Imagine waking up early to the sounds of Mayan women singing while they make tortillas from scratch… The smells of copal resin incense and cedar wood smoke waft through the open window of your accommodation. You also hear birds chirping nearby and children playing in the distance. After a week of 70s-and-sunny perfect weather, you understand why Guatemala is nicknamed “the land of eternal spring.” Bringing a hand to your heart, you breathe in deeply and exhale a sigh of deep gratitude.

The Sanskrit word for oil is sneha, which also translates as “love” or “affection.” So when we massage the body with warm oil, we are coating it in a layer of our affection through the healing power of touch and oil. This can aid in soothing everything from sore muscles to anxiety, improving sleep, and cultivating more self-love and body acceptance. Regular practice of abhyanga, even once or twice per week, will bring a remarkable sense of peace and calm into your life. But don’t just take my word for it - try it yourself using the guide below, and see how you feel!

You may have heard of ghee being used in Indian cooking, or seen it on a shelf at the health food store. Ghee is "clarified butter," ideally made with cultured butter from grass-fed cows, which has been boiled down and had the water and milk solids removed, leaving only pure butter oil. This shelf-stable "liquid gold" has been revered in Ayurvedic cooking and medicine for centuries.

You folks seemed to really resonate with my last share like this. I’m happy that it seems like maybe sharing my experience helps you understand yourself better, or helps you to understand some people in your life that you love. I received multiple private messages in addition to the public comments on the post. It means a lot, because I never had a role model like me growing up, and that’s why I do what I do. So I want to share a bit more with you about my personal life experiences.

This post is meant to share a little bit more about my experience. When I was about 12 years old, I remember a lot of confusing drama going down with my friend group. It involved the boy I liked in the 7th grade and the boy I liked in the 8th grade, who were best friends, as well as several of our female friends. At some point in the 7th grade, a lot of us would half-joke, half-admit to being "bisexual" and then immediately deny it.

Kitchari (kit-cha-ree) is a staple dish used therapeutically in Ayurveda for healing and cleansing the body, mind, and spirit. While kitchari is highly customizable to suit the practitioner’s needs and the season of the year, each variation of kitchari includes a combination of high-quality cooked grains (typically basmati rice), legumes (such as split mung beans or another kind of dal), ghee (clarified butter), and spices.

Ahh, cacao! Otherwise known as pure, raw chocolate! Its scientific name is theobroma cacao, meaning "food of the Gods."