Saturday, March 30, 2013

Are you enjoying a festive season full of peace, happiness & golden health?

...or maybe you are endulging in too much food and too much chocolate. I certainly did last night in the company of my dear family. Remember it's all about balance. If you are starting to feel that you have been indulging too much, the best thing is to call on your friends..... 

sometimes it might be hard to decide who is your friend. 
I always trust the advice from people who have helped me in the past. 

My dear Ayurvedic practitioner Dipika Delmenico have helped me when I was feeling down and out. She has recommended me to eat mung beans for creating balance in festive times. The company she is connected to is Amrita Spice Co. The following advice is from a Newsletter dated 2002 where it says that mungbeans are light and easy to digest and the best thing is that they eliminate toxins from your body. It is quite clear that the human body accumulates all kinds of toxins from the rich foods and the lifestyle we live. Cook a mungbean soup and have some before or after heavy meals to help your body recover. Here is a recipe on a Mungbean soup from their website:

Mungbean soup
Serves: 4
Ingredients:

1 Cup green mung beans - soaked overnight
2 Cup water + 1 tsk salt- to cook beans in pressure cooker
2 Cup water - to achieve the soup
1 msk sunflower oil
½ tskmustard seeds
¼ tsk hing - Asefoetida
1 bay leaf
½ tsk tumeric
1 tsk mixed Cumin and Coriander Powder
1½ tsk ginger - chopped
½ tsk garlic - chopped
2 tsk salt
1½ tsk lemon juice
1 tsk raw sugar cane
1 pinch garam masala powder
Preparation Time: 45 minutes

METHOD OF PREPARATION:


1) Soak the mung beans overnight in water.
2) Clean and finely grind ginger and garlic
3) Drain the mung beans, wash them two times and cook in a pressure cooker with the indicated amount of water until tender. It takes around 25 minutes, according to your pressure cooker. The beans have to be broken.
4) Heat the oil in large deep saucepan and add mustard seeds. When mustard seeds pop, add hing and bay leaf. Mix well.
5) Place the cooked beans - including the cooked water plus fresh water - into the saucepan.
6) Bring to a boil and add all remaining spices. Simmer the mung beans for a few minutes more.
Here are some other general tips for keeping well during festive times:

  • Fill your wine glass with an organic purple grape juice instead of an alcoholic beverage
  • Sip on hot water after meals to aid digestion
  • Chew on 1/2 tsp roasted fennel seeds if you have overeaten

Enjoy your Easter holidays!





Friday, March 22, 2013

Stay forever young!

I am now going to write in Swedish as I currently am living with my mother in my home country.

I suggest you use Google translator if you want it in English:

Så du vill leva för evigt!

Ja, vem vill inte det. Jag har lyckats bevara min kropp och framförallt mitt ansikte med speciella hjälpmedel som jag vill dela med mej av.

Det började med att jag läste en bok av David Crow som hette In Search of the Medicine Buddha. En riktigt bra bok som jag varmt rekommenderar. I alla fall så brukar jag alltid analysera och ta reda saker om de författare som jag läser. Det var då som jag hittade Floracopeia som är ett miljövänligt internationellt företag som säljer bland annat essentiella oljor. Jag var helt fascinerad och köpte bland annat ett paket med hudvårdsprodukter som beskrevs så här på deras hemsida:


"Bring the ancient skin care secrets of Ayurveda to life with the Floracopeia Ayurvedic Skin Care Line. This Complete Line is formulated by Dr. John Doulliard, with the wisdom of Ayurveda, to promote true, radiant beauty. Each product works in conjunction to cleanse, nourish, repair and smooth skin. Expect to see noticeable results within 30 days of dedicated use!"

Jag har nu använt hudprodukterna i flera månader och är överförtjust med resultatet. Enda nackdelen är att jag inte kan köpa mera oljor eftersom jag inte har några inkomster för tillfället. Men vem behöver inkomster - inte jag i alla fall  nu när jag planerar att bli nunna för ett tag. Kommer att göra mej gott med lite disciplin. Jag har alltid haft svårt att följa regler och behöver någon som sätter upp gränser för mej.

Jo, det var ju en sak till. Om det är första gången du köper någonting på websidan www.floracopeia.com så kan du använda min rabattkod 5966 så får du 25% rabatt på ditt inköp.

