Mahesh Natarajan, COO of Ananda, speaks to Tell Me Why's Maria Botros about the ancient branch of Ayurveda that helps boost fertility in both men and women.
Ayurveda has forever had a completely separate branch of holistic science to work on proactive fertility health, says Mahesh
Mahesh: This branch of Ayurveda really work on the quality of the reproductive seed
There has to be a proactive way to look at fertility and holistic health, says Mahesh
Ayurveda focuses on 5 elements: air, space, earth, water and fire
Mahesh: Consuming warm nutritious food is a great way to keep the Ayurvedic or digestive cycle initially working
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#UAEnews #podcast #Ayurveda
Ayurveda has forever had a completely separate branch of holistic science to work on proactive fertility health, says Mahesh
Mahesh: This branch of Ayurveda really work on the quality of the reproductive seed
There has to be a proactive way to look at fertility and holistic health, says Mahesh
Ayurveda focuses on 5 elements: air, space, earth, water and fire
Mahesh: Consuming warm nutritious food is a great way to keep the Ayurvedic or digestive cycle initially working
See more videos at https://gulfnews.com/videos
Read more Gulf News stories here: https://bit.ly/2HLJ2km
Subscribe to Gulf News on YouTube and watch more of our videos: https://www.youtube.com/user/GulfNewsTV
#UAEnews #podcast #Ayurveda
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NewsTranscript
00:00men who've come in with very low sperm count,
00:03very low motility, very poor morphology, the shape,
00:08and every one of these parameters after a period of time
00:12has actually jumped phenomenally,
00:14by not just a factor of one and two,
00:16by motility and concentration jumping up
00:19by the millions.
00:21We've had cases of women who've come in
00:25who were almost planning to start up their IVF cycle,
00:28but who came in here, went through a period
00:31of three weeks doing this program,
00:32and have actually conceived.
00:35No matter what the end outcome is,
00:37I always say that there has to be a proactive way
00:41of looking at fertility and holistic health.
00:42So we're actually presenting now this program
00:46for enhancing fertility as something that you do
00:49at the time of thinking about it,
00:50or thinking about conception,
00:52because that really is the stage
00:54that you can actually address.
01:00Again, educate the public, and to maybe just,
01:05I don't know, to inform the public a bit more
01:07about Ayurveda.
01:08Sure, Ayurveda.
01:09We spoke about this as well before the show,
01:11and we spoke about how Ayurveda focuses
01:13or believes in five elements.
01:15Yes.
01:16Can you tell us a bit more about those?
01:17Of course.
01:18What are the five elements,
01:19and why does it focus on those?
01:20Right.
01:21A lot of cultures, a lot of healing sciences
01:23actually focus on elements around us.
01:26Ayurveda has always done that.
01:27The five elements that Ayurveda focuses on
01:29are air, space, earth, water, and fire.
01:34And when it focuses on these elements,
01:37what it's really focusing on are the qualities
01:39that these elements bring into your system.
01:42So when you think about the combination
01:45and the fusion of these elements,
01:47that actually creates a set of qualities
01:49inside your constitution,
01:52which then tells an Ayurvedic doctor,
01:54or a physician, how to assess you.
01:55So let me work this through with taking some examples
01:58so that we can illustrate it for your audience, right?
02:00So the first combination that Ayurveda talks about
02:03is air and space, right?
02:06Or air and ether, or air and space.
02:09Now, if you think about the qualities of air and space,
02:11so first of all, you need space for air to flow into.
02:13Right.
02:15So the hollow organs inside our body
02:17are representative of the space that ether has.
02:21Air is always a mobility quality, right?
02:26It's always on the move, right?
02:28So the quality of movement,
02:29everything governing movement in our body
02:32is governed by this air and space combination.
02:35So air and space together in Ayurveda forms a bioenergy
02:40which we call vata, V-A-T-A, vata.
02:42Okay.
02:43And vata is everything which governs
02:45the entire movement in our body,
02:47the movement of our breath in our body,
02:48the movement of our joints and our muscles in the body,
02:52the movement of the entire nervous system,
02:54our thoughts moving in and out of the entire body,
02:58controlling of neural impulses.
03:00I'm kind of correlating between Ayurveda
03:02and what we understand as modern medical science.
03:05So all of this is governed by the qualities of air and space
03:09which is vata, right?
