4 Cinnamon Stick Recipes for Fall
Starwest Botanicals
If you have questions about how to use cinnamon sticks, you are definitely not alone! Before we dive into these delicious fall recipes, let’s explore a few more common questions about what to do with cinnamon sticks.
By Molly McConnell
Clove Recipes & Remedies
Starwest Botanicals
If you primarily associate clove with pumpkin spiced lattes, I’m thrilled to report that there is a whole world of untapped recipes and remedies that feature clove in subtle and surprising ways. Below are several easy ways to bring more clove into your meals, beverages and body care this season!
By Molly McConnell
Benefits of Clove
Starwest Botanicals
Clove is a potent spice with many potential benefits. It is commonly used to help aid sluggish digestion, promote metabolism of sugars, relieve stagnation throughout the body, while also supporting oral health and comfort. It is said to bring clarity and invigoration.
By Molly McConnell
Sea Moss Recipes for Skin & Hair
Starwest Botanicals
Sea moss, also known as red algae, is a vegan, gluten-free source of many vitamins and minerals (most notably Vitamin B2, vitamin A, iodine, potassium, calcium, magnesium, and zinc).
By Molly McConnell
3 Sea Moss Drink Recipes
Starwest Botanicals
With its vast healing potential, sea moss makes an excellent caffeine-free tea. There are 102 trace minerals that are essential for proper function and development in the body and sea moss contains 92 of them!
By Molly McConnell
The Potential Skin Rejuvenating Benefits of Rose
Starwest Botanicals
In addition to making a comeback through the local herbalism and skin care movements, natural rose has been traditionally used in Ayurvedic medicine for thousands of years. In fact, it is one of the oldest beauty secrets known to humankind.
By Molly McConnell
The Joy of Cardamom
Starwest Botanicals
At some point over the last few years, I became absolutely obsessed with cardamom. Through my infatuation, I have found a way to weave it into just about everything… Have you ever had a chocolate chip cardamom cookie? Or sprinkled it on your toast? How about a cardamom rose latte?
By Molly McConnell
How to Soothe Anxiousness with the Sour Taste
Cooking with Cardamom
Startwest Botanicals
When cooking lentils, beans and even soups, you can toss a whole cardamom pod directly into the pot. This method is similar to how you would add a bay leaf for extra flavor. As the cardamom pod simmers in the mixture, it will infuse the liquid like a tea…
By Molly McConnell
Starwest Botanicals
The reason why rose is so often used in skin care is because it has a vast array of skin supporting properties. Beyond its sweet and sensual scent, rose delivers something much deeper through the tissue of the skin.
by Molly McConnell
How to Make Hibiscus Tea
Starwest Botanicals
Hibiscus flower is believed to help purify the blood and heart, while supporting the circulatory system as a whole. In Ayurveda, the blood is intrinsically linked to the skin. Herbs, like hibiscus, that support healthy blood flow may also help support healthy skin.
by Molly McConnell
Cumin Recipes & Remedies
Starwest Botanicals
If you’re curious about exploring natural herbal remedies with herbs that you already have on hand, cumin is a great starting point. In this article you will find several classical Ayurvedic remedies that demonstrate different ways to use cumin powder and cumin seeds to support digestive wellness.
By Molly McConnell
Ginger for Full Body Wellness
Starwest Botanicals
In Sanskrit, ginger has two different names. It is called sunthi when it’s dry (like in powder form) and ardaka when it’s fresh and moist (straight from the root). Ayurveda classifies ginger as pungent, which is another word for spicy. It is also said to embody the sweet tastes and have a heating effect on the body.
By Molly McConnell
How to Make Ginger Tea
Starwest Botanicals
When it comes to seasonal wellness and digestive support, ginger has got you covered! Widely used by traditional Ayurvedic physicians for thousands of years, ginger is referred to as vishwabhesaj in Sanskrit, or “The Universal Medicine''.
