The tulsi or holy basil is an important symbol in the Hindu religious tradition and is worshiped in the morning and evening by Hindus at large. The holy basil is also a herbal remedy for a lot of common ailments. Here’re top fifteen medicinal uses of tulsi.

1. Healing Power: The tulsi plant has many medicinal properties. The leaves are a nerve tonic and also sharpen memory. They promote the removal of the catarrhal matter and phlegm from the bronchial tube. The leaves strengthen the stomach and induce copious perspiration. The seed of the plant are mucilaginous.

2. Fever & Common Cold: The leaves of basil are specific for many fevers. During the rainy season, when malaria and dengue fever are widely prevalent, tender leaves, boiled with tea, act as preventive against theses diseases. In case of acute fevers, a decoction of the leaves boiled with powdered cardamom in half a liter of water and mixed with sugar and milk brings down the temperature. The juice of tulsi leaves can be used to bring down fever. Extract of tulsi leaves in fresh water should be given every 2 to 3 hours. In between one can keep giving sips of cold water. In children, it is every effective in bringing down the temperature.

3. Coughs: Tulsi is an important constituent of many Ayurvedic cough syrups and expectorants. It helps to mobilize mucus in bronchitis and asthma. Chewing tulsi leaves relieves cold and flu.

4. Sore Throat: Water boiled with basil leaves can be taken as drink in case of sore throat. This water can also be used as a gargle.

5. Respiratory Disorder: The herb is useful in the treatment of respiratory system disorder. A decoction of the leaves, with honey and ginger is an effective remedy for bronchitis, asthma, influenza, cough and cold. A decoction of the leaves, cloves and common salt also gives immediate relief in case of influenza. They should be boiled in half a liter of water till only half the water is left and add then taken.

6. Kidney Stone: Basil has strengthening effect on the kidney. In case of renal stone the juice of basil leaves and honey, if taken regularly for 6 months it will expel them via the urinary tract.

7. Heart Disorder: Basil has a beneficial effect in cardiac disease and the weakness resulting from them. It reduces the level of blood cholesterol.

8. Children’s Ailments: Common pediatric problems like cough cold, fever, diarrhea and vomiting respond favorably to the juice of basil leaves. If pustules of chicken pox delay their appearance, basil leaves taken with saffron will hasten them.

9. Stress: Basil leaves are regarded as an ‘adaptogen’ or anti-stress agent. Recent studies have shown that the leaves afford significant protection against stress. Even healthy persons can chew 12 leaves of basil, twice a day, to prevent stress. It purifies blood and helps prevent several common elements.

10. Mouth Infections: The leaves are quit effective for the ulcer and infections in the mouth. A few leaves chewed will cure these conditions.

11. Insect Bites: The herb is a prophylactic or preventive and curative for insect stings or bites. A teaspoonful of the juice of the leaves is taken and is repeated after a few hours. Fresh juice must also be applied to the affected parts. A paste of fresh roots is also effective in case of bites of insects and leeches.

12. Skin Disorders: Applied locally, basil juice is beneficial in the treatment of ringworm and other skin diseases. It has also been tried successfully by some naturopaths in the treatment of leucoderma.

13. Teeth Disorder: The herb is useful in teeth disorders. Its leaves, dried in the sun and powdered, can be used for brushing teeth. It can also be mixed with mustered oil to make a paste and used as toothpaste. This is very good for maintaining dental health, counteracting bad breath and for massaging the gums. It is also useful in pyorrhea and other teeth disorders.

14. Headaches: Basil makes a good medicine for headache. A decoction of the leaves can be given for this disorder. Pounded leaves mixed with sandalwood paste can also be applied on the forehead for getting relief from heat, headache, and for providing coolness in general.

15. Eye Disorders: Basil juice is an effective remedy for sore eyes and night-blindness, which is generally caused by deficiency of vitamin A. Two drops of black basil juice are put into the eyes daily at bedtime.

By MP Bhattathiry (Retd. Chief Technical Examiner to the Govt. of Kerala, India)

DISCLAIMER: These are only general guidelines as a first aid. It is always better to see a doctor depending upon the intensity of the case. The views expressed above are entirely those of the author.

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Reuters, Pool, September 11, 2014

With the solemn toll of a bell and a moment of silence, the nation paused Thursday to mark the 13th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror attack.

