Selfcare Tips Archive

Pinkeye
Self-Care for Sunburn
Self-Care for Post Flu
Ayurvedic Self-Care for Fall
Health Tips for Spring
Herbal Teas for Flu
Ayurvedic Approaches to West Nile Virus
Brown Recluse Bites, Hornet Stings and Other Bites and Stings
Ayurvedic Selfcare for Sunstroke
Aches and Pains

1. Place a drop of castor oil in each eye morning and night. It may sting initially but don’t worry, It will soothe your eye. Be sure to use Palma Christi or Home Health hexane free castor oil as other types of castor oil from the drugstore may harm your eye due to the content of hexane. This remedy is especially effective for eye irritation due to allergies or dust, though it is also useful in infectious pinkeye.
   
2. Make a tea from Barberry root (berberis) or Oregon Grape root. (mahonia). Use 1 tsp of dried herb to 1 cup of distilled water, bring to the boil, simmer for 10 minutes and strain thoroughly. Cool to room temperature and add a third to a half teaspoon of natural sea salt or Real Salt. Bathe your eyes using an eyecup once daily. This is especially effective for infective pinkeye although it can also be useful in allergic irritation of the eye.
   
3. For nursing mothers: Squeeze some breast milk into your baby’s eye if the eyes are red or irritated.

Self-Care for Sunburn

According to Ayurveda, sunbathing is good for health. However, it is best to bathe in the morning before 10 a.m. to get the best benefit from the sun’s rays.

If you must go out in the sun later than this, it is traditional to apply some Brahmi coconut oil, available from Banyan Botanicals (www.banyanbotanicals.com). You can also make your own medicated sun oil. Use 4 tablespoons each of Sandalwood, Manjista, neem and Shatavari. Add 4 cups of water and cook the water down to a cup. Add a cup of coconut oil and slowly cook until all the water has evaporated.
Keep your head covered and be especially careful if you have a bald spot.

If you get burned, cucumber is a great remedy. Blend the cucumber and apply the pulp to the burned area. The cool astringency of cucumber will heal all but the worst burns. Aloe Vera is another well known burn remedy that comes from Ayurvedic tradition.

For sun-damaged skin, you can make a medicated ghee (vegans can use coconut oil). Use 4 tablespoons each of Red Sandalwood, Manjista, neem and turmeric. Add 4 cups of water and cook the water down to a cup. Add a cp of ghee and slowly cook until all the water has evaporated. This medicated ghee can be applied to sun-damaged skin. If the damage does not clear up, see a dermatologist.

During the post-flu period, you may fee listless, depressed, ragged and having low energy. At this time it is good to take rejuvenative herbs to rebuild the energy of the respiratory and nervous systems. Ayurveda recommends a preparation called Chyavanprash at this time. Take a teaspoonful of Chyavanprash in the morning on an empty stomach and another teaspoon in the afternoon, around 3pm, right at the time when you feel like eating cookies or chocolate. If you tolerate milk, it can be good to drink a cup of cow’s milk twenty minutes after taking the Chyavanprash. If you do not take cows milk, you may take a non-dairy almond drink.

Non-dairy almond drink:
Soak 10 raw almonds in 1-cup pure water overnight.
In the morning, drain off the water. Rub the skins off the almonds.
Soak 20 raisins in 1-cup pure water overnight or several hours
Pour the raisins and their soaking water in the blender with the drained & peeled almonds and add:
1 tablespoon organic rose petals (optional- rejuvenative),
1 tsp. ghee (rejuvenative),
1/32 tsp. saffron (increases digestion & rejuvenative),
1/8 tsp. ground cardamom (increases digestion),
Pinch of black pepper (helps control kapha)
Blend until smooth.

Chyavanprash is frequently available in Indian grocery stores, however, the quality is questionable and it is typically packaged in plastic. For a high quality organic Chyavanprash packaged in glass see www.banyanbotanicals.com.

To rejuvenate both your lungs and your nervous system, drink tulsi ginger tea, available from www.omorganics.com and many natural food stores.

If depression is a significant feature of your post-flu experience, drink Brahmi tea. Steep 1tsp. Brahmi in boiling water for 10 minutes, strain well, add honey and drink 3 times daily, between meals. Do not drink brahmi at bedtime unless you add milk or almond milk, otherwise the Brahmi will create alertness. Brahmi is available from www.banyanbotanicals.com or www.omorganics.com.