By Molly McConnell
How and When to Take Ashwagandha
Banyan Botanicals
Over the last decade, ashwagandha has become well-known in the mainstream for its adaptogenic properties.
By Molly McConnell
Springtime Green Mung Bean Soup Recipe
Banyan Botanicals
With cooling green mung beans and coconut milk, this delightful soup can help build strong, healthy tissue after your seasonal cleanse.
By Molly McConnell
Permission to Rest: The Benefits of Slowing Down During Menstruation
Banyan Botanicals
Throughout history, menstruation has been honored as a time of rest. Learn how choosing to slow down while you're bleeding can serve your health in powerful ways.
By Sierra Brashear
Potential Benefits of Cumin
Starwest Botanicals
With its robust and savory flavor, cumin makes a great addition to all sorts of recipes. Beyond the immediate benefit to our taste buds, it may also be delivering benefits to your overall health and wellness.
By Molly McConnell
Befriending Cardamom
Banyan Botanicals
Of all the amazing herbs celebrated in the Ayurvedic pharmacopeia, there is one in particular that I never leave my house without. Not only is it helpful in moments of indigestion, but it’s also said to balance the effects of caffeine, thanks in part to its sweet and slightly pungent taste.
By Molly McConnell
Exhausted by Grind Culture? Let’s Cultivate Align Culture
Banyan Botanicals
Grind culture—the idea that we achieve success by working harder and producing more—is taking a serious toll. Learn how to encourage more self-care in the workplace and beyond.
By Sierra Brashear
More Reasons to Love Turmeric
Starwest Botanicals
Did you know that turmeric is one of the staple herbs for healthy living within the Ayurvedic paradigm? It has been used in both therapeutic and culinary ways for thousands of years.
By Molly McConnell
Finding Strength and Inner Resiliency During Times of Change and Uncertainty
Banyan Botanicals
To honor the collective call to care for vata during this time of so much change, we must first tend to the vata within ourselves by cultivating more stable energy. In other words, focusing on qualities within and around us that are the opposite of quick, light, and mobile vata.
By Molly McConnell
3 Everyday Uses for Turmeric
Starwest Botanicals
Did you know that adding spices to your food may help prevent indigestion while aiding absorption of nutrients? The ancient wisdom of Ayurveda tells us that one of the simplest ways to enhance the digestibility of your food is to add spices to each meal.
By Molly McConnell
4 Ways to Use Triphala in Your Daily Routine
Starwest Botanicals
Triphala, a popular Ayurvedic formulation, is most commonly known for its use as a gentle bowel tonic — being helpful in digestion and regularity. It has a synergistic effect to bolster many other systems of the body as well.
By Molly McConnell
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The Benefits of Triphala
Starwest Botanicals
Triphala is most well-known as a bowel tonic, but what it can offer the body goes far beyond relief from constipation. While it can be excellent for cleansing the system, it also has the ability to offer deep nourishment and rejuvenation.
By Molly McConnell
Six Ways to Access Vata’s Gifts In the Fall and Early Winter
Banyan Botanicals
When vata is flowing in a balanced way in our bodies and minds—like a gentle breeze—we have access to all the tools within that allow us to imagine, create, and adapt, while easefully orienting toward new possibilities and creative solutions.
By Molly McConnell
How to Create Your Own At Home Retreat
Banyan Botanicals
For many of us, taking time just for ourselves can feel next to impossible. Here are six helpful tips to create an at-home retreat that actually happens.
By Molly McConnell
Amaranth: The Breakfast Porridge of Champions
Banyan Botanicals
Amaranth is one of the most protein-rich plant-based foods out there. When cooked just right—like this tasty porridge recipe—it yields a creamy consistency with a hint of crunch.
By Molly McConnell
Leverage These 7 Small Daily Practices to Make Big Shifts
Banyan Botanicals
Small but consistent practices are the most powerful way to create lasting change—both within us and around us as we co-create a more just and sustainable world.
