Health and Wellness

“Nunca sabes lo fuerte que eres, hasta que ser fuerte es la única opción” – Bob Marley

It’s hard to imagine our world without salt. In fact, it would be impossible since salt — or, sodium, rather — plays such an important role in the human body’s natural functions, and in Mother Nature. “Salt is closely tied, along with water, to the origins of life and, thus has numerous enlivening properties,” says Chaye McIntosh, the clinical director at ChoicePoint. Beyond these properties and the essential role it plays in bodily function, salt is also incredibly healing for the mind, body, and spirit.

Contrary to what the billion-dollar skin care industry would have you believe, the health of your skin actually starts on the inside. And while spa days and facials are a wonderful way to treat yourself, you don't need to be spending hundreds (or thousands) of dollars on your skincare routine.

Many of us have had conventional massage that works to release tight muscles and create relaxation. In Western medicine, massage can be used for specific issues, such as musculoskeletal sports injuries and performance, massage for lymphatic drainage after cancer surgery, or for certain pain syndromes.

Everyone has a certain level of resilience. From time to time, we all experience stress, emotional upsets, and challenges in our lives. Resilience is the ability to withstand these situations, quickly recover from them, and be able to return to balance and harmony. Often our resilience depends on the resources we have to call upon, which could include friends and family, finances, knowledge, and past experiences. But resilience shouldn’t be just about surviving, true resilience opens the door for us to thrive and live life fully. What’s broken can be mended, what’s hurt can be healed and no matter how dark it gets, the sun is going to rise again.

Every month, Dr. Sheila, Chopra’s Chief Medical Officer will be answering questions from our followers. If you have a general question for her around health and wellness, please send us an email to askdrsheila@chopra.com, and your question may be the one she answers next month. This month, Dr. Sheila answers a question about Ayurveda for people who have periods.

As the saying goes, “teach what you most need to learn.”

The change of season, whether you’re moving from winter to spring or summer into autumn, is always a good time to reassess your life and clear out what no longer serves, making way for new exciting opportunities to enter. This can be done on all levels, physical, mental, and spiritual.

More people are aware than ever before of how many meanings the word “toxic” has. The subject of detoxification was completely ignored when I was in medical school, but the most recent research connects blood toxins and chronic inflammation, suddenly opening up new avenues for preventing lifestyle disorders like heart disease, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and perhaps even many cancers years before symptoms appear.