Monday, November 14, 2011

Historia de la medicina tradicional Thai

Como muchos aspectos de la cultura tailandesa, el masaje tradicional tailandés deriva su origen en la antigua India, y llegó a Tailandia a través de monjes budistas misionero que también fueron entrenados como sanadores. Es una forma única de trabajo corporal, con orígenes que se remontan hace 2500 años. El fundador de la práctica fue Shivaga Komarpaj, médico y amigo  contemporáneo de Buda. 



Dr.Shivaga Komarpaj


Tailandia está situado en la gran ruta comercial entre la India y China y su historia y la cultura, junto con su medicina, se ha visto afectada por su ubicación. Así como el budismo se extendió fuera de la India, se extendió también la medicina curativa con él.  El masaje tailandés se ha transmitido como una tradición oral, con un estilo único en desarrollo en cada área de Tailandia.

La mayoría de los textos médicos antiguos fueron destruidos junto con la destrucción de Ayutthaya en el siglo 18 por los birmanos. Como un intento de preservar la tradición del masaje tailandés, lo que quedaba fue tallado literalmente en piedra y en las paredes del templo de Wat Po en Bangkok. En la actualidad, Wat Po sigue siendo un centro de enseñanza antiguo de masaje tailandés en Tailandia.  Originalmente, el pueblo tailandés vio la enfermedad como un desequilibrio en el cuerpo, mente y espíritu, y debían buscan ayuda en el templo local. Ellos fueron tratados por los monjes con los tres elementos de la medicina tradicional tailandesa:


    * Las hierbas medicinales: Hoy en dia estos medicamentos están disponibles sin receta en las farmacias en Tailandia, y muchas hierbas tailandesas están incluidos en la cocina regional con la intención de mejorar la salud, así como el sabor.
    * Curación psico-espiritual: Esto incluye diversos tipos de prácticas de visualización por parte del paciente, así como los rituales chamánicos a cabo por el curandero.
    * Masaje tailandés: Esto formó la columna vertebral de los tratamientos físicos.

En la actualidad, el masaje tradicional tailandés todavía se enseña y se practica en muchos templos budistas y escuelas de masaje en todo el país. Los templos bien conocidos en la zona de Bangkok son Wat Mahataat, Wat Parinayok, Wat Sampraya, and Wat Pho.


El masaje tailandés es un ejemplo de los "Cuatro Estados de la Mente Divina" en la enseñanza budista: bondad, compasión, alegría vicaria, y la ecuanimidad. Estos se conocen colectivamente en tailandés como “Phramwihan See". Ellos encarnan el espíritu con que eran entregados los servicios médicos tradicionales tailandeses.

Saturday, November 12, 2011

The beauty of Dhama : Anger Management

I have taken some part of the article "Anger Management" from the Bangkok Post Newspaper to share with all of you. Phra Maha Vuthichai Vajiramethi is a storyteller of this article. 

It is a very beautiful and thoughtful story that will help each everyone of us to overcome anger. As I see in every life; people shouting to each others on street, a guy kick a poor hungry dog which steal his food, or a daughter is angry with her mom when she call her to help in the kitchen. There are many situation that stimulate our anger. With this article we will learn how to use Dhama to manage our anger. Believe me it is so beautiful and meaningful for our life.


------------------------------------
 

"...Like everything else in the universe, 
anger arises and passes away, 
restoring the original pool of stillness. 
 Not knowing its nature and allowing it to take over 
can lead to disastrous outcomes..." 


Phra Maha Vuthichai Vajiramethi 





"...Anger may manifest itself in the following ways:
  • Like a line drawn across water, anger that disappear quickly.
  • Like a line drawn in the sand, disappearing when a wave washes ashore.
  • Like a line carved into a stone, surviving all kinds of weather conditions over thousands and thousands of years..."




"…In reality, we are all related because we are all humans. 
When we view all people as brothers and sisters, we should not be angry with anyone. 
If we are angry at anyone, it means we are angry with our own family members.


We must all plant the seed of love and compassion in the person 
who has angered us and in humanity, both in peaceful times 
and when they have made us angry. 
It is only when you interact with people in the whole world with benevolence 
that you will discover the truth: no one really deserves your anger.
Last but not least, we must learn the art of mindfulness 
because anger arises from mindlessness. 
If you are mindful and always fully aware of yourself, 
anger cannot conquer your heart. 
With mindfulness and self-awareness, 
we can outsmart any hostile element or attack. 


A hostile word, action or situation, 
can no longer displease you if you are mindful. 
On the contrary, with the help of mindfulness, 
when anger arises, wisdom can terminate your feeling of anger. 
You will be left only with positive energy and liveliness…"






"...A person who has successfully managed his or her anger 
will have one special characteristics: he or she will always have a smiling face. 
In any temple- in Thailand, Japan, the UK, France, the US or Bhutan-
you will find Buddha´s face always with a faint smile.


We should all be like little Buddhas always with a smile in out face 
because we are not disturbed by anger..."






