Not a fan of incense? No problem! Ayurveda has for millennia used aromatherapy with an array of delivery systems – including incense, perfumes, balms, etc. Vaidya Mishra has introduced yet another delivery system with his convenient to carry nasal inhalers. These nasal inhalers are based on Sugandha Vigyan – the Ayurvedic wisdom of how scents and aromas impact the brain and benefit the mind, heart, and body. The aromatic molecules of the SVA inhalers readily travel to the nervous system through the nostrils – directly yet gently. Vaidya Mishra’s nasal inhalers are easy to carry with no spill or stain risks. They contain all organic essential oils – when available – and carry absolutely no synthetic or artificial ingredients or fixatives. Best of all they smell incredible and last a very very long time! You will feel like you are in the midst of divine flower gardens wherever you go!
When unexpected stressful situations shut down our heart lotus, we may feel we lose the courage and readiness to act in order to overcome the trouble that has come our way. Let the herbal synergy in this SVA inhaler gently re-set your body chemistry so your heart lotus can blossom again and lift away your sadness so you can take on whatever may come your way. Aromatherapy in Ayurveda can be used in several ways for several purposes. Inhalers are a handy and easy way to use because the aromatic molecules readily travel to the nervous system through the nostrils – directly yet gently. Vaidya's new SVA Aromatherapy Inhalers are easy to carry with no spill or stain risks. Vaidya's inhalers contain all organic essential oils where available and contain absolutely no synthetic or artificial ingredients or fixatives.
Ingredients: Rose Absolute, Lavender, Sweet Orange.
When worry takes over our minds we lose track of before and after, forgetting and misplacing things. It feels like our minds are working in overtime mode, and our mental creativity is diminished. The herbal synergy in this inhaler will help restore your mental bliss by re-establishing the connection between "dhi, dritti," and "smritti": the power of your brain to gather, store and recollect information. Aromatherapy in Ayurveda can be used in several ways for several purposes. Inhalers are a handy and easy way to use because the aromatic molecules readily travel to the nervous system through the nostrils – directly yet gently. Vaidya's inhalers contain all organic essential oils where available and contain absolutely no synthetic or artificial ingredients or fixatives.
Stress induced headaches are common nowadays. When stress creates toxins and clogs the micro-and macro- mental channels, this aromatherapy inhaler can gently dilate the channels to help ease and release accumulated toxin and give relief from stress-induced headaches. Experience this unique blend and feel the bliss immediately – we promise you will love it like so many have!
Ingredients: Black Pepper, Lavender, Sage, Cinnamon, Holy Basil, Peppermint, and Ajwain.
The Sinus Cough'n Cold Inhaler will help unblock the nasal cavity and lung channels, traveling through the sinus pathways without irritating them, and support the cavities to resist foreign inflammatory micro-organisms. This inhaler will also support the chest area when there is a mild cough/congestion. Carry this inhaler with you in cold season, or any other time, for a quick and easy way to open and refresh your sinus pathways. Whether carried in your purse or pocket, this inhaler is your sinuses’ best friend.
Ingredients: Organic Camphor, Peppermint, Ajwain, and Holy Basil (Tulsi)
The Ayurvedic Tradition of Dhoop
or
Incense Burning
The oldest references to incense in the Vedas are found in the Atharvaveda and Rigveda. Incense burning was used to create soothing aromas for the environment; or as a medicinal tool – fumigating for bacterial cleansing; or to purify and cleanse the environment for spiritual purposes; alternately, incense burning has also been used as ritual tool during sacred rites, or meditation. In addition, did you know that there is a whole chapter in the Charak Samhita, the sourcebook of Ayurveda, fully dedicated to the therapeutic effects of herbal remedies delivered in smoke form?
Ayurveda uses many different kinds of herbs, flower, barks, etc. to make incense. Depending of what materials are used and what their prabhavas, ultimate subtle effects on the mind/body complex, an incense can have any number of effects on us. For example, incense can be used to cool the physiology in the Summertime, or warm it in the Wintertime. It can ground and stabilize our mind when we are stressed out; or it can energize and stimulate our mind when our thinking becomes slow and lethargic. Incense has also been known to be used spiritual growth – strengthening our connection and coordination with our sattva – our inner divine core that reverberates as light.
Scents that Heal
Modern science does not yet fully understand or appreciate the subtle healing powers of aromatherapy. In contrast, in Ayurveda, we speak of Sugandha Vigyan – the understanding of how scents or aromas (whether pure or chemically adulterated) enter into and effect the mind and body. Obviously, when a scent is chemically ladden, it will cause toxicity and damage. When it is natural, pure, and unadulterated, it will deliver balancing properties.
