HeyMonicaB

What’s Ayurveda’s view on chewing gum? I’m a vata dominant and I chew gum after every meal (sugar free wriggles ones that are meant to be good for your teeth) Is this ok? Thank you! This is an awesome question! Chewing gum is something we may overlook because, well, gum is tiny. And we don’t [...]

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A few days back, I posted that I was excited for Dr. Oz’s show on Ayurveda. Here is one of the recipes given after the show: http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/6-flavor-slimming-breakfast-sundae Since you guys are Ayurvedically smart, what might be wrong with this meal? Tell me in the comments…stop reading now and pick out what’s wrong with this breakfast [...]

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YYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!!! Introducing Seasonal Bloom Kapha!! I think this is my FAVORITE one yet! If you are unfamiliar, each season I put together a little newsletter/booklet focusing on the dosha (vata, pitta, or kapha) for that season. On this FIRST day of spring (see? I was worried I was late, but timing always works out as [...]

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Okay peeps. Kapha season is not that hard, it’s just different. THIS might help you. Think of a kapha diet as Asian cuisine. Spicy soups, rice/soba/udon noodles, lots of veggies, edamame, spicy, warm, brothy sauces, ginger+garlic. Seek out Asian-inspired recipes, just be mindful of the salt content. Does that help!?

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On this happy Sunday, take a peek at The Smiling Kitchen!! My friend and fellow Ayurvedee, Diana Bayless, started this little resource for all things Ayurveda in your kitchen! She’s just beginning but check back often for more goodies as she evolves and expands the site. :) :) ♥

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Recently a loyal reader of mine had a question about drinking alcohol because she’s menopausal. She noticed she was getting terrible night sweats when she would have beer or a glass of wine. Yes, it was because of the heat in alcohol and her moving from pitta stage (heat escaping) to vata stage of life. [...]

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Dude!! Has anyone read, The Kind Diet by Alicia Silverstone? I just got it last week and I am LOVING it!! To be honest, I was a little skeptical (pitta) at first because I wasn’t sure how substantial it would be. I thought it might be a lot of fluffy air about nothing or that [...]

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Oh boy, oh boy! I created a REALLY FUN 18-page guide for summer! In my passionate quest to heal people through Ayurveda, I decided to create a fun guide to staying healthy during each season. From that intention, Seasonal Bloom was born! As you may already know Ayurveda, the seasons correlate with the energies that [...]

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Woohoo! An Ayurvedic posting on coffee! Yesssss. Who knew such a happy thing existed?! When advising my clients, I don’t usually make them rid their coffee. Why? Because depending on the person’s dosha, coffee might not be that terrible of a thing for them. Authentic Ayurveda says that we should not have coffee, not because [...]

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Hey! One of you inquired about a spice mix to help reduce cholesterol. Indeed I have one! I got this one from Maharishi Ayurveda and there is a ton of great information on cholesterol on their site. If you want the short version, I’ll sum it up. Basically cholesterol is a kapha imbalance. Remembering that [...]

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If you are a vata or pitta type, you might have a tendency to get stressed (who doesn’t, right?) and perhaps worries of the future can creep in to cause some anxiety. When a client of mine was feeling anxious, ungrounded, wound up, and stressed, I told her to “wrap herself in a fuzzy blanket” [...]

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Yeah! I’ve got my coworker hooked on lassi. She discovered it because she had the flu a couple weeks ago and we helped repair her digestion with lassi. Like magic! Lassi is a yogurt drink made especially to enhance digestion. Please note that while made from yogurt, lassi is not yogurt. In fact, they have [...]

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YAY! I love The Joyful Belly! They have great Ayurvedic recipes and you can create an entire menu just for YOU! All their recipes break out according to your constitution (vata, pitta, kapha), so their meal plans are totally individual. Just like Ayurveda! AND it’s free to sign up. How ’bout them apples!? Their recipe [...]

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I would love to introduce you to Pure Indian Foods. If you ever have doubt or are in a quandary about how to make or where to buy ghee, look no further. I am so NOT a product gal, but I highly recommend this organic ghee over anything you can buy anywhere else. It’s the [...]

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In the heat of summer, check out this cooling shake made simply from two happy summer ingredients, watermelon and mint! Both are so naturally cooling and sweet that you won’t need to add anything else. Perfect to keep pittas happy when they are crankypants because it’s too hot ;) Watermelon and Mint Shake 2-3 cups [...]

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Ok right off the bat, I am not a cook. However somehow, lately I am coming up with some really tasty recipes that I just hack together. One of my clients says she loves my “hack recipes.” Cool! A most recent hack recipe I am hooked on is making pesto from scratch. Hooked I say! [...]

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Woohoooo!! After a long time searching, I finally got a great kitchari (kitch-a-dee or kitch-a-ree) recipe from one of my fellow Ayurvedic students. I love kitchari is because it’s wonderfully easy to digest, it’s a great source of protein because of the mung dal and itt’s a complete food. It’s excellent for detoxification and de-aging [...]

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This tea is great for aiding digestion and to help ground the body and mind. Pacifying vata is important especially during vata season because vata is the quickest dosha to go out of balance. 4 cups of water 1 tbsp fennel seeds 1 tbsp coriander seeds 2 pods of cardamom 1 tbsp of sucanat or [...]

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To keep agni strong, Indian lemonade is a great appetizer to make before meals. It’s not quite lemonade as us Americans know it. It is much smaller in quantity and it is used as a medicine to aid in digestion. The ginger and salt are heating to the body which “stokes” our internal fire (agni). [...]

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Ok, I have received a significant amount of resistance when I ask people to eliminate yogurt, so I would like to discuss. There is a lot of advertising about yogurt and acidophilus as healthy bacteria/probiotics, good for the “waistline,” etc., but truth be told, yogurt is a channel clogger. It is exactly like jumping into [...]

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