Orange is sweet, spicy and warming.  Great for balancing both Vata and Kapha, and especially wonderful during this time of year.  Orange is rejuvenating!  Organic India has put together something special to engage each of the senses with their Orange Glow Organic Gift Basket, perfect for the holiday season.  Included in the basket:

-Sight and smell: An Orange-Ginger organic soy wax pillar candle.  This candle burns for 100 hours with a cotton wick and a beautiful glow.  Plus, the healing aromas of orange peel and ginger essential oils.

-Touch and smell: An organic soap with Oatmeal and Italian Bergamot.  Revitalizing for your skin, this fragrant soap with enrich your mind and restore your body.

-Taste and smell: Certified organic Orange Mint Tulsi Tea.  A bright and tangy blend of stress-relieving Tulsi (Holy Basil), orange peel, and spearmint.

-Touch: An organic Tulsi Mala.  The smooth wooden beads on this beautiful mala come from sacred Tulsi, believed to bring good fortune to the wearer.

Digestion is very important to our health, and Ayurveda has many suggestions for how to improve our digestion.  Many times people who have an overabundance of pitta become imbalanced and it shows up as acid indigestion.  Pitta types are prone to hyperacidity, and peptic ulcers.  Stress, impatience, anger, and heat can also aggravate pitta.  What to do if you have are experiencing indigestion?  Avoid pitta aggravating foods like citrus fruits and juices, vinegar, tomatoes, spicy foods, fried foods, salty foods, onions and garlic.  Also, avoid alcohol.  Do not skip meals.  An empty stomach makes more stomach acid.  Eat breakfast, even if you are not hungry in the morning.  Eat something even if it is just a little bit.  If you skip breakfast you can be too hungry at lunchtime, and overeat.  Meditate to relieve stress.  Enjoy the beauty of nature.  Favor cool foods and drinks.  Coconut juice is especially good for pacifying the pitta dosha.

Ayurveda says that it is best to get to bed by 10 pm.  But that can be difficult for us, given that some great TV shows start at 10 pm, and we’re often catching up on e-mail at that time!  But Ayurveda has some very compelling reasons why 10 pm is the ideal bedtime, and these might inspire you to get to bed a little earlier from now on.  First of all, 10 pm is the start of pitta time.  If we are already in bed sleeping, the body generates heat that can burn up any accumulated toxins.  Sleep comes easier during kapha time, which ends at 10 pm, because kapha has the quality of slowness, and dullness, which helps us to relax into that sleep state.  Pitta time is more stimulating, and we might even get the munchies as the time gets closer to midnight.  Another reason to get to bed earlier rather than later, is that there is a solar energy that the earth retains up until midnight.  The sleep we experience while this solar energy is in the atmosphere is very rejuvenating.  It is powerfully beneficial for our health.  Another way we can tell that the cycle of nature is conducive to sleep before 10 pm is the sounds outside.  Before 10 pm, we can hear the crickets singing in a soft melodic tone, a kind of kapha lullabye.  After 10 pm it turns into a much more sharp and piercing sound, indicative of pitta.

A traditional Indian mala has 108 beads, that can be used for reciting mantras, or prayers.  A mala can be worn as a necklace or a bracelet.  When the stones touch the skin, they have a healing effect on the body.  The holiday season is upon us, and a mala makes a lovely and personal gift.  The Empowerment Mala is inspired by the traditional mala, and is an especially beautiful and meaningful piece of jewelry.  It has a Quartz Crystal as its center stone, or meru bead.  Quartz Crystal has a cooling effect on the body, and it increases stamina and self-confidence.  The mala is embellished with Carnelian beads, fresh water pearls, and Tulsi rudrani beads.  Carnelian has been known to increase spiritual wisdom, insight and clarity of thought.  Fresh Water Pearls symbolize purity, and stimulate the mind in clarity and wisdom.  Pearls are also said to enhance personal integrity, focus attention, and increase physical vitality.  Tulsi is considered to be more powerful than any gen in the protection from negative influences.  It is excellent for meditation, as it increases the power of prayer, devotion, and spiritual growth.  Tulsi brings with it the gift of creativity and a pure, joyous, and harmonious life.  Wearing Tulsi is said to awaken the love that is naturally in our hearts.  

 Empowerment Mala from Organic India

According to Ayurveda, because the mouth is governed by the kapha dosha, bad breath, or halitosis, is a kapha disorder.  However, because digestion is governed by the pitta dosha, pitta is also indirectly responsible.  When the digestive fire, or agni, is not functioning properly, our digestion is off, which could lead to bad breath.  Bad breath is caused bacteria in the mouth decomposes the residue of food and releases sulfur.  The sulfur is what smells bad.  Bacteria can live in the spaces of the teeth, or on the tongue.  What to do?  Ayurveda recommends that after we clean our teeth (after every meal or at least twice a day), that we also clean our tongues by using a tongue scraper.  This is a U-shaped instrument, usually made out of stainless steel, that helps to remove bacteria from the tongue.  Clove is commonly used in dental treatments.  Because of its pungent taste, it is great at balancing kapha, which helps to fight bad breath.  Tulsi, or Holy Basil, can also be used to treat bad breath.  Just chew a few fresh leaves right off the plant.  To prevent bad breath, flavor foods with cardamom and clove.  Drink lots of water throughout the day.  If you can’t brush and floss after every meal, at least brush twice a day, and gargle after eating.

