Monday, September 17, 2012

STAY YOUNG WITH GOLDEN MILK: A RECIPE

Aging is a normal process with many benefits. Several signs of decay associated with it, including the calcification and drying of the joints, can be slowed down considerably with proper maintenance. Golden milk is one of your ticket to liberation from cracking, stiffening joints. I see it a the velvety golden stream of nourishment that flows in the fountain of youth. This delicious recipe has been a staple of Ayuvedic medicine for few thousand years. Drink it regularly.

It is also used before (women) and after (men) sexual intercourse to replenish the ojas.

The recipe below serves 1 person.

Ingredients:

  • 1/8 teaspon of turmeric
  • 3 pods of cardamom
  • 1/4 cup of water
  • 1 cup of milk or almond milk
  • 1 Tbsp of ghee
  • 1 tsp honey (2 for Vata) or maple or rice syrup for Pitta
Method:
  1. Dilute the turmeric in water on high, then medium heat and stir until you obtain an nice paste.
  2. Add milk and cardamom until comfortably warm.
  3. Pour in a cup.
  4. Add sweetener.
  5. DO NOT add honey during the cooking process.



Enjoy!






Tuesday, September 4, 2012

WHAT CAN WEARING GEMS DO FOR YOU?


Under what stars were you born?
Did Eve and Adam wear gems in the garden of Eden? We likely will never know. However, given every human being’s desire to look and feel beautiful it is very likely. For eons, women, men and children have adorned themselves with flowers, feathers, animal parts, gems and precious metals to play, seduce, impress, or establish their status. Gems are also have been given other roles.

Thursday, August 2, 2012

RECIPE - REMOVING MOLES

Ghee and agni hotra ashes unguent is a very powerful medicine for many skin conditions, including moles.
Mix 1/4 tsp of agni hotra ashes to 1 tsp of ghee. Apply gently on the mole every day, for 40 days.
Ashes can be obtained from Face to Grace.
Agni hotra ashes are obtained from a fire ceremony held at sunrise or sunset. To learn how to make ghee and get your own ashes, contact Samyukta at info@facetograce.com.

EFFORTLESS EVOLUTION: THE GIFTS OF THE PRACTICAL AWAKENING and BALANCING YOUR EMOTIONS COURSES

Life changes can bring great joy, great stress and often both. Choosing a new career or partner, having a baby, losing a loved one or a job, having you life threatened by a serious illness, a natural disaster or criminals are great tests. How do you cope? Can you observe your thoughts and emotions, without freezing or reacting, to get a wider perspective of reality?

 Allowing life to flow through you without judgment
or chaotic emotions during quiet or challenging times
 supports your evolution.

The first thing to remember is that thoughts and emotions are not permanent. Only habitual patterns make you believe that they are. Learning new techniques and reflexes as well as upgrading how you feel about yourself and view the world can help you take control of them instead of letting them control you. Practical Awakening and Balancing Your Emotions with Aromatherapy are courses that help build your nervous, hormonal and immune systems. They bring you to a place where you can ground and create a distance between the judgments, fears, anger and other emotions that paralyze you and block your life force. The practices taught also help remove memories lodged in the cells of you physical body and from the chakras.

Watch http://vimeo.com/43226631 for more comments on Practical Awakening and how effortlessly your personal evolution happens when you stop resisting the moment, when you stop trying to change yourself. The gift is the same for Balancing your emotions. Sitting to do the practice for 40 days settles the emotions regardless of what you are going through. It is that simple, so simple you may not notice at first. Then one day, you realize something shifted...

Open the door to the pure creative potential of your life and celebrate the natural healing power available within you. Contact Samyukta at info@facetograce.com to sign up for these empowering classes.

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

RECIPE - Rashes, chafing, hives and other irritations

If your Pitta (inner fire) is too high, you are likely to experience various uncomfortable skin irritations. To alleviate the discomfort and heal the skin:
- Purée 2 Tbsp of fresh cilantro with 1.5 tsp coconut oil.
- Add 3 drops of tamanu or neem oil.
- Apply and leave on for 3 min.
- Remove the paste and help penetrate as much oil as possible.
- Repeat as often as needed.
- You may double or triple the recipe depending on the surface to cover.
This recipe will keep in the refrigerator for 3 days to 1 week.

