently. Hem seeds are good, but sesame seeds are moderation.

Kimberly Snyder (27:59.374)
Mmm.

Vaidya Jay (28:01.14)
Sesame seeds are more heating, whereas hemp seeds are somewhat cooling. So if you have a salad that you made and if you want to put something crunchy on it, don’t use the toasted sesame seeds on it. Use hemp seeds on it because it’s more cooling and helps to keep the gut calming as well. If we are exposed to so much of heat, what the gut does, it gets more and more irritable. So sesame seeds.

Kimberly Snyder (28:03.662)
Yes.

Kimberly Snyder (28:29.774)
Yes.

Vaidya Jay (28:30.868)
will make it more agitated when you take too much of sesame seeds.

Kimberly Snyder (28:37.838)
Well, I love the self care that’s seasonal that you’ve always taught, Vajay Jay, because the Abhyanga, when we talk about the oil massage, I remember in the winter, and you have amazing herbalized oils as well that you’ve formulated, part of Atreia herbs for the skin. And in the winter, I remember a lot of these oils are more sesame oil based, and then the warming oils, and then that shifts too. Everything shifts season to season, whereas sometimes in the West, people do their hot yoga every day.

whether it’s August or it’s January, they’re doing the same things. And we can really experience different levels of self -care and deep, deep nourishment if we make these adjustments in alignment with nature.

Vaidya Jay (29:07.284)
Thank you.

Vaidya Jay (29:19.188)
Absolutely, you said the word nature and that’s the key factor here. How much we want to please our mind against the flow of nature or nature’s cosmic flow is what will bring us to health or disease. If you’re doing like simple

Kimberly Snyder (29:22.478)
Yeah.

Vaidya Jay (29:48.148)
you know, heart yoga, if you’re doing heart yoga in the middle of summer, like in August, because you feel good after doing it, you’re not caring for what the nature is doing outside. I still want to feel good is going to be at some cost of your body tissue. Either I recently had a person who has been doing heart yoga for some time and then has

Kimberly Snyder (30:04.59)
Mm -hmm.

Vaidya Jay (30:18.356)
seen that headaches have increased and there is skin like a rash or breakouts that happen. And they cannot connect one to one. They think they’re doing really good yoga by spreading out so much. And their body is telling, no, I can’t do it because I’m taxing, it’s taxing on the skin as a sense organ.

Kimberly Snyder (30:45.902)
Yes.

Vaidya Jay (30:47.284)
and sweat glands, but also it is stressing the blood circulation to the brain. And if you know what nature is telling you to do and follow the guidance of the nature, it propels you towards longevity.

Kimberly Snyder (31:02.894)
Mm -hmm. Mm -hmm.

Vaidya Jay (31:04.052)
Because you’re working with the tide. You’re not going against the tide. So that’s why the word nature is the secret for Ayurvedic way of life.

Kimberly Snyder (31:15.726)
Let me ask you a question, Vajay Jay. Back in the time of Cherica and all these amazing sages, there wasn’t this type of modern lifestyle where people are on the internet till late at night, blue lights, overstimulated, not sleeping as well, out of natural rhythms. So today, whether it’s winter or summer, a lot of people drink a lot of coffee. They drink a lot of caffeine. Now, I’m not sure back then, thousands of years ago, I mean, there was chai, I assume black teas and things.

What does Ayurvedic wisdom teach us about caffeine? And what would you say now, Vaidejai, as a doctor about using caffeine in the summer or coffee or should we adjust it? Should we try to avoid it? Is it okay in some moderation, certain body types?

Vaidya Jay (32:02.26)
Hmm.

Kimberly Snyder (32:03.45)
A lot of questions. Yeah.

Vaidya Jay (32:05.396)
Coffee is a hard nut to crack because coffee has some benefits. For that matter, anything in Ayurveda has good impact. Even when it comes to nectar -like substance or a herb, if you take it in excess, it is going to produce an adverse effect towards you.