Through the ayurvedic science of Sugandha Vigyan, we learn that the scents of flowers and other plants contain “sookshma bhag” or micro-molecules, extremely small, sharp and fast-moving particles, that instantly penetrate into and travel in our physiology, reaching the brain center to procure immediate impact. When you inhale a pleasant aroma, it communicates with your limbic system instantaneously affecting molecular chemical changes in your brain chemistry and firing up neuronal pathways that generate waves of well-being (or repulsion – depending on what you are smelling!). From the brain, the aromatic molecules enter the blood stream and are delivered to the whole body.
Only natural aromas can deliver healthy-benefiting or balancing effects. But that’s only part of the story. To deliver a therapeutic action, an incense must retain the subtle prabhava, or subtle vibrational effect, of the herbs. The scent is one thing. The balancing therapeutic impact is another.
Vaidya Mishra's SV Ayurvedic Incense Sticks carry and maintain the prabhavas of their ingredients because they are made with the same care and pranic preservation methods used in all of his SVA Formulations. He made seven types of Ayurvedic incense. They are meant to purify the environment you burn them in, transforming your mind-set within seconds. He used specific flower and plant essence aromatic synergies.
You can choose from different plants and flowers, for different activities. We have several choices of incense for meditation, cleaning your living or office space, and opening your mind and heart to the divine without creating toxins for your body.
7 Herbal & Flower Blends to Choose from
Organic Rose Incense
When we feel emotionally down and out, unable to handle life’s constant challenges, we need something that can help us restore our emotional strenght. Smell your way to emotional balance with the SVA Organic Rose incense to instantly soothe your sadhaka pitta – the ayurvedic governing factor of the emotional heart. Aggravation of sadhak pitta is common. When sadhak pitta is aggravated, our outlook on life will remain grim and grey despite our best mental efforts. We will just not feel up to anything. Sadhak pitta aggravation takes the spark out of life. Pacification of sadhak pitta with rose aromatherapy can work wonders. The subtle aromatic principles of real rose in this incense opens the heart lotus and connects the soul’s light (sattva) to the mind – even as it soothes/cools the heart and mind in stressful situations. But, rose incense is not just for when you feel down. Regular use balances your sadhaka pitta and gives greater emotional stamina to handle emotional challenges. Rose carries a “somnasya jana” or bliss-enhancing property. Because we face emotional challenges every day, this incense is perfect to use regularly, specially during peack activity times of the day when stress escalades. Use it to create greater bliss in yourself and the environment of any room in your home, or office. You will find it can be especially beneficial if you are a vata or pitta body type, or a mixture of both, in your overall constitution.
Blissful Jasmine Incense
Vaidya used only the purest Sambac Jasmine in this incense stick. Jasmine is another wondrous flower with a long list of health benefits. It cleans the water and air elements of the environment. Wherever it is used, real jasmine yields a sandhaniya (unifying) effect whether physically on your skin or mentally: on the mind and brain activity. This incense supports mental bliss by reestablishing the connection and coordination between “dhi, dhriti,” and “smriti:” the power to gather, store and recollect information. Charak says that lack of coordination between dhi, dhriti, and smriti leads to pragyaparadh, unsettling all 3 doshas of the body, inducing specific dis-eases. Daily use of this incense keeps pragyaparadh at bay. Daily use relieves stress, brings more mental energy, and returns us to our natural state, or “svabhava.”
Cooling Vetiver Incense
Vetiver is famous for its deep cooling effects, but has been somewhat overshadowed by the popularity of Sandalwood. It is in fact very widely used in the (ayur)vedic tradition for so many conditions and in varied contexts, either ritual or other. In Vaidya's ancestral village in North West India, there is a long tradition of using Vetiver to refresh and cool things off on hot summer days. In the Summertime, increased agni in the environment dilates our circulatory channels, increasing heat in the blood too. Vetiver cools the blood and with regular use can even cool the muscle and fat tissues. As compared to sandalwood, vetiver is just as divine, but gives us a longer lasting cooling effect. When inhaled, the highly aromatic molecules of Vetiver pacify the heat present in the environment and the body. Overall, Vetiver Incense opens the brain channels and instantly brings a cool, calming, refreshing effect, especially reducing emotional anger and irritability.