Thursday, July 12, 2012

NOT JUST A FACIAL, A BIOVEDIC FACIAL!


Ahhh … what kind of facial?

Rose powered, fresh herbs,
ghee, mint tea... Yum!
If you are a regular reader, you already know that the term ‘vedic’ comes from the word Ayurveda (science of life), and that ‘bio’ is connected to the notion of organic or pure. ‘Bio’ also refers to the bioenergetic flows that move organically through the body; they are magnetic, plasmic and electric. Thus, a ‘biovedic’ facial is one that marries Ayurvedic and bioenergetic knowledge, techniques, as well as organic/natural ingredients based on your physical needs and the practitioner’s perceptions of your face and body flows.

First, assessing where you’re at
The first step of the facial consists in finding out which element or elements (air, water, fire, earth) are most prevalent in your body and whether or not they are in a state of balance. This is called an assessment of your ‘dosha’ or constitution. It is done by asking questions, reading your face as a map, and taking your pulse. Ingredients for the facial will then be chosen accordingly, and sometimes evaluated through muscle testing to find out what strengthens you and to avoid allergic reactions.

Listening to the messages of your face
Vicky's ultra-sensitive pink nose, cheeks and chin called
for cooling and moistening ingredients. The Pitta
moisturizer and toner fit the bill perfectly.
You will then settle comfortably on a massage table. To establish contact between client and practitioner, we generally start with a short foot massage or with a compress on the face to open the pores. By this point, your body will start communicating through its different flows and information will arise. It may say that there is excess fire on the surface of the skin or extreme dryness in the dermal layers. Certain areas can feel blocked and cold and require a combination of several oils or just one. A facial could focus on the forehead for relaxation and around the nose to improve breathing on a first visit. The next one could center around the facial marmas (Ayurvedic equivalent of acupuncture points) of the lungs and so one.

A facial marma point could reveal that
 the kidneys need to be warmed up.
Following the guidance in the 
moment
The sequence of this process is never predictable, which is where it differs most from other types of facials. Ingredients used may be from the line of Face to Grace products or any combination of fresh and dried flowers and herbs, spices, dairy, oils, hydrosols, essential oils, etc. By staying grounded in the moment and connecting with your body’s reactions, the practitioner could perceive that releasing a knot in your shoulder with a ginger compress would do more to make your skin breathe than any quantity of cleanser. Pimples around the mouth could tell that there is something you are not digesting well. Ultimately, what the practitioner does is to remove obstacle blocking the flow of life in your cells, to strengthen the healthy ones and to ensure that your inner radiance reaches the surface.

Your receptivity and ability to relax, as well as the practitioner’s knowledge, subtle perceptions, creativity and pure intention will ensure you receive a facial that nurtures all layers of your beauty. You will feel it and those around you will notice the results.

If this is the kind of facial care you are looking for, book a appointment now, in person or on Skype, at info@facetograce.com.

Thursday, May 31, 2012

FLOW, WATER, RELAXATION, SPA AT THE LAKE

A joyful experience
My friend Christine was relating a joyful experience over dinner last week. She had a massage a few days before which greatly relaxed her. On the way home, she felt radiant and expansive. At a red light she turned her head and saw a cyclist, also stopped at the intersection, who was watching her with great interest. He waved with sparkling eyes and an appreciative smile, then raised his hitchhiker’s thumb. She waved back feeling incredibly alive and attractive. The light turned green and they each went their own way. She was still glowing as she described how rejuvenating the whole experience was.

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

AMAZING GIFTS HIDE UNDER 'BAD' EMOTIONS


What hides behind emotions? 

