Dr. Manas Kshirsagar  is an Ayurvedic doctor who comes from a Rig Vedic Brahman tradition with an extensive Ayurvedic background. He graduated from Aloha Ayurveda Academy and the Maharishi University of Management. He's an acclaimed wellness consultant, Ayurvedic consultant and health educator. He provides a holistic approach to medicine, including nutrition, yoga, meditation, detoxification, and effective stress management.

Today we're diving into a topic that's reshaping how we think about modern health, the profound connection between our gut and our mind. You've probably heard the phrase trust your gut, but do you know what makes your gut so trustworthy? Modern science says it is our second brain: the Enteric Nervous System.

The ENS is a vast network of over a hundred million neurons embedded in the walls of our digestive tract, mostly in the small intestine and colon. That's seven to eight times more neurons than in the spinal cord, which contains around 13.5 million. Our brain contains around 86 billion neurons. Our gut does not just follow orders from the brain.

It processes reacts and even remembers patterns and digestion and emotion. It functions independently of the brain, but also communicates with it locally via the vagus nerve. It communicates with the rest of the body through nerves. It uses neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine and actually produces 90 to 95% of serotonin.

Both the brain and gut play a major role in mood immunity and digestion both have their own reflexes, sensory neurons and motor neurons, and both respond to stress and emotion, like how anxiety can cause diarrhea. Your gut feels emotional shifts even before your brain processes them, which is why you might get a gut feeling like butterflies or stomach upset during stress.

And Ayurveda, this beautifully mirrors the idea that Agni or digestive fire is central to not just physical health, but mental health and emotional resilience. The gut is also a home for Ojas, our vital immunity and vitality. So if our ENS is inflamed or disrupted, our whole system is compromised. In today's episode, we'll explore the enteric nervous system, the complex neural network in your belly that's ultimately connected to your brain.

We'll unpack how digestive orders like IBS, bloating and constipation are not just physical issues, but often reflections of deeper emotional patterns. We'll also look at how chronic stress, anxiety, and depression can disrupt our gut's natural rhythm, and how Ayurveda and modern science together offer tools for healing from the inside out.

Whether you've struggled with digestion, mood, or both, this episode offers insights to help you feel more grounded, nourished, and connected with your own inner intelligence.

Send us a text

For 20% off Kerala Ayurveda products, use code OjasOasis at checkout

For 20% off GarryNSun products, use code OJASOASIS20 at checkout

Book a 1:1 with Sasha at https://www.ojasoasis.com/book

For 50% off your initial intake consultation, mention you're a subscriber of the podcast.

Support the show

To learn more about working with us, please visit www.OjasOasis.com
Connect with us @ojasoasis on Instagram

Dr. Suhas Kshirsagar is one of the most prominent and academically accomplished Ayurvedic physicians in medical astrologers in the United States, with over 35 years of clinical experience. He is the director of Ayurvedic Healing and Integrative Wellness Clinic in Santa Cruz, California, and the author of The Hot Belly Diet and Change Your Schedule, Change Your Life, which has been translated into 13 languages.

As a leading voice in Ayurvedic medicine, Dr. Suhas is a sought after speaker at Ayurvedic and Wellness Conferences both nationally and internationally. He's the Chief Medical Advisor at Chopra Global and Chopra Foundation, which allows him to share the stage with some of the leading global experts in the field of integrative medicine.

He has traveled around the globe popularizing Ayurveda yoga, meditation, and natural medicine, and has designed curriculums for several Ayurvedic schools, including Sasha’s Alma Mater Kerala Ayurveda Academy. He has also formulated some very successful herbal products generating multimillion dollars in revenue, and has been featured on numerous popular podcast radio and television shows.

Dr. Suhas latest book, Awakened Sleep: An Ayurvedic Approach to Getting Deep Rest and Unlocking Optimal Health integrates cutting edge science with the ancient wisdom tradition of Ayurveda teaching us how to create balanced, restorative sleep that can unlock our full human potential. Between the rush of our daily lives and the ever increasing presence of screens. Restorative sleep is hard to come by.

One in three adults worldwide suffers from insomnia. So many of us are searching for a good night's sleep, but what does that actually mean? And how do we obtain it? Ayurveda offers a holistic solution to this widespread problem. We all have the capacity for awakened sleep, which goes beyond physiological rest and relaxation.

And this natural state holds the keys to the health of our body, mind, and spirit. Through a blend of western and eastern sciences alike, awakened sleep offers a comprehensive framework for understanding your individual sleep. Today, Dr. Suhas and Sasha sit down to explore the most common culprits that interfere with our natural sleep patterns, the emotional and spiritual aspects that help us tap into good sleep, insight into our sleep habits, through assessments, meditations, practices and reflection questions, and a variety of sleep protocols and tips, so we can craft our own morning and evening rituals. It was such a pleasure connecting with Dr. Suhas, and we know you will love hearing him wax poetic on the science and art behind deeper rest.

Send us a text

For 20% off Kerala Ayurveda products, use code OjasOasis at checkout

For 20% off GarryNSun products, use code OJASOASIS20 at checkout

Book a 1:1 with Sasha at https://www.ojasoasis.com/book

For 50% off your initial intake consultation, mention you're a subscriber of the podcast.

Support the show

To learn more about working with us, please visit www.OjasOasis.com
Connect with us @ojasoasis on Instagram

Dr. John Douillard is a globally recognized Ayurvedic expert, author of seven books and founder of lifesspa.com, a leading authority on evidence-based Ayurvedic healthcare. With over 40 years of experience as a practitioner, Dr. Douillard provides a clear pathway to achieve lasting, self-sufficient health, vitality, gut health, detoxification, and longevity.

His journey began in 1986 when he studied Ayurveda in India. He then collaborated with Deepak Chopra to co-direct his US center and train medical doctors in Ayurvedic medicine, Dr. Douillard books such as Body, Mind and Sport, Perfect Health for Kids, The 3-Seasoned Diet and Eat Wheat have reshaped how we utilize ancient wellness practices in the modern era. He has written over 1500 free educational articles and garnered over 11 million YouTube views, empowering a global audience to heal themselves naturally.

Today we dive into why Ayurveda is the original biohacking with decades of experience reversing unnecessary aging factors through digestive health, circadian medicine, the lymphatic system, the microbiome, and more.

There's no better guide for this topic than Dr. Douillard. As a triathlete, sports medicine chiropractor, and former director of player development for the NBA's Brooklyn Nets, he was the first in the West to apply Ayurvedic principles, nose breathing and diaphragm training to optimize athletic performance.

We explore how the rhythms of nature, seasonal eating and circadian alignment hold the keys to true health long before the words biohack or longevity ever entered our vocabulary. We'll talk about the dangers of eliminating foods like gluten without addressing digestion, how western medicine and Ayurveda differ in their approach to healing, and what it really means to fix your gut from the inside out.

If you're overwhelmed by wellness fads disconnected from your body's wisdom, confused about the meaning of biohacking, we're simply curious about how to live in deeper sync with nature. This conversation is for you.

Send us a text

For 20% off Kerala Ayurveda products, use code OjasOasis at checkout

For 20% off GarryNSun products, use code OJASOASIS20 at checkout

Book a 1:1 with Sasha at https://www.ojasoasis.com/book

For 50% off your initial intake consultation, mention you're a subscriber of the podcast.

Support the show

To learn more about working with us, please visit www.OjasOasis.com
Connect with us @ojasoasis on Instagram