Kimberly Snyder (32:11.854)
Yeah.

Kimberly Snyder (32:33.294)
Sure, like too much honey.

Vaidya Jay (32:35.092)
Exactly, exactly. So coffee has some benefits. The rule is this, if you control the coffee, then it’s okay. If coffee controls you, then it’s not okay.

Kimberly Snyder (32:52.494)
That’s a fine line for people to draw. They think that they’re controlling the coffee, but they’re not in charge anymore.

Vaidya Jay (32:56.852)
I’m sorry.

Vaidya Jay (33:01.3)
Second point, coffee, you touched upon it briefly, Kimberly. Coffee is not good for all body types all year long.

Kimberly Snyder (33:11.438)
Yeah.

Vaidya Jay (33:13.332)
Coffee is okay in small amounts for Kapha types, in small amounts for Vata types. Kapha types are built, they don’t get a strong stimulation as such. Vata’s if they drink too much of coffee, they’re already wind oriented personalities. They get too agitated, they cannot keep their steam of thoughts. They get…

Kimberly Snyder (33:24.91)
Yeah.

Kimberly Snyder (33:41.262)
Yep.

Vaidya Jay (33:42.772)
Pithers, when they drink and if they don’t eat, then they will get acid as one of their symptoms.

Kimberly Snyder (33:50.926)
That’s like my husband, Vaideh Jai, who you’ve spoken to, John. He’s very pitta, right? I can tell that quite easily. I know you could tell. He gets red, he gets inflamed, and he has so much caffeine, Vaideh Jai. He has energy drinks, he has coffee, and I just think, you know, certain types like, you know, the constitution of those things. So I’m very Vata. I love crackers and pretzels and dry things. He loves all this caffeine.

Vaidya Jay (33:53.396)
Thank you.

Vaidya Jay (34:20.18)
Hmm.

Kimberly Snyder (34:20.494)
He loves saunas, he loves heat, and that can’t, it can be depleted in excess, of course.

Vaidya Jay (34:24.732)
Yeah, yeah. So you have a limit to which your body can tolerate. Let’s say even people types who are liking this coffee, liking the, you know, vinegars and and and spicy, you know, sauces and all that. They like it because it brings the to a higher level where they can see things which they cannot otherwise see.

Kimberly Snyder (34:45.134)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Kimberly Snyder (34:53.806)
Mmm.

Vaidya Jay (34:54.772)
So it’s kind of a mind trapping thing. It traps the mind. By doing this, you will get better state and clarity and Pitta will enroll into it and then they keep doing. So I think with Vata’s too, if we think about Vata’s, let’s say Vata’s like fuzzy water and if they keep on drinking fuzzy water, they will feel more excitement. And

Kimberly Snyder (35:22.414)
Right.

Vaidya Jay (35:23.7)
to a level that the mind can enjoy it, but the body is being trashed, body is being victim here. So that’s the fine line that I’m talking about. So for our listeners, if you have a habit to drink coffee, make it as a ritual. Respect the coffee, and then take the quantity that your body can accept and assimilate, rather than react and produce an adverse effect towards you.

Kimberly Snyder (35:30.702)
Mmm.

Kimberly Snyder (35:41.582)
Wait.

Kimberly Snyder (35:54.318)
So Vajay Jay, I know personally you are Kapita Kapha, I believe. And so Kapita Kapha, do you drink any coffee? Do you drink chai? Do you have any caffeine yourself?

Vaidya Jay (35:59.028)
Pitta Kaffa.

Vaidya Jay (36:05.652)
I do drink coffee, but it’s for me, the days when I have traveled, let’s say I was in East Coast and I was doing workshops and I had to come back and there’s a time change and I had to either go there with earlier time or come here with a later time. So I do drink coffee at that time to keep myself, you know, to speed up my time to the space that I am in, I will do it, right? Not on a daily basis.

Kimberly Snyder (36:31.406)
So not on a daily basis.

