One Man's Cool 3 Minute "Journey Across India" Video

Journey Across India from Mike Matas on Vimeo.

New York's Multicultural DanceParade 2010

Took the family to the 3rd annual New York City  DanceParade yesterday and had a blast.  Dance from Brazil, Harlem to India was represented beautifully.
Check out the beauty of the parade  in the other  pics I took below.

Ancient Health Knowledge of India Finally Catalogued and Shared on Web

Via Utne and the Ecologist.

"the government of India recently finished a massive database that puts thousands of years' worth of traditional Indian remedies, medicines, and practices in the public domain" - Utne

I didn't know this, but apparently people in the U.S. and Europe have tried to patent plants, herbs and even yoga poses that have been used for healing in India and other countries for thousands of years. Crazy, right? Patenting was attempted on the spice, turmeric, neem trees and even basmati rice. The Traditional Knowledge Digital Library exposes some of these past attempts at intellectual thievery and thwarts any future bio-piracy by establishing a classification system for wisdom inherent in India's ancient healing arts and sciences .

Right now, you can find information only on the principles, therapies and medicines of Ayurveda, Unani and Siddha, but eventually a section on Yoga and all of its 1,500 yoga poses will be included.

"India has effectively made its store of wisdom ‘public property’, which can now be accessed and used by anyone, but patented by no-one." - the Ecologist

More on Benefits of Oil Pulling: My Experience

A great new article posted on Natural News about the benefits of the Ayurvedic tradition of Oil Pulling reminded me to talk about my experience with it so far.

I've been more or less consistent with it for the past couple of months and I have definitely noticed a few differences. One being that my gums no longer bleed like they used to do and that my breath is noticeably fresher and the taste in my mouth is more neutral in the morning.

I started using coconut oil in the beginning and then switched to Hemp oil, which seems to work better and be less uncomfortable, but after reading the recent Natural News article I might try the recommended Sesame oil and see if I get even more results.

The great thing about it is that it is such an easy habit to form. Right upon rising, I simply take the tablespoon of oil and then do my morning yoga, shower, or prepare breakfast. The 12 to 15 recommended minutes go by really fast when you're doing other things.

It could be a really great habit to get children into as well as a powerful addition to their anti-cavity arsenal, as this excerpt from the aforementioned article details;

"Two scientific studies indicate the effect of oil pulling against specific bacteria in the mouth cavity. Streptococcus mutans, which reportedly causes dental caries, was measured. Subjects swished sesame oil in their mouths for ten minutes a day. Within a week, bacterial counts in the mouth were significantly lowered."

Check out this more in depth article here