Ayurvedic Tea for WTF Times | Cumin Benefits and CCF Tea

Dr