Ayurveda Adventures

A few weeks ago, when I threw my back out, one of my first days back at work I found this tube of “Moov” Joint Pain Reliever in the back by the sink. I was curious, wondering if it might help relieve my muscle soreness. So I started reading the side of the box: “Indications: joint pains and inflammation, backache, sprains, sciatica.” Perfect. I decided to borrow it and try it out. It wasn’t until later that I took out the paper insert and read more closely and saw that it was an Ayurvedic formula. Well, that made me even more curious. I had never seen or tried any Ayurvedic remedies, and I have to say that Miles and I make jokes referring to our limited knowledge of Ayurvedic diet guidelines, teasing that we need more purple (or blue) in our diets. Then I found the ingredients: Oil of Wintergreen, Pudinah ka Phool, Tarpin ka Tel, Nilgiri Tel, Ointment Base. Hmm, did I really want to use this? Well, thank goodness for Google, because to my pleasant surprise, I discovered that the mystery ingredients are also normal oils (mint oil, eucalyptus oil) with the exception of the Tarpin. I’m still not really sure what that one is. But I tried it out, and it did help (it felt kind of like Icy Hot), and the price was right: according to the sticker on the box, it was $1.60 Fijian, or about 80 cents US.