True to Yourself Podcast 24: Goddess Fertility Wisdom: Build Immunity System Health & Bloom Fertility with Ananta Ripa Ajmera
Did you know that there is a strong connection between how to build immunity system health and bloom fertility in both men and women, according to ancient goddess fertility wisdom from the holistic health tradition of Ayurveda?
What the ancient holistic healing wisdom of Ayurveda reveals about extended fertility in particular is that it actually has a lot more to do with your overall immune system health than it does with your biological age.
You'll learn in this episode how to build immunity system health and simultaneously overcome problems with fertility through:
Food for increasing fertility and building immunity naturally
The best times of the year to conceive
How your mindset and fertility are intricately connected
What 'brahmacharya' means, and how it supports your spiritual growth journey while building your immune system health and helping you bloom fertility
Resources:
Check out Wholy Mama™ for science-backed techniques and protocols that can help ignite fertility and slow (or even reverse) the process of reproductive aging, with masterclasses taught by my colleague and NYC's most sought-out fertility expert Aimee Raupp and other holistic health experts: https://members.melissaambrosini.com/a/2147583762/UE7rACVS
Become the hero of your own spiritual growth journey in a free 14-day trial of The Ancient Way's Circle of Life Community: https://theancientway.co/community
Embrace your true Self with the wisdom of the ages by joining The Ancient Way's Wisdom 1-2-3 Newsletter at https://theancientway.co/wisdom-1-2-3 for:
1 wisdom quote straight from an age-old sacred text
2 nuggets of inspiration from me, to make that wisdom relatable
3 introspective questions to awaken your inner guru, no matter how packed your schedule is
Let's connect on Instagram for spiritual empowerment and inspiration to awaken your inner guru: https://instagram.com/ananta.one
Embark on a heroic spiritual journey with daily rituals rooted in ancient Indian goddess wisdom in my award-winning book The Way of the Goddess: https://theancientway.co/wayofthegoddess
Live in harmony with nature, embody ancient wisdom & glow with radiant well-being - become an Ancient Way Wellness Ambassador: https://theancientway.co/wellness-ambassador
Ignite the fire within & empower others on transformative journeys - become an Ancient Way & Association for Coaching Certified Spiritual Coach: https://theancientway.co/spiritualwarrior
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TRANSCRIPTION
Episode 24: Goddess Fertility Wisdom: Build Immunity System Health & Bloom Fertility with Ananta Ripa Ajmera
[00:00:00] Namaste, and welcome back to the True To Yourself Podcast, a place where we explore the power of authentic living. I am your host, Ananta Ripa Ajmera, and today I'm happy to share with you about ancient Indian goddess fertility wisdom. This is really important, not just for anyone who is looking to give birth to new life, but it's actually
[00:00:27] really important for anyone and everyone who wants to be as healthy as possible. The reason for this is that in Ayurveda, the world's oldest holistic system of health and healing, your immunity and fertility, whether you're in a male or female identifying body, are both intricately linked together. That means that whatever you do to bloom fertility is also going to be really helpful for promoting your overall immune system health, vitality, strength, health, and thereby happiness and joy, because in Ayurveda, we believe that health and happiness are one and the same.
[00:01:12] Therefore, this episode is really, really important for everyone who is on the path of wellness, seeking to really connect with the wellbeing and the joy that the ancient Ayurveda sages have taught and revealed to us, ultimately emanate from deep within us. This is a really important topic, I feel, especially nowadays when
[00:01:35] so many more people than ever before are really struggling with fertility challenges and getting pregnant, staying pregnant, and being able to deliver healthy and happy children. This process of enhancing your fertility, however, shouldn’t start just when you're looking to conceive. It's something we should actually be doing as early on in our lives as possible, and it's equally important for those of us who are in old age as it is for those of us who are of childbearing age.
[00:02:13] The way that Ayurveda explains the concept of immune system health is that it is basically the finest essence of your reproductive tissue - for male as well as female identifying people. That means, basically, that whenever you eat something, the food that you eat is actually getting transformed and digested by seven different types of digestive fire, according to Ayurveda, and it becomes seven different layers or tissues of your body, which then ultimately culminate into the finest tissue or the most advanced tissue, which is the reproductive tissue, which is very closely linked with your overall
[00:03:04] immunity. The process of digestion begins with what you are eating and how well you're able to break it down, and once your body is able to break down food, it becomes your nutritive essence and then it becomes your blood. It then becomes your muscles, your fat, your bones, your marrow, and then, finally, what is known as shukra, or your reproductive tissue. And the essence of shukra is what is called ojas in Ayurveda, which is your immune essence.