Family and friends of those who died read the names of the nearly 3,000 people killed in New York, at the Pentagon and near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. (AP)

A woman places a flower in the inscribed names along the edge of the North Pool during memorial observances held at the site of the World Trade Center in New York, September 11, 2014. (REUTERS/Justin Lane)

Hattie Wilson places her hand over her heart during the singing of the National Anthem as she mourns her nephew Det. Joseph Seabrook during memorial observances held at the site of the World Trade Center in New York, September 11, 2014. Politicians, dignitaries and victims’ relatives were gathering in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania on Thursday to commemorate the nearly 3,000 people killed in al Qaeda’s attack on the United States 13 years ago on Sept. 11. (REUTERS/Robert Sabo/POOL)

Eileen Esquilin mourns the loss of her brother Ruben Esquilin Jr during memorial observances held at the site of the World Trade Center in New York, September 11, 2014. (REUTERS/Andrew Burton/Pool)

An American flag marks the name of a loved one at the North Pool Memorial site as One World Trade Center towers in the background during memorial observances held at the site of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2014 in New York City. This year marks the 13th anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people at the World Trade Center, Pentagon and on Flight 93. (Photo by Robert Sabo-Pool/Getty Images)

A wilting rose is left in remembrance of those lost before the memorial observances held at the site of the World Trade Center in New York, September 11, 2014. (REUTERS/Andrew Burton)

There is no fear in love. Live with the foundation
of LOVE in your heart and you will become FEARLESS.

~Molly Friedenfeld

The sun has gone to bed,
Stars are ruling the sky.
May the gentle breeze of the night
whisper this sweet message to you
and gently sings you a lullaby
in my native language, Khmer
so you will have a sweet and peaceful dream
not knowing what the song is all about!
And make sure you think of me and smile
wicked big when you wake up in the morning! 😉

If we are not happy, if we are not peaceful, we cannot share peace and happiness with others, even those we love, those who live under the same roof. If we are peaceful, if we are happy, we can smile and blossom like a flower, and everyone in our family, our entire society, will benefit from our peace.

~Thich Nhat Hanh

When you plan to get even with someone,
you are only letting that person continue to hurt you.

~Unknown

The African Spur Thigh Tortoise, or the Sulcata tortoise as it’s also known, is one of the largest tortoise species on the planet. These are long-lived creatures. Tortoises, of course, are different from turtles. Tortoises you’ll find on land. Look at those big diggers he’s got in the front there. He digs tremendously large holes in his native Saharan habitat. He comes from the southern rim of the Saharan desert in Africa. And he is the third largest tortoise species on the planet. Very, very important creature in the environment that he lives.

You could imagine that type of, not the Saharan desert where you see the big sand dunes, this is the scrub vegetation area, where there’s not much but haze and grasses and cactus. And it gets hot, as you can imagine, in the middle of the summer, 120, 140, not unusual.

So, the Sulcata tortoise has developed a method of survival. You know we’ve learned that creatures that come out at night are nocturnal. Creatures that come out during the day are diurnal. But a new word for your vocabulary is corpuscular. This guy comes out when the temperature’s right. He comes out during the dawn hours and during the dusk hours. And the rest of the time at night and during the day, he stays in a burrow that he digs with those amazing claws.

You won’t see turtles with claws like that, because turtles are predominantly water animals. But tortoises live in the forests of the rain forest and woodlands and in deserts. So, in the desert habitat he comes from, he is extremely important because, number one, he’s one of the few animals that has the capacity to dig those big holes. And what lives in those burrows? Everything else that lives in the desert. They can’t get out of the heat so they use the tortoise’s burrows. They work together and they live in the bottom of these burrows, or along the passageways to the bottom and some of them get 50, 60 feet.

What happens at the bottom? The temperature is perfectly suited for them. It’s going to be 60, 70 degrees at the bottom of those burrows, even though it’s 120 at the top. And the tortoise spends the hot days and the cold nights in that burrow.

But, more importantly than that, this guy lives for 150 or more years in that really terrible environment of the Sahara desert. It’s all nothing but cactus and grass and things like that. So, how does he do it? He’s a straight herbivore. How does he make his food? Where does he get it from? Well, we all know the story about the tortoise and the hare that slow and steady wins the race. And the Sulcata tortoise certainly is one of those types.

He nibbles on his food. He chews a little bit of this, a little bit of that. He eats it and then he walks tremendous distances in the course of the day. And if you ever kept one in captivity, you know an animal that eats grass and hay and cactus goes to the bathroom quite a lot. He poops like you can’t believe. And what he does in the desert is eat the whole plant.

The plant goes through his digestive system that comes out now in manure. And that manure’s got moisture to it. And the seeds can germinate after they go through his digestive system. And the animal literally makes a garden around the burrow that he lives.

It is so perfect of an ecosystem that when the tortoise moves out of that system, everything else collapses and the system dies off. What’s happening in that area of the world? Of course, people are eating tortoises. People are collecting tortoises for the pet trade and, little by little, tortoises like this are disappearing from the wild. So, we have to really do something about that because this is one of nature’s treasures, for sure. The Sulcata or African Spur thigh Tortoise. what other animal can live 150 years in a climate like that? Do a good job, boy.

If we could all love each and every person that crosses
our path a little bit more, we could attain inner peace
with the knowledge that many people on this planet
would be hurting a whole lot less.

~Molly Friedenfeld

The tale of an amazing friendship between a baby elephant, and a very special sheep.
At first the sheep did not want to be friends with a baby elephant.