E196 - Dr. Vasant Lad: The Doctor From India: The Forgotten 5,000-Year-Old Science of the Human Body (Ayurveda
E196 - Dr. Vasant Lad: The Doctor From India: The Forgotten 5,000-Year-Old Science of the Human Body (Ayurveda  
Podcast: Know Thyself
Published On: Tue May 26 2026
Description: Dr. Vasant Lad is the founder of the Ayurvedic Institute and the man most responsible for bringing Ayurveda to the West. He has spent over 40 years teaching this 5,000-year-old science of life to practitioners across the world, and in this conversation, we sat down together at SoHum Mountain Healing Center in Asheville, North Carolina, where I had just completed a week-long Panchakarma. What unfolded was one of the most quietly profound conversations I have had on this show.What We Dive Into:​ Why unprocessed emotions don’t simply pass — and how grief settles in the heart, anger in the liver, and fear in the kidneys until they’re physically released.​ How your tongue, pulse, and face reveal what’s happening inside your body, often before any symptom appears.​ Why your original constitution (prakruti) shapes everything from your digestion to your temperament — and how modern life pulls you away from it.​ The gap between two breaths, and why Dr. Lad calls it an ocean of awareness available to anyone willing to sit in it.THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS:https://sohumhealing.com/panchakarma-retreat/Code AndrePK2026 for $500 off your Panchakarmahttps://www.functionhealth.com/KNOWTHYSELFCode KNOWTHYSELF25 for $25 off membership___________00:00 Intro01:58 What Ayurveda Actually Means02:40 The Five Elements, Three Doshas, and the Body06:18 Prakruti, Vikruti, and the Root of Disease08:00 The Sankhya Philosophy Behind Ayurveda13:33 The Goal of Ayurveda15:26 Dr. Lad's Path: Guru, Calling, and Coming West18:06 Where Western Medicine Falls Short22:05 Ama, Agni, and the Ayurvedic View of Disease25:56 Pulse, Tongue, and Face: The Art of Diagnosis34:29 Reading Psychological Nature Through the Pulse39:00 The Gap Between Breaths: Awareness and Mysticism44:37 How Repressed Emotions Crystallize in the Body47:39 Panchakarma: Physical, Emotional, and Spiritual Cleansing51:52 Ojas, Tejas, and Prana: The Vital Essences56:18 Sexual Energy, Celibacy, and the Cultivation of Ojas1:00:07 Life as Meditation: The Unified Field1:06:00 The Ayurvedic View of Death and Dying1:14:56 Dinacharya: The Daily Routine as Spiritual Practice1:18:48 The Doshic Clock and the Yugas1:25:22 Relationship, Self-Knowledge, and the Closing Message___________MORE FROM DR. VASANT✨Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drvasantlad🌐https://ayurveda.com/about-vasant-lad/MORE FROM KNOW THYSELF🎙️Spotify: https://spoti.fi/4bZMq9l🎧Apple: https://apple.co/4iATICX✨Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/knowthyself/🎬TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@andreduqum👥Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/knowthyselfbyandreduqum/🌐https://knowthyselfpodcast.com/MORE FROM ANDRÉ✨Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/@andreduqum💼Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/know-thyself-podcast📚Book recs: https://www.knowthyselfpodcast.com/book-list