beauty

How to Dry Brush the Ayurvedic Way

Why Dry Brush?

Dry Brushing (traditionally called garshana) helps move stagnation, stimulates Rasa Dhatu’s flow, boosts our natural detoxification system and gives the skin that GLOW we all want! 🌟⁠
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In Ayurveda, our lymph is part of the Rasa Dhatu, one of the 7 tissues of the body.⁠
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The lymph and blood plasma serve as the first line of immune defense when we encounter allergens and bacteria. Not only does the lymphatic system serve as immune defense, it also serves as psycho-emotional defense (AKA how easily we can let things roll off us, rather than deeply penetrate and wound us, on an emotional level). 🫀⁠
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Unlike your blood, which is pumped throughout your body by your heart, your lymph relies on your body’s valve system to move, functioning more like a manual pumping system. This is where practices like dry brushing and Abhyanga come in - they help literally “pump” the lymph! 💪🏽⁠
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Brush Towards the Heart

It's best to use a dry brush on dry skin before you take a bath or shower. Start at your feet and work your way upwards. Brush in a circular motion always in the direction of your heart. This will help increase blood flow throughout the body.

Follow Up with Moisture

Try to brush for at least 3 minutes working your way up to 5 minutes. After showering, make sure to lather yourself in some kind of amazing moisturizer or use your dry brush right before you Abhyanga, allowing the oil to be deeply absorbed into your revived skin.

Spring is an amazing time for dry brushing, boosting your body’s natural detoxification system and even giving you a freshened-up, more vigorous outlook on life. 😉

Amalaki Summer Face Mask Recipe

Amalaki (aka Indian Gooseberry, aka Amla) is COOLING. It’s great for pitta tendency people who get overly heated (think menstrual-related acne or loose stool), especially this time of year.⁣⁠ Try this Amalaki summer face mask recipe to cool and cleanse your skin during the hot summer months!
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This herb is also a potent external medicine for hair and skin. Amalaki is a well-known rejuvenate as it gently cleanses the colon, beautifies hair and skin and is an all-around tonic for the organs. In India it's known as a super-food, youth-enhancer!⁣ It's also one of the fruits in Ayurveda's digestive formula, Triphala.⁠
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We recommend getting your amalaki powder through Banyan Botanicals who we know and love! Use code KATIES15 for a discount.⁣

Amalaki Summer Face Mask Recipe:

Chop up finely a sprig of washed parsley (the parsley is optional!)
Crush it up in a mortar and pestle until the juice is coming out (the bottom of the clean jar on a chopping board can suffice if you don’t have one).
Add 2 teaspoons of Amalaki (Amla) powder and hot water to make a wet paste with the crushed parsley.
Add a teaspoon of Manuka honey to the still warm mixture and blend them all together into a paste.
The crushed parsley won’t spread consistently but this doesn’t matter as the hot water will have dispersed its compounds into the paste.
You want your face mask to be the consistency of yogurt, easy to spread but not too watery/runny.

Application Instructions:

Apply the paste while it's still warm to freshly cleansed, damp skin.
Lie down in your room with mask on for 20-30mins.
Wash off with warm water and apply your favorite moisturizer!

This summer face mask recipe is great for blemishes but it may dry out your skin if left on too long or if used during dry months or during dry skin cycles. Use this in humid environments, in the high summer season or if you have oily skin.

If you want to take your summer self-care routine to the next level try sipping on a cooling summer herbal tea or our Rose Water Mocktail while mixing up this summer face mask recipe!

Happy at-home Ayurveda facial-ing! 😎

Herbal Teas for Plump, Hydrated Skin

This is a picture of herbs and tea in a class. It links to a blog post about Ayurvedic herbal teas for hydrated skin

Maintaining hydrated skin in the summer (and as we age) is an inside job! However, drinking a ton of water will only do so much if your tissues aren’t actually nourished and rejuvenated from within. The demulcent herbs in these herbal teas actually hold lubricants that will plump up the skin full of water (in a youthfulness-boosting way, not a water retention way!) to give you glowing, hydrated skin! 💦

See below for our favorite demulcent herbal teas for deeply hydrated skin:

❤️ Licorice is an anti-aging, nourishment-boosting, ultimate rejuvenation herb (aka a rasayana). Its sweet, cool, and moisturizing effects help rejuvenate and hydrate all 7 tissues. We use this licorice power from Banyan Botanicals. You can use code KATIES15 for a special 15% discount on all of Banyan Botanicals' awesome products!