The paradoxes life and the human experience bring up don’t cease to amaze me. It seems as though the more I desire something, whether beauty, wholeness, connection or

Monday, April 2, 2012

PEOPLE WATCHING... ELEMENTS AT PLAY

New adepts of Ayurveda
at Encounters of Canada
Do you enjoy watching people or yourself? Consider Ayurveda as a starting point of your observations and you will see a new world unfolding in front of you. I recently had two ideal situations that provided unique vantage points to observe the impact of fire and the other elements in people and their interactions. The first one occurred during a workshop to a group of teenagers, the second one during the journey
to Kannur, India,

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

PANCHA KARMA IN KANNUR: A HOT EXPERIENCE

Thank you for opening this page today as I invite you on a journey of pancha karma, a fantastic way to clean your body, the temple of your soul.
Feeling great after pancha karma
and a henna treat.
A change of scene
Journeys have the power to

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

DEAR LAVENDER: HEALER, TEACHER AND FRIEND

Ageless, fragrant, powerful.
Little did I know when I first met you that you would become so important in my life. My grandmother had a sachet of your dried petals in a drawer to ward off the moths from the woolens in her drawer. I didn’t particularly like your smell at the time, and associated you with ‘old’ women. Either Grand-maman didn’t have the words to explain how valuable you are or I didn’t have the ears to listen.

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

AYURVEDIC HOME SPA GUIDE AND RECIPES

Improve your longevity by taking time to relax.
Whether you have been enjoying winter sports over the past few days or are stiff from shovelling the driveway, you may be experiencing dry hands, face, legs and hair. Or you feel you need to replenish? Or your holiday was soooo fulfilling you want to offer something luxurious to someone special? Think home spa.

Home spas are fun and much less expensive. Although they require a bit of preparation, you have total control over the textures and aromas used. Below are suggested ingredients but feel free to add or switch ingredients. For example, you could add cucumber slices over your eyes while resting.

Friday, December 2, 2011

RECIPES AGAINST NASAL CONGESTION, WATER RETENTION AND SLUGGISH DIGESTION

The past few weeks have been quite wet and increasingly cold, weather likely to
bring your kapha element out of balance. This disbalance may show up as nasal  congestion, water retention or sluggish digestion, especially for people with a Kapha constitution.

Here are 3 quick, luxurious recipes to set things right:

Nasal congestion: 

- fill the bowl part of your diffuser with rose water or plain water
- add 2 drops each of black pepper or eucalyptus, turmeric and lime or orange essential oil.
- before bed, replace lime by valerian or St. John’s wort essential oil

Sluggish digestion: 
- in one tablespoon of sesame oil
- add 2 drops each of cumin, anis, fennel and cardamom essential oils
- massage the stomach area

Water retention:
- in 1/4 cup of brahmi or sesame oil
- add 2 each of the following essential oils: black pepper, juniperberry, rose, and coriander
- massage your body vigorously, especially in the ankles, knees, thighs, belly, buttocks, and watery area in the upper arms


To enhance this massage mix 40 drops of dandelion tincture in a full glass of water 30 minutes ahead of time. Drink heartily 30 minutes ahead of time.

BEAUTY TIP FOR THE KAPHA WOMAN

To feel sexy before a party, mix:

- in 1/4 tsp of sesame oil.
- 1 drop of pepper and rose or jasmin essential oil

Use as perfume behind the ear, between the breasts, at the wrists and in the groin. (If you have sensitive skin, replace the black pepper essential oil by ginger.)

Everyone will want to know your secret. 
Can be used by kapha men too.

Thursday, November 17, 2011

EMOTIONS LIVE IN OUR CHAKRAS, IN BALANCE... OR NOT


One day this past spring Bhuvaneswari, my spiritual teacher, gave me an assignment: «Make emotions chakra creams.» That was the extent of her guidance. It took a while to get started. In retrospect, I realize I had all the knowledge, experience and tools to do it. Intuition, logic, creativity and staying grounded would do the rest.

Chakras and their needs

Chakras are energy centers in the shape of vortex of different sizes,  though not visible to the physical eye. They are considered as organs and, as such, need to be cleaned, moistened, toned and realigned back into shape. This can be done several ways, including with music, energy work, etc.