Sesame seeds are a commonly used
ingredient. The whole seeds are often added to food and the oil is prized for
and other treatments. But there's one more way that you can enjoy this versatile food as medicine: in a soothing and delicious Sesame Vitality Shake.
The recipe is as simple as it is delicious. It takes just four ingredients: black sesame seeds, warm water, cinnamon, and honey. Sipping this lovely concoction will bring calcium, iron, and minerals to rejuvenate your body and mind after a long winter. Plus the slight laxative nature of sesame seeds eases
sluggish digestion and evens out
irregularity.
Sesame Vitality Shakes are good to drink during the change of seasons, when
can become depleted. The astringency of the seeds clears
, and the honey draws the nutrients deeper into your tissues. Together, these actions support the flow of
and make room for vitality all season long.
Combine the ground sesame seeds, water, cinnamon, and honey and blend until fluffy. Have half a cup with a meal or as a nourishing drink during the day. Note: This delicious shake has a nut milk consistency as opposed to a milkshake consistency.
+If
is in excess, substitute maple syrup for the honey.
Smoothies have become so synonymous with health and fitness that it’s hard to picture an exercise routine without a morning protein shake in hand. But when we consider what Ayurveda teaches us about digestion, along with what we know about our body’s response to exercise, we might change what we are tossing into the blender.
Full body Ayurvedic oil massage; self-massage is an important component of an Ayurvedic daily routine, but trained professionals also give abhyanga treatments—either as a stand-alone therapy or as part of a deeper cleanse, such as pancha karma.
One of the three doshas (functional energies in nature); vata is predominated by the ether and air elements and governs movement and communication; it is light, cold, dry, rough, mobile, subtle, and clear.
One of the three doshas (functional energies in nature); kapha is predominated by the earth and water elements and governs structure and cohesiveness; it is heavy, slow, cool, oily, smooth, dense, soft, stable, gross, and cloudy.
The plural of srotas; a set of physical or energetic pathways that carry substances or energy from one place to another in the body; the grossest Ayurvedic srotamsi largely correspond with the systems of Western medicine: the circulatory system, the urinary system, the digestive system, etc.
The positive subtle essence of kapha, which gives the body strength, vigor, vitality, and immunity; the end product of perfect digestion. Ojas shares a subtle functional integrity with tejas and prana.
The vital life force that enters the body primarily through the breath, but that can also come from food and water; the flow of cellular intelligence, perception, and communication that is the positive subtle essence of vata; prana shares a subtle functional integrity with ojas and tejas.
One of the three doshas (functional energies in nature); pitta is predominated by the fire and water elements, and it governs transformation; it is light, sharp (or penetrating), hot, oily, liquid, and spreading.