The book deals with three principal themes of Ayurveda: Nutrition, Sexual Energy and Healing. Ancient Ayurvedic literature incorporates an extensive study on nutritional balance that does not only dependent upon the basic value of the nutrients, but is also related to time, place, and the fundamental constitution of an individual. There are many Ayurvedic cookbooks available, but unfortunately they often deal simply with Indian cooking. You must keep in mind that all Indian cooking is not Ayurvedic, and many recipes given in these books are what Ayurveda will describe as anti-health. Some examples of forbidden things, or combinations that are erroneously described as Ayurvedic are: adding yoghurt to meat preparations, or adding honey to hot drinks, or eating yoghurt at night, or eating deep fried food too frequently or without appropriate precautions, such as adding particular spices to the food. The first and foremost approach to Ayurvedic cooking involves balanced meals which include a large variety of vegetables, fruits, and grains in order to have all the rasas in these foods (literally meaning taste, rasas are the basis of Ayurvedic pharmacology). Various Ayurvedic spices should be used to enforce equilibrium and create food that rejuvenates. There is a description about the curative effect of food for different ailments, life conditions, and ages. There is a simple way of doing that in a family: after having cooked a balanced and rejuvenating food, you can add particular spices to it based on individual need, or for various curative effects. Spices are first put briefly in a spoonful of very hot ghee and cooked for a few seconds. For example, if you are an elderly person and complain of aches and pains, you need to add fenugreek, garlic, ginger, or heeng (asafoetida) in this manner into your soup, main dish, or whatever. If you feel the predominance of kapha, or the symptoms of it causing ill effects (lethargy, sleeping too much, a sweet taste in the mouth, etc.), you may add spices such as pepper, ginger, or garlic, while avoiding excessively fatty or sweet foods. If you have an excess of heat in the body, and tend to suffer from pitta disorders, add spices like anise, coriander, cardamom, and clove to your food. The second part of the book is about Ayurvedic concept of sexuality. However, while not well known in the West, this aspect of Ayurvedic wisdom is integrated in Ayurvedic way of life. Holistic sexuality, simple remedies for sexual problems, and using aphrodisiacs or rejuvenating products will hopefully benefit modern men and women. Recognition of the infinite sexual energy present within all of us, and its beneficial channelling for healing and for a spiritual experience, are also described. Healing, which forms Part III of this book, is based upon the principle of bringing the mind back to this beautiful creation of nature, the human body, and concentrating it there. Some people in the West think that healing is something fantastic and mysterious. For learning to heal, we need to develop awareness of our being, and an ability to withdraw our mind from the world, in order to evoke the inner energy or soul for this purpose. We need to learn this, and we all have the capability and capacity to do that. We do not need special powers for healing ourselves or healing others. The special power is soul, which is the same within each human being. To learn how to heal we need a strong determination and persistence in our aim. Negative qualities, like anger, greed, excessive attachment, and desire lead to many physical and mental ailments. The book describes methods for maintaining mental balance through breathing practices and concentration exercises popularly known as meditation. After having obtained the stillness of mind, one can gradually enhance one's spiritual energy and use it for healing.
About the Author: After a doctorate degree in reproduction biology in India, Dr. Verma studied Neurobiology in Paris University and obtained a second doctorate. She pursued advanced research at the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda (USA) and the Max-Planck Institute in Freiburg, Germany. At the peak of her career in medical research in a pharmaceutical company in Germany, she realised that the modern approach to health care is basically fragmented and non-holistic. Besides, we are directing all our efforts and resources to cure disease rather than maintaining health. In response, Dr. Verma founded The New Way Health Organisation (NOW) in 1986 to spread the message of holistic living, preventive methods for health care and to promote the use of mild medicine and various self-help therapeutic measures. Dr. Verma grew up with a strong familial tradition of Ayurveda with a grandmother who had enormous Ayurvedic wisdom and was a gifted healer. She has studied Ayurveda in the traditional Guru-shishya style with Acharya Priya Vrat Sharma of the Benares Hindu University for 23 years. Dr. Verma is an ardent researcher and is working hard to compile the living tradition of Ayurveda and spread it in the world through her books. She has published 23 books on yoga, Ayurveda, Women and Companionship. The books are published in various languages of the world. Besides, she has published numerous scientific articles. Several other books are in preparation. She lectures extensively, teaches in Europe for several months a year, trains students at her two centres in India and gives radio and television programmes. First film on Ayurveda was made by German television on Dr. Verma and was shown in 100 countries in 130 languages. Dr. Verma has founded Charaka School of Ayurveda to train interested people with genuine Ayurvedic education so that they can further impart the knowledge of Ayurvedic way of life and save people from becoming a victim of charlatanry in Ayurveda. Dr. Verma is doing several research projects on medicinal plants and their combination in the form of remedies. She is the founder and chairperson of The Ayurveda Health Organisation, which is a charitable trust for distributing and promoting Ayurvedic remedies and yoga therapy in rural areas of India. She does regular lectures and workshops for school children in the rural and remote areas of the Himalayas to promote wisdom of traditional science and medicine.