03:11I'll come back to what happens when this vata quality
03:14gets into a disturbed nature,
03:16but this is essentially vata.
03:17Then you talk about the combination of fire and water,
03:22right?
03:22Opposing forces,
03:24but ultimately the fire constitutes,
03:26the combination of fire and water
03:28creates metabolic or transformational forces
03:31inside the body.
03:32So everything that is transforming,
03:34that has a transformative nature,
03:36our entire enzymatic system,
03:39the endocrinal system,
03:40the digestive system,
03:42all of these, essentially what are they doing?
03:44They're taking various elements,
03:45food, blood, lymph,
03:48and they're transforming it into other energies
03:49which are transported to the other parts of the body.
03:51So all of these are created by this combination
03:55of fire and water.
03:57And that is called pitta,
04:00which is another type of bioenergy.
04:02The energy of transformation is called pitta,
04:05right, P-I-T-T-A, pitta.
04:07The third energy is called kapha.
04:10This is the combination of water and earth,
04:13the qualities of water and earth.
04:15So imagine what,
04:18earth and water, when they come together,
04:19the way they will kind of manifest.
04:22You have a very grounded feeling
04:25because that's the nature of earth and water, right?
04:27So this is the quality
04:29that actually gives structure to the body.
04:31Your entire body frame,
04:34what holds all the organs together is kapha.
04:38But at the same time,
04:39it's also what provides lubrication to the body
04:42because of that water element along with earth.
04:46So the entire mucous membrane of our body,
04:47the structure of our body,
04:49the what gives shape and growth.
04:52During the early growing years,
04:54kapha is one of the most important qualities
04:55because it gives us the growth parameters in our body.
04:58So this is kapha, the combination of this.
05:02As human beings, the way Ayurveda looks at it,
05:04we are all incorporating
05:07or we are all comprised of all of these three qualities,
05:09right, because you cannot have a body
05:10which just only has movement
05:12without structure and metabolism.
05:14You cannot have just metabolism
05:15without movement and structure.
05:17So we all have all these three qualities
05:20or all these bioenergies with us when we are born.
05:23Over time, what tends to happen
05:25is because of our environment,
05:27because of our lifestyle,
05:28because of socioeconomic factors,
05:30many, many different things,
05:32the perfect balance of all these three qualities
05:35that we're born with gets disturbed or vitiated, right?
05:39Which is why we say that
05:41when an Ayurvedic physician examines somebody,
05:43he will say this person has,
05:46is predominantly a vata-pitta combination,
05:50but in this case, his vata is out of balance.
05:54And what does that mean?
05:55When somebody whose vata is out of balance,
05:58normally a vata person,
05:59because of the qualities of air and space,
06:01will always be somebody who's lean
06:03and on the leaner side, on the skinnier side,
06:08but also with long fingers and extremities.
06:11Physically, this person has a lot of high energy,
06:14very creative, is always on the go,
06:17wants to do multiple things, trying to achieve a lot,
06:21but can't stick with one thing for too long.
06:24That's the quality of air and space.
06:25So if you start thinking about it,
06:26these qualities manifest themselves very, very clearly.
06:29But at the same time, when vata is out of balance,
06:31it leads to a lot of anxiety, insomnia.
06:35These are all very typical vata kind of problems.
06:38And again, because vata is by nature a cool,
06:40dry, internal constitution,
06:43a very high vata imbalance means
06:45that you would have a lot of dryness in the body,
06:47a lot of joint pains and aches,
06:49which is why people also say that as you grow older,
06:52the vata starts acting up.
06:54Similarly with pitta, normally pitta constitutions,
06:56because of that fire element, have fantastic digestions.
06:59There's more muscular, well-toned physical constitutions.
07:04Mentally, there are people who will think ahead,
07:06they are always ambitious, they can plan,
07:08they like to be leaders.
07:09That's the typical pitta constitution.
07:11But when pitta is out of balance,
07:13physically, it leads to a lot of acidity
07:15because of the eruption of digestive systems,
07:18because it's not working in balance.
07:19And emotionally and mentally,
07:20the person becomes very irritable
07:23and absolutely cannot stand in something
07:25which is going out of structure, they just combust.
07:28That's a typical pitta being out of balance.