Tongue Scraper from The Chopra Center Store

Ashwagandha, also known as Winter Cherry, is a traditional Ayurvedic herb.  It has been called the Indian Ginseng because of the way it rejuvenates the nervous system and minimizes the negative effects of stress.  When taken in the morning, it gives great energy to be used throughout the busy day.  Ashwagandha can also be effectively used for sleep.  The most common cause of insomnia is not having too much energy, but actually having too little.  At the end of a stressful day, we end up feeling both wired and tired.  When taken before bed, Ashwagandha provides the body with the energy it needs to settle itself down naturally for a good night’s sleep.  Containing the tastes of sweet, bitter, and astringent, Ashwagandha helps to balance both Vata and Kapha.  There are many conditions in which Vata and Kapha are out of balance, and that are difficult to treat – but Ashwagandha, a powerful rasayana, or remedy, offers a great solution.  It can be used to treat arthritis, depression, chronic fatigue, insomnia, anxiety, hormonal imbalances, and more.  Organic India uses only organically grown Ashwagandha Root in its pure, revitalizing form.

Ashwaganda from Organic India

Bindi (or sometimes called bindu) in Sanskrit means “seed” or “point.”  It is a point where energy converges to create the potential to manifest.  In India, people often wear a red dot between the eyebrows at the sixth chakra, a very potent point on the body.  This dot symbolizes the third Eye and the wisdom that connects us to the divine.  The red bindi is made from a mixture of turmeric, iodine, camphor and other substances.  Other bindis may be made from ground sandalwood and musk.  Ash, like the ash that comes from burned incense, is often used in spiritual rituals.  The bindi is also the center point of the yantra, a geometrical diagram used to represent the connection between the physical and the divine.  Bindis are sometimes worn as ornamentation, and can be quite exquisite.

Ayurveda explains that we get much of our energy from the foods we eat.  And we can maximize the energy we receive by following a few simple guidelines.

-Eat in a relaxed atmosphere for the best digestion.  Preferably not in front of the TV, or while talking on the phone or trying to conduct business.  It’s best to sit at a table, rather than stand.  And don’t try to eat while driving. 

-Eat the freshest foods possible.  This means eating locally grown foods, and foods that are freshly cooked, rather than foods that have been canned or frozen.

-Foods that are high in energy include fresh, organic fruits and vegetables, and whole grains.  Almonds, cashews and walnuts are excellent sources of protein, and are more digestible if they are soaked or cooked before eating.

-Eat a variety of foods, to satisfy all six tastes (sweet, sour, salty, bitter, pungent and astringent) and prevent food “boredom.”

-Avoid caffeine, which is energy draining.  Instead, choose drinks that clear toxins from the body, including pure water and herbal teas.

Lassi is a traditional Indian beverage that is often served with an ayurvedic lunch.  Lassi, made by blending yogurt with water, is very popular for its ability to enhance digestion.  Lassi can be enjoyed as a sweet drink, or as a spice-infused drink, and is balancing for all three doshas.  It is often served chilled as a refreshing treat.  To pacify Pitta, add sweet, ripe mango or rosewater, with a little bit of sugar and dardamom.  To pacify Vata and Kapha, add a little rock salt and ginger to the lassi.  Saffron lassi is a specialty in Rajasthan.  Makhaniya lassi is lassi with little bits of butter in it, made creamy like a milkshake.  In Northern India, lassi is mixed with a little turmeric powder as a remedy for gastroenteritis.  Lassi is best made fresh right before serving.  I have some basic lassi recipes up in the Coffey Kitchen.  Feel free to add your own twist to them!

We don’t necessarily need to know all the subtle qualities of each dosha in order to stay in balance.  However, having this knowledge can help us when we need to address specific conditions.  It also helps us to understand more about how nature works, and how it expresses through our doshas.  Each dosha has subtle aspects that express in unique ways to perform various functions.  These are the subtle qualities of Kapha:

-Calming.  Seated in the brain and the heart region, this aspect of kapha helps us with emotional stability.  It also improves our memory.

-Lubrication.  This is the fluid in the joints of the bones.

-Moistening.  This is the secretion of mucus in the stomach and elsewhere.

-Perception.  Seated in the mouth and tongue, this shows up as saliva that helps us taste food.  It also helps with the first stage of digestion.

-Support.  Seated in the lungs and heart.  The basis of phlegm and other actions of kapha corresponds to the watery essence (plasma) distributed by the actions of the heart and lungs.