Ayurveda to the rescue! For it’s not only temperatures that are hot – our hearts are getting cooked up by the ever growing emotional and mental global stress. Ayurveda helps not just with the gross physical body, but is meant to support our entire physiology inside-out.
Here is an all-time best-seller from Vaidya Mishra that has had people from all over the world acknowledging his wisdom and gifts at formulations. A tea to help us cool down and balance all subdoshas of pitta that encompass the physical as well as emotional and mental aspects. If you’re feeling not only hot and dehydrated but also impatient, irritated, sad and blue for no apparent reason then try Vaidya’s Pitta Tea. It cools off the heat of pitta in all aspects of the body, opens the channels of pachaka pitta (stomach), ranjaka pitta (liver), sadhak pitta (heart), alochak Pitta (eyes), and bhrajaka pitta (skin ) without heating them. It also cleans the burners of the dehagni (cellular metabolism) even as it keeps agni in check. Make a cup or a pot of this tea and cool it off at room temperature and sip throughout the day – you’ll see why people love it! Most of all it will hydrate you, pacify your emotions, and keep your stress levels in check too. Enjoy!
Favorite SVA Recipes and Stories
Here are some more stories & recipes – as promised – from Vaidya Mishra’s birthday LOVEFEST shared by some of his students and SVA practitioners – enjoy!
A Simple Yet Oh So Powerful SVA Herbal Tea
I remember the first day I met Vaidya Mishra. He was on tour in Canada offering consults and staying in the home of a friend. As I was working as a community pharmacist I asked if I could sit with him to observe. “Yes wonderful!” he answered. He had a way of seeing into your soul, allowing you to speak your truth. I told him I had been a student of Ayurveda for a long time but it was such a vast subject that my confidence never allowed me to move forward. “Oh don’t worry, I will give you some simple things to do right away that will be very helpful.” At the time I didn’t realize how amazing this statement was and how it would build my confidence as an Ayurvedic Educator.
An opportunity presented itself one evening when I was working alone at the pharmacy. A woman walked in and handed me a prescription and asked if I could please print out the side effects. This was unusual. People get their prescription filled and then we hand them the sheet with the side effects and go over possible risks. She carefully read the sheet of side effects and said, “Why would I take this? The side effects are worse than my disease.” Somehow in that moment my minds jumped to Vaidya’s words, “Don’t worry I will give you some simple things to do.” One of the simple things was a tea recipe that helps open the channels, rehydrate, and bind toxins.
I approached the woman carefully and asked, “What is your disease?” “Oh, I am having 12 bowel movements a day and can’t go to work or even out of the house for fear of an accident.” I have been given so many tests including colonoscopies and the doctors can’t give me a diagnosis so they prescribed this drug to help with the symptoms.” She was upset and frustrated. I then asked, “Would you be willing to try a simple herbal tea for 2 weeks and see if it helps?” I gave her the recipe for the tea and told her to come back in 2 weeks. She came back 2 weeks later glowing with excitement. She had drank the tea as I recommended and all her symptoms were gone. She was having 2 normal bowel movements a day.
I was fortunate enough to be able to call Vaidya and tell him of my great success. He proceeded to explain how Ayurveda sees disease start with an imbalance and move through stages of development. In stage 1-4 the symptoms are vague and can’t be easily identified. Then they become more concrete in stage 5 and finally can be “capped’ or named as some specific disease in stage 6. This woman was somewhere in stage 4 where the imbalances were not able to be be named as yet. That also made it easier to create balance in her physiology.
Here is the recipe for this simple SVA tea.
Boil 1-2 litres of spring water ( water that has not been chlorinated) and then add 1/2 to 1 teaspoonful of organic fennel seed, coriander seeds, mint leaves and a pinch of marshmallow root. Let it steep for 10-15 minutes and then strain and sip though out the day. You can use dry mint or if fresh mint leaves – just 2- leaves are enough. This wonderful tea stimulates many balancing functions in the body and is safe for all body types.”