07:30And then when you come to kapha,
07:31by nature, a kapha person is always,
07:33because of that water and fire element,
07:35very grounded, very amiable, very easy,
07:37content to let things go exactly the way it is.
07:40That's the typical kapha constitution.
07:42But when kapha is out of balance,
07:44then your entire body's metabolism is under threat.
07:48And you have very low metabolism.
07:49So people with a huge kapha imbalance
07:52will tend to put on weight very quickly,
07:54will become very sluggish, tend to procrastinate.
07:58These are all the things that are kapha imbalances.
08:00So what is Ayurveda saying?
08:02Ayurveda is basically saying,
08:03once we know your natural constitution,
08:06because there are two things.
08:07What is your natural constitution that you were born with?
08:10And that tends to change a little bit over time,
08:12but not too much.
08:13We know your natural constitution,
08:15so we know this is the way you should be leading your life
08:17according to your natural constitution.
08:18But we also know that over time,
08:20certain things have got imbalanced.
08:22So what is it that we can do from Ayurveda
08:24to correct that balance?
08:26Once you know these things, it's crystal clear.
08:28And that's why the elements that are around us
08:31get mirrored into our own bioenergies inside our body.
08:34Wow, unbelievable.
08:36Because everything you're saying, I can relate to.
08:38It makes sense.
08:39I mean, it makes absolute sense.
08:40And it feels like a lot of what we see
08:43in conventional medicine right now is based on that.
08:46Because I think this is an ancient medical system
08:49that obviously developed into what we know as medicine today.
08:51And it's absolutely fantastic that you said that.
08:54And that everything, I mean,
08:56when you were speaking about the organs,
08:58and when you were speaking about mental health,
09:00they're not two separate things.
09:01No, not at all.
09:02Because your mental health affects your physical,
09:03and your physical affects your mental.
09:05And it's just, we know that they're interconnected.
09:07So finding the root cause is only natural
09:10for someone to feel better.
09:12I've had more examples of people coming into Ananda
09:14where they've been suffering, for example,
09:16from chronic pain, whether due to incorrect posture,
09:20or some previous injury, or whatever the reason is.
09:24And they could be sufferers for a very, very long time,
09:27trying all kinds of different things.
09:29And finally, they've got relief
09:30when we've worked on the emotional side,
09:32or on the mental side.
09:34Because it's so connected.
09:34Yes, of course.
09:36Of course, your nervous system is enough to affect everything.
09:40And vice versa.
09:40We've gone in and corrected complete digestive systems,
09:43and that's corrected huge amounts of chronic stress too.
09:47Unbelievable, unbelievable.
09:48Okay, last question about Ayurveda,
09:51and then we're gonna talk about you and Ananda a bit more.
09:54What is it with eating your meals warm?
09:58I read something about how Ayurveda stresses,
10:01or emphasizes on the importance
10:03of someone eating a meal warm.
10:05Why is that important?
10:06It's a great question.
10:07I found that so interesting.
10:08Yeah, and I have to maybe validate that,
10:13because it's true in a certain sense.
10:15But also, there's a little bit of misunderstanding.
10:18Yeah, there's depth to it,
10:19which could take you in a couple of different directions.
10:22So first of all, because of the way
10:26our bodies are constituted,
10:27Ayurveda always believes that nourishment
10:30is the most important thing.
10:32What we call digestion, otherwise,
10:34in Ayurveda is referred to as agni,
10:36which is that fire symbol,
10:37but it goes beyond just digestion.
10:39It's the digestion of every molecule
10:41that comes into your body
10:42at every tissue structure of what you are.
10:44So the first thing that an Ayurvedic doctor
10:46will always assess is,
10:48how is your body's natural digestive capacity?
10:51Your body's natural digestive capacity
10:53should tell you with a clear time frame
10:56that this is how you digest
10:57and make you feel hungry for the next meal
11:00in just the right appropriate amount
11:02with the right digestive response
11:05and salivatory response,
11:06all of these things that we know
11:07from modern medical science.
11:09Now, the point is that most of us
11:10actually don't have a proper digestive system
11:15which actually triggers all of these things.
11:17And at least in the initial stages
11:20when we're trying to figure out
11:21what is kind of imbalanced in our body,
11:24you need to bring back a basic sense
11:27of metabolism into your system.