Fall is the time of equinoctial gales, a season of wind, movement and change. The leaves on the deciduous trees dry up and blow away and the weather becomes colder, with clear frosty air and hardening of the soil. All these qualities of nature evoke the airy humor, the vata dosha, as this combination of the elements of Space and Air is known in Ayurveda. Just like the autumn, vata is mobile, changeable, dry, cold, clear, hard and rough.

Known as the vata season, fall is a time when aches and pains, restlessness, dry skin, chapped lips, chills and insomnia tend to flare up. Fall is also the season which sets the tone for our winter health. If we take care of ourselves in fall, we can look forward to a healthy winter, whereas self neglect or poor lifestyle habits in fall can lead to winter problems such as depression, arthritis, colds and flu.

Self-care has two facets, the ‘Do’s ’and the ‘Don’ts’. Although the ‘Don’ts’ may seem restrictive or negative, they actually constitute the easy way out in self-care. The

‘Do’s’ take time, they require us, literally to do something. The ‘Don’ts’ are great ways to protect our health while spending less time and money than we were devoting to our unwholesome habits. In fall we are well advised to cut back on foods and lifestyle choices that are mobile, changeable, dry, cold, and so on. For example, most of us are less attracted to cold sodas in fall than in summer. Fall is a great time to reduce our travel, especially by air and to stay put and nurture ourselves. Cut back on cell phone chatter and computer games and curl up with a good book instead.

Smoking dries out and irritates our respiratory system as well as setting us up for winter bronchitis. To create a healthier winter, cut back or, ideally, quit smoking. This can be done using an Ayurvedic smoking mix (available at the Boulder Coop Market). Mix organic tobacco and smoking mix and gradually reduce the amount of tobacco you use. The smoking mix is healing for your lungs and sinuses. Coffee is another vata provoking substance, so fall is a great time to get off coffee and on to a nurturing, warming drink such as Tulsi-ginger tea, available from most natural foods markets.

Just at the qualities that are the same as vata will exacerbate the problematic aspect of fall, qualities opposite to those of vata will help you enjoy the fall season at its best. The ‘Do’s’ of fall invoke properties such as warm, moist, oily, heavy, smooth and stable. Instead of ice cold drinks, enjoy warm teas like ginger tea, a great remedy for vata complaints like gas, bloating and aches and pains. Start your day with a bowl of hot oatmeal with cardamom and cinnamon, rather than Cornflakes and cold milk. In place of rice cakes, popcorn, salad and other dry, cold foods, look to the fall harvest for the ideal foods for the season—winter squash soup, baked yam, root vegetables like carrots and beets. Apples are dry, cold and windy, just like vata, yet when stewed with cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and some raw sugar they make an ideal fall dish, helping to overcome vata constipation. Sesame seeds are excellent for vata, so sesame candies with raw sugar are a good treat for this time of year.

External oiling is also helpful at this season. The ideal oil for vata is sesame oil. Massage yourself with sesame oil before a hot shower and allow the hot water to drive the oil to deeper layers of your skin. However, if you are the type of person who dislikes heat and easily develops rashes and skin reactions, your body type may be pitta, the fiery humor. In that case sunflower oil is a wiser choice for your self-massage than sesame oil. If aches and pains trouble you, use castor oil for self-massage and follow this with a bath with one third cup dry ginger powder and one third cup baking soda in the tub. The anti-inflammatory properties of both castor oil and ginger will bring you relief.

Fall is a critical time for self-care, as the way you nurture yourself in fall will determine how you fare in flu season and throughout the winter. The older you are, the more important a good fall self-care plan is. Traditionally, fall is an ideal time to do pancha karma, an Ayurvedic cleanse involving, oiling, sweating and herbal colon therapy. This year, resolve to get in tune with the seasons and give your body a good fall!

• Oiling must be done on an empty stomach (at least 3 hrs after last meal), so for most people the morning is the best time.
• Oil from head to foot, with most attention to head and feet. Continue at least 1/2 hour
• Warm the oil by putting a small plastic squeeze bottle of it in a sink or bowl of hot water for several minutes.
• Be sure to have old towels available to sit on and for under your feet (you will also need old towels for drying yourself after the sweating.
• Let the oil soak in a few minutes while you prepare your bath. Be sure not to become chilled at any time.

• 1/3 cup each of dried ginger & baking soda for each bathtubful of tolerable hot water (avoid excessive heat.)
• Be sure the bathroom is warm. Avoid getting chilled at any time.
• Have extra “oil” towels available.
• Soak after oiling and then get out when begin to sweat.
• Cover with towels and continue to sweat in the warm bathroom until you are beginning to cool down.

