Disease always forces us to confront our attachments. All attachments are temporary and are dissolved by Nature when She feels it is time to broaden our personalities. Disease is always an opportunity to learn from our mistakes, an opportunity that Nature provides us out of Her maternal magnanimity. She hopes we will learn enough that we need never be sick. She can even teach us how to overcome death and to develop permanent personalities like the immortals. Rejuvenation is the first step in the direction of immortality.

Enroll Now! Wednesdays, September 26 to December 12, 6-9 PM; 10 meetings, no class 10/17 and 11/21. Presented as part of UCI Extension's Wellness & Health Studies, this hands-on course provides an overview of the basic principles of Ayurveda and how they may be used to keep you balanced on your path of yoga, meditation, and life. The $375 course fee includes $50 for a materials fee which will be used to supply the student with therapies to take home each week to experience Ayurveda in addition to learning about them intellectually.

Click here to view syllabus.

Toward evening in India, millions find a good spot to sit and nibble on a bowl of toasty, light and airy, seasoned puffed rice. Called murmura, it's the easiest of the well-loved chidwa family of snacks to make. The only widely available puffed grain in India is basmati rice, purchased not in hermetically sealed boxes but from street vendors who pop it fresh on the spot. They stir a small handful of raw rice into a gigantic wok of very hot coarse sand, and within minutes the rice puffs, like popcorn in hot oil. The sand strained off, it's ready to nibble as is, or bring home and season in a pot. It's never quite as good when made at home.

This recipe is one of numerous ways to mix spices, nuts, dried fruits, and puffed rice or other puffed grains into a quick snack. You may use any type of nut and more or less of any seasoning or ingredient. Instead of puffed basmati rice (obtainable from an Indian market), try organic puffed rice, millet, wheat, or kamut from a natural food store.