Manage the Effects of Summer Heat With Ayurveda

Summer brings pitta inflammation and heat if we aren’t careful. Many people experience migraines, joint inflammation, hives, acne, thyroid issues, adrenal burnout, weight gain because of a dysregulated pancreas,  gut issues, heartburn, high blood pressure, PMS, eye infections, general irritability and skin flare ups. Make sure you begin to think COOLING foods and cooling emotional patterns. Remember your positive affirmations, meditate, do moon salutations before you go to bed, take cooling salt detox baths, get facials, and follow the guidelines outlined below. Above all, enjoy your summer! Joy is not an absence of pain or stress…it’s real love manifested into feeling.

For pitta symptoms like inflammation, irritability, hot flashes, headaches, hemorrhoids, skin rashes, PMS:

Make cilantro shots (very cooling for pitta)

• Take one bunch of fresh cilantro and divide it into 9 equal parts. This will be enough for 3 cilantro shots a day for 3 days.
• Combine in blender with ½ cup of Lily of the Desert Aloe Detox Formula and blend.

Enjoy cooling coconut and mint chutneys with your food.

Cilantro Mint Chutney

1 bunch fresh mint
4 oz coconut freshly grated
1/2 bunch fresh cilantro
1/2 inch piece of ginger root
salt to taste
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 date
2 teaspoons coriander powder
1/8 cup onion
1/4-1/2 cup water for blending

Clean the mint leaves and cilantro leaves. Add all ingredients except the water in a blender or food processor; add water as you blend to make it the consistency of pancake batter.

Drink Lassis

Mango Lassi

1cup coconut milk yogurt
1 cup ice water
½ teaspoon ground cardamom
1 tablespoon rose water
1 mango, peeled, cut from pit and cubed or 2 ripe bananas
peeled and sliced toasted sliced almond for serving

Put all ingredients, except almond, in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Sprinkle with almond and serve cold.

Eat raw foods as much as possible. Learn to sprout and soak your grains, nuts and seeds. Great books to learn and play with this:

• Rainbow Kitchen (Gabrielle Cousins)
• The Raw Truth
• The Raw Food Revolution
• Ani’s Raw Food Kitchen

1. Avoid heating foods (night shades, red meat, fried foods, etc.), beverages (caffeine, alcohol, hot drinks) and spices (cayenne, pepper, onions, garlic, cinnamon, cloves, dry ginger, etc).
2. Use rose petal jam.
3. Drink pomegranate or cranberry juice diluted with water (4 oz juice per 32 oz water) all day long.
4. Drink young coconut water.
5. Drink iced mint tea between meals.
6. Rose water spritz to face, neck and arms throughout the day.
7. Massage your head and feet with coconut oil before bed.
8. Spearmint, Peppermint, Lavender, Rose, and Sandalwood are all wonderful essential oils for cooling the effects of an aggravated pitta nature.
9. Stay out of the hot midday sun.
10. Soak a washcloth in iced peppermint oil water and wear around your neck…instant cool!
11. Use aloe and coconut oil on your skin if you do get sun.
12. Use oral supplements with Neem and topical applications of neem for pitta skin aggravations. Turmeric is nature’s anti-inflammatory miracle, but it takes large doses to make a difference. We carry supercritical extracts that have been shown to reduce cancer in western medical research.
13. Curled tongue breathing (shitali) 10 rounds. During inhalation, curl up both edges of the tongue so that it forms a kind of tube. Breathe in through this tube. The air passes over the moist tongue, cooling down and refreshing the throat. To maintain moisture on the tongue, roll it back as far as possible against the palate. Do this during the entire exhalation through the nose.
14. Meditate. Taking time to center and ground will calm anyone’s mind!
15. Visualize a peaceful place. Recall the most peaceful place in nature you have ever been to or can imagine on the planet. Direct you attention to the space between your eyebrows, known as the third eye. Imagine this spot as a circle (or like an eye). Pretend there are curtains over the circle and as you draw them aside you see this beautiful natural place you are thinking of. Engage with the place with all five senses. If it’s the ocean, feel the warm sand between your toes and the sun on your hair, smell the salt in the air, listen to the waves and gulls and swaying palm trees, see the brightness of the water and the dolphins frolicking in the ocean, taste the salt on your tongue from the spray as the waves crash upon the beach. Spend five minutes here and you will reduce your pitta!
16. Listen to calming, sacred music (Snatam Kaur’s CD “Grace” is the best I have found for this).
17. Do some calming yoga postures and finish with shivasana (corpse pose), staying in it for at least five minutes.
18. Express appreciation for everyone and everything around you. Notice what is going right and try not to attach to your challenges. Your reality begins with your thoughts. Make sure those are positive.
19. Volunteer. Serving another takes you out of your own self absorption and brings joy and emotional equanimity.