8 Steps to Ageing Gracefully

Recommendations for enhancing spiritual health and wellbeing.

. Pay attention to your breath. Many cultures identify breath with spirit, seeing the breath cycle as the movement of spirit in the physical body.
. Connect with nature. You can do this by walking or sitting in a natural setting. Allow yourself to slow down, drop your usual routines, and just absorbs the influence of the place.
. Make a list of people in your life in whose company you feel more alive, happy, and optimistic. Our spiritual selves resonates with others, and that connection is a healing.
. Bring flowers into your home and enjoy their beauty.
. Listen to music that you find uplifting.
. Admire a work of art that raises your spirits.
. Practice forgiveness
. Do some sort of service work. Give some of your time and energy to help others.
From "Healthy Aging" by Andrew Weil.

Indian Mango Pickle

Mango
Pickle:

Ingredients:
25 large raw mangoes; 

250 grams of garlic, 

250 grams of ginger, 

250 grams pure red chilly powder, 

500 grams of Salt, 

750 grams of Til oil, (sesame)

2 T spoons mustard seeds, 

1 T spoons methi seeds, 

½ T spoon asafetida.



Method:

Cut mangoes , into 10 piece each. Wipe
the mango pieces dry. Peel garlic and ginger. Grind them
separately into fine paste. Mix the chilly powder and salt
in a bowl. Add garlic and ginger pastes and mix well. Make
a well in the center. Heat oil. Add mustard seeds, methi
seeds and asafetida. Pour this into the well in the chilly
powder mixture. Let it cool. Put a handful of mangoes into
the masala. Mix them in it, lift out and pack into pickle
jar. Continue doing this till all the pieces are covered
with masala and packed. Make the jar airtight and store.
This pickle lasts for one year.

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10 Reasons to Eat Coconut

1.Ayurveda considers coconut a natural stress-buster.
2.Combined with spices like cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, cloves, cumin, coriander, and turmeric, coconut is not only delicious and versatile, but also heals the digestive system and promotes better metabolism.
3. The juice of tender coconut has been billed "the world's safest natural soft drink" for being a nutritious thirst-quencher.
4.Coconut has kapha keshya properties -- that is, it improves hair quality. In Southern India, women apply coconut oil to their hair every day-which gives them long, lustrous locks.
5. Coconut is good for curing stomach disorders related to aggravation of pitta dosha.
6. Due to its soma-enhancing or nurturing value, coconut heals hot flashes and restores emotional stability in menopausal women.
7. Coconut improves the complexion. You can make coconut-based skin packs at home.
8.Coconut is traditionally considered a wound healer, especially effective at preventing the formation of scars if applied topically.
9.There is a word called karshan meaning "that which supports the body to stay slim by enhancing fat metabolism." Recent research suggests that coconut is good for burning fat and lowering cholesterol- and it is clearly written in ayurveda that the oil has karshan properties.
10. Coconut helps detoxify and flush toxins out of the body.

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Healthy Hummus

Vata- Easier to digest the whole chickpeas
Pitta and Kapha- this dish is well suited

Healthy Hummus Recipe
250g cooked chickpea
2-3 tbsp vegetable oil
1.5 tbsp water
1 tsp ground cumin
2 small clove of garlic, peeled
1.5-2 tsp tahini(sesame seed paste)
2.5-3 tbsp fresh lemon juice
Salt and fresh ground black pepper

Blend all the ingredients together to make a fine paste. Season to taste.
This is a great dish for Kapha and Pitta,  and even vata as the pured chickpeas are digestible.  

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Spice your life- Fennel

In ayurveda, fennel is regarded as one of the most sattvic
spices. It pacifies Vata and Pitta, and is helpful for digestion
for Kapha in small quantities.
Fennel is a sweet tasting cooling spice.
This spice is wonderful for enhancing the digestive
agni(fire). Eating fennel seeds after a meal helps
digestion and freshens the breath. Fennel is also helpful for
facilitating cleansing.
Fennel combines well with other ayurvedic spices such as cumin, coriander, turmeric, clove, and cardamom.
Fennel seeds can be sautéed in ghee and added to prepared dishes
at the end. Sautéing in ghee releases the rich aroma and
flavor of fennel, and ghee also works as a carrier to help transport
the therapeutic benefit of the spice to the cells and tissues
of the body.

Fennel Tea is soothing for the stomach and digestive system.