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Blog: www.monicayearwood.com
Product Line: www.hamsaapothecary.com
Ayurvedic Center: www.hamsacenter.com
Description of Ayurveda: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayurveda

Essential oils are the extracted essences from plants, flowers, and roots that contain numerous chemical compounds and powerful antioxidants. Although essential oils express a smell, it is important to know that they are also a complex mixture of chemicals that influence our physiology in profound ways.

True beauty transcends age or gender and comes from within. It is generated by a strong digestive system, healthy food, meditation/yoga, and anointing our skin with therapeutic oils. Collectively these practices maximize our ojas (inner vitality and essence) and make us look radiant.

When I discovered Ayurveda I found an ancient philosophy that grew from an understanding of nature’s balance that still applies to how we live today, an approach that offers guidance for our various, individual constitutions and reveals our interconnectedness to the earth and its seasons.

For me, one of the most intriguing areas of ayurvedic medicine has been its use of medicinal oils, called thailams. Ayurveda uses thailams prescriptively to help curb and prevent imbalance.

Ayurveda calls the application of oil ‘snehana’ which means ‘to love.’ In essence, ayurveda teaches that the application of oil, is the application of love. It is a practice of spiritual anointment that is used to symbolize personal reverence. The skin serves as a vehicle of administration for the penetration of herbs and essential oils to powerfully influence one’s physiology and mind.

The application of ayurvedic medicinal oils to the body is called abhyanga.

Each ayurvedic facial serum, body oil, and herbal blend that I have created has a cosmetic, medicinal, and a spiritual significance. Inspired by the intelligence of the plants that I’ve worked with and their medicinal counterparts, their intended effects are interconnected, and overlay every aspect of our being.

Indeed, true beauty according to ayurveda comes from within.

In my educational views on ayurveda I teach tools and resources on how to implement ayurveda into your everday life. Including how to identify your dosha, herbal preparation methods, ayurvedic skin serums, thailams, ayurvedic herbs, ayurvedic cooking, and ayurvedic medicines specifically customized for your doshic type: vata, pitta, or kapha. Understanding your prakruti and vikruti can help but is not necessary in understanding my videos.