• Don’t eat before sweating.
• Be careful of your slipperiness after the oil massageBdon’t slip & fall!!
• Do not overheat in any of the methods, you should just be breaking a mild sweat over your whole body, not getting red. Sweating may start at the top of your body and work its way down. Be sure the bottom is sweating also.
• After sweating be careful not to get chilled – take a shower (again, careful not to slip on oil in tub!!). One tip to remove excess oil from hair—put shampoo on hair before wetting hair in final shower. You may need to suds more than once. OR just don’t worry about oily hair right now. Leaving on a light coating of the oil won’t be a problem for the days of the treatment .Better not to use soap on the skin at this time.
• Be sure that you’re not getting dehydrated from the sweating – drink plenty of Fluid Replacement Tea. Recipe: 1 quart of filtered or spring water; 1/4 cup Mint; 1/6 cup Gotu Kola/ Brahmi; 1/4 tsp salt; 1 small squeeze lime
• Carefully clean the bathroom and tub after oiling and sweating to avoid slipping.
• Be sure oily towels are well washed in plenty of detergent & hot water before placing them in a dryer. There can be a danger of fire from build up of oil in towels or dryer.

  return to top

Herbal Teas for Flu
When you have flu, it is important to fast while you have a fever. If you don’t fast, the body will not be able to burn toxins and you will get additional problems.While fasting, you can drink some of the following tasty and healing teas. These teas can be taken 3-4 times daily.

Vata Teas
Use these if you are Vata or if you are cold, shivery and dry.
1/2 tsp ajwain
1 tsp fresh ginger, grated
Simmer 5 minutes in boiling water
Strain and drink with a little sesame oil.

or 1 tsp tulsi
1 tsp fresh ginger
1/2 tsp liquorice root powder
Simmer 5 minutes in boiling water
Strain and drink.

or 1tsp fresh ginger
1 tsp fresh or dried turmeric
Simmer 5 minutes in boiling water
Strain and drink.

Pitta Teas
Use if you have a high fever, sore throat, and burning eyes.
1 tsp coriander
1 tsp sandalwood
1 tsp rose
steep 10 minutes in boiling water
Strain and drink lukewarm for a high fever.

or 1 tsp fresh ginger
1 tsp fresh or dried turmeric
1 tsp liquorice root powder
Simmer 5 minutes in boiling water
Strain and drink,especially for a sore throat.

Kapha Teas
Use if you have a low fever and a lot of thick, sticky phlegm.
1 tsp dry ginger
1 tsp tulsi
1pinch black pepper
Simmer 5 minutes in boiling water
Strain and drink.

or 1tsp dry ginger
1 tsp turmeric
1“ piece of osha root
Simmer 10 minutes in boiling water
Strain and drink.

Sore throats
In the morning, gargle some warm water with salt and turmeric. Turmeric is both antiviral and antibacterial and has been proven to be equally
effective as penicillin for strep throat.

After gargling, drink liquorice, turmeric and ginger tea. Use 1 tsp of fresh ginger, 1 tsp turmeric (fresh or dried), 1 tsp liquorice per cup of water, and simmer for 5 minutes. Strain and drink three or four times daily.

CAUTION: Do not use liquorice if you have high blood pressure. Do not use turmeric if you are pregnant (you can still do the gargle but don't drink turmeric in the tea) If your sore throat persists or is accompanied by high fever, consult your healthcare provider.

return to top

Fasting – In the event of a fever, it is essential to fast. Eating when you have fever willworsen the situation and cause toxins to build up.For up to three days, you will be fine with only water or herbal teas. For a longer fever, take juices (eg. carrot juice, diluted concord grape or pomegranate juice).

After fever wait for your appetite to return. Then begin eating barley soup. Drink ginger tea and take bitter herbs eg gentian, burdock or Mahasudarshan {available at the Boulder Co-op}

Herbs – Turmeric is an important antiviral herb.Use either fresh turmeric root or Frontier organic dried turmeric.Other antiviral herbs in the Ayurvedic Materia Medica are neem, myrrh and jasmine.Ginger is always valuable in fevers and Brahmi is helpful in protecting the brain and meninges.

Formulas
Herbal tea for vata
1 tsp fresh ginger root, grated
1 tsp turmeric root{fresh or dried}
1/2 tsp liquorice root powder
1/4 tsp myrrh
1/2 tsp brahmi
2 cups water
Steep 10 minutes in boiling water, strain and drink.
Use this formula if you tend to be thin, nervous, dry and constipated.

