Ayurvedic Healing

Another book recommendation for anyone interested in Ayurveda...

Ayurvedic Healing, A comprehensive Guide by David Frawley.

I've been collecting books on Ayurveda, mostly cookbooks, and have found a few gems, but I think as far as healing goes, this one is the best.  It is really clear, easy to read and well organized.  It addresses the treatment of specific ailments, and the philosophy behind it.  Another book I want to share with everyone I meet!

Blessings,

Heather

Vedic Hymn to the Plants

Plants, which as receptacles of light were born three ages before the Gods, I honor your myriad colors and your seven hundred natures.

A hundred, oh Mothers, are your natures and a thousand are your growths.  May you of a hundred powers make whole what has been hurt.

Plants, as Mothers and Goddesses, I address you.  May I gain energy, light, and sustenance, your soul, you who are a conscious being.

Where the herbs are gathered together like kings in an assembly, there the doctor is called a sage, who destroys evil, and averts disease.

As they fell from Heaven, the plants said, "The living soul we pervade, that man will suffer no harm."

The herbs that are in the kingdom of the Moon, manifold with a hundred eyes, I take this plant as the best of them, for the fulfillment of wishes as peace to the heart.

Plants that are queens of the Soma, spread over all the Earth, generated by the Lord of Prayer, may your energy combine within this herb.

Rig Veda X.97

Blessings for The Sacred Kitchen

An Ancient Hindu Blessing:

This ritual is One

The food is One

We who offer the food are One

The fire of hunger is also One

All action is One

We who understand this are One
 


From Father John Giuliani, The Benedictine Grange:

Bless our hearts
to hear in the breaking of bread
the song of the universe.  




From Danaan Parry, The Essene Book of Days:


The food upon my table
Shares its life with me
I ask that this life nourish me,
As I shall one day nourish the earth
With my body
And as I now nourish the earth
With my love.

Digestive Tea

I am sitting here drinking an Ayurvedic Digestive Tea after eating a big bowl of Pinto Bean Mole (chocolate beans).  Thank God for Mexican-Indian breakfasts.

This is an easy and delicious digestive aid to drink after any meal:

2 cups boiling water

1 teaspoon coriander seeds

1 teaspoon fennel seeds

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

break up the seeds with a mortar and pestle and then pour in a tea pot with the water.  Allow to steep for 10 minutes and strain (or use one of those clever pots with the mesh basket).

This aids digestion for vata, pitta, and kapha in all seasons.

an Ayurvedic night cap

Most people are familiar with Yoga, the Vedic science of self-realization that depends on a well-functioning body and mind.  It is spiritual integration through self-transcendence.  Most people think only of the physical postures, though there are many branches of yoga.

Ayurveda is the sister Vedic science of healing for body and mind; a psychosomatic integration through comprehensive health care.  I am studying Ayurveda in books and I hope to study officially as soon as possible, but for now I've been reading and experimenting with Ayurvedic cooking.  One of the lovely aspects of an Ayurvedic diet is to drink warm goat's milk after dinner or just before bed.  Dairy is used as a prelude to some Ayurvedic cleansing therapies, to accumulate energy in one area prior to cleansing.  It gives grounding, mass, sweetness, and usually coolness to meals.  It is excellent for those seeking calm and grounding.  Drinking warmed, spiced raw goat milk is good for calming the nerves and relieving insomnia. 

We take:

- 1 cup raw goat milk

- 1 teaspoon ghee

- 1 teaspoon of spices

warm the ingredients in a pan but not very hot, so as not to kill the healing properties of the raw milk.

The different spice recipes vary, but can include just one or a combination of the following:  coriander, cardamom, dry ginger, cloves, caraway, or nutmeg.  

You can look up the different spices in Ayurvedic references to learn about their qualities.  I really like the new book that came out: Healing Spices by Debora Yost. 

One of the best Ayurveda reference books I have found is A Life of Balance by Maya Tiwari.  Lita recently found another wonderful reference at the library:  Body Renewal:  The Lost Art of Self-Repair by Jay Glaser.  I have many others to recommend if you are interested.  Sleep peacefully, friends.