11:29That's very difficult to do
11:30when you're consuming a lot of cold items
11:33because just like you need
11:35like in a traditional blacksmith, the bellows,
11:37you need that amount of heat and air
11:40to actually keep the bellows working
11:43or the digestive fires moving.
11:44Similarly in Ayurveda,
11:46warm, nutritious food is a great way
11:50to actually keep the Ayurvedic cycle
11:52or the digestive cycle continuously working.
11:54So that's the first thing.
11:56Even if you think about fasting,
11:59Ayurveda recommends, at least in the initial phases,
12:03considering a fast which actually consumes,
12:06where you're not completely fasting
12:07but you're actually consuming
12:09really less quantities of warm, cooked food
12:11because that is the best way
12:13to keep your entire digestive system working
12:16and keep adding on healthy microbes
12:18and bacteria back into your system.
12:20So that's a very general response
12:22of the question that you just asked.
12:23However, if I was a Vata kind of person,
12:27because we've now introduced these concepts
12:29to your audience.
12:30If I was a Vata kind of person,
12:32then 150% I must have all my meals
12:37as warm, cooked food
12:39because my basic body constitution is cold and dry.
12:43To counterbalance my basic constitution,
12:45warm, nourished foods with healthy fats,
12:47healthy oils is an absolute must.
12:50If I'm a Pitta kind of person
12:53and if I have like my Pitta slightly out of balance,
12:56then think about what we just discussed.
12:58The basic problem that you have
12:59is too much heat and too much fire in your system.
13:01So to counterbalance it,
13:02you're better off with cool foods.
13:05I'm not talking about cold and dry foods.
13:07That has to be avoided in Ayurveda
13:09from an Ayurvedic perspective completely.
13:11Stale, cold, packaged foods are a big, big no-no.
13:14It's not too difficult to figure out why.
13:16But the Pitta kind of constitution
13:19needs something cool to counterbalance
13:20the effects of the heat.
13:22But having said that,
13:23if you're talking about the Kapha personality,
13:26the Kapha constitution
13:26where your basic metabolism is low,
13:28you need things to boost that metabolism.
13:30You need things to reduce the sluggishness in your system.
13:34You're already very mucousy.
13:35You're already very heavy.
13:37So there, having maybe even like some amount of raw food,
13:43raw salads is not a bad thing.
13:45But the same thing is an absolute no
13:46for a Vata personality.
13:47So again, it's not one size fits all is what I'm saying.
13:50You really need to understand what the situation is,
13:53how to address it.
13:54But yes, you're absolutely right.
13:56Overall, there is a governing principle in Ayurveda
14:00that keep the nutrition and the Agni constantly flowing,
14:04which is why in Ayurveda we always recommend
14:06have warm water, which is steeped with some herbs
14:10like cinnamon or fennel or cardamom.
14:13And you can keep sipping it through the day.
14:15It really keeps your Agni or the metabolism at its peak.
14:18Yes.
14:18Oh my gosh, that's fantastic.
14:20I honestly, like I'm just sitting here in awe
14:22because a lot of what you're saying
14:24would seem like common sense,
14:26but a lot of us just forget to do it.
14:28It's a manual.
14:28It's a blueprint for everyday living.
14:30Exactly.
14:31And we just forget or we get distracted
14:33or we get so engrossed in our daily routine
14:36and stresses and anxieties
14:38that we forget these basic practices.
14:40I totally agree.
14:41That could make such a great difference in our health.
14:44Okay, now shifting to Ananda.
14:48Tell us a bit more about your facility.
14:50So what is it that you offer
14:51and how do you help people?
14:52Because the next question is going to be like,
14:54maybe tell us some success stories as well.
14:57Yeah, absolutely.
14:58So it first came into existence in the year 2000.
15:01So we're just about 24 years since we began.
15:05The lineage of Ananda is very much emerged
15:08from the thought process of our founder
15:12and the MD who came in from a hospitality background.
15:16His name is Ashok Khanna
15:16and he is the grandson of a very well-established
15:20luxury hotel group, the Oberoi Hotels in India.
15:23He was a grandson of the first Mr. Oberoi.
15:25And I think around the late 90s
15:27is when he started thinking about the fact
15:30that already we could see the signs
15:31of a very fast paced tech world linked,
15:37time poor, high stressed kind of individuals.