Vaidya Jay (36:34.804)
not on a daily basis. If I do coffee on a daily basis, then I’m losing one medicine that I can use at time when my body is in crisis.

Kimberly Snyder (36:43.758)
Right. Well, your Dhena Charya, your daily routine is so strong. Vyadu Jai has so much energy. You can feel it in your voice. You can hop in about the clinic. You’re up at what, four in the morning, three in the morning, doing all your practices. So you’re getting energy from meditation, from all these amazing self -care rituals. And this is a perfect example where we don’t have to over -rely on the sugar, the caffeine, when we really balance the lifestyle.

Vaidya Jay (37:10.9)
Yeah, and as long as you just say you pointed out the nature, if I’m in the flow of the nature, if I know what the nature is doing and I just latch on to it, it’ll pull me through. The energy is amazing.

Kimberly Snyder (37:17.326)
Yeah.

Kimberly Snyder (37:23.274)
Do other parts of your lifestyle shift in the season like now summer by DJ for instance, do you meditate outside or what I mean, we’ll go back to the food in a moment. Obviously, the herbs and spices and the food shift but are there any parts of your routine that shift?

Vaidya Jay (37:43.22)
Yeah, in the night now, I sleep a little more earlier. Earlier, in the winter, I used to go to sleep around 9 .30, 10 o ‘clock. Now I fall asleep or try to fall asleep between 9 and 9 .30. I don’t stretch beyond 9 .30. Because the hot season, or now what we call a summer, is pro -aging.

Kimberly Snyder (37:59.854)
Mmm. Yeah, that feels that feels good to me too.

Kimberly Snyder (38:13.582)
Mmm.

Vaidya Jay (38:13.94)
So if you don’t sleep, it takes away from you. So that’s why I sleep a little early. And I have two things that I do, the Sheetali Pranayama, I do the cold breath with the tongue folded, like the funnel tongue. You chew the tongue and then breathe through the tongue. That I do twice daily, once in the morning, once at night. And then I, this time, the shift is,

Kimberly Snyder (38:17.518)
Mmm.

Kimberly Snyder (38:29.422)
Yeah.

Vaidya Jay (38:42.004)
Sun salutations need to be changed into moon salutations because it’s like a perfect balance when the sun is bringing his intensity, you just bring in the moon to counterbalance it.

Kimberly Snyder (38:46.382)
Mmm.

Kimberly Snyder (38:54.541)
Yes.

So a little bit more gentle, we can bring in, as you mentioned, and that we’ve talked about before, too much pitta, too much fires searing to the body. It’s aging, it wears down our organs. So we talked about more deep hydration and nourishment from fruit and coconut oil, and maybe adjusting our exercise routines, going to bed a bit earlier. What are some other…

practices so that we don’t get depleted. We don’t age more quickly in the summer, which I don’t think anybody wants. Talk about pro -aging. We’re like, hold on a second. Bring in the moon. The Luna part is the Luna. Yeah, yeah.

Vaidya Jay (39:27.828)
Yeah. We are 100 years living people. So swimming is what I would say is one of the best forms of exercise during this season. If you have a pool, if you have an access to a pool, please do it on a day.

Kimberly Snyder (39:53.038)
Mmm.

Vaidya Jay (39:57.044)
really basis walking on the beach. If you have an access to beach walking on the beach morning and evening is good. Even just walking as such is good in this season. But next to a water source Ayurveda says one should walk next to a water source like a pond or a lake or a river or a stream that is flowing. Even the sound of water is so uplifting to our depleted body fluids that it will start

Kimberly Snyder (40:08.11)
Yes.

Vaidya Jay (40:26.388)
resonating with it. Yeah. So that thing. And then in terms of, you know, other activities that you can do is also sleeping in the evening under the under the stars. If you have a family just in your garden, put a tent up and then just lie down in the garden. This is the best time to the take the

Kimberly Snyder (40:28.43)
Ow.

Kimberly Snyder (40:45.294)
Mmm.

