Cooling body and mind in a hot summer
Summer is here! and is going to be a hot one! Wondering if there is a way to stay cool or refresh quickly? there is…
Ayurveda teach us how to stay in balance in any season of the year by changing our diet and lifestyle.So I am going to get very particular in this post about using herbs for bringing down the heat in the body and the mind!
I chose herbs because they are more powerful than food to achieve a desire effect. Also, because they made tasty drinks without any sugar!
The most popular ways to prepare herbs are infusions. Many of us are familiar with hot infusions but not so much with cold infusions.
In Mexico, they made agua de jamaica which is a version of iced tea but using hibiscus. I was in a restaurant when they were making it the tea with hot water and I said to them you do not need to do that… they didn’t believe me so I asked for a glass with water and I throw a bit of hibiscus in it after a few minutes they were surprised to see the water changing into a deep red.
What is a cold infusion?
An infusion made by simply letting herbs stand in cold or room temperature water. This requires that you steep it for a lot longer than a hot infusion. I recommend a minimum of two hours. Best is to leave it over night.
Cold infusions are the best way to prepare herbs with cooling energy or refrigerant properties. Ayurveda recommends them to treat imbalances of high Pitta like skin hypersensitivities, inflammatory and infectious diseases, and problems with the liver.
A couple of years ago, I started making hibiscus cold infusions during a long stay in Playa del Carmen to bear the intense heat. After my return in Toronto, I started to sale my herbal potions but a good friend of mine wouldn’t even try them because he doesn’t drink anything warm. So I started to experiment with herbal blends for cold infusions and he was my taster. Thanks to him Cooling beauty came to live.
Which herbs have cooling energy?
Herbs that lend themselves well for cold infusions are hibiscus, mint, rose, chrysanthemum, jasmine, and sandalwood. All these herbs have a natural sweet taste so you don’t need to add any sugar.
Combinations of herbs such as my Cooling beauty and Chilling beauty herbal potions can be a powerful way to refresh and stay cool.Beside helping you to bring body heat down, herbs also help to simmer down fiery emotions in your mind.
Have you find that you get angry and frustrated more easily when is very hot? well is because during the summer the ruling dosha is Pitta and it gets aggravated in all of us when we do not eat, sleep, work, or rest adequately for the summer. This imbalance makes more likely the display of fiery emotions like anger, envy, frustration, hate, jealousy, judgmental, and lack of discernment.
For more information about Ayurveda and its guidelines for the summer, see The ayurvedic lowdown on summer.