15:40And we knew that this was going.
15:41He was ahead of his time.
15:42He was ahead of his time.
15:43And also combined with that the fact that
15:46in India you already had such ancient principles
15:49of Ayurveda, yoga, Vedanta.
15:50Vedanta is a study of Vedic texts and philosophies.
15:55We had the answers.
15:56We had the solutions.
15:58The ancient people had been following this for millennia.
16:01So why not bring all of these
16:02but bring it in a way that the modern consumer
16:05and the modern seeker can understand very easily.
16:09So the two of that led to the culmination
16:11and the beginning of Ananda.
16:12And I think it led to a three, four year search
16:14for the perfect location.
16:16But this place where we are,
16:17it's in a foothills of the Himalayan mountains
16:20and just above a town called Rishikesh
16:22which already is on the world map
16:24because it's known as the yoga capital of the world.
16:26A lot of the traditional yoga ashrams are located there.
16:29The Beatles visited there in 1968.
16:32And spent a year there in transcendental meditation.
16:35So it's got that energy.
16:36Yogis have sat and meditated on the foothills
16:38of the and in the mountains surrounding where we are
16:42for thousands.
16:42I mean the scenery is just enough for healing.
16:44Absolutely.
16:45So I think that was the ideal place.
16:47The river Ganges comes down from the Himalayan mountains,
16:48flows past the glaciers, comes past Rishikesh
16:51and that's exactly what we look over where we are at.
16:54So we're on a hill just above this town of Rishikesh
16:57with the Ganges below.
16:59It's a very large property.
17:00It was actually the palace of the Maharaja of Teri Garhwal
17:04which is the state where we're in.
17:05And it's his entire palace estate.
17:07It begins with an absolute gorgeous palace
17:09built about 200 years old.
17:11That's the Maharaja's palace.
17:12That's the only part of Ananda which is actually private,
17:14which is his private residence.
17:16Behind it is a beautiful viceregal palace
17:18which was actually built in the early 1930s.
17:21And that's where Ananda begins.
17:22And beyond it is just acres and acres of forested land.
17:26The entire place is really very peaceful.
17:29It's very calm.
17:30It's very tranquil.
17:31You've got beautiful views of the valley below,
17:33the Himalayan mountains around,
17:35medicinal forests all around.
17:36So the moment you're in there,
17:37there's a sense of upliftment, grounding, just calm.
17:43You just instantly switch off.
17:45It's 100 acres of space around you.
17:47So you're not in touch with any,
17:51the nearest city is far below us,
17:53so far away from civilization.
17:55But yet you get that energy of what's happening down there,
17:58of all the hills around us.
18:00So that's the kind of physical location of Ananda.
18:03And the way we created the spaces
18:06was with a lot of care to connect people with nature,
18:11have everything as an inside-outside kind of feel.
18:15The spa itself is just this most incredible, tranquil space.
18:20It's almost like a cocoon which just takes you in,
18:23and that's where you're spending most of your time anyways.
18:26So this is where we are.
18:28What we do is really kind of take people
18:32through an entire journey of how they can
18:35address their own well-being through different modalities.
18:38Ayurveda, yoga, Vedanta, like I mentioned,
18:42the study of scriptures.
18:42But there's also other integrated aspects,
18:44like traditional Chinese medicine,
18:46mantra chanting, aromatherapy, hydrotherapy, physiotherapy.
18:50And most people think, for example,
18:53these are just practices.
18:54For example, physiotherapy is just something to fix pain,
18:56but the way we do it is through very traditional,
18:59holistic physiotherapy.
19:00Yoga that we practice is very traditional.
19:03It comes from a school of yoga which is Hatha Yoga.
19:06We follow the Bihar School of Yoga,
19:08the Raja Yoga system for meditation.
19:10These are systems where you're thinking about
19:13yoga as a lifestyle, not yoga as a fitness-based,
19:16jumping up and down rapid movement class
19:19or a hot yoga in a studio.
19:20I have nothing against that.
19:21That's a great way that it's expanded across the world.
19:24But it's a different goal.
19:24But it's a different goal.
19:25Here it's very much to think about
19:27what is the true purpose of yoga?
19:28How do you bring it into your life?
19:30How do you treat yoga as a stepping stone
19:31for further meditation?