Alertness Rosemary Devi Incense
Rosemary is a unique flowering plant, that carries a mildly pungent sweet scent. It is a powerful stress-relieving plant. Its slight pungency unblocks the physical channels of the brain, connecting heart and mind. In Ayurveda, Rosemary is also known for improving blood circulation, supporting digestion, enhancing memory, and sharpening concentration. Mildly thermogenic, Rosemary carries just enough heat to keep things running smoothly without aggravating pitta. Overall, Vaidya's Rosemary Incense is invigorating, refreshing, and stimulating.
Soothing and Uplifting Lemon Grass Incense
Lemongrass has a delicious refreshing citrus smell. Burning this incense in your home creates a calming environment for you, and a bad environment for certain insects, especially pesky mosquitoes, that dislike it. In the physiology, Lemongrass opens the physical channels of the whole body – brain, lungs, and nasal pathways. Lemongrass Incense instantly calms vata dosha, clearing the mind. It also relaxes the muscles.
Purifying Sage
Sage has a long tradition of being the purifying plant/herb for all things material and immaterial. A powerful plant, it is used in many ancient traditions and rituals from across the world to cleanse vibrational negatives charges as well. Enjoy this unique SVA blend to keep a handle on the your home’s or office’s etheric purity.
Calming Lavender
With its unique floral calming scent, Lavender is a favorite to unwind from a long hectic day, or to keep things under control during the day. It calms the mind, pacifies the emotions, and soothes the senses. Use it anytime of the day or night to get our calmness back on!
Complete your set with the pure silver incense holder/burner and finally with the sampler pack…. If you are one of those who can never choose because everything is so good, then the sampler pack is for you!
SV Ayurvedic Incense Sampler Pack
as the name indicates is an assortment of each of SV Ayurvedic Incense sticks. Contains one of each type so you can experience the full pack.
You can now try each one by one or experience the full spectrum with this sampler pouch made for your convenience.
Happy incensing!
We concluded our Spring 2022 SVA Home Detox on a high note yesterday! A bird's eye view of how to keep the momentum going by sticking to fundamental SVA daily basics in terms of diet and lifestyle choices. We also visited the psychology of bringing in desired changes in our lives and how they inevitably entail a backward step, a falling-back into a "bad habit" we are trying to kick -thank you Donalda Fredeen (ABD) for that insightful and rich presentation. She explained that falling off the bandwagon is part of the process. And being kind to ourselves is key in keeping the momentum going. The most joyful thing was the confirmation that detox can be fun and that there is SO MUCH that one can eat and still detox! Thanks to Vaidya Mishra's timeless knowledge. Our hearts are full of gratitude even though somewhat sad as we say goodbye to the online community we built over the past 10 weeks. We will no longer be meeting on a weekly basis. However, we are all just a phone or an email away. Here's to a glorious summer, and until we meet again for some more detox and ayurvedic knowledge adventures in the Autumn – be on the lookout for our newsletter announcements. Namaste!
We want to help you protect your purchase – there's been an increase in lost/stolen packages.
To protect your shipment – in case your shipping address is not secure – we have now added the "signature delivery" option upon check-out on www.chandika.com and we highly recommend you select it to ensure your package is guaranteed to reach you after it leaves our warehouse. Kindly note we are unable to replace stolen/misplaced packages once they are confirmed delivered by the carrier of your choice.
Bio-available Ayurvedic Calcium – on sale this week – 15% Off
Is Calcium Necessary for Your Bone Health?
~ Dr Marianne Teitelbaum
An estimated 43% of American adult men and women take calcium supplements, according to the National Institute of Health. When someone thinks about their bone health, or maybe they have been told they have the beginnings of osteoporosis, which is called osteopenia, or maybe they have full-blown osteoporosis, the first thing most people think of is to take a calcium supplement.
But…please don’t rush out and take calcium without understanding everything you need to know about the types of calcium to take, the best way to take it, and how to balance it against magnesium. This is important because after analyzing 10 years of medical tests on more than 2700 people in a federally funded heart disease study, researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine and elsewhere conclude that “taking calcium in the form of supplements may raise the risk of plaque buildup in the arteries and heart damage, though a diet high in calcium-rich foods appears to be protective.”
What the study showed was that people who took calcium supplements had calcium plaque deposits in their arteries, while those who ingested even very high doses of calcium in their diets showed no such effects. Their arteries were much cleaner with hardly any calcium deposits, causing them to state, “There is clearly something different in how the body uses and responds to the calcium found in supplements versus getting the calcium through the diet that makes it riskier. It could be that the body is unable to process the calcium supplements.”