🌹 Rose helps to balance Sadhaka Pitta (one of the Pitta subdoshas), cooling excess heat in the blood before it erupts in our skin and balancing emotions so they don’t disturb our hearts. On those extra hot days, try our cooling Rose Water Mocktail.

🌺 Hibiscus is soothing and purifying. Its sweet, astringent and cooling properties support healthy, hydrated skin and a clear complexion.

🥀 Rose hips are sour, astringent, and warming which helps reduce vata. Rose hips contain many vitamins that make them beneficial for all skin types and are associated with anti-aging. We love these rose petals from our friends at Paavani Ayurveda.

🏵️ Last but not least, marshmallow root helps store water which helps our skin remain plump and lush. It helps rebuild our body’s water element and also boosts our hair’s lustrousness and growth!

Two other great Ayurvedic practices for glowing, hydrated skin are dry brushing and Abhyanga. Both of these practices increase blood and lymph circulation through self-massage. Learn more about these skin-health-boosting practices in our blog post, Why You Should Dry Brush (or do Abhyanga).

Ep. 185 How to Be an Ayurveda Beauty Bombshell

This is a picture of Katie Silcox. The text reads, "Spirit Sessions: Find your true spiritual home with Katie Silcox."

Today we go back to the ancient, time-tested Ayurveda beauty basics! According to Ayurveda, true beauty radiates from the inside out. It begins with digestion, hydration, and emotional health. An Ayurvedic beauty bombshell knows who she is and embodies Shakti! No skin cream or anti-aging serum can make us feel beautiful if we haven’t addressed the deeper spiritual roots.

However, many of us feel pressured to conform to our culture's limited definition of beauty. In this episode, Katie shares personal stories illustrating how her perspective of beauty has evolved since childhood and how we can all tap into the true source of lasting beauty!

Ready to get that Ayurveda glow? Join Katie LIVE for a FREE Online Ayurveda Spa Day on Tuesday, August 27th at 11 am Eastern Time US. Click here to register!

In this episode, you’ll hear:

~ The deep spiritual roots of true beauty

~ Ayurveda beauty essentials

~ Why do we care so much about beauty? What’s the point?

~ How to embody Shakti AKA feminine power

~ How evolution has shaped what we perceive as beautiful

~ The shadow side of beauty

~ How we’ve been influenced by cultural and social beauty standards

~ The Ayurvedic concepts of Swastha, Snehena, and Sri

~ The three most beautiful women Katie’s ever seen and the source of their beauty

Other links and sources mentioned in this episode:

~ Learn more about our year-long Ayurveda School here!

~ Sign up for our free mini-course about Women’s Wisdom and Ayurveda!

~ Follow us on Instagram and Facebook

~ Katie’s latest book, Glow-Worthy is available now!

Or Subscribe on iTunes

Learn more:

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Katie

Pitta-Friendly Summer Mocktail ft. Heart-Healing ROSE Water

Wondering what to sip this summer that’s not going to dampen your agni but that’s still a little indulgent and fun?

(To my down-under ladies, you can enjoy this too, especially if you have more PITTA aka fire in your constitution!)

This cooling, goddess-worthy bev is perfect for when you wanna sip something cooling but still delicious, enjoy a mocktail, or get a hydrating boost on a hot summer afternoon.

The recipe makes 1 so be sure to double or triple if making it for friends 😉

Ingredients to help soothe inner heat while gently supporting agni:

🥀Rose Water

Rosewater is mildly astringent which gives it a cooling property both topically and internally. It’s great for balancing excess heat, aka pitta dosha in the digestive system, helping to aid digestive discomfort, bloating and heartburn.

Plus there’s nothing more nourishing to the subtle heart center than ingesting rose!

(See below on how to whip up your own rose water at home.)

🍋Lemon

If you’re not-so-new to Ayurveda you’ll know that warm lemon water is a key part of a traditional Ayurvedic morning routine—this is because lemon has a powerful agni boosting effect (meaning, it’s a major digestion helper!). Lemon gives our stomach the signal to start creating digestive juices and tells our liver to produce bile, both of which can help ease indigestion.

