Marc Halpern – Ayurveda for Strengthening Your Immune System

Explore easy-to-implement practices & specific foods, lifestyle approaches, and plant medicines to improve every aspect of your health and boost your immune strength.

In Marc’s brand-new, first-ever Shift Network course, you’ll explore easy-to-implement self-care practices to build a powerfully strong immune system and ojas… to nurture yourself through the common cold or pervasive viruses… to experience resilience in the face of tremendous change… and to actually feel a sense of peace…

… which you might not think even possible right now, but which truly is a possibility with the higher level of consciousness that Ayurveda opens you to.

You’ll find out how to use Ayurvedic medicine to support every facet of your life — physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually.

You’ll keep a journal to deepen your connection with your true nature.

You’ll understand the three causes of disease — and how to prevent them using the Three Pillars of Life and specific medicinal herbs.

And you’ll get a richer-than-ever perspective into your unique Ayurvedic constitution, including ways to nourish it with particular foods and daily lifestyle practices.

Along the way, you’ll discover a new language within an age-old system of wellness, and you’ll walk away with a profound understanding of how to apply the principles of Ayurveda to support your immune system, avoid suffering and sickness, and transform your life.

Be Guided and Supported During This Challenging Time by a Leader in Ayurvedic Medicine

Marc Halpern is renowned as a pioneer of Ayurveda in the West. One of the few Westerners recognized in both the U.S. and India as an authority on Ayurvedic Medicine, he’s the co-founder of two national Ayurvedic medical associations, the founder and president of the California College of Ayurveda, and the author of four books on Ayurveda.

Having healed himself in his 20s from a crippling autoimmune disorder and seven years of debilitating chronic fatigue, Marc Halpern can show you how to apply ancient, time-tested principles to support your own wellness and healing — including your power to build up ojas within yourself.

A teacher who guides with exceptional care and clarity, Marc Halpern has dedicated his life’s work to sharing Ayurvedic wisdom, and he offers you a unique opportunity to receive some of the world’s oldest knowledge for taking control of your own health.

When you join him for Ayurveda for Strengthening Your Immune System and Balancing Mind, Body & Soul, you’ll be introduced to a powerful toolkit of practices you can use for a lifetime of strong immunity and vibrant wellbeing.

There’s never been a more important time than now for personal healing and spiritual awakening. As Marc Halpern wrote in Healing Your Life, “healing the world begins with healing yourself.”

Through building your ojas, practicing simple diet and lifestyle techniques, and your eagerness to open to broader realms of possibility, you’ll emerge from this training with knowledge that dates back at least 5,000 years and brings greater health and higher consciousness into your life — giving you direct access to more peace of mind, physical wellbeing, and joy.

What You’ll Learn in Ayurveda for Strengthening Your Immune System

During these transformational seven weeks with Marc Halpern, you’ll explore:

• The deeper principles of Ayurvedic medicine to support your immune system, avoid sickness, and enjoy vibrant health
• The 3 fundamental causes of disease and suffering that weaken the body — and the 3 Pillars of Life that support your health in body and mind
• Your unique roadmap for maintaining physical, mental, and emotional wellness: your Ayurvedic constitution
• The Ayurvedic keys to building immunity and the most important physiological concepts in Ayurveda: agni (digestive fire), ama (the residue of poor digestion), and ojas
• Easy-to-use tools for strengthening your ojas — including which foods to eat, helpful body therapies, meditation, recipes, and more
• The daily routine you can use to support every facet of your life, including healthy sleep
• Five self-care practices to support your immune system
• The key to restoring lost health: identifying the nature of your imbalance
• The principles of Ayurvedic cooking (and menu ideas!)
• Ten plant medicine remedies that are essential to strengthening your ojas
• Practices you can rely on again and again to connect with your heart and calm your mind, even during the most stressful times

How well you do with preventing and treating disease depends on the health of your immune system.