Let’s look at this issue further because it’s a very important one.
I remember Vaidya Mishra, my Ayurvedic teacher and mentor, leaned over to me one day when we were seeing patients together and he said, “You know, when I feel the pulse of someone taking a calcium supplement, it feels like it’s sitting in the arteries, clogging them and not absorbing into the bone.”
And the ancient doctors of India over 3,000 years ago wrote in their textbooks that a calcium supplement should have certain properties. First: it must be found in nature in the ocean, alive, and filled with pranic energy. Nowadays the calcium supplements are made in a lab, devoid of nature’s healing energy. Therefore, in Ayurveda we search the ocean for pearls, red coral, white coral, and snail shells in order to meet this first requirement. The second requirement was that once collected, these various types of shells and coral needed to be incinerated for several months, repeatedly burnt into an ash. And each time they burn it, the molecule become smaller and smaller until finally it becomes what is called a “nanoparticle,” a microscopic molecule that is so small it can now easily be absorbed out of the bloodstream and into the bones and teeth.
Somehow the ancient doctors knew that the raw unprocessed calcium molecule was too big to be absorbed into the bloodstream. And they knew all this without microscopes!
So part of the issue then is about the type of calcium you are taking. The resultant ash that is formed when you burn the coral and pearls in this way is called a bhasma. We recommend bhasmas of coral calcium, pearl bhasmas, and a wonderful bhasma called, Praval Panchamrit, which is a mixture of pearls, shells and coral. Praval means coral, panch means 5 — so five types are used; and amrit means a nectar or ambrosia.
So Praval Panchamrit is used as the premier Ayurvedic calcium supplement, readily absorbed out of the bloodstream and into the bones and teeth. It is also used for other ailments besides bone health, such as alkalinizing the blood and the urine. And since it is so cooling it is used in cancer where the inside of the cell is acidic. The nanoparticle of the cooling coral calcium can go deep into the inside of the cell to alkalinize it and cool it down, preventing the growth of cancer.
The Ayurvedic texts refer to more than 20 sources of calcium, but coral calcium is considered to be the best. And Vaidya Mishra’s ancestral lineage processed the coral calcium under the moonlight with rosewater for 11 nights to infuse the calcium with soma, nature’s cooling energy.
But in addition to taking the proper calcium, you have to be able to digest and assimilate it. This is why we pay lots of attention to the friendly bacteria in the gut, which are responsible for its digestion and absorption.
And you must also look at Vitamin K2, Magnesium and Vitamin D, all of which help the absorption and the assimilation of calcium into our cells.
Vitamin K2 directs the majority of the calcium we take into our bones and teeth. We definitely don’t want it to roam and get deposited in the joints, which could cause arthritis, or calcifying our organs, glands and arteries. The problem is that our diet provides little Vitamin K2 which could result in older people suffering from calcification of their brain, joints, glands, heart valves and arteries. It is basically found in fatty animal proteins, so nowadays people are following low fat diets to improve their heart health and cholesterol levels when, ironically, this leads to low levels of Vitamin K2. It is however, found in full-fat dairy products, which is why we always recommend ghee and boiled full-fat milk, neither of which will clog the arteries. In fact, ghee has one of the highest amounts of Vitamin K2 than any food, even 3x more than butter and 20x more than whole milk!
And one very important fact about Vitamin K2 — nearly everyone is taking it as a supplement along with their Vitamin D, since it is so necessary in sending the calcium to where it’s needed and keeping it away from areas where it is not needed. HOWEVER, AND THIS IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT: the type of Vitamin K2 that we get in supplements is the MK-7 type, not the type we get in food, which is the MK-4 type. Vitamin K2 MK-4 from animal fats, such as milk, ghee and butter are quickly absorbed in the body and is stored in the brain, salivary glands, testes, sternum, face, pancreas, eyes, kidneys, bones, arteries, veins and other tissues. But unlike MK-4, MK-7 is not stored in any organs.
One study showed that K2 MK-7 supplementation had no effect on bone loss rates. Lots of other research on MK-7 vs. MK-4 states, “The research points strongly to the conclusion that humans need to get their Vitamin K2 as MK-4 from food sources. After all, we evolved eating Vitamin K2 MK-4. It is already in the form that the body needs and we don’t need to expend enzymes and energy to convert it. The organs and cells that need Vitamin K2 readily absorb and utilize the MK-4 form. And finally, MK-4 is more efficient than other forms, appearing in food with other synergists and activators that work together to maintain its therapeutic effects. It can’t be stressed enough that the type of Vitamin K2 that we get in supplements is MK-7, not the type we get in food. The best way to get active and efficiently assimilated Vitamin K2 is from food.”