By Sierra Brashear
6 Spiritual Self-Care Practices to Support a Rich and Sensual Life
Banyan Botanicals
Cultivating mindfulness practices for spiritual self-care builds resiliency and gives us the tools to take intentional action in challenging circumstances.
By Molly McConnell
4 Ways to Access Kapha’s Gifts of Strength & Resiliency This Spring
Banyan Botanicals
When kapha is well tended, it offers an abundance of gifts. These practical ways will help you harness the gifts of kapha for increased strength, health, and resiliency.
By Molly McConnell
This Brothy Farro Kale Soup Recipe Is the Perfect Late Spring Meal
Banyan Botanicals
Light enough for kapha but still deeply nourishing to soothe and sustain pitta, this brothy farro kale soup recipe is the perfect follow up to your spring cleanse.
By Molly McConnell
Using the Doshas to switch up your Daily Routine
Elephant Journal
My whole life changed when I started waking up before 6 a.m.—and I’m talking bigger shifts than just dashing home from dinner parties by 9:30 to be sure I was in bed by 10.
By Sierra Brashear
Do you know your Ayurvedic Stress Type?
Pior Living
When we are overcome by stress, we feel disoriented — unable to think clearly and to act thoughtfully. Chronic, depleting stress holds us back from showing up, doing our work, and making a meaningful impact.
By Molly McConnell
Esalen Presents: An Interview with Molly McConnell
Esalen Institute
Esalen Teacher In Residence Molly McConnell (E RYT 500) and Christine Chen discuss Molly's special approach to yoga and how she's holding the space for her students on campus at Esalen. Learn about how Molly weaves Nourishing Vinyasa and accessible yoga into her teaching.
5 Key Fertility Secrets from the Wisdom of Ayurveda
Pior Living
We live in a fast paced and disembodied world today, but… your body is resilient! In many cases, by following a few simple, yet transformational, steps you can reset your reproductive system and fortify your womb to enhance your chances of a successful conception and a healthy pregnancy.
By Sierra Brashear
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Four Ayurvedic Tips to Enhance Digestion Now
Elephant Journal
Healthy digestion is so much more than what we eat; it is about how we eat. If we deepen this awareness, we will notice how these simple shifts enhance our experience of digestion, metabolism, and even hunger.
By Molly McConnell
Simple Ayurveda for a Pain-Free Period
Elephant Journal
The varying symptoms that manifest during PMS are caused when the doshas fall out of balance — usually as a result of your dietary choices, activities, or emotional stress levels. By maintaining the subtle balance of the doshas, or elements, in your physical form, you can experience a comfortable, symptom-free period.
By Sierra Brashear
Cultivating Life: The Ayurvedic Perspective on Fertility
Paavani Ayurveda
Ayurveda reminds us that we are a microcosm of the ecology around us, and as such, the same four essential components for cultivating crops or planting a garden are also important for cultivating life within — the right field, right timing, right water and right seed.
By Sierra Brashear
How Buying a Yoni Egg Changed My Life
mind body green
Yoni is the ancient and beloved Sanskrit term for "vagina." The egg refers to a semiprecious stone (usually rose quartz, jade, or obsidian) and is designed in a small and smooth shape to rest comfortably inside the body, just below the womb space.
By Molly McConnell
Bathing as a Radical Ritual for Self Love
Moon Bath
When we give ourselves time and space away from excessive stimulation, we have more opportunity to process, to set intentions, to understand past interactions and to hypothesize ways in which we can move toward our highest selves — ways that we can better support our communities and our planet
By Molly McConnell
Ask The Expert: Spiritual Self Care Practices with Molly McConnell
Ayurveda integrates our whole being—mind, body, and spirit. We often think about eating dosha-balancing foods or physical Ayurvedic practices, but what about the subtle practices that can nourish our mental, emotional, and spiritual selves?
Ask the Expert: Transforming Grind Culture into Align Culture with Sierra Brashear
Have you heard of “grind culture”? It’s the idea that we can always work more, produce more, and be doing. But this momentum can take its toll on us. So what is another approach?