As you’ll discover, you have the power to withstand physical, emotional, chemical, and other pathogenic stresses — all by building your ojas — the essence of a healthy immune response and a joyful mind.

The greatest gift that comes through self-study of Ayurvedic medicine for your own life is that it increases your resistance to disease and heightens your sense of peace.

What You’ll Discover in These 7 Modules

In this 7-part transformational intensive, Marc Halpern will guide you through the fundamental body-mind-spirit skills you’ll need to successfully strengthen your ojas, address your health challenges, and prevent disease.

This course will feature teachings, training sessions, and experiential practices with Marc Halpern. Each session will build harmoniously upon the previous ones, so you’ll develop a complete holistic understanding of the practices, tools, and principles you’ll need to strengthen your immune system and enjoy vibrant physical and emotional health.

Module 1: The Role of Your Body, Mind & Consciousness in Your Health (April 20)

In this opening module, Marc Halpern will ground you in the deeper principles of Ayurveda — starting with the perspective that your body, mind, and consciousness are integrated and cannot be separated. That which affects one aspect of your being affects all aspects of your being.

As such, you’ll dive right in to specifically how to use Ayurveda as a true holistic approach to both preventing and treating disease.

You’ll discover:

• The 3 fundamental causes of disease that weaken the body: the movement of the mind (parinama), the failure of the intellect (pragyaparadha), and the misuse of the senses (asatmendriyartha samyoga)
• The primordial cause of all suffering that makes it almost impossible to hear your deep inner wisdom
• The 3 Pillars and their importance to the wellness of your body and mind: healthy digestion, healthy sleep and rest, and healthy sexual expression
• Module 2: How Your Ayurvedic Constitution Affects Your Wellbeing & Immunity (April 27)

In this module, you’ll explore the core of Ayurveda.

Your Ayurvedic constitution (prakruti) is the key to understanding who you are as a unique individual with a unique body type and a unique personality. Your prakruti provides you with a roadmap to your inner nature and a clear path to maintaining balance throughout your life.

Nothing is right for everyone. Everything is right for someone. Your prakruti holds the key to understanding what’s right for YOU.

This session, you’ll delve into:

• The 10 pairs of opposite qualities of nature, which are inherent in all the elements
• The 5 elements — Ether, Air, Fire, Water, and Earth
• The 3 doshas — vata, pitta, and kapha — and how they combine to create your unique constitution
• How to calculate the percentages of each dosha in your constitution
• How your uniqueness is meant to complement other people and vice versa — and how to use this knowledge to improve your relationships
• How creating a unique lifestyle — with the specific colors, aromas, sounds, foods, and herbs that apply to your individual constitution — can support your optimal immunity

Module 3: Understanding Your Imbalances & Your Path Back to Health (May 4)

While knowing your constitution is the key to disease prevention, knowing the nature of your imbalance (vikruti) is the key to restoring balance and health.

In this module, you’ll explore how to determine your imbalance and what that means for restoring the health of your body and mind and for strengthening your ojas. You’ll:

• Understand how imbalances in the 3 doshas and their combinations affect your sleep, appetite, digestion, elimination, menses (if appropriate), and mind
• Explore your symptoms and begin to label the doshic imbalance
• Define your imbalances in terms of primary, secondary, and tertiary doshas
• Use this knowledge to set up a path for getting back into balance

Module 4: Agni, Ama & Ojas — The Ayurvedic Keys to Building Immunity (May 11)

In this module, you’ll explore the most important physiological concepts in Ayurveda: agni, ama, and ojas.

Agni determines how well you digest your food. Ama is the residue of poor digestion that causes toxicity in your body. Ojas is the factor that protects you against disease and maintains homeostasis. When agni and ojas are healthy, no disease can affect you.