"...Every time you allow yourself to focus on your breathing,
it is no different from shining the light of mindfulness into darkness. 
Light can dispel darkness instantly. 
So even when anger arises in our heart, 
when it is met with mindfulness, 
the emotion will quickly disappear in the same manner..."


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For full article please visit "Anger Management"
Source: www.dhammatoday.com

Friday, November 11, 2011

The Art of Flaxseed Pillow

Sewing is my passion. I also adore the natural way of living and body therapy. I am the one who is not a big fan of taking medicine or eating junk foods. As I believe that our body is the compositions of nature, so the best way to keep ourselves stay healthy is to be close to nature.

In Thai massage, it is recommended to the patient with muscular tension to rub the particular part of the tension body with hot towel. It is not always convenient to do that. So I made my very first flaxseed pillow to help ease the body pain. It is amazingly wonderful. When I put my warm flaxseed pillow on my neck and shoulder before sleep at night, it helps not only to relax my body but also keep myself warm in a chilled night. And of course, I slept tight until morning!













And I made my very first collection of the flaxseed pillow with a lot of love and care. They come in various sizes and shape for different kind of therapy. 


















All the pillow cover is made of 100% cotton fabric. They are removable and washable. For more information please visit www.arokaya.cl.

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Full of Passion: Passion Fruit Icecream





Passion fruit season is in winter. The fruit is sour, rich in vitamin C and beta carotene which serves as an anti-oxidant compound. It helps maintain health and balance your body cell. Passion fruit is also enriched of fiber that is beneficial for the digestive system.

If you have sleepless night, passion fruit is a hero that can help you to have sweet dream night.  Moreover, it has therapeutic characteristic to relieve bladder inflammation as well.



…………..Super easy passion fruit recipe…………….


Passion Fruit Ice Cream

Ingredients


  • Passion Fruit Meat      300 grs
  • Yogurt Natural            200 ml
  • Honey                          4 tbs
  • A pinch of Salt



How to prepare


  • Keep the passion fruit meat in the freeze over night.
  • In the food processor, add the freeze passion fruit, yogurt, honey and salt. Let the machine work until all the mixtures mixed well.
  • You can serve it right away or keep it in the freeze again for at least 30 min before serve. Enjoy your homemade passion fruit ice cream!

Spice up your life!






I love eating spicy foods! How many people out there love chilli? 

Chilli has health benefit more than you can imagine. This hot herb is originally from south America. It arrived to Thailand by Portuguese people in the early Ayutthaya period.


Chilli helps our body to release endorphins which increase our happiness and a feeling of well-being.  A study in Japan found that Chilli boost up body temperature and assist in metabolism process which is very useful for weight control.

It also helps people who have asthma especially to dissolve the mucus and unblock the bronchial spasm.  Eating some chilli in people with asthma or allergy will help to ease your symptom. I found this good effect in my real experience. My husband is suffering from asthma and allergy from his childhood. It was always difficult for him to eat or speak while he had block nose as he needed to breathe through his mouth. At the meal time, he needed to put a bowl with hot water and some mental alcohol to ease breathing but it did not work well. Until now we got married and I have been preparing him food in Thai style with some chillies. He found that my spicy food helps to open his nose and he can eat easier than before. He said me why he did not know me long time before so he could breathe while eating!


Eating chilli reduces the insulin level. It is found that 30 minutes after eating chilli, the insulin level is not increased that will also reduce the feeling to eat something sweets.
Vitamin C in chilli is an antioxidant  which also help reduce the risk of cancer. The findings of the Siriraj Hospital in Thailand found that the chili is the breakdown of blood clots as well.

There is also a gel made of chilli which used to apply on the body to relieve pain, skin inflammation, pain in the knee arthritis, herpes or shingles

To avoid acidity in your stomach, chilli is best eating with fat or oil because the capsaicin is dissolved in oil more than in water. In Thai cooking, it is very common to see hot curry soup made of coconut milk that is what the old generations have created with local wisdom from their experience to get the most benefit from hot chilli.  



.........Easy cooking with chilli............

Green Curry with Chicken


Ingredients

- Chicken                  500 grs.
- Green Curry Paste      2 tbs (if you want your curry hotter you can add more)
- Fish Sauce                 2 tbs (if you don´t have just use 1 tsp of salt instead)
- Sugar                        1 tbs
- Coconut Milk           400 ml
- Eggplant                    1 unit
- Basil Leaves               1 branch

Green Curry Paste


 How to prepare

- Add half of coconut milk and green curry paste into pan. Stir until get homogenous texture and bring to boil. At this point you will get aroma from various herbs in the curry paste mixed with coconut milk.
- Add chicken and stir until cooked.
- Add the second half of the coconut milk and eggplant. 
- Season with fish sauce and sugar. Bring to boil and taste. Add more fish sauce or sugar to meet your taste bud.
- When the taste is perfect for you, add the basil leaves. And your green curry is ready to enjoy!