Summer is usually a time of improved health; the sun is out, we have more daylight hours, we can spend more time outside. In our climate it is a healthy time of year for most of us. In fact, each season carries with it certain positive attributes and certain challenges to our system. As with all Ayurvedic principles you just have to observe nature and start to notice the change in the qualities of the atmosphere, the weather, the light and the temperature so that you can ‘know’ what is right for you to do.

Water is all about a natural flow. Rivers flow towards the sea, the tides ebb and flow and we too are part of nature’s great flow. As human beings, sustaining the flow of our health and the well being of the physical body depends on an adequate supply of water and nutrients.

Water is vital.

The following is a quote from the Wise Earth School of Ayurveda, whose core philosophy of healing lies in the principles of mindfulness (sadhana) and ahimsa (non-violence).

“We are always mindful of the moment. When we engage every moment without the cares and fears of the beyond, we are able to harness the spirit of sadhana, and every moment is filled with divinity. Sadhana can be practiced simply by breathing, having a compassionate thought, saying a kind word, reaching for a blade of grass, plucking a fruit from its vine, sitting in the sun and feeling its warmth, touching the earth with bare feet. In short, sadhana is the integral connection that keeps us forever dancing in rhythmic measure with the cosmic pulse. Our moment-to-moment awareness of this connection is the heart of sadhana. "

Nowadays we are turning more and more to herbal and home remedies when we feel physically unwell. We are taking more responsibility for our health and rediscovering traditional remedies. Our medicine cabinets contain more and more natural, organic preparations.

But what about our emotional ailments?

The first sight of asparagus on our supermarket shelves is a sure sign that the gloomy days of winter are becoming a distant memory and Spring is just around the corner. When it's beautiful green stems appear in our organic boxes in May then that's the time to cook it whilst it's fresh.  Or if you are lucky enough to grow your own, then   even better.  In this recipe I'm combining tofu with this beautiful vegetable even though many of you will now want to move on to the next feature.  Well stop right there because tofu doesn't have to be pasty, limp and bland to taste, depending on how you cook it.  So give this a try before you give up on it altogether.

by Rowan Cobelli, Integral Yoga Dorset

There are many teachings on health and healing.  The Yogic approach and teachings around this are so simple and yet so profound.  Actually, you don't have to do anything to heal the body and mind. If you don't interfere, the body and mind will heal themselves. There is a healer within everybody. We don't have to do anything to get the positive things. When we stop doing the negative things, the good happens by itself. We disturb and drain the body and mind too much. We waste so much energy-over-doing, oversleeping, overeating, over-talking. That drains you completely, so you lose your immunity. The mind over-thinks and that leads to anxiety, worry, fear. Learn to relax. That is the yogic way, nature's way. Not to overindulge in anything. That way, you can heal yourself well.”

Motherhood at Lughnasadh

At the agricultural feast of Imbolc we welcomed the goddess of regeneration back into the world as a corn-baby preserved from the previous year’s harvest. By Beltane she had matured into a fertile corn-maiden with no shortage of earthy suitors. She is now at her most bounteous and it is time to honour her fruitfulness as the corn-mother.

Hello and welcome to our online magazine, Hermit’s Bazaar, which began its journey as a seed of an idea back in 2005 and came to fruition with our first issue in December of 2007.