Supporting Your Ayurvedic Lifestyle
- 3 Ways to Embrace the Divine Feminine of Ayurveda
- Ayurvedic Oatmeal Recipes for Every Dosha
- A Breathing Practice for the Next Time You’re Stressed
- Ayurvedic Tonics, Masks & Scrubs for Nourishing Your Skin
- Healthy Skin Tablets Undergo Clinical Trial
- Bitter Melon: Getting to Know Your Herbal Allies
- Do You Hit Snooze More on Mondays? Read This.
- Delicious Blended Greens Recipe
- The Truth about Ayurvedic Food Combining
- How to Fast the Ayurvedic Way
- Red Lentils with Basil Recipe
- Why Self-Care Is Not Optional—It’s Crucial
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About the blog
Welcome to the Banyan Insight where we will post timely articles about Ayurvedic practice and products.
3 Ways to Embrace the Divine Feminine of Ayurveda
Divine feminine Ayurveda asks us to trust in our bodies, as they contain the intelligence of the cosmos, the intelligence of nature. This practice asks us to be responsible for ourselves and to find balance through our own resources.
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Ayurvedic Oatmeal Recipes for Every Dosha
- By Adena Rose Bright
- Jun 18, 2018
Oatmeal may seem like a benign substance, but it certainly has obvious qualities to it. What do you think of when you visualize a bowl of oats for breakfast? Steaming, warm, and sweet, nourishing to your heart and soul? Or a sticky, gloppy, gooey mess? It can be both, depending on your Ayurvedic body-type!
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A Breathing Practice for the Next Time You’re Stressed
- By Rumin Jehangir
- Jun 15, 2018
Stress happens. What we can try to do is recognize it in the early stages and find tools to cope when a stressful situation arises. Stress is usually connected to one or more dosha that is out of balance. One practice I have found helpful in recognizing “the stress buzz” sooner than later, or even when stress crash lands at the front door, is pranayama. Pranayama, an intentional practice of restraining and expanding the breath, is one of the 8 limbs of yoga.
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Ayurvedic Tonics, Masks & Scrubs for Nourishing Your Skin
- By Janet Shivani Chase
- Jun 13, 2018
Ayurveda provides us with a simple adage, “If you wouldn’t eat it, don’t put it on your skin.” This is important to remember when choosing skin care products.
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Healthy Skin Tablets Undergo Clinical Trial
- By Vrinda Devani, MD
- Jun 08, 2018
Dr. Sivamani and his team conducted a four-week randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial with Banyan Botanicals’ Healthy Skin formulation last spring of 2017. The trial enrolled thirty participants.
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Bitter Melon: Getting to Know Your Herbal Allies
- By Breanna Potts
- Jun 06, 2018
Bitter melon, or karela, has a long history of use that spans thousands of years and is a common ingredient in cuisines and traditional medicines across the globe. Its recognition is spreading in the West too, and it is increasingly possible that you may have bumped into it on the menu of a trendy restaurant, at your local farmer’s market, or in a scientific research article.
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Do You Hit Snooze More on Mondays? Read This.
- By Suhas Kshirsagar, BAMS, MD (Ayurveda)
- Jun 04, 2018
If you’ve ever experienced jet lag, you know that it brings a host of complications, inluding digestive trouble, mental fogginess, and even mood swings. Recent studies suggest that travelers who frequently cross time zones also have trouble with weight gain and metabolic issues. What you might not know is that you may be suffering from jet lag even when you don’t travel.
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Delicious Blended Greens Recipe
- By Myra Lewin
- Jun 01, 2018
Served on their own, greens can be quite vata-provoking. This recipe for blended greens is meant to be served with a slightly greater portion of a sweet, augmenting vegetable—like sweet potatoes, zucchini, squash, beets, or carrots. The combination of these vegetables balances the doshas, brings in all rasa, and it tastes delicious!
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The Truth about Ayurvedic Food Combining
- By Kristen Schneider
- May 29, 2018
Ayurveda teaches us that our gut health is a determining factor of our overall health, and it’s important to learn how to keep our agni, or digestive fire, strong and efficient. Our agni is a big soup of acid, bile, and enzymes that help transform food into usable energy. Maintaining a balanced agni translates into better digestion, elimination, and immune function.
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How to Fast the Ayurvedic Way
- By Janet Shivani Chase
- May 25, 2018
Ayurveda has a long tradition of utilizing fasting as a vital practice for maintaining and regaining health. In our society, fasting is often viewed as a type of denial or deprivation, but you can instead choose to see fasting as a gift to yourself: a much needed rest from the constant barrage of foods and experiences you take into your body. Welcome to the Ayurvedic approach to fasting.
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Red Lentils with Basil Recipe
- By Myra Lewin
- May 23, 2018
Melt ghee in a saucepan and add the spices, cooking for 1 to 2 minutes until the aroma is released. Add salt and red lentils and stir until well coated. Add water and basil. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, and cover. Simmer for 15 to 20 minutes until the lentils are very soft.
