Tiny threads of orangish-gold, staining clothes for monks and sanyasa, dying milk to support digestion, sprinkled for spells of love, costing upwards of $1000/pound -- the status of Saffron is that of royalty, and has been for thousands of years.
In Ayurveda, the Science of Life, rose water is essential and used as both a medicine and a beauty treatment to balance the doshas and maintain youth. The beauty of the rose has long been appreciated and utilized as a symbol of love and healing. There are few women who do not adore receiving gifts of the rose and rose water is a gorgeous method by which to reap the benefits of the glorious rose, year round.
When I first started practicing yoga, I was driven by both spiritual and emotional factors, but I also wasn’t getting any younger and felt the need to do what I could to maintain my physical body.
I had no idea how deep the practices would take me! Not only would they offer the realization that I was more than the physical, and that the physical body was a temple, they would also purify, rejuvenate and beautify this sacred vessel.
From this came the desire to care deeply for this temple my soul had been given and to make this devotion part of my daily yoga routine.
In the south of India the temples are colored and decorated with stories from ancient Indian texts and scriptures. The spires reach up to the sky in a cartoonish display, making the western mind feel like it's in make-believe land. And it's true, that the rules of life are different in India. The collective consciousness of the country holds very different views and contrasting beliefs to what the west holds as “truth.” Therefore, reality is literally different as well.
The sacred action of smudging has been used for centuries by various cultures, and today it is still being used for clearing, purifying, and adjusting surrounding energies. A great way to look at smudging is like a kind of spiritual bath, with the smoke cleansing away undesired dirty-spiritual vibrations.
To smudge, most people tie certain herbs and plants together with a thread, and burn them. Nowadays, there are many different kinds of plants that can be used for smudging. Here are 5 plants used for smudging as well as some of their spiritual purposes.
Revered and worshipped, full of bacteriophages, the Ganges is now a river of polluted sorrow…
As a child, I grew up reading about the Ganges River, Maa Ganga as it’s called in Indian religious texts. I read and retained that the Ganges is the holiest of all rivers running through India – it’s a sacred river, revered and worshipped as a goddess throughout many of the northern states that it runs through.
What is this force that moves nature? That brings life to a wave? If you have a smart scientific explanation I’m afraid that won't suffice. The force I’m talking about that comes crashing through this wave arrives from way before – it is greater than the phenomena of a wave. This is the idea of the force that comes from before the ocean became the ocean. It is the force that aligned the laws of physics into their obvious place of beingness from seeming nothing -- the force that animates matter, creates galaxies and explodes big bangs.
The Yoga of Eating
From morning until nightfall and sometimes beyond, the practice of eating can either be done consciously or unconsciously. When done without awareness, eating can contribute to symptoms of dis-ease in the body, but if approached with care and conscious attention, eating can be yet another way to practice yoga.
In Sanskrit, the word mantra refers to the repetition of a certain sound or phrase and is a deeply healing, life-altering practice. Mantra is easy to incorporate for both personal-empowerment and general health, due to its simplicity and accessibility to all. Through the act of merely repeating certain sounds aloud, or to oneself, the vibration of the cellular structure of the body is altered in such a way that health can be realized, greater prosperity can be known, and general well-being can be integrated into one's being.
How does this work?
I have a confession to make: I want everything to be easy. I’m pretty sure I’m not alone in this. I think we all want a life of ease and comfort, but I had a conversation recently that irrevocably shifted my perspective.