[00:03:40] This is a really interesting way of viewing health and also viewing your reproductive health. Ayurveda is actually a science that teaches us that your sexuality is not just confined to your reproductive organs, but actually lives within each of the cells of your body. So, it is so, so important to have this in a healthy state for your overall wellbeing and ability to naturally prevent diseases.
[00:04:14] When we talk about immunity from the wear and tear of life and the up ups and downs that we experience in life, it's something that gets built up very carefully, and can also get depleted really quickly. When people, for example, are really actively trying to conceive and having a lot of intercourse,
[00:04:37] this can cause the reproductive tissue to get depleted. And if there's too much of release of the sexual fluids, it can also really decrease the amount of fluid you have in that reproductive tissue and thereby it can break down the immunity. That's why in Ayurveda, we are taught that it's not just about what you eat to build up your health, but it's also about when you do certain activities, in alignment with the rhythms of the seasons.
[00:05:10] When we think about the reproductive act, it is advised in the ancient Ayurveda texts to do the majority of this during the winter season when it's cold outside, because what Ayurveda has understood is that the digestion is poetically compared to a fire, and the fire within you gets stronger when it's colder outside.
[00:05:36] To bring the body into a state of homeostasis when the temperature is really hot outside, to be able to regain that stability within, and the homeostasis within, the body compensates by cooling down internally and not having such a strong fire. You need to have a healthy fire in order to break down foods and to be able to digest them at all these seven different layers or tissues of the body to then build up to the most advanced and refined of those tissues, which is the reproductive one that's responsible for immunity and overall health.
[00:06:17] We build this tissue by eating certain foods and naturally during certain times of the year that are going to be really nourishing for the body. When we talk about fertility boosting foods, these are ones that are really grounding. They're really heavy. They take a longer time to digest, which means they need more of your digestive fire to be able to break down properly.
[00:06:47] And when it's a wintertime and your digestive fire is naturally stronger due to the cold outside, the body works to maintain homeostasis by heating up within. That means you can actually digest much heavier foods during the winter season than you can at any other time of the year. It also means that if you're eating more foods and heavier foods and nourishing foods that are recommended, you also need more exercise and you can also have more of the reproductive act without depleting your tissues as much as would happen
[00:07:25] during the hotter times of the year. So in general, it's advised to really maximize the winter season to eat, drink, and be merry. And in the spring and the fall, it's kind of an in between time where sexual activity is recommended once every couple of days in the spring and fall seasons. It is actually recommended to have only once in two weeks in the summer, because it's just so depleting for the body when there's naturally a lot of heat in the atmosphere.
[00:07:57] In Ayurveda, we believe that like increases like. It's a very important therapeutic understanding, or a kind of verse in Ayurveda that explains our approach to healing, where when you have certain qualities in your body and in your life and you eat certain foods and you surround yourself with certain kinds of environments that also have the same kind of quality, you're going to increase that quality and that can lead to imbalance.
[00:08:30] Dislikes or opposites decrease each other. Like increases like and opposites decrease each other. So if you need to have more immunity, if you're looking to build up your body and your tissues and really have the best kind of health possible, it's recommended to eat things like dates and figs, peaches, plums. These really sweet, rich, juicy fruits directly
[00:09:06] feed the reproductive organs and help your reproductive fluids to flow more freely in the body and to be able to connect and basically create new life with. It's really helpful to focus on foods that are naturally sweet in taste. Eating your foods cooked with ghee, which is clarified butter, is really helpful for this purpose because the ghee is actually a substance that has so many health benefits, according to the ancient Ayurveda texts. It really
[00:09:44] enhances your digestion of anything that you eat with it. And even according to modern medical science, it is the highest known source of something called butyric acid, which actually directly builds your immune system health. And it's been researched even in our modern times to prove its positive impact on your overall immune system health and overall health.
[00:10:09] It also tastes really good. So anytime you cook your food in ghee, which hopefully will be more often now that you've learned this, it enhances the flavor so much and it automatically becomes a lot more nourishing for you. And it really directly feeds the reproductive tissues and it builds up that reproductive essence in a really amazing way.
[00:10:33] Having foods that are more rich, like even pumpkins or sweet potatoes, helps boost fertility. If you're not comfortable eating pumpkins, sweet potatoes would be really helpful. Having root vegetables, and eating heavier lentils, for example, like urad or black gram lentil would be really helpful for building up your fertility and your health, as long as you can digest it.
[00:11:01] All of these things have that caveat: that you have to be able to process and digest them in order for them to really be building up your body in the way that is advised and recommended. Mangoes are also a really amazing fertility promoting food that again, have verses and verses and verses of information about their benefits in the ancient Ayurveda texts.
