Allergy Season

It's heeeeeeere! New growth. Pollen. Ragweed. Blooming trees. Yellow dust everywhere. Allergies!! As the season becomes consistently warm, we are offered this best possible physical challenge, right? Maybe not the best.... I'm not saying that Ayurveda can cure allergies but I suspect that it can help alleviate the intensity of the season. Here are a couple of ideas:

• Keep your sinuses clean! Neti pot or nasal rinse in the mornings and evenings, more if you've spent a good deal of time outside on a windy day. Keep your sinuses clean of irritating debris. When sinuses are dirty, the body responds with an increase of mucus production to help protect and clean the area. Lots of this leads to congestion. Keep it clean.
• Keep your sinuses lubed up! Nasya oil or a simple sesame oil on the inside of your nostrils (applied after the nasal rinse) is a great way to keep you nasal cavity moisturized which helps to keep mucus production in check. Here's a link to a really lovely oil blend from Joyful Belly.
• Detox your liver. Sounds weird, right? It's actually fairly simple. Think more beets and bitter greens, less caffeine, alcohol, and fats. Also, turmeric with fresh black pepper are great liver helpers. 
• Local, RAW honey! In Ayurveda, honey is "fat scraping" and "mucus busting". Mix it with turmeric and black pepper for a springtime immunity booster or mix it with cardamom for massive (but gentle) mucus busting. Be sure to keep it at room temp or a bit above when you're working with it- heated honey can become toxic to the body.
• Enjoy your ability to breathe! Take a moment each day to feel your breath move through your body. If you want to use essential oils to make the process that much more enjoyable, then GO FOR IT! One of my most favorite springtime blends is lavender, lemon, and a mint oil. It's so bright and fresh and will fill your senses with gratitude and beauty. Isn't that what spring is all about?!
• Open your heart. Period. Do what it takes to be open to people, ideas, possibilities- anything. Open windows, open heart, right?

​Cheers to you feeling amazing this month! xo

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