<p>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.</p><p><br></p><p>What We Dive Into:</p><ol><li>​ 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.</li><li>​ How your tongue, pulse, and face reveal what’s happening inside your body, often before any symptom appears.</li><li>​ Why your original constitution (prakruti) shapes everything from your digestion to your temperament — and how modern life pulls you away from it.</li><li>​ The gap between two breaths, and why Dr. Lad calls it an ocean of awareness available to anyone willing to sit in it.</li></ol><p><br></p><p><br></p><p>THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS:</p><p><br></p><p>https://sohumhealing.com/panchakarma-retreat/</p><p>Code AndrePK2026 for $500 off your Panchakarma</p><p><br></p><p>https://www.functionhealth.com/KNOWTHYSELF</p><p>Code KNOWTHYSELF25 for $25 off membership</p><p><br></p><p>___________</p><p>00:00 Intro</p><p>01:58 What Ayurveda Actually Means</p><p>02:40 The Five Elements, Three Doshas, and the Body</p><p>06:18 Prakruti, Vikruti, and the Root of Disease</p><p>08:00 The Sankhya Philosophy Behind Ayurveda</p><p>13:33 The Goal of Ayurveda</p><p>15:26 Dr. Lad's Path: Guru, Calling, and Coming West</p><p>18:06 Where Western Medicine Falls Short</p><p>22:05 Ama, Agni, and the Ayurvedic View of Disease</p><p>25:56 Pulse, Tongue, and Face: The Art of Diagnosis</p><p>34:29 Reading Psychological Nature Through the Pulse</p><p>39:00 The Gap Between Breaths: Awareness and Mysticism</p><p>44:37 How Repressed Emotions Crystallize in the Body</p><p>47:39 Panchakarma: Physical, Emotional, and Spiritual Cleansing</p><p>51:52 Ojas, Tejas, and Prana: The Vital Essences</p><p>56:18 Sexual Energy, Celibacy, and the Cultivation of Ojas</p><p>1:00:07 Life as Meditation: The Unified Field</p><p>1:06:00 The Ayurvedic View of Death and Dying</p><p>1:14:56 Dinacharya: The Daily Routine as Spiritual Practice</p><p>1:18:48 The Doshic Clock and the Yugas</p><p>1:25:22 Relationship, Self-Knowledge, and the Closing Message</p><p>___________</p><p><br></p><p>MORE FROM DR. VASANT</p><p>✨Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drvasantlad</p><p>🌐https://ayurveda.com/about-vasant-lad/</p><p><br></p><p>MORE FROM KNOW THYSELF</p><p>🎙️Spotify: https://spoti.fi/4bZMq9l</p><p>🎧Apple: https://apple.co/4iATICX</p><p>✨Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/knowthyself/</p><p>🎬TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@andreduqum</p><p>👥Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/knowthyselfbyandreduqum/</p><p>🌐https://knowthyselfpodcast.com/</p><p><br></p><p>MORE FROM ANDRÉ</p><p>✨Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/@andreduqum</p><p>💼Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/know-thyself-podcast</p><p>📚Book recs: https://www.knowthyselfpodcast.com/book-list</p>