[00:11:28] Perhaps one of these days, I'll read directly from those texts so that you can get a glimpse into exactly what they are sharing about these different foods. Another food that would be really helpful for building your immunity and your reproductive ability, if you will, are nut products. So any kinds of nuts, except for peanuts,
[00:11:55] would be really good. Almonds, cashews, pistachios would be really great. These are probably the best types of nuts to have. Walnuts are also really good. These nuts are really helpful because they're a source of natural oiliness within the nuts. There's a lot of oil that will help to build up your body in a really wonderful way.
[00:12:19] And the best way that I like to enjoy nuts is actually by soaking them and then blending them and making some kind of a sauce out of them that can be used for a Vegan alternative to Alfredo sauce for Fettuccini and all sorts of other delicious curries that you can also create out of them. That, I find, makes it a lot easier to consume nuts, because if you just have them raw, they can often be constipating.
[00:12:51] So it's helpful if there's a way to transform them so that they are consumed in a way that's going to be more easily digested and broken down. In general, things that are cold and hard tend to be difficult for our body and our digestive fire to be able to process and break down. So one really great and very important health promoting practice in Ayurveda that will be a game changer for your digestion, with digestion being
[00:13:24] the key to overall health, that will also unlock your overall health is simply eating warm cooked foods. This makes a huge, huge difference to really stick to as strictly as you can. Making the shift from having cold, raw, hard dry substances to eating only warm cooked gently oiled substances, ideally with spices,
[00:13:52] really helps a lot with your digestive ability and thereby your whole health and your vitality, and even your mental clarity because your ability to physically break down food is also connected to your ability to digest and process information. It's also linked to your ability to better handle and master your emotions, which is
[00:14:17] something that we've been talking a lot about on the podcast. We talked also about this practice of brahmacharya and of really channeling your emotional, creative and sexual energy into outlets that are going to really give you peace, give you joy, and give you a different way to direct those energies of emotion, creativity, and sexuality that are going to be more life-giving overall, that are going to be positive, that are going to fill you with all the good things and leave aside all the drama and the toxicity that can arise in our day-to-day lives and interactions.
[00:15:05] This is also really important because mental stress is a huge contributing factor to infertility and to an overall decline in health. When we're able to better manage our mind, which we're really proactively taking a stand to do through the brahmacharya practice, then we're going to automatically experience much more joy and that joy becomes health.
[00:15:32] It’s all connected. When you're happy, when you're truly radiating with that joy of living, it also translates into your cells and becomes health and vitality in your body, and you just generally feel better. So, we want to also consider this, especially in the other seasons of the year, besides winter, to try to build up our fertility, and to build up our immunity.
[00:16:01] Anytime you're able to really channel your sexual, creative, or emotional energy into a spiritual practice or, even into a creative outlet, this is going to be really beneficial for allowing you to then be ready to conceive whenever you wish to. The more you build it up, the easier it is to access when the time is right,
[00:16:34] ideally, in the winter season. It's also really helpful to focus on having the kinds of thoughts that are going to be conducive to receiving from the universe and to really being open to being a vessel to be able to receive life, and even setting an intention when conceiving to be able to welcome in new life and to be able to be open to all that could come through you, while also not fixating on any attachment to any outcome of any action or activity that you're doing.
[00:17:16] This is actually the key to mental health, according to Ayurveda, when we act in such a way that we do whatever is required of us in whatever it is we're called to do, in whatever role we are playing, and then let go of any outcome that we may be wanting or attach to. It has a way of freeing up the possibilities to
[00:17:44] actually come to us, and it also helps us to not lose ourselves in anything outside of ourselves. This is actually really, really important for the fertility journey, because there's so much attachment to getting pregnant, to conceiving, to having a child that there can be a fixation on the outcome, which then diminishes the joy of the activities that actually lead
[00:18:13] to that creation and to the receptivity that one must have to really allow that process to unfold and to take place. So there is a lot to be said to learning how to surrender spiritually and to really open ourselves up to all the different possibilities for our life and to really continuing to
[00:18:36] become the best version of ourselves. Any effort that we make on the spiritual path will always reward us. It will never go to waste. It will always lead us to better and better things in our lives because it will put our own mind in a more equanimous place, which is where we want it to be. No matter what is happening, no matter what the outcome may be,
[00:19:00] we want to keep ourselves anchored always in the higher Self and in the Truth and in our most elevated, evolved nature because that is going to give us strength to go through whatever journey is meant for us. I feel like this is equally important to the kind of rich, nourishing foods that Ayurveda is recommending you eat and to even the
[00:19:33] time of the year that you may be trying to conceive. Maybe it's not possible to have it in the winter season. Maybe it needs to be at another time, but in general, when you're able to really nourish your body with eating foods cooked, in ghee, having foods that are oily, having more of nuts, more of mangoes and fruits and dates and heavier lentils and beans, and cooking with fragrant spices and really feeding your mind all kinds of relaxing inputs and really inviting the space for a new soul to come in,
[00:20:13] it has a way of really working magic in your life. There are a lot of people who find that when they were not trying, when they were not focused on actually having a child, that's when a child had come. And when they were really obsessed with it and focused upon it, it made it really difficult for that to happen.