🍁Maple Syrup

Maple syrup encompasses the “sweet” quality in Ayurveda (plus, it’s derived from actual SAP - ojas boost, anyone?). The sweet taste soothes Pitta and Vata but can be a little aggravating to Kapha, so feel free to sub in some raw honey if you’re dealing with a Kapha imbalance.

Ingredients (makes one serving):

2 tablespoons of rosewater (see how to make your own below or purchase rosewater already made!)
Juice from 1/2 lemon
1 tablespoon good quality maple syrup
1 cup plain seltzer (or sub in hibiscus infusion)
Optional garnish: cucumber, mint, orange, strawberries, etc.!

Directions:

Step 1. Make the rose water: add 1 teaspoon rose powder to a jar or glass measuring cup. Pour 1 cup boiling water over it. Allow to sit for 30 minutes then strain with a fine mesh strainer.

Step 2. Once cooled, add 2 tablespoons of rosewater into your mocktail glass.

Step 3. Add juice from 1/2 lemon.

Step 4. Add 1 tbsp good quality maple syrup. Stir up ingredients to combine.

Step 5. Top with 1 cup plain seltzer (or alternatively a chilled hibiscus infusion if you want to avoid seltzer!)

Garnish with a few cucumber slices, mint leaves, or orange slices!

Sip and stay cool 😎

How to do a Spring Cleanse

Spring is the perfect time to do a gentle cleanse.

Ayurveda teaches us to mimic what is happening in the natural world. In Spring, the Earth’s core begins to heat up as fungi, bugs, insects, and bees make their way to the surface pollinating and helping to prepare the soil for the growth to come.

After many months enduring the cold and dampness of winter, it’s likely that some extra Kapha accumulation could be present. This can take the form of excess mucus in the lungs and sinuses, a possible accumulation of weight, or a feeling of lethargy or depression.

Thankfully, with the help of Ayurveda and the willingness to slightly shift up your routine you can be easing into that springtime flow in no time.

So, what does it mean to detox Ayurvedically?

Ayurveda does not suggest some kind of crazy fasting or overly-restrictive cleansing. In fact it’s quite the opposite.

An Ayurvedic cleanse is gentle.

What most of us actually need is something that can allow our body to deeply relax.

In order to “let go” of all the unwanted stuff inside of us, your body needs to know that you have the space to step away from your daily hustle and grind, to step into the parasympathetic nervous system and deeply relax.

This is why, for example, as part of an Ayurvedic cleanse, getting warm, medicated oil rubbed on you was always part of the cleansing protocol.

Blog Featured Image (1200 × 628 px) copy

For this simple cleanse I’m gonna share with you, it’s not at all about restricting food intake.

It’s all about giving your body and digestion the space and time to deeply rest.

We have this idea in our culture that cleansing must be about suffering and penance and purification, Ayurvedic cleansing isn’t about any of those things. It’s about sweetness and love and slowing down. And saying to your body “I’m going to let you do what you need to do to come into balance.”

NOT using willpower to force our bodies to further the goals of the mind.

So I put together this little spring Kitchari recipe and simple cleansing protocol that’s a really easeful intro to Ayurvedic cleansing.

Plus there’s some more amazing resources below if you want to take it even deeper.

Get the Guide Here

Additional Cleansing Resources:

For Learning More About How to Do an Ayurvedic Cleanse:

Ep. 07 Spirit Sessions Podcast: Detox the Ayurveda Way

For a Guide to Spiritual Spring Cleaning:

Ep. 11 Spirit Sessions Podcast: Holy Shit, How to Become a Tantric House Witch

For Boosting Your Elimination and Achieving “Poophoria”:

Ep. 46 Spirit Sessions Podcast: Poophoria: Getting Perfect ?!

Happy spring cleansing!