Loka Samasta Sukhino Bahvantu

Elisabet sittande på buss stationen i Skara och uppdaterande min blog

Sunday, March 10, 2013

Helpful tools in your meditation practice!

Mindfulness meditation is definitely the latest trend in todays busy life schedule. I have some special tools that help me in my spiritual practice. Below is a section copied from www.floracopeia's blog, (http://www.floracopeia.com/blog/entry/top-8-essential-oils-for-meditation-)

Essential Oils and Natural Incense Resins are powerful tools for our meditation and spiritual practices. In addition to acting on the physical body to induce states of calm, essential oils and resins help still the mind so we can access higher experiences in our meditations and daily life. This opens the door for us to be able to create what we truly desire in our lives. Below is a list of the Top 8 Floracopeia Essential Oils for Mediation.



palo_santo_shavings

Palo Santo- Palo Santo translates to “holy wood” and comes to us from Ecuador where it is used for meditation, general wellbeing and powerful healing. Palo Santo essential oil can be used for anointing or combined into a blend like Floracopeia’s Spirit Blend. Palo Santo wood chips or Palo Santo wood shavings can be burned as part of a sacred ritual fire. The book Sacred Smoke: The Magic and Medicine of Palo Santo by David Crow explores the amazing spiritual properties of Palo Santo essential oil and Palo Santo wood.

FrankincenseFrankincense incense resin has long been a part of sacred rites and rituals for both its health benefits and ability to elevate the mind towards spiritual pursuits. One drop of Frankincense essential oil is said to expand the aura and the incense resin uplifts the spirit and purifies your mediation space. To read an article about Frankincense click here.

Sandalwood- Sandalwood incense is burned in temples around the world for its meditative properties. Its smell is soothing, soft and pleasant. When incorporated into a meditation practice sandalwood essential oil can bring peace of mind and quiet mental chatter.

Rose- Rose is the oil for all yogis and meditators to utilize in their practice. Rose essential oil opens the heart to deepen compassion and love. Rose attar is the beautiful combination of sandalwood and rose which maximizes the benefits of both oils and offers a lasting aromatic memory of your meditation practice. Click Here to read more about Rose.

Helichrysum- Helichrysum translates from Greek to “gold sun”. This solar oil opens our hearts to release old traumas and transmute them through our spiritual practice.Helichrysum essential oil is a powerful healing oil on the physical level and has been used to treat wounds and injury. On a spiritual level Helichrysum has been used by healers and shamans to induce visions and trance states to provide healing to the soul and psyche.

Agarwood- Agarwood is known as the “wishful filling gem” and as such it is used in manifestation incense and for meditation. Agarwood essential oil can be used for anointing before or during meditation and agarwood chips can be burned for incense during the mediation practice.

Lotus Attar- The Lotus symbolizes enlightment, purity and spiritual growth. The beautiful lotus blossom is supported by its roots deep within the muck of earth and water. In transcendence, the Lotus flower emerges from the world of mater and blooms as a symbol of our own spiritual quest. Blue Lotus attar and White Lotus attars are the combination of Lotus with Sandalwood. Both are powerful tools for meditation and offer us an otherworldly fragrance.

Champa Attar- Champa Flowers adorn temples in India and their heavenly fragrance elevates the air around them. Champa attar- the distillation of Champa Flowers into Sandalwood essential Oil, is a pure, natural perfume that is delightful to wear all day to hold you in the quite, calm space cultivated during meditation.

Anointing is a wonderful practice to prepare for meditation. The application on any of the oils above to heart, third eye point and crown acts as a powerful entry point for your meditation practice.

I buy my meditation essential oils from www.floracopeia.com.

This is a company David Crow started up which is sustainable and I believe the oils are of the highest quality. 

My first encounter with David Crow was when I read his book 'In Search of the Medicine Buddha' . He has now published a new book 'Magic Smoke - The Magic and Medicine of Palo Sant'. It looks really good but I have not had time to read it yet. But I have tried the Palo Santo oil and I love it.

 If you now feel a need to buy some essential oils you get 25% off your first purchase by putting in the code 5966.

May you be well.
May you be happy.
May you realise the bright star that you are.

Loka Samastha Sukhino Bhavanthu

Never give up!

 It doesn't matter how many times you fall. What matters is how many times you stand up, shake it off, and move forward . - Unknown

A short video recorded in February 2013 on the beach in Torquay, Australia as an illustration to Dalai Lama's quote 'Never ever give up'