[00:20:37] And it's just a testament to how when you're in the flow of your life and when you're connected, to something higher than you and your own desires, you'll automatically be in the place you need to be for your own journey to unfold. A lot of times, people lose themselves completely into family, into maybe having a child to
[00:21:04] please their parents or to meet a certain external deadline of when you should be having children, and how many you should have, and maybe even what gender they should be. There are all kinds of things that come into this equation that can really take us away from ourselves and that can really cause us to lose ourselves.
[00:21:25] And when we lose ourselves from the fertility stage and the conception stage, then boy is it going be hard to reclaim ourselves and our soul power as we get further down whatever that journey of fertility has to bring to us, for us, for our ultimate growth and our ultimate unfoldment. We never know what it is that needs to be on our path to allow us to grow and to become the best, most evolved version of ourselves.
[00:21:57] We believe in the Vedic spiritual tradition that we are traveling over the course of lifetimes on this journey to learn all kinds of different lessons, and these lessons are there for our best, for our greatest unfoldment and for our highest evolution. And when we can really learn to surrender to that and be open to whatever it is we're meant to learn from any situation in life, we're automatically going to make the best of that situation and become the best person we can be regardless of
[00:22:33] who or what comes or goes from our lives. We want to learn on the spiritual journey, how to be at peace no matter what, because my friends, this life is very unpredictable. It is full of twists and turns, ups and downs, and we never know what's around the corner, out of surprise or consciously planned. But what we want to develop is our ability to weather any storm, to be able to have the equanimity of mind and the peace of mind, and the clarity of mind to welcome all of life's possibilities to unfold and to simply flow with them, to learn from them, and to become our best self through them, even through all the challenges.
[00:23:18] So when we really strengthen our spiritual muscles and we really build up our energy, build up our health, build up our fertility through the practice of channeling our energy through the brahmacharya spiritual practice, it will really benefit us to be able to know that we're not at the mercy of the waves of the emotions.
[00:23:39] We're not at the mercy of whether we have a child by a certain time or not even ever at all, or whether someone comes or stays or goes or leaves or how it all orchestrates, right? Because we are meant to simply be conduits of this higher power within us, and according to the Vedic spiritual tradition, we are ultimately here, not for anyone else,
[00:24:07] nor for any other purpose, but to realize the Self with a capital S. And when we make that our anchor, it gives us unparalleled strength, courage, conviction, discipline, vitality and joy, no matter what is coming and what is going from our lives. I feel this attitude towards life is just as important to cultivate as all of the foods that are helpful for the fertility building process.
[00:24:38] And I hope that this understanding of the kinds of not only foods, but lifestyle requirements that would ideally be in place for building your health will really benefit you no matter where you're at in terms of fertility or whether you even ever wish to have children, I feel like this wisdom in how to live is really meant for all of us to be able to
[00:25:08] evolve and to also enjoy whatever life we have, by knowing that we are not the servant of our mind. We're not a slave of our senses. We're not going to be a captive of our emotions, but we're really cultivating on this path, the ability to be the sovereign master of our own mind, and our own senses. Our own
[00:25:33] destiny that then unfolds before our own eyes. And I want to also let you know that we have a lot of fertility promoting recipes inside of our Circle of Life Spiritual Membership Community that you're welcome to check out for 14 days free of charge. We have a free trial of the community and we're forming a Parent subgroup for anyone who is currently a parent or who is expecting to be a parent or seeks to be a parent, to really learn how to re-parent yourself, first and foremost, so that you can really pass on the kind of seeds, literally and figuratively,
[00:26:16] that will really bring about health and healing for not only yourself, but your whole ancestral lineage. I'm sure that a lot of us have been passed down certain scripts and certain standards and expectations from our families, from our culture, from our society that we might like to edit, and we may not know how to edit them, and we may not feel that we have the support to be able to change the pattern.
[00:26:47] for the next generation. But in community, we have that ability. We have that power to really author our own script and to leave this world better for whomever we are meant to serve and for however long we are meant to be here. So, I really encourage you to check it out by visiting theancientway.co/community. I look forward to joining you next time,
[00:27:19] right here, next week on the True To Yourself Podcast, a place where we explore the power of authentic living. Thank you so much for joining me. Namaste.