Katie’s Seasonal Allergies Arsenal

We are currently being overloaded with pollen over here (if you’re on the East Coast in the US at least 😉) and it’s got me thinking about how we can all navigate allergy season with a little more support…⁣⁠
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Allergies are a typical imbalance associated with Kapha season (aka SPRING) 💐⁣⁠
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Ayurveda understands that allergies are the result of an outer allergen aggravating a specific dosha. ⁣⁠
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So, Ayurveda breaks allergies into Vata, Pitta, and Kapha-type allergies.⁣⁠ (And no, this isn’t based on your constitution, it’s based on the specific allergen that’s irritating your system!)⁣⁠ Seasonal allergies related to spring (and sometimes Fall) are usually more Kapha-related.⁣⁠
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An excess of Kapha dosha brings sluggishness, mucous and water retention (read: allergy symptoms). ⁣⁠
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In order to aid our Kapha seasonal allergies, we have to heat things up, boost circulation, clear out and CLEANSE our bodies’ pathways.⁣⁠
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Allergies don’t have to be your destiny.⁣⁠ Reducing the effects of allergies comes down to boosting agni + reducing ama + supporting immunity. ⁣⁠
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To reduce the uncomfortable symptoms of allergies we have to CLEAR OUT OUR SROTAS! Srotas are the circulation channels of the body–these channels are where ama gets STUCK, resulting in imbalances. ⁣⁠
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See below for my arsenal and reference this for future seasonal allergies attacks!

👃🏽 Nose care: Neti & Nasya! Add ¼ tsp salt to warm water and pour through both nostrils using a neti pot, then lubricate your nostrils with herbal nasya oil!

👅 Scrape your tongue! If you aren’t on the tongue scraping train START ASAP–this helps to remove the toxins that your body is cleansing through the night.

🌀 Dry Brush. Boosts the lymphatic system, helps the channels of the body circulate and eliminate toxins.

🌿 Triphala + Turmeric. Triphala will help boost digestion and reduce ama (the source of allergies) while Turmeric is one of the best anti-inflammatory, anti-ama herbs.

🫖 Nettles. Nettles are your circulation-boosting, ama-clearing, waste-cleansing BFF. Brew a tea by combining 4 large tablespoons of dried nettles in a mason jar with boiling water - let steep for 1 hour and then strain!

🍒 Quercetin! Quercetin is a powerful antioxidant with amazing anti-inflammatory powers. Studies have shown that quercetin can prevent immune cells from releasing histamines which means runny nose, hives, swelling = bye bye 👋🏼

🍵 GREEN TEA. Because it’s super high in quercetin, it helps to reduce the body’s immune response to allergies like pollen!

For more information, check out our podcast on allergies here.

Hair Oiling 101

There’s nothing like a weekly hair-oiling ritual to reset your system while communicating deep, loving, self-care to your own heart. So I wanna share with you some of my favorite herbs and tips for oiling your luscious locks!⁣

How to Prep for Oiling Your Hair:

Use a dosha-appropriate, high quality oil like sesame oil for Vata hair, coconut oil for Pitta hair, and olive oil for Kapha hair. To simplify, use the Banyan hair oil (use code below for a discount) which is an amazing hair formulation and the one I personally use!
You want the oil warm, not too hot. I like to warm my oil by filling up the sink with warm water and placing the bottle of oil in the sink to warm for a few minutes.

Hair Oiling Instructions:

Begin to massage the oil into your scalp using your hands. Make sure to cover the entire scalp while massaging your head for circulation and stimulation of marma points. End by pulling a little bit of oil through the length of your hair.
Leave the oil on for a few hours or overnight. You may need to wrap your head in a towel you don’t mind getting oil-stained or laying down a designated oiling towel over your pillow for sleep.
Give your hair a full wash after letting the oil sit overnight. It might take a double wash to fully cleanse the oil out.

Pro tip for rinsing: Try shampooing/scrubbing your DRY (still oily) hair before getting into the shower and getting your hair wet for optimum scrubbing results!⁣

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The hair oil I’ve been using forever is the Banyan Botanicals Hair oil! Use the code Katie15 if you wanna discount!

How to Dry Brush the Ayurvedic Way

Amalaki Summer Face Mask Recipe

Herbal Teas for Plump, Hydrated Skin

Ep. 185 How to Be an Ayurveda Beauty Bombshell

Pitta-Friendly Summer Mocktail ft. Heart-Healing ROSE Water

How to do a Spring Cleanse

Get the Guide Here

Katie’s Seasonal Allergies Arsenal

Hair Oiling 101

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