Herbal tea for pitta
1 tsp fresh ginger root, grated
1 tsp turmeric root, fresh or dried
1/2 tsp liquorice root powder
1/4 tsp neem leaf powder
1/2 tsp Brahmi
2 cups water
Steep 10 minutes in boiling water, strain and drink.
Use this formula if you tend to have reddish skin, irritability, soft stools and an ambitious, organized nature.

Herbal tea for kapha
1 tsp cut and sifted dry ginger
1 tsp turmeric root, fresh or dried
1/2 tsp liquorice root powder
1/4 tsp neem leaf powder
1/2 tsp brahmi
2 cups water
Steep 10 minutes in boiling water, strain and drink.
Use this tea if you tend to be large-framed, overweight and prone to mucusy conditions.

For a fever over 100 dg F add 1/2 tsp jasmine flowers to your formula. All the herbs can be obtained at Boulder Co-op Market, or from Banyan Botanicals (www.banyantrading.com)If you follow these simple guidelines, all should go well. If you develop high fever, severe headaches or other alarming symptoms, seek medical advice.

return to top

As soon as you get bitten, apply a paste of clay and turmeric to the bite. Although yellow Ganges mud is the traditional remedy, Bentonite clay is also effective. Ordinary turmeric powder from the Indian grocery or supermarket is better than nothing, but has been stripped of many of its curcumins (active ingredients). Either use Frontier organic turmeric powder from your local co-op or natural foods store, or buy whole dried turmeric from the Indian grocery store and powder it with a mortar and pestle. Better still, use grated or pulped fresh turmeric root, available at Whole Foods or at good Indian grocery stores. Apply the poultice twice a day until your bite is completely healed. Turmeric will stain your skin yellow, but in a few days it will wear off.

What to do if you don’t start the remedy right away
In this case, your bite may have become severe, with swelling or ulceration. If any of your skin looks black, GO TO THE HOSPITAL. Gangrene can result from these bites. If no blackening has developed, apply the paste as above two or three times daily. Also drink turmeric tea made from 2 tsp. of grated fresh turmeric per cup of water or 1 tsp. Frontier organic or freshly grated turmeric powder per cup. Drink this tea three times daily. My friend juiced fresh turmeric and drank the juice three times daily, using a straw to avoid staining his teeth yellow. You should see a steady improvement every time you apply the poultice. If your bite continues to get worse, or stays the same, without improving, go to the hospital. CAUTION!! If you are pregnant, DO NOT drink turmeric tea.

Bee stings
The above selfcare remedy works well with bee stings. Be sure to drink the turmeric tea as well as using the poultice.

Wasp and hornet stings
I have used this remedy successfully for a terrible hornet sting. Again, it is important to drink the tea as well as apply the poultice, if you have a severe sting.

Ant bite
You can use the same poultice effectively on ant bites. If you have no clay available, a simple paste of turmeric and water will really help the pain, redness and swelling.

Black Widow Spider bite
If you apply the clay and turmeric poultice immediately after you are bitten by the spider, it will draw out some of the poison, causing you to have a less severe systemic reaction to the bite. I have been bitten, and had the experience!

ALWAYS keep some medicinal turmeric on hand, both at home and in your backpacking First Aid kit.

return to top

For mild sunstroke – also known as “a touch of sun” – drink plenty of Rehydration Tea recipe: 1 quart of filtered or spring water, 1/4 cup Mint, 1/6 cup Gotu Kola/ Brahmi, 1/4 tsp salt, 1 small squeeze lime.

Take 2 tablespoons of Aloe Vera gel three times daily. Lily of the Desert is a good brand.

Apply sandalwood oil to the temples and navel.

If you have a headache, lie down in a room with the shades drawn and place a cool cloth on your forehead.

Prevention is better than cure. Wear a straw hat, drink plenty of room temperature water and cool mint tea. If you must do physical labor on hot days, try to start early and take a long lunch break.

return to top

Fall is vata season and is a time when aches and pains can become a problem. To ease these, try a weekly self-massage with castor oil, using the cold-pressed castor oil from your natural foods market or coop. After your self-massage, take a ginger bath. Put 1/3 cup dry ginger powder and 1/3 cup baking soda in the tub and soak as long as is comfortable for you. Then rest under some blankets in a warm room. The ginger in the tub will induce sweating. Oiling and sweating will calm vata, while both the ginger and the castor oil are anti-inflammatory and help relieve aching, sore muscles and joints.

This can be done weekly during the fall season.

return to top