RECENT PRAMA ARTICLES

Foods for Health and Longevity: Dr. Greger’s Daily Dozen
By Ramesh Bjonnes Popular food writer Michael Pollan’s slogan for healthy living pretty much sums up how to live a long and healthy life: “Eat whole foods, mostly plants, not too much.” But if we want to refine that slogan with a few more details in terms of nutrition...

How to Juice Cleanse in the Cold Season
Juice fasting and intermittent fasting has become very popular these days. Juice fasting can be very effective in curing or reducing the symptoms of colds and the flu. It can also help us to heal from various chronic health problems. Juicing in the warm summer seas...

A Cup of Chai: A Most Delicious Way to Beat the Cold Season
Now that the cold season is upon us, my wife and I engage in a simple tea ritual every morning. We make Indian chai sweetened with a little honey. We start our simple and tasty ritual by filling a pot with about one liter of water to which we add the following spices:...

3 Steps for Finding Your “Inner Voter”
It’s voting season again and it’s often a trying experience. Repetitive political ads of questionable validity, additional junk mail, polling phone calls, and more and more of your mental space taken up by politics. Then the decisions – who or what to vote for. For...

Cultivating the Patience of the Gardener
Cultivating the Patience of the Gardener by Sid Jordan In this age of information “overload” there is a lot to mentally sort out in deciding what to give our energy to internally and externally. This interior and exterior landscape, the “Garden Entrusted to Us”,...

What is Bhakti Yoga?
What is Bhakti Yoga? by Ramesh Bjonnes It is often said that yoga means union, but what does that actually mean? It all depends on the kind of yoga you are practicing. If meditation and the study of philosophy is your kind of yoga, then yogic union means the...

What’s the difference between mindfulness and concentration meditation?
What’s the difference between mindfulness and concentration meditation? by Ramesh Bjonnes Most Western yogis are familiar with mindfulness meditation, the practice of watching the breath, thoughts, and feelings without attachment. Robert Wright, bestselling author of...

Fall Season: Time to Cleanse and Prepare for the Holidays
Fall Season: Time to Cleanse and Prepare for the Holidays by Ramesh Bjonnes When seasons change in spring or fall, those are the best times to fast and cleanse. During summer, we may have indulged in eating more processed foods and been exposed to more fungicides,...

Improve your Microbiome, Improve your Immune System
Improve your Microbiome, Improve your Immune System by Ramesh Bjonnes The immune system is a network of biological processes that protects an organism from diseases. It detects and responds to a wide variety of pathogens, from viruses to parasitic worms, as well as...