Vaidya Jay (40:55.764)
Energy of the night and then the stars so Me and my son we love to hike and and camp and my wife too So we go to Joshua tree at this time. It’s hard being the night the daytime We start driving in the evening. We reach there by 7 38 o ‘clock still warm, but in the night It’s just amazing The whole whole sky is lit up with new key way. It just looks fantastic

Kimberly Snyder (41:08.238)
Beautiful.

Vaidya Jay (41:25.332)
So.

Kimberly Snyder (41:25.678)
So when you’re in the tent, do you lift the top off? Do you have one of those tents? our tents like that too. As long as we’re sure it won’t rain in Hawaii. How old is Krishna now?

Vaidya Jay (41:28.756)
Yeah, right. Yeah, it is… Yeah, it’s just… Krishna is 16 now, Kimberly.

Kimberly Snyder (41:38.062)
he’s a teenager!

Vaidya Jay (41:40.148)
He’s taller than me. Yeah, he’s built. Yeah. One of these days, we’ll have to meet. You have to come and either come to our house, maybe John and kids can come to our house. Yeah. Yeah.

Kimberly Snyder (41:42.446)
my gosh.

Kimberly Snyder (41:51.278)
I would love that. Well, the last time I saw Krishna or one of the last times he was chanting the Ganesha.

Vaidya Jay (41:59.092)
Ganesha Atharva Shirsham, Ganesha’s chanting.

Kimberly Snyder (42:02.766)
He was chanting this really long, like all these shlokas when I was pregnant with Emerson. It was so beautiful. It was incredible.

Vaidya Jay (42:08.916)
Right, right, right. He does that till, still he does that, he has that interest.

Kimberly Snyder (42:16.43)
beautiful. Maybe he’ll also be an Ayurvedic physician.

Vaidya Jay (42:19.476)
I think so. I hope that he will go in that direction. Yeah, we’ll see. Yeah, universe has it.

Kimberly Snyder (42:24.526)
Yeah, we’ll see. So another thing, and I could talk to you all day, Vajayjay, a couple more questions. You’ve always taught me about elixirs. And sometimes we’ve talked about some of the cooling herbs, the fennel, the coriander versus sometimes we want more of the cumin and some more of the black pepper to sort of activate. What are some good herbs because our digestion also shifts?

in the summertime, things we can drink or things we can add to our foods, which are accessible, easy. People can source them quite easily.

Vaidya Jay (42:57.876)
Yeah. Coriander, unmistakably, is one among my favorites in summer season. Whenever you’re making something savory, try to add coriander to it. And then if you’re making something that’s sweet, like a pudding or a horchata or something, add some cardamom into it. So cardamom and coriander are cooling spices. Then comes the second set of.

Kimberly Snyder (43:03.726)
Mm.

Kimberly Snyder (43:11.214)
Mmm.

Kimberly Snyder (43:19.918)
Mmm.

Vaidya Jay (43:26.74)
somewhat pungent but cooling like camphor a good quality camphor that’s from plant source you can use camphor in the season like water infused with camphor and lime straight out Kimberly kids will love it it has its own flavor and it tastes so good so camphor dissolved in water a little bit of camphor

Kimberly Snyder (43:34.158)
Mmm.

Kimberly Snyder (43:46.638)
Mm.

Vaidya Jay (43:55.284)
And then dissolving water lime, like made into a lemonade, camphor is a good cooling agent. Then cloves are also good in this season. So cloves can be added to, what I do is I cook amaranth and then amaranth is a cooling seed and I sprinkle powder of clove on it and then eat it. It’s calming and refreshing too.

Kimberly Snyder (44:05.934)
Mmm.

Kimberly Snyder (44:26.158)
I remember a class, I was just brought back to a class that I took with you, Vajayjay, where we did a whole class on grains. And I’ll never forget, we were talking about millet and looking at, this is really interesting that Ariveda teaches how these plants are grown. So how much water they take to grow. So millet is something I believe we would consume more in the winter or it could be more drying in the summer, right? There’s such a deep connection to the energetics of the plants.

