One of the goals in Ayurveda is to prevent the patient from forming ama from the food, but instead helping them to produce Ojas. Ama is the residue of partially digested food which can happen as food moves through your digestive tract if either the food is too heavy to be broken down and assimilated and/or if your digestion isn’t working up to par. In both cases the food only partially breaks down and leaves behind a sticky compound called ama which can clog not only the digestive channel but all the other physical channels in the body, such as channels that carry the lymphatic fluid, tears, sweat, urine, etc.
Instead, Ayurveda works diligently with each person to both fix their digestion and teach them how to follow a diet which encourages the production of Ojas, which gives them great strength and stamina. Ojas is produced after all 7 tissues have been nourished. If you recall from past videos, once the food leaves the digestive tract it goes into the blood plasma, stays there 3 days, then systematically goes into the rest of the 7 tissues: the blood, muscle, fat, bone, bone marrow and reproductive fluids. Then at the end of the seventh tissue, after the reproductive fluids are formed, Ojas is produced, roughly after one month of eating the food since the food spends 3-5 days in each of the tissues.
So all the foods you eat will take approximately one month to make Ojas. Except for milk! Milk makes Ojas within 24 hours of taking it into the body, which is one of the many reasons why good quality milk taken in the correct way is highly recommended in Ayurveda.
Ojas gives us great mental, physical, emotional and spiritual strength, immunity to disease and is our neurotransmitters and hormones. It gives us a balanced flow of hormones and neurotransmitters, keeping us physically, mentally and spiritually strong. My teacher and mentor, Vaidya Rama Kant Mishra, described Ojas as the connecting factor between every organ and system, connecting the inner physiology and the outer world.
The Vedic literature stated that Ojas was shakti or power. Not like agni or fiery power, but a peaceful type of power. Ojas is powerful yet peaceful at the same time. They stated that Ojas gives us great strength or bala, or shakti power.
There is a quote in the Charaka Samhita, one of the definitive texts of Ayurveda which states, “ojaha soma makam,” which tells us that the source of Ojas is soma.
So where does soma come from? The answer is that it comes from the moonlight, which is part of the three energetic principles which make up Prana.
Prana, or the life energy, comes from the cosmic radiation that enters into our body through various marma points and orifices on the head, such as the ears and sinuses. It travels down the spine, branches off and supplies prana to all the organs and glands and the limbs. It has been stated in these ancient texts that all diseases stem from lack of flow of prana to the various areas of the body.
Soma, agni and marut are the three primary components of prana. The source of soma is from the moon, giving off the cool lunar energy. The light from the sun becomes the agni or fiery component of prana. And marut is the space and air element which promotes the flow of the soma and agni.
When agni comes into the body, it is expressed as pitta, or fire and water. The water or liquid soma balances out the fire in Pitta.
Marut is transformed into vata, the space and air element which controls movement through our body.
Soma comes from the moon. In fact, Charak said Ojas looks like moonlight, and is white in color, like the moonlight. This lunar energy is transformed into kapha and Ojas.
But 99% of people are lacking soma, which decreases the quantity of Ojas. If you can get more soma into your body more Ojas will be made. There are several ways we can accomplish this.
First, keep your pH level alkaline. A low pH level, or an acid pH will bring down the Ojas level because the acids can burn the soma. Therefore it is best to drink water directly from the earth which contains prana and has an alkaline pH. Don’t wake up and drink lemon water, which is a fad right now, as the first taste you want to taste upon waking is a sweet taste, according to the ancient texts. Good alkaline spring water is considered sweet, and so is boiled milk. Also avoid coffee and tea as the acids found in coffee and tea can build up over time and begin to burn the Ojas. Cooked whole grains are also considered sweet and are also a good way to start the day.
Vaidya Mishra used to tell people to favor sweet juicy fruits to help make more Ojas, as they are loaded with soma from nature. Fruits like apples, cherries, pears, and grapes, and vegetables such as green zucchini and yellow squash have lots of soma. In fact these two vegetables have the most alkaline pH of any vegetable.
We can also get soma by walking in the moonlight. We even breathe soma in the air. In large cities like New York City, there is so much less prana from nature but instead lots of electromagnetic frequencies (EMF’s) which also burn the soma. So it’s important to get out in nature whenever you can to breathe in the fresh pure air filled with pranic energy.
You can get pH strips online and test your pH first thing in the morning. Test your saliva before any food is eaten. Try to keep your pH at least at a 7 so your Ojas stays high.
Anger and frustration can burn soma. So can skipping and delaying meals, which is why Vaidya Mishra was never a fan of fasting. He would definitely not approve of this latest fad of intermittent fasting that so many people are doing.
Overuse or misuse of the mind burns the soma, as do overworking and over exercising. Emotional trauma, loss of love increases the emotional fire known as sadhaka pitta which can also burn the soma and Ojas. Misuse of the senses like reading too much, hearing too much, and touching too much burns Ojas
Since Ojas is produced after the reproductive fluids are made, too much sexual activity and loss of semen depletes the Ojas. It is for this reason many religions around the world condone celibacy, to preserve the reproductive fluids to give more production of Ojas to increase our spiritual development. In fact, losing too much of any of the tissues, such as blood, muscle or bone also depletes Ojas.
Following fake gurus, having wrong spiritual practices and thinking about bad things all the time can also burn the Ojas.
And of course environmental toxins burns soma and Ojas. Just like the earth right now is too heated up from the industrial pollutants which have a burning and heating quality.
Vaidya made transdermal creams which immediately supply more soma to our physiologies by simply applying the herbal creams either down the spine, on specific areas depending on the action of the herbs in the cream and on specific marma points. His transdermal marma system enhances both the reception and delivery of prana. He made over 100 transdermal creams using various herbs to effect healing at every level of the physiology and for almost any imbalance you can think of.
Also meditation, devotional chanting, having good relationships, and a good wife or husband enhance soma which increases Ojas. It’s important to have a good daily routine to receive more soma: going to bed before 10, eating meals on a regular schedule and waking up before or as the sun rises promote the production of Ojas. Real laughter, not artificial laughter also enhances soma.
Sometimes the level of Ojas is OK, but the flow of Ojas could be blocked and can’t get to its destination. This can happen if the physical channels are clogged by eating cold heavy foods, cold milk, ice cream, frozen yogurt, hard aged cheeses, nut butters, bananas, winter squashes, chocolate, cacao, chia seeds, hemp seeds, pumpkin seeds, winter squashes, heavy red meats, hard aged cheeses and unfermented soy like tofu, edamame and soy milk. So in a case like this, it’s not that the Ojas is low, but it can’t travel to where it’s needed.
So hopefully if you follow these Ayurvedic principles to keep up your levels of Ojas you will feel blissful, energetic, have lots of strength and stamina into old age, have balanced hormones and neurotransmitters, freedom from disease, and a balanced mind, body and spiritual life.
Learning about Ojas, what it is, where it comes from, what enhances it, and what depletes it is all part of the divine knowledge Ayurveda has to offer which sets itself apart from most other healing modalities. It provides us with yet another tool to use to increase our longevity and deepen our spiritual lives.
Thank you,