Sarah Kucera, DC, CAP
Ayurvedic Practitioner, Chiropractor, Author
Sarah is the founder and owner of Sage Center for Yoga & Healing Arts in Kansas City, Missouri. She is a licensed chiropractor, certified Ayurvedic practitioner, yoga teacher, and author of The Ayurvedic Self-Care Handbook.
Follow Sarah Kucera, DC, CAP
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- Natural Beauty
- July 16, 2019
Oil is more skilled at cleansing and balancing the hydration of your skin than water, and it is a closer match to your skin’s natural outer layer. It has a soft quality that can help to draw out impurities, making it much easier to unclog pores, leaving clean, soft, hydrated skin.
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- Health and Wellness
- October 19, 2018
Finding the delicate balance between what fuels you and what depletes you is essential for sustaining energy, yet this is something that can take a lifetime to learn. Investing time and self-study into better understanding those details is important, and there are some basic principles within Ayurveda that can help. Just as the three Ayurvedic constitutions are often interested in different activities, each dosha also has a varying capacity for sustaining and expressing both physical and mental energy.
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- Routines and Rhythms
- August 09, 2018
The lunar cycle is twenty-nine and a half days, and its undeniable potency has kept the moon as a keystone of ceremonies, traditions, and practices within cultures around the world. While there is a fair share of mythical stories and legends surrounding the moon, there is an equal amount of research seeking to find a scientific correlation behind the cycles of the moon and cycles of living things.
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- Routines and Rhythms
- August 06, 2018
The majority of us are overbooked and over-committed, which as a result, has left us feeling stressed, unhealthy, and not quite like ourselves. When we find ourselves deep into this storyline and ready to take action, we often prioritize the what over the when, thinking a cleanse and more yoga should do the trick. But as your parents knew all along, routine is what keeps you on track.
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- All Recipes
- July 27, 2018
Smoothies have become so synonymous with health and fitness that it’s hard to picture an exercise routine without a morning protein shake in hand. But when we consider what Ayurveda teaches us about digestion, along with what we know about our body’s response to exercise, we might change what we are tossing into the blender.
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- All Recipes
- July 13, 2018
A sustained amount of stress makes it difficult for the body to maintain efficient function. While it’s still best to take care of the root cause of your stress, adaptogens will have your back until it’s possible. Their support is like an insurance policy for our stress hormones and adrenal glands, making sure they don’t become overworked.
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- Ayurveda Basics
- March 08, 2018
When you first discover Ayurveda, you feel a magnetic pull to learn more. The way the system addresses each person as a unique individual feels a lot like having a friend that really “gets” you. There is some glitz and glam around uncovering your dosha (if you don’t know yours, take the Ayurvedic Profile™ quiz), and staking your claim as a vata, pitta, or kapha is like illuminating a path with your best health as the destination.
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- Health and Wellness
- February 23, 2018
Bodywork, such as massage, can be undervalued in our Western society. It is often seen as a luxury or a splurge rather than an essential. Ayurveda has a very different standpoint in this regard. Apart from some conditions, massage is a non-negotiable when it comes to self-care. In some instances, the whole body receives massage, and in other cases, specific regions, such as marma points, are given special attention.
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- Health and Wellness
- February 15, 2018
As you recall from your elementary science classes, our heart and blood vessels make up the cardiovascular system. Its primary role is to carry blood full of oxygen and nutrients to our tissues and move waste for disposal to their proper sites for elimination. From an Ayurvedic perspective, there’s a missing layer that your science teacher may not have been privy to.
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- Yoga, Meditation & 8 Limbs
- December 26, 2017
Cobra Pose (Bhujangasana) is the antidote to our device operating, chair bound, societal ways. It is a back-bending asana where the majority of the movement comes from the thoracic spine, a place where our culture has become limited in motion. With its expansiveness across the chest, it earns its merit as a “heart opener,” but its name “cobra” comes from its shape, which is reflective of a serpent.
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- Yoga, Meditation & 8 Limbs
- November 15, 2017
If we asked a dog how it felt to be in this asana, their answer might be like ours. We feel a stretch through the back of our legs, along our spinal muscles, and around our shoulders. It feels amazing after sitting for long periods of time and is a superb way to prep the body for more movement.
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- Health and Wellness
- November 03, 2017
One doesn’t have to lead off rasayana with a cleanse, but the post-cleansing period should always include rasayana. By Ayurvedic measures, detoxification prepares one to receive, digest, and assimilate medicine, whether it be in the form of food, herbal preparations, lifestyle modifications, or even through behavior.
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- Endocrine System
- August 23, 2017
From an Ayurvedic perspective, energy burnout is a case of pitta-overload or an accumulation of a hot, sharp, fiery type of energy. While pitta imbalances can be seen in many forms, like inflammation, skin conditions, or blood conditions, the changes it causes in our endocrine system can be most threatening to our well-being.
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- Ayurvedic Herbalism
- August 09, 2017
When you reach the point of adrenal fatigue, the stress you’ve experienced has been so great for so long that your body can no longer recover. Along with getting proper rest and food intake, one of the best and often easiest ways to provide support is through adaptogenic herbs. Adaptogens assist in our body’s management of metabolic systems during stressful times.
Experience and Education
Sarah has spent twelve years living Ayurvedically.
Degrees and Certifications
- Bachelor of Science in Exercise Science—University of Kansas
- Master of Arts in Ayurveda—Mount Madonna Institute
- Doctor of Chiropractic—Cleveland University Kansas City
Publications
Sarah is the author of The Ayurvedic Self-Care Handbook: Holistic Healing Rituals for Every Day and Season and The Seven Ways of Ayurveda. Learn more about these books at her website.
Sarah's Point of View
How were you introduced to Ayurveda?
I was introduced to Ayurveda through its sister science of yoga. I signed up for a workshop at a yoga studio and was immediately hooked. I found it to be a perfect bridge between my yoga and chiropractic practice.
When are you most likely to go out of balance and how do you bring yourself back in balance using Ayurveda?
Pitta accumulates in me quite easily. I manage many things day-to-day, and I always have high expectations for myself. It can show up as me getting burned out, feeling frustrated or resentful, and being really hard on myself.
When I see this rearing its head, I take more breaks throughout the day, go on extra walks, aim for an earlier bedtime, and make sure I'm eating enough and at very consistent times.
What does the future of Ayurveda look like to you?
Ayurveda has my heart, and for that, I hope to see it keep its essence and tradition as it is made accessible to our modern society. With that, I do see its popularity on the rise and can see it finding its way into the mainstream.
What's one Ayurvedic practice anyone can implement to spur change in their life, right here, right now?
Develop a routine and work towards consistent eating and sleeping times.
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