Metta Wellness, Ayurveda, Massage & Wellness

As July comes to an end, what ways have you found to keep cool this month? As you focus in on self, self care and keeping cool in the hot summer months, think yoga. Yoga helps with blood flow, breathing and self awareness, so what better way to cool down. I find for myself being a a pitta dosha(Ayurveda constitution that typically runs hot) that yoga with a heart centering and grounding focus helps to keep my mind and body calm helping me feel cooler.  Poses that are helpful for cooling would be child's pose, mountain, cat cow, downward dog, warrior 1(or side angle), and so many more. Finding a pose that works not only for your body type, but for the season will help you to stay cool and balanced. Explore a yoga class, or look for more information for pitta, heart centering or cooling yoga. Learning to work with your body and the many ways to cool down the body will help with the seasonal changes.

As we focus on keeping the body cool this summer, lets talk about that scalp! In the hot summer months keeping cool can sometimes be a challenge, and keeping a cool head can be an even bigger challenge. If your anything like me, I get a hot head, and face(to much pitta dosha) and its hard to keep it cool. But with a few tricks, you can make it easier. I work a lot with clients that come in for stress, headaches, hair-loss,TMJ, and more that need a focus from the shoulders up. One thing I do, is blend together a herbal oil to help, whether we need to stimulate or cool down the scalp to relieve tension. In Ayurveda we have many tools to cool the body, so why not cool the head. Some of my simple oils:Blend coconut oil with rosewater and maybe a drop of lavender essential oil to cool and relax then massage into the scalp with a circulatory motion. I also like to apply a small amount of aloe to the center point(crown charka) in the heat of summer to bring the cooling in fast. Make

Create your own Flavored Water July is a great time to explore with your cooling summer drinks: I like to start with a large mason jar, drop in sliced: cucumber lemon and mint Fill with water, and place in the frig overnight, the next morning you have a great herbalized water for cooling and detoxifying . Try: Lemon balm and mint - cooling and calming, I also like to play around with Strawberry and rosemary or Watermelon and ginger. Try your own combinations of herbalized water, let me know what you like to add to your water. Have fun and stay hydrated this summer                                                                                                                                                                     Heather Small is a licensed massage therapist, Ayurvedic body worker and herbalist at Metta Wellness. She has continued her studies and brings that knowledge to her clients and readers, encouraging them to continue of a path