So what are some of the best grains that we might want to consider using more of in the summer?

Vaidya Jay (44:59.54)
Summer rice time. Rice is a good grain to have. Brawn rice, hand -pounded rice, long basmati rice, even Japanese sticky rice, too. It’s a good time to have some rice. Then comes the choice of either we can do barley. Barley is also a good agent at this time. And then buckwheat is another wonderful grain to have.

Kimberly Snyder (45:01.358)
Mmm.

Kimberly Snyder (45:08.366)
Beautiful.

Kimberly Snyder (45:26.094)
Mmm.

Vaidya Jay (45:29.108)
Of course, evergreen oatmeal cannot be hurting them this season. Yeah.

Kimberly Snyder (45:34.126)
So for a lot of people that are sensitive to gluten, it’s become quite popular, Vajra J, to consume a lot of almond flour or use almond flour in baking and making pancakes. What do you think about that in the summer? Yeah.

Vaidya Jay (45:40.884)
Mm -hmm.

Vaidya Jay (45:45.46)
That’s okay. That’s okay. As long as it’s consumed in moderation, it’s okay because almond is quite a rich substance. If you consume it, sometimes it may wrongly signal our gut and produce an allergic reaction. So just be mindful of how much you’re doing. And then sometimes I mix almond flour with chickpea flour and that’s good too. Like if you mix them together. Yeah.

Kimberly Snyder (45:51.566)
Thanks. Yeah.

Kimberly Snyder (46:00.078)
Mmm.

Kimberly Snyder (46:08.046)
Mm -mm. And then are there some spices and herbs which are too inflammatory or too pitta in the summer that we should wait until the fall, perhaps, to bring back?

Vaidya Jay (46:18.524)
Yes, of course, chillies, what else I can tell? Garlic. All the Rajasic food that kicks our mind into agitation and frustration, those things need to be avoided. Yeah, you said raw onions, raw garlic, not at all in this season. Whereas you can choose cooked on chives will be good.

Kimberly Snyder (46:23.822)
Garlic, I guess, all the hot sauce.

Kimberly Snyder (46:41.454)
Mm.

Vaidya Jay (46:47.7)
shallots will be good, which are milder in spice. That can be used rather than raw onions, raw garlic, and chilies, green peppers, jalapenos. Those are not really good for this.

Kimberly Snyder (47:01.134)
I pretty much cut out garlic all year round by DJ just because I felt like it was making me a bit more agitated. I don’t cook with a lot of onions. I use a lot of ginger. I use some of the other herbs, the cumin. I don’t really miss it. I used to use it so much and I feel like it was too much for my constitution, perhaps. So we can shift. There’s so many alternatives out there. Lots of choices.

Vaidya Jay (47:04.724)
Thank you.

Vaidya Jay (47:18.612)
Mm -hmm. Mm -hmm. Mm -hmm.

Vaidya Jay (47:24.66)
Yeah, exactly. If you know how to use the spices, that gives you a lot of power to cook really delicious meals.

Kimberly Snyder (47:35.886)
Yeah, your food is delicious too, Vyjayjay. I have to say, maybe you could expand to some sort of, I mean, not that you’d want to have packaged foods, but spice mixes or something for food, because I think there’s a lot of talent.

Vaidya Jay (47:39.22)
Thank you.

Vaidya Jay (47:48.756)
Yeah. Yeah. Thank you for that. Yeah. Food is a great way to bring in health, Kimberly, undoubtedly. You’re right. It’s so accessible and food can be really influential to one’s health. I think you’re giving me some ideas here. Let’s work together, maybe do something as a meal prep.

Kimberly Snyder (48:06.51)
Totally. Well, I feel like a lot of people don’t really know how to cook simply or make it taste good. So then they unfortunately resort to take out or eating at restaurants where they’re using bad oils or, you know, it doesn’t have the same.