We also need to factor in magnesium when we think about calcium supplementation. Most everyone is deficient in magnesium due to stress — the stress hormones released by the adrenal glands flush the magnesium out of the body. And just about every pharmaceutical depletes magnesium levels. To make matters worse, the soil is also very depleted in magnesium. We recommend taking magnesium chloride. It is better than the sulfate form found in Epsom salts. Our patients take it through the skin in various magnesium creams, roll-ons, and abhyanga oils used for daily oil massage. We also recommend magnesium-rich foods such as avocados, cooked spinach, soaked and peeled almonds, cashews, whole grains, seeds, yogurt, and lentils.
Adequate levels of magnesium are important for the absorption and metabolism of calcium and Vitamin D. Magnesium converts Vitamin D into its active form so that it can aid calcium absorption. Magnesium keeps calcium dissolved in the blood so that it doesn’t deposit into the arteries. The average American diet contains high calcium-low magnesium. So this fact, combined with taking too much calcium and not enough magnesium can cause some forms of arthritis, kidney stones, and calcification of the arteries as the excess calcium gets deposited in these areas.
The ratio of calcium to magnesium should be anywhere from 2:1 to 1:1. Most people do not get their minimum daily requirement of magnesium, causing a high calcium low magnesium ratio of of 4 or even 5:1. So you can see then how important it is to use your transdermal magnesium products if you want to take a calcium supplement and use good dairy products such as boiled whole milk, yogurt and soft curd cheeses. You must balance out all this calcium with magnesium to keep the correct ratio of calcium to magnesium.
Vitamin D aids in the absorption of calcium and is best obtained through the sunlight. The sun’s ultraviolet B light hits your skin, turning the cholesterol in your skin into Vitamin D3 which has to be processed by your liver and kidneys into the active form of Vitamin D that your body can use. So this means that you must get outside exposing as much skin as you can to the sunlight, without burning it of course, and keep your liver and kidneys in good working order.
During the winter months when you can’t expose your skin to the sun we offer our patients a transdermal version of Vitamin D. And if you can’t bring up your Vitamin D sufficiently through the skin, take it orally, but don’t overdose — some doctors are recommending extremely high doses which could overwhelm your liver as it tries to convert all the Vitamin D flooding into the bloodstream which would never occur at such high doses naturally from the sunlight. It’s best to keep your dose around 3,000-5,000 units per day as opposed to taking 50,000 units once a week as is quite often recommended.
So you can see it’s not as easy as just taking a calcium supplement. You need to educate yourself on the best sources of calcium found in foods and supplements, but also how to digest and assimilate the calcium so that it doesn’t get deposited into places you don’t want it to go, such as your arteries or your joints. And it’s good to understand how Vitamin K2, Magnesium and Vitamin D all play a role in the assimilation of calcium into the body.
I hope you found this information valuable as you search for ways to keep your teeth and bones strong into old age.
In our seventh week of Spring Detox, we were delighted to have SVA Certified Ayurveda & Marma Practitioner Carol Nace (CAP, LMT, FMCHC) to guide our Samadhi Marma session. Find out more about her offerings and services: www.bodhi-ayurveda.com
We then delved into xenobiotics, aka: Garavisha! This is such an important topic nowadays, for it is the silent insidious toxin that penetrates slowly but surely. Vaidya Mishra has given us so many powerful protocols and tools to help detox on this front, including a fabulous “Garavisha tea” and much more….
We then shared our experiences detoxing, and many wonderful questions came up and we all exhanged experiences, anecdotes, memories, and recipes! The Green Protein was our highlight this week. We have one more week to go, and many of our participants are already experiencing more clarity and lighter bodies after a few weeks of detox. It’s been a fun ride this year. Namaste.
We want to help you protect your purchase – there’s been an increase in lost/stolen packages.
To protect your shipment – in case your shipping address is not secure – we have now added the “signature delivery” option upon check-out on www.chandika.com and we highly recommend you select it to ensure your package is guaranteed to reach you after it leaves our warehouse. Kindly note we are unable to replace stolen/misplaced packages once they are confirmed delivered by the carrier of your choice.