19:33So we have all these integrated aspects,
19:35so every one of our guests is going through them
19:37in some way or the other.
19:38And in terms of what we offer
19:40are a whole different range of programs
19:43to address your needs.
19:44So some people are following a cleanse or a detox program.
19:48Many others want to lose weight,
19:50so they're following a weight loss program.
19:51Somebody else has high stress in their life,
19:54so they're doing a stress management program
19:56or a meditation program like dhyana
19:58to address their meditation issues.
20:00We have a whole range of women's health programs
20:03to address menstrual health, for menopausal health,
20:06but also what we just, in fact, launched very recently,
20:09something to address fertility,
20:10because it's a huge area of discussion today.
20:13Then we have chronic, long-standing issues,
20:16whether it could be chronic pain or diabetes
20:18or cholesterol or arthritis.
20:20So Ayurveda and all these different sciences
20:23are so incredible
20:25because they address everything from the root.
20:27And that's how somebody comes to one another.
20:29So when you're in there,
20:30whether you're spending a week, two weeks, or three weeks,
20:33you start off with a consultation before you come in.
20:37There's a whole team of people who are sitting down
20:38and guiding you to every step of the way.
20:41And like I mentioned,
20:42after you leave, the journey doesn't stop.
20:44So we do a lot of follow-up
20:45to take you ultimately towards your goal.
20:48But essentially, we're just guides.
20:50We're showing the path.
20:51The true change-makers are the people, the individuals,
20:55and they're actually the healers.
20:57They're healing themselves.
20:58Of course.
20:59It has to come from within.
21:00Absolutely.
21:00I mean, any change that you're gonna do,
21:02no matter how many times your family
21:04or your friends push you to do something,
21:07it'll never happen unless you are convinced
21:08and you do it from within.
21:09And so much of it is with the mind.
21:10Of course.
21:11Which is why when you say body, mind, and spirit,
21:14or mind, body, spirit, it's very often used,
21:16but how you apply it is absolutely critical.
21:21So for example, people come to Ananda
21:23and they're on a weight-management program,
21:25and they say, why does my weight-management schedule
21:26have 50% of the classes as meditation classes?
21:29I was just gonna say,
21:30I was just gonna tell you this,
21:31because you mentioned that people can come
21:33and opt for a stress and anxiety program,
21:35or a weight loss,
21:36and I feel like all of them would serve everything.
21:39100%.
21:40I mean, that's the thing.
21:41I mean, I could be losing weight,
21:42I go in for the weight loss program,
21:44but then I find myself less stressed
21:46and my anxiety's sort of subsiding,
21:49and I feel like it's all interconnected.
21:51Oh, completely.
21:51And that resolve.
21:52When you meditate, your mind becomes clearer.
21:55When you meditate early in the morning,
21:56we have actually a process,
21:57a meditative technique called yoga nidra.
22:00Many people will be familiar with this,
22:02where you're actually visualizing
22:03all parts of your body in a rotation,
22:05and you're lying down, and you're not sleeping,
22:08but it's a state of,
22:09just that state between sleep and consciousness,
22:12and you're in that state.
22:13And at that stage,
22:15when you're actually able to put a resolve
22:18into your mind, that really sticks with you.
22:21And those techniques are invaluable
22:22when you're talking about aspects like weight management,
22:25or anything else, any other problem that you're facing.
22:27Yes, that's beautiful.
22:29Okay, you mentioned a very big announcement
22:31that you were talking about today,
22:32and that's actually really big for you as Mahesh,
22:36and as Ananda as well,
22:38which is fertility.
22:40Right.
22:41And this is a hot topic.
22:42I mean, this is something that we've discussed
22:43over and over again on this show
22:45from different aspects,
22:46so medically, socially, psychologically,
22:50from a mental health aspect,
22:51and even from a medical insurance aspect.
22:54And I'm interested to know what your announcement is.
22:57So Ayurveda forever has a completely separate branch
23:03of holistic science called Vajikarana.
23:07This is an ancient branch of Ayurveda
23:09which actually developed precisely for this,
23:12to actually work on proactive fertility health,
23:16to work on not just immediate conception,
23:20but whether it's now or intermediate,
23:21or whenever later you're planning it.
23:24And it doesn't matter how you're approaching it.