Five Reasons Why the Prama Wellness Method Works
Five Reasons Why the Prama Wellness Method Works by Ramesh Bjonnes Holistic health and healing have become household words. But what do these terms really mean? If you have high cholesterol and take an herb to improve liver function and another to reduce cholesterol,...
Health & Wellness
How to Maximize the Immune-boosting Power of Turmeric
by Ramesh Bjonnes Now that summer is turning to fall and colder weather, the cold and flu season is also upon us. This is also the time when many people turn to natural supplements to help strengthen their immune systems. One of the most popular antiviral...
Six Ways to an Alkaline and Nutritious Diet
by Ramesh Bjonnes In my work here at the Prama Wellness Center with hundreds of clients over the past seven years, as well as in healing my own chronic diseases, I have observed the importance of an alkaline diet. The most alkaline diet possible is experienced during...
Who needs a juicer, anyways?
by Ramesh Bjonnes You want to juice, but you don’t have a juicer—so what to do? It’s simple. All you need is a blender and some cheese cloth. Start by making a smoothie in your blender of whatever ingredients you have or by using a specific recipe. You may want to...
Boost Your Immune System: Foods and Supplements for All Seasons
Compiled by Ramesh Bjonnes Here is a selection of foods and herbs that boost your immune system and help you avoid illness during any season. Vitamin C This well-known vitamin increases the production of infection-fighting white blood cells and antibodies and...
3 Reasons its Time for a Juice Cleanse
In this program you will gain new ways to think through the facts and the mis- and dis-information about yoga philosophy and its historical roots.
The Fast Way to Stay Young
In 2016, the Japanese cellular biologist Yoshinori Oshumi won the Nobel Prize for proving the process of authophagy, the way cells utilizes and recycles unnecessary or dysfunctional cellular components. In other words, I was able to heal my chronic condition during my 14 day juice fast because the fast allowed my cells to detox, regenerate and rebuild themselves.
Can Juicing Cure Chronic Inflammation?
In this program you will gain new ways to think through the facts and the mis- and dis-information about yoga philosophy and its historical roots.
Secrets of a Three-Day (Online) Juice Cleanse
Juice cleanse programs offer multiple health benefits, including reducing stress, improving the digestive system, helping to deal with chronic diseases, or simply losing weight.
Prama’s In-Person Retreats During Covid-19
The staff of the Prama Institute & Wellness Center is pleased to announce that we will be opening up our in-person retreats on a limited basis, starting at the end of July. In order to maintain a safe environment for all of us, we will be strictly adhering to the guidelines of state and local health officials regarding the present health crisis.
Two Main Secrets of Hunza Longevity
The Hunza people, living in the mountains of Pakistan, enjoy long life mainly due to two main secrets of their lifestyle.
Meditation & Mindfulness
Meditation and the Better Brain
You sit down to meditate. You close your eyes and try to practice your technique. You have heard of the many benefits attributed to meditation and maybe have experienced some. After you finish the meditation, you feel different—maybe more relaxed, peaceful, aware,...
Self Care Series 4: Caring for the External World as an Extension of the Self
Our individual mental and emotional well-being is inextricably intertwined with our collective well-being. Thus we need a set of guidelines that supports this interconnectedness of balancing care of self and others.
Self Care Series 3: The Yamas of Caring for Yourself for Social Balance
Our individual mental and emotional well-being is inextricably intertwined with our collective well-being. Thus we need a set of guidelines that supports this interconnectedness of balancing care of self and others.
Self Care Series 2: The Yamas of Caring for Others for Social Balance
Our individual mental and emotional well-being is inextricably intertwined with our collective well-being. Thus we need a set of guidelines that supports this interconnectedness of balancing care of self and others.
Self Care Series 1: Balancing Care for Self and Others
Many of us may not have yet fully embraced a program of self-care. Our busy
culture may not support talking care of ourselves and in many instances views self
care as selfishly motivated. Where is the balance between care of self and care of
others?
Letting Go of Stress in Our Bodies by Retraining the Brain
Stress accumulates in our bodies in the form of chronic muscle contractions often out of the range of our awareness until we experience chronic soreness and pain. Thomas Hanna in his classic book, Somatics, points out that these chronic muscle contractions in our bodies result in “sensory and motor amnesia (SMA)”.
Top 10 Tips for Better Meditation
#10 – Minimize interruptions This can be done by eliminating anything external that can disturb your concentration. Lower the volume on your phone, close the door, close your eyes and for the time being leave the ordinary world behind. It is also helpful to let your...
Humans are Wired for Meditation and Compassion
When we meditate we approach the true nature of what it means to be human. Our true nature is to become one with our most compassionate Self. Meditation is a science of intuition that leads the ego to compassionate expressions that serve the common welfare.
Mantra and Mindfulness: Supporting Your Meditation Practice
Mantra (man=mind; tra=liberate) is a Sanskrit word whose repetition helps us free ourselves ourselves from all the attachments of our physical and mental lives. Mantra meditation is based on the subtle nature of sound vibrations that help with concentration on a positive idea and enhancing our intuition.
The Neuroscience of Meditation and Yoga
For over 50 years, advances in western science have been validating the wisdom of eastern mysticism. Today, vibrant interest and research in the neuroscience community is demonstrating that the practices of meditation and yoga are profoundly transforming our bodies and minds.
Other Topics
You Are Worth It! – 5 min Self-Care Routines To Include In Your Day
You are an amazing human being doing amazing things all day. If you are like me, you want to keep doing those amazing things. I know it sounds like a cliche but, to keep moving you have to take care of yourself. I must admit, self-care did not come easy to me, I can give easier to everyone except myself. Although, through burnout and stress, I realized just how important self-care is.
Choosing Joy & Letting Go of Stress
For many working at home these days the boundaries between the office and home fades and there is no escaping getting our jobs done. The pressure to get work done is internal and external, exemplified by the falling leaves in our yard and our feeling of responsibility to rake the leaves. How we perceive these perennial tasks can define them as stressful or not.
History of Prama Institute & Wellness Center
This series will begin with the early history and move to the present expression of the PI and PWC to convey the intent of the founders and the relationship with the broader community that has come to appreciate the special nauture of what the PI and PWC offers to those seeking personal and social transformation.