~Elisabeth Innes
Certified SVA Practitioner & Educator
Instant Steamed Quinoa idlis/ Cakes that Vaidya Loved!
– by Shambhavi Kriyaban
1 Cup Quinoa Coarsely Powdered
1/8 tsp Arrowroot Powder
½ tbsp Coarsely powdered Rice
1tbsp Cilantro finely chopped
4 Curry Leaves cut Fine
1-2 Green Chillies depending on spice cut fine
1/8 tsp grated ginger
Soma Salt to taste
¼ tsp Moms Masala or your own Spice Mix
Method
Mix all the above ingredients with water to thick consistency like pancake consistency. Grease the idli plates with oil. Now with a spoon pour the batter in the greased idli plates. Steam for 20 minutes. Inserted tooth pick should come out clean. Remove the idlis with a spoon from the idli plates once it is done.
Note: You can steam in rice cooker or instant pot or any pressure cooker. Add 1/2 cup of water in the idli steamer and let it boil and then Put the idli stand inside and close the lid. If you are using a cooker, use it without a vent and steam it. You can also use soufflé cups instead of idli plates. Enjoy hot steaming idlis.
~ Shambhavi Kriyaban
Wholistic Health Guide
SVAyurveda practitioner, Healer.
Organizer, Sadguru Mangeshda Kriya Yoga Foundation, Los Angeles, USA
Fresh Coriander and Coconut Chutney – Corinna’s Favorite SVA Summer Recipe!
1 bunch fresh coriander (cilantro)
1/4 c. fresh lime juice
1/4 c. water
1/4 c. unsweetened, grated coconut
2 tbsp. of fresh ginger root (peeled and grated)
1 tsp. honey, or raw sugar
1 tsp. Soma salt
1/4 tsp. Moms masala, fresh ground black pepper or personal spice mix.
In a blender or food processor, blend lime juice, water and fresh coriander until coriander is chopped. Add remaining ingredients and blend until it is like a paste. Great with Kitchary and wonderful for hot summer days!
It was the beginning of afternoon break during the second Pulse and Marma Course Conference in 2016 in Los Angeles. Vaidya walked into the room with a big roaster pan of lime rice and set in on a warming tray. He came over to me and said – “You have to try this lime rice, it is the way you should prepare your rice. Rice is very Soma predominant and the addition of spices and lime juice adds agni to it making it lighter and easier to digest.” I’ve loved making it since then – needless to mention it’s my all-time favorite! (This recipe apears in Vaidya’s Cookbook – Ayurvedic Recipes for Balance and Bliss)
You will need:
2 cups cooked rice (or other grains such as barley mixed in)
2 tsp Mom’s ghee
4 curry leaves, chopped
½ tsp cumin
1/8 tsp turmeric
1-2 green thai chili, broken in half (optional)
Juice from 1 lime
Cook the rice and/or grains, then fluff to let the moisture evaporate. Sauté the spices, curry leaves and the rice (or grains) in the ghee until everything is well coated. Add the lime juice after the dish has stopped steaming. Serve with wedges of lime on the side.
Attributes of Lime Rice:
Curry Leaves help detoxify the liver and at the same time, they are enhancing the digestive flame and assists the body to absorb the nutrientsof the food.
Cumin makes sure this dish is digested , it also makes sure that the digestive ‘burners’ are cleaned.
Turmeric detoxifies and repairs the liver
Lime juice makes sure the channels are open so that the effect of the spices is carried throughout the body. Lime is a natural source of vitamin C and an immunity booster. It has a sweet post-digestive taste which enhances Soma and alkalizes the body. Never cook lime.Mom’s Ghee is a probiotic ghee that reduces bad cholesterol, assists in weight loss, carries fat-soluble nutrients into the cells and helps carry away fat-soluble toxins.
We will be resuming our Marma Course to offer the practicum sessions in a new on-line format. All students who are signed will receive notification via email. We look forward to continuing our SVA Marma education with you all.
If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact us at: info@prana-center.com, or call us: 1.818.709.1005
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