23:25You could be planning for immediate conception now,
23:28you could be planning an IVF later,
23:29you could be even thinking about egg freezing
23:31for starting a family much later in life.
23:34It doesn't matter what it is ultimately,
23:36but this branch of Ayurveda really works on the quality
23:40and of the reproductive seed
23:42from a very, very initial stage,
23:44from going into the root cause, the root issue.
23:47And once you work on it,
23:48in Ayurveda the term is called Shukra
23:50in this branch of science.
23:51Shukra means the reproductive seed.
23:53What we don't realize,
23:53and what Ayurveda has categorized very clearly
23:55is that the quality of the reproductive seed
23:58is actually the final layer, or the dhatu, or the tissue,
24:02of how your entire body is synthesized.
24:04All your nutrition, all your lifestyle,
24:06all your lifestyle habits
24:08go through successive tissues,
24:10and tissues, and tissues of your existence
24:12from your muscles, and blood, and lymph,
24:14and right down till it finally comes in
24:18and affects your reproductive tissue, or shukras.
24:21So if you're having challenges at that level,
24:24imagine how much has already gone on,
24:27and how much you actually need to sit down
24:29and now correct and take stock of.
24:31So this is a beautiful science, it's a deep science,
24:33and it goes through different stages
24:35of something called Shodhana,
24:36which is cleansing and purificatory,
24:39specifically designed for these fertility issues.
24:43Then you're doing restorative therapies,
24:45there's a whole line of herbal supplements
24:48like Shilajit, Shatavari, Ashwagandha,
24:51all of these in certain combinations in Ayurveda
24:53which are incredible for improving fertility health.
24:56When we're talking about improving the shukras,
24:59it's on both sides.
25:00Improving the sperm quality,
25:01improving the quality of the egg.
25:04And it's not just the reproductive seed,
25:05we also focus a lot on improving
25:07the reproductive environment,
25:09the entire uterine bed.
25:10Because that's such a critical aspect
25:12of what's required today.
25:15It takes time, it's not a quick fix.
25:17In Ayurveda, Vajaykarana,
25:19even in our text it says it takes 72 days
25:21of initial treatment,
25:24but after that following a lifestyle
25:26you actually see a distinct improvement
25:28in the quality of the reproductive seed.
25:31And in the medical sense, by the way.
25:33Oh, 100%.
25:33So doctors have said it takes 72 days,
25:36it's a 72 day process as well.
25:38Absolutely.
25:39So that's fascinating, isn't it?
25:40These two worlds can actually converge.
25:42And we've actually had specific cases
25:45of men who've come in with very low sperm count,
25:49very low motility, very poor morphology, the shape.
25:54And every one of these parameters
25:56after a period of time has actually jumped phenomenally.
26:00By not just a factor of one and two,
26:02by motility and concentration jumping up
26:05by the millions.
26:07We've had cases of women who've come in
26:11who were almost planning to start up their IVF cycle,
26:14but who came in here, went through a period
26:17of three weeks doing this program,
26:19and have actually conceived.
26:21No matter what the end outcome is,
26:24I always say that there has to be a proactive way
26:27of looking at fertility and holistic health.
26:29So we're actually presenting now this program
26:32for enhancing fertility as something that you do
26:35at the time of thinking about it,
26:37or thinking about conception.
26:38Because that really is the stage
26:40that you can actually address.
26:41However, it's equally effective for those
26:43who've been going through an IVF cycle,
26:46or have planned to go through an IVF cycle,
26:48because you can definitely increase the quality
26:50of your reproductive material.
26:52Similarly, for somebody who's actually
26:54even planning to freeze eggs,
26:56again, the quality of what you need to be freezing,
26:59improving the reproductive quality,
27:02you can do that through Ayurveda.
27:05And over time, and I don't want to specifically
27:09make a current claim on this,
27:11but we've seen also the degree to which
27:14you have to introduce the hormonal interventions,
27:18or even for IVF or otherwise,
27:24the quantum of that can actually reduce using Ayurveda.
27:27And we're seeing that not just in fertility,
27:28but across the board for different sciences.
27:31For example, switching over a bit to,
27:33if you look at diabetes, we've had specific test cases
27:35where not only has the level of your basic parameters,
27:39like the HbA1c, the sugar levels actually reduced,
27:42but even the quantum of the insulin
27:44that people have to be taking
27:45have dramatically reduced by using Ayurveda.