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Why Self-Care Is Not Optional—It’s Crucial
- By Monica Bloom
- May 22, 2018
The goal is not to give everything of ourselves away to everybody else so that we are left a tired, sloggy, irritated, burnt out mess. Nope. Because then we bring crummy energy, lack of presence, and even resentment to those things that should be full of love and joy! We might even be too sick or tired to show up. And that's not living!
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Breathe Free Balm—A Warming Herbal Chest Rub
- By Banyan Botanicals
- May 17, 2018
A soothing rub to nourish the lungs and sinuses is a staple in many household cabinets. Adults and children alike want to be able to do the most basic function—breathe—with the greatest ease. It is vital to our daily and nightly life.
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Traveling with Ayurveda: Taking Your Routine on the Go
- By Myra Lewin
- May 14, 2018
The movement that comes from any form of high-speed travel, especially airplanes, increases the air element. Daily routines are often left behind, resulting in irregularity in mind and body.
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Fennel: Getting to Know Your Herbal Allies
- By Jamie Sandhurst
- May 10, 2018
As an herb with a long, rich history of culinary use, fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) doesn’t need much introduction. With a nutty, sweet flavor reminiscent of licorice or anise, and its strong, slightly sweet fragrance, fennel seeds have been a favorite ingredient in cuisine for centuries... But have you heard of the numerous healthful benefits that it provides?
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A Beginner’s Guide to Meditation
- By Kathryn Templeton
- May 08, 2018
When I think of the challenges to meditation, it seems silly. After all, we just have to sit down in a comortable place and be still, quiet our random thoughts, and breathe. OMG! It may seem simple, but in truth it is the hardest thing for most of us to do. Why? Now that is a great question, and within that answer are my top three tips for folks who are new to meditation.
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12 Ways to Stay Grounded in a Digital World
- By Sarah Hutchinson
- May 01, 2018
The elements of the virtual world are ether and air. Prana, the life force, flows virtually as we exchange information and energy with the internet and our phones. But that prana is ungrounded, dispersed, and often undirected. The result? Aggravated vata dosha, the primary imbalance of our time.
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Lemon Moringa Latte Recipe: A Caffeine-Free Energy Boost
- By Sarah Kucera
- Apr 30, 2018
This latte recipe uses ingredients that complement the natural flavor and qualities of moringa. It is an energizing alternative to caffeinated lattes, such as those using espresso or green or black tea. And while it’s a great morning drink to enjoy while you read or journal, it could also be a great midday pick-me-up that won’t leave you with the lingering effects of caffeine.
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Samadhi: Connecting with Your Source
- By Lorilee Gillmore
- Apr 27, 2018
We have reached the pinnacle of our journey through the eight limbs of yoga according to Patanjali—the author of The Yoga Sutras. The final limb on our journey is samadhi, and the literal definition of this Sanskrit word is “to bring everything together.”
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What Happens When You Clean Your Tongue?
- By Kathy Jo Staheli, AD
- Apr 25, 2018
The tongue is a unique organ. Lying between the interior world and the exterior world, it has a direct connection to the digestive system, especially the stomach, small intestine, and large intestine. It is a map and diagnostic tool that can be used to find imbalances and discover constitutional makeup.
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11 Ayurvedic Tips to Improve Focus
- By Adrian Nowland
- Apr 23, 2018
When mental clarity and focus are a challenge, it is difficult to live to our fullest. Increased vata is often associated with inhibited concentration, however sugar imbalances (more often associated with increased pitta or kapha) can also play a role.
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Seasonal Recipe: Creamy Greens with Turmeric & Fenugreek
- By Rumin Jehangir
- Apr 19, 2018
This is a great spring dish for all doshas, but especially kapha. The element of fire, or transformation, can help to melt or dry up the mucus-y, wet, cold, and heavy qualities associated with kapha dosha.
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5 Ashwagandha Studies You Should Know About
- By Banyan Botanicals
- Apr 17, 2018
Ashwagandha is one of the most well-known and widly used Ayurvedic herbs. And for good reason! It is great for so many functions in the body—from sleep, energy, and stress, to rejuvenation, muscle strength, and joint health.
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Going Deeper with Dhyana & Meditation
- By Lorilee Gillmore
- Apr 16, 2018
As we climb to the seventh limb of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, we come to meditation, and ultimately dhyana, the state of total awareness.
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Seasonal Recipe: Sattvic Green Soup for Spring
- By Claire Ragozzino
- Apr 13, 2018
The dance of the seasons is beautifully observed in the nourishment that nature provides. As the snow and ice melt, little buds of green sprout through the earth again, signaling a time for lightening up after a dense and inward winter. With kapha season at play, choosing foods that are lightly cooked, warming, and incorporate the tastes of pungent, bitter, and astringent assist the body in moving through the sluggish qualities that accumulate through winter.
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