Vaidya Jay (48:22.1)
Yeah, yeah, yeah. And the vibration of the people who are cooking is so different. They don’t cook with an intention to heal you or make you feel happy and healthy. They may be stressed out and you imbibe all those vibrations as well. So you’re right. We have to make sure that we bring food as one of the topmost priorities for health and well -being.

Kimberly Snyder (48:45.87)
Mm. Well, one thing I loved in the clinic, because we’d be there all day and you’d often cook, is that you would chant over the food. Why did you? There’d be intention and you’d actually say, chance over the food, which were incredible.

Vaidya Jay (48:58.492)
Yeah, so it’s the you know where we don’t bring our egos or minds or emotions It’s only an offering to the soul. That’s what the prayer brings it so that there’s no cravings There’s no attachments. There’s no, you know, yeah emotional eating When you offer it to the soul that is, you know pleased with what you are offering to you

Kimberly Snyder (49:26.606)
So beautiful. I could talk to you all day, Vidya J. Is there anything else that we didn’t cover that you feel like is really important information to offer to people about summer or herbs or anything we didn’t yet get to?

Vaidya Jay (49:41.716)
The oil on the head this time is the Brahmi oil. If you have a habit of putting some oil on your head and massaging it, it’s the Brahmi oil because it keeps the mind calm. It also protects the eyes. So, yeah, it is good for the hair too. So, right on the scalp and just take a few drops of it and then rub it into your scalp and leave it and it just slowly sinks into your…

Kimberly Snyder (49:51.374)
Mm.

Kimberly Snyder (49:57.902)
Okay, and is it good for the hair too?

So right on the scalp, massaging everything.

Vaidya Jay (50:11.636)
into your scalp and then helps the entire head and neck region.

Kimberly Snyder (50:16.206)
Okay, so winter is more sesame oil, which is great for circulation and hair growth. Now we switch to Brahmi oil. And is that something that Atreya has?

Vaidya Jay (50:25.46)
Yeah, we have the Brahmi oil with us. So you can try that and just use it. And kids should use it too because their brains are growing and you want it to be growing in a way that is more calmer and more peaceful. So Brahmi oil is for that.

Kimberly Snyder (50:45.39)
I think every parent would want to know about this, Vida J. Well, I’ll be getting some Brahmi oil because I think that’s a beautiful practice. Also, the scalp sometimes gets a bit dry in the summer. And so oil, yeah, it’s beautiful practice. well, Vida J., thank you as always for sharing so much deep knowledge and wisdom right from your heart. All that, I mean, everything you share, it’s like this endless well of wisdom. I love.

Vaidya Jay (50:46.192)
Thank you.

Vaidya Jay (50:57.3)
Small season, yes. Yeah. Sure.

Vaidya Jay (51:04.788)
Thank you.

Vaidya Jay (51:12.34)
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Kimberly Snyder (51:14.318)
I love you so much, Vyjeejay. So we’re gonna link directly to your site, to your herbs in the show notes, but can you say out for everyone where they can find you and the name of the website as well.

Vaidya Jay (51:25.14)
Yeah, so you can find me on Insta as 100 yearsj. That’s my handle, Insta handle. And then atreyahearts .com is the herb company that I am a founder of. And I have a practice in Long Beach called Atreyah Ayurveda, where we do all panchakarmas and Ayurvedic consultations and herbal diet recommendations.

Kimberly Snyder (51:32.494)
Beautiful.

Kimberly Snyder (51:49.87)
Beautiful. Thank you so much, Vyjay. Thank you everyone for tuning in. Once again, the show notes will be at mysaloon .com. You can find out more about Vyjay’s work and related podcasts. We’ll be back here as always on Thursday for our next Q &A show. So until then, take great care. Sending you so much love. Namaste.

Vaidya Jay (51:54.196)
Thank you.

Vaidya Jay (52:10.836)
Thank you, Namaste.