27:49So it's a deep science, for sure.
27:50This is so interesting.
27:51We can talk about this for like three days straight
27:54and still not be done.
27:55Absolutely.
27:56Just, you know, because everyone's looking at the time
27:58and I know you have meetings the rest of the day
28:00and I want to keep you here,
28:01but at the same time, we will have you back,
28:03hopefully, if you ever come visit again,
28:05or maybe we come visit you.
28:07So definitely, we will.
28:08Great way to experience the true energy
28:13of what I've been talking about so far.
28:14Yes, I would love to.
28:15I mean, just you talking about it
28:17and describing the place makes me want to go tomorrow.
28:20That's okay, thank you.
28:21So yeah, hopefully we'll come visit you,
28:22but just before we let you off the hook,
28:25my last question is, what's your advice for people
28:28who are still a little skeptical or don't really,
28:32like, I mean, they're interested in Ayurveda,
28:35but they still don't know enough
28:37or still feel like, no, you know what?
28:39I still need to know more.
28:40Like, what's your advice?
28:42I mean, it's always like that when it's a new concept.
28:44What would your advice be?
28:46So I think take it one step at a time.
28:48I feel the first thing that you really need to do
28:51is find a qualified Ayurvedic physician.
28:54And even if you don't do anything else,
28:57just invest in time to do a first consultation.
29:01Because being able to understand what your basic,
29:04what we call dosha is or prakriti is,
29:07you'll get so many answers.
29:09Even if you haven't started planning
29:11what your future is gonna be,
29:13it will tell you a lot about the way you are today.
29:16Why you do the things that you do,
29:17why you eat the way you eat,
29:19why you sleep the way you sleep,
29:20why you have the level of stress
29:23at the levels of where it is.
29:24It'll tell you a lot about what you are today.
29:27That's a starting point.
29:28That would be my first guidance for somebody.
29:31And after that, don't try and do everything in one go.
29:35It's a gradual process.
29:36Maybe the first step of what you're looking at
29:39is can you just see if you can make small tweaks
29:42to the food that you're eating based on your doshas
29:46that you now know with a consultation.
29:48Just start there.
29:49You don't have to go and do something
29:52really very intensive.
29:54Or drastic.
29:55Or drastic.
29:56A, there isn't anything that drastic in Ayurveda.
29:59It's a very gradual science.
30:00But again, you could have a time factor
30:02that you need to consider.
30:03Start small.
30:04And when you're feeling comfortable about this,
30:06that it's really starting,
30:08you'll start feeling different.
30:09I can assure you about that.
30:11Three weeks of just following an Ayurvedic diet,
30:12you'll already start feeling lighter.
30:14You'll be sleeping better.
30:15You'll feel like you're getting a burst of immunity.
30:17Try that.
30:18Then take some time off if you're convinced.
30:20And then invest more.
30:22Come into a retreat.
30:23Hopefully a place like Ananda.
30:25But do it in steps.
30:27And that's what I always tell people.
30:29Whether it's Ayurveda or any other holistic science.
30:31When people come to Ananda,
30:32a lot of them have never practiced yoga in their lives.
30:35Our intention is not to make them yoga masters or yogis.
30:38Our intention is, can you build a 20 minute yoga practice
30:41into your everyday life?
30:42Just 20 minutes.
30:43That's all it takes to change your life.
30:44Or a five minute pranayama, which is breath work.
30:47Or a 10 minute meditation.
30:48If you can do this, our intention has been set.
30:51Steady wins the race.
30:52Oh, absolutely.
30:53I mean, we always say that.
30:54When you rush into things, when you overwhelm yourself,
30:56you're just adding more stress, which defeats the purpose.
30:58Totally.
30:59I mean, take it easy.
31:00Take it in phases, as you said.
31:01Absolutely.
31:02And it's a learning process.
31:03You'll get hooked on.
31:04There are books that you can refer to.
31:06Take it one step at a time.
31:07And you'll get there.
31:08Mahesh, it was lovely having you in the studio.
31:10My pleasure, completely.
31:11Thank you so much for giving us your time,
31:13your valuable time.
31:14And we'd love to meet you again, hopefully soon.
31:17I can't wait.
31:17Thank you so much.
31:18It was such a pleasure to be here.