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3/22/2019 0 Comments

Why would you put oil in your nose?

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Because it lubricates and protects the nasal passages and sinuses. It's an Ayurvedic practice called nasya. It is part of the therapies performed during panchakarma, but also is something that can be part of daily routine, and is a way to administer herbs to all parts of the head and the brain. It can be done with ghee medicated with herbs, with herbal powders, but what we see most is medicated oils. 

You probably think it's strange, but it is an easy and effective way to protect yourself from allergens, from viruses and bacteria, it can help your migraine or headache, stiff neck, ear and throat pain, and on a subtle level it positively influences  your intake of prana - the life force. Made with specific herbs the practice of nasya might deepen your meditation. 

It also counteracts the drying effects from doing neti - nasal rinsing with salt water which clears out excess mucus and particles that we inhale with the air.

Best is to do the practice on a daily basis at a specific time, but doing it once a week is also helpful. It's not an everything-or- nothing kind of thing. 
Be sure to follow these directions:
Do NOT do nasya right after using the neti pot. 

Do NOT do it right after bathing. Wait at least an hour.
DO NOT do it when you have a sinus infection, a cold, or when there is inflammation or a lot of mucus present in the nose.
Before applying the oil, gently blow your nose.
Lie down on your bed, with your head off the edge. Apply 2 to 5 drops of nasya oil to each nostril, and GENTLY sniff it up, alternating nostrils.
Spend another minute or so lying there to let the oil get deep into your sinuses. 
A little bit of oil typically gets into your throat. This is not a problem, just part of the process. When you get up you might have to scrape your throat and spit it out. You might need to blow your nose a few times. The practice can be clearing, so this is to be expected.

​The effect will be that you will suffer less airborne allergies, and will have less colds, and it will make your head feel better in general.

Nasya oil is available from many companies who sell Ayurvedic herbal products. 
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11/11/2018 0 Comments

Green Beans for the Thanksgiving Meal

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How did it happen that green beans made it into the Thanksgiving meal? I understand that the green bean casserole was a design by Campbell’s, the canned soup company, using their cream of mushroom soup. It became a popular side dish because it’s easy to make and provides some healthy green in this otherwise rich and not-so-healthy meal. Technically though, green beans have no place in this fall meal, because they are a summer crop – by the time it’s November their season is long past. But they are easy to prepare, and do provide a good balance for all the heavy foods consumed during a typical Thanksgiving meal, so why not serve them?
Ayurveda teaches us that green beans have Astringent Taste – a taste that purifies the blood and causes dryness, a tightening of the tissues, and dries up secretions and mucus. It is balancing for Pitta and Kapha. Green beans are high in minerals, especially potassium and magnesium. In excess they can be imbalancing for Vata, because they will create too much dryness and can cause constipation. So in a  Thanksgiving meal they create a good balance for the heavy and fatty foods so typical for a holiday meal.
The following recipe also includes basil, another food – herb – that has nothing to do with fall, but because of the holiday will be available.

Thanksgiving Green Beans

1 lb trimmed green beans
a half bunch basil, roughly chopped
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tbs balsamic vinegar
salt to taste
black pepper
Optional: 10 ciliegine mozzarella balls, cut in half.
​
In a large steamer, steam the trimmed beans until cooked with a bite. In a small frying pan, in a few tbs of olive oil, lightly fry the garlic, and for the last few seconds, add the chopped basil. Stir into the cooked beans. Add the rest of the olive oil and the balsamic vinegar. Season with salt and black pepper to your taste and toss. If you want a richer dish, then add the mozzarella cheese. This might be a nice option for a vegetarian dinner. This dish can be served warm or cooled down. Enjoy!
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4/2/2018 1 Comment

Spring time Recipe... Asparagus and Crimini

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Asparagus are high in nutrients like vitamin K (the blood clotting vitamin), folate (good for pregnant women), thiamine (vitamin B1), vitamin C, and many more. It is a natural diuretic and for that reason is a tonic for the urinary tract - very beneficial for people who suffer from UTI's - and an ideal food for spring when we might suffer from winter puffiness. It is considered an aphrodisiac. Vata types need to be moderate with this vegetable. Kaphas can eat lots of it. 

I have been eating this recipe a lot lately, now that asparagus are back in season... 
Ingredients:
1 lb asparagus, rinsed and the hard ends broken off (of course you can 
       cut them off as well, but I like to break them, because then you 
       automatically snap off the part that is too hard to eat).