You’ll discover:

• The state of your agni (high, low, or fluctuating) and how that influences your digestion and elimination
• Self-care practices to balance your agni
• The state of your ojas and how it influences your resistance to stress and disease
• How much ama is present in your system
• Several steps you can take to reduce ama in your body and mind
• The principles for building and protecting your ojas to maximize the health of your immune system

Module 5: Preventing & Treating Disease With a Healthy Diet (May 18)

Now that you understand your constitution (prakruti) and imbalance (vikruti), we’ll explore the types of diet that prevent disease by supporting a healthy immune system. You’ll also delve into how to use food to return your body to a state of balance.

In this exploration of Ayurvedic nutrition, you’ll discover:

• Which foods and spices are the best and worst for each dosha
• The spice in your cupboard that enhances agni and reduces ama
• How to make sure the foods you eat build ojas — not ama
• Which foods you can eat to prevent disease
• The specific foods that’ll help you restore balance to your body and mind
• The principles of Ayurvedic cooking
• Simple recipes and menu ideas for each dosha
• Module 6: Creating a Healthy Ayurvedic Lifestyle to Build an Effective Immune System (June 1)

A healthy lifestyle is one that keeps you healthy and supports you to reach your full potential. Ayurveda provides lifestyle guidelines that meet the needs of each individual.

Based on your constitution (prakruti) and any imbalances that you may have (vikruti), Ayurveda details a way of living each day that will maximize the strength of your immune system and your healing potential.

In this module, you’ll explore:

• The daily lifestyle and routine that supports healthy sleep
• Why healthy digestion is based not only on what you eat, but on HOW you eat
• The best time to exercise according to your dosha
• How to create a calm, healthy morning routine
• Five self-care practices that support the immune system — including daily self oil massage (Abhyanga), nasal irrigation (Jal Neti), and eye washes (Chaksu shodhana), plus two more self-support techniques

Module 7: Plant Medicine for Balancing Agni, Building Ojas & Supporting Your Immune System (June 8)

Herbal medicine is a crucial part of the Ayurvedic approach to restoring balance and building immunity.

In this module, you’ll explore the 10 plants of the Ayurvedic pharmacopeia that are essential to your wellbeing — and how to use them to improve agni, reduce ama, and build ojas.

You’ll explore:

• The energetics of Ayurvedic herbalism, including the concepts of rasa (taste), virya (energy) and vipaka (long-term effect)
• Four herbs that build agni (dipana)
• The 2 primary herbs for reducing ama (pachana)
• The 4 main herbs that build ojas (rasayana)
• As the course wraps, Marc Halpern will guide you to synthesize all you’ve learned, and you’ll find yourself well equipped to maintain or restore balance and support your immune system.

About Marc Halpern

Dr. Marc Halpern is the founder and president of the California College of Ayurveda, the oldest school of Ayurvedic medicine in the United States. A doctor of chiropractic and an Ayurvedic doctor, he is a leader in the development of Ayurvedic medicine in the West. Co-founder of the National Association of Ayurvedic Schools and Colleges, the National Ayurvedic Medical Association, the National Council on Ayurvedic Education, and the California Association of Ayurvedic Medicine, he has played an important role in building the infrastructure of Ayurveda in the United States.

Dr. Halpern has written three textbooks: Principles of Ayurvedic Medicine and Clinical Ayurvedic Medicine Volumes I and II. He has also written the popular book Healing Your Life: Lessons on the Path of Ayurveda and recorded the #1 bestselling meditation album in the United States, Yoga Nidra and Self-Healing. Dr. Halpern has co-authored several published original research papers in the field of Ayurvedic dermatology. He also sits on the editorial board of several indexed journals in the United States and India.

Dr. Halpern has been a keynote speaker at numerous national and international conferences worldwide, including the International Conference on Integrative Medicine at Harvard Medical School. He also spoke before the White House Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medicine on behalf of Ayurveda in the 1990s.

Dr. Halpern has received numerous awards for his service to Ayurveda in both India and the United States, and is one of the few Westerners who have been recognized as an expert in the field of Ayurveda in India.

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