4 oz sliced crimini mushrooms
half of a large onion, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons of ghee
salt to taste
juice of a half Meyer lemon
fresh black pepper

Preparation:
In a large skillet, melt the ghee on a medium flame. Add the sliced onion, sauté for a minute, then add the sliced crimini. Sauté together for another two minutes. I cut the asparagus in half to make it easier to move them around the pan, but you can leave them whole. Add them at this point. Mix them with the onion/crimini mixture, add a little salt, then cover and lower the flame. Let them cook for about five minutes. Then add the lemon juice and test an asparagus to see if it is cooked. Based on that you can cook them a little longer with the lid back on, or serve.
​

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2/9/2017 0 Comments

Panchakarma, the Ultimate Rejuvenator

Lakshmi, Goddess of beauty and wealth
Panchakarma is a beautiful process, from the Ayurvedic system of medicine, for cleansing, balancing and rejuvenating body, mind and spirit. It is traditionally used to treat disease. But only if the patient is strong enough to receive that strong of a purification. Otherwise their symptoms are pacified through lifestyle and dietary measures and herbal supplements. Long ago panchakarma was the royal treatment to rejuvenate the king and the queen. Nowadays we can all benefit from this nourishing and healing treatment which much improves aches and pains, energy level, a feeling of malaise, brain fog, virility and immunity. It has the potential of adding years to your life and of improving the quality of your years.

Panchakarma means "five actions", which represents five different protocols to balance and rejuvenate the body's tissues and physiology. Not all of these five actions are needed and will be administered based
on particular symptoms of imbalance. ​This will be determined when you visit your practitioner. In order to be guided through these actions and prepare your body for letting go of what isn't needed, you will receive hours of massage and other treatments with oils and herbs to move the toxins from your deeper tissues.

It is important to allow space in your schedule when going through panchakarma. Rest and empty space in your day are an important part of panchakarma. When there is space and emptiness in your life, it will be experienced in your mind and body, and healing starts to happen. Toxicity, stagnation and trauma will surface and panchakarma supports their elimination. To let go of mental and emotional toxins it is highly recommended to meditate and cultivate the 'witness' state, so that old and not serving emotions and patterns can consciously be let go of. The result often is a spiritual rejuvenation - deeper levels of trust and more ease in surrendering to what life brings. To support letting go of physical toxins, melted ghee is ingested, which causes mobilization of toxins, that are mostly lipid-(fat)-soluble, from your body's tissues.
​
These are benefits you can experience from panchakarma treatment:
  • increased feelings of well-being, calmness and ease in body and mind
  • increased energy, focus and motivation
  • mental clarity
  • stronger digestion and elimination
  • soft and pliable skin
  • more flexibility in the joints
  • strong immunity
  • weight loss, sometimes a lot, but typically some of it will come back
  • everything will taste better and look better
​
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2/1/2017 1 Comment

How to stay well when the weather is challenging

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Have you been able to stay well in the past months? It can be challenging with all the rain and cold, and the flu and colds going around. And it isn't over yet. The season of the flowing waters is upon us, usually bringing colds and spring allergies. 
According to Ayurveda it is kapha season, when the elements of water and earth are dominant. Kapha solidifies in us as mucus and protects and lubricates the delicate tissues in our bodies. And if we eat a lot of rich food and don't move very much, which is typically what we do in winter, we produce too much mucus. Then in the early spring, when the sun starts warming up the earth and the snow in the mountains melts and the water starts to flow everywhere, kapha melts, and this mucus tends to start flowing in us, causing spring sickness. 
​Following are ways to prevent spring sickness from happening...

-  Eat lightly, avoid heavy dairy, meats, cheeses, yogurt, pastries, desserts, and fried foods. This is not the season for these kinds of foods, this is the time for greens, lots of greens and lighter fare like rice or quinoa, noodles, and veggies. Some animal protein is fine, but stay away from the bacon at this time, and eat the lean cuts. A great vegetarian option is mung dal and red lentils. They are both light and easy to digest.
-  Eat cooked, warm food. When the mucus is flowing, keep it flowing, don't stop it by eating cold foods. Have plenty of warming spices like ginger and black pepper. If you are more of a kapha type, you can even use chilies and cayenne.
​- Also dress warm. Even if the climbing sun feels like summer, it still goes down early and immediately the atmosphere cools down. It is easy to get sick when you allow your body to get cold.
-  Exercise
, move... warm up your body and melt the stagnation.
-  Take in the sun when you can. 20 minute sun baths are very supportive for immunity.

​-  Do a spring cleanse  and this is also a good time for panchakarma.
-  Keep your mucus membranes healthy: apply 2 drops of nasya oil to your nostrils daily. Keep your head tilted back when you do this. Apply a drop of oil to your ears a few times a week. Having healthy nourished mucus membranes makes it less likely for viruses and allergens to cause damage, since the local immune system will function better.
-  Use the neti pot when you need to. If you have a lot of mucus, this is a good way to clean it out. If you feel the beginning of a cold, then add a pinch of turmeric to the salt water, to kill the pathogen that is bothering you.
-  Put a drop of triphala tea in each eye every morning. Triphala cleans and clears and nourishes the eyes. Use 1 tsp of triphala powder to 1 cup of boiled water. Steep it like a tea, for 20 minutes. Then filter through very find cloth, so no herb particles are in the liquid. Keep it in a small dropper bottle in the refrigerator. Be careful, because it does spoil. You will see growths in the liquid when that happens. It will be fine in the refrigerator for several weeks.

-  Take immune boosters, like ashwaganda, triphala, tulsi, and of course there are many more preparations available that can help you to stay strong.
-  And when you get sick anyway... rest, stay warm, eat broths and soups, with as much spice as is healthy for who you are... you will know.

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2/1/2017 1 Comment

Prana, vital energy, from your food.

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The next food trend will come from the yogic tradition: Prana. This Sanskrit term means life energy or life force. ‘An’ means movement and ‘pra’ is a prefix meaning constant. So prana means constant motion. This constant motion commences as soon as we are conceived in our mother’s womb. Prana is an energy that is responsible for our body’s life, heat and maintenance. When we are full of prana, we feel good, we look good, and we feel vibrant and alive - are productive with healthy sustained energy. Since this is a pretty desirable way of being here are a few ways in which to increase prana: from the yogic breathing techniques of pranayama (it is said that prana rides on the breath); from breathing pure, clean air; from exercising without over-exerting ourselves; from walking on the earth with bare feet; from having some exposure to the sun; from having healthy, nourishing relationships; from elevating ourselves through spiritual practice; and from eating prana-rich food.
 
What is prana-rich food?
It’s food that is organic and super fresh, right off the ground, the vine, the bush, the tree, and even harvested from the ocean. Or right from the udder, freshly laid, or freshly killed. The kind of food you get from the farmer’s market, your own back yard, or the health food store - locally grown and seasonal, full of the energy of the sun, stored in its cells as biophotons. It tastes better, looks better and is full of nutrients. As soon as an apple is picked from the tree it starts to loose prana - the closer the food is to something that was once alive, the more prana it has. This does not necessarily mean to eat all your foods raw. Fruits are best straight from the tree or bush, ripe and seasonal. But for most other foods, cooking them will make them easier to digest, so that you can benefit from their prana. Eating them raw might cause digestive distress, which means the prana, and the nutrients, are not being easily absorbed. Prana–rich food is freshly prepared, not leftover food, not processed food that you find on the shelves and in the refrigerators and freezers in the supermarket. It is not homogenized or pasteurized. And it is not microwaved. Microwaves are notorious for lowering the nutrients and prana content of foods. Leftovers might still be plenty nutritious according to modern testing, but they have very little prana. When food has been through the dark of the night, or the dark and cold of the refrigerator, it looses its aliveness.
 
Where to source high prana foods?
In case you don’t grow your own vegetables and fruits, keep livestock, are not a hunter or don’t happen to live right on the ocean, here are some pointers to make the best, prana-rich, choices:
Choose the foods that look bright, colorful and vibrant.
Go to the farmer’s market. The food there is typically freshly picked. When you buy your foods in the store, go to your local health food store and choose the locally grown stuff.
Don’t buy foods with a long shelf life, they probably are processed, meaning that they are not whole anymore.  The exception are the grains and pulses (beans and lentils). When you sprout them, they grow new life. Even after a hundred years they wlll still sprout. Nuts and seeds, dried fruits and dried seaweeds are fine choices, but sprout them, or cook them to bring out their aliveness. And definitely don’t keep them around for too long. They will loose their nutritional value and their prana.
Cook your food, you can move some of the stagnant energy that comes from exposure to dark and cold by cooking your food. Same with the leftovers… if you must eat them – we’re all busy people after all – then heat them up before eating them. This will enliven - bring some prana back into - them. The cooking or heating of food increases the speed of the movement of the molecules, and prana means ‘constant motion’ remember? Try to eat freshly prepared food as much as possible. Dedicate some time of your day to cooking. Be prepared, have the right bulk foods and spices in the house, and plan ahead. Prana rich food can be simple. Preparing them doesn’t need to take a long time.
Even boil your water. Unless you live right by a source of pure fresh spring water, your water usually stagnates by sitting in the plumbing pipes or in bottles. Even when you buy superior quality spring water, it will still sit and stagnate. So whatever the source of your water is, it is always improved by boiling it before you drink it.
Treat your meals like spiritual practice – sadhana. Eat with attention for your food. Don’t stare at computer or television screens. Don’t get involved in intense conversation when eating. Instead eat with gratitude and awareness. Don’t eat for meaning and consolation. A lovely practice is to offer a small portion of your food to someone. This can be feeding someone else, an animal, or putting the remainder in the compost to feed the worms and other critters that turn the food back into soil. Of course you can also formalize this practice by making an actual offering to a statue or picture of the divine.
 
Prana is an energy that we share with the earth, the cosmos, and everything in it. It flows through everything alive. A lack of prana causes disease, and death is a state of no prana at all…  good reasons to increase the prana in your body, your life, your being. And in your food it tastes better too!

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    Authors

    Simone de Winter 
    Megan Fleming
    ​Nathan Platt

    Categories

    All Ayurveda Breathing Doshas Food Health Kapha Medicine Meditation Nutrition Panchakarma Pitta Practice Preventative Health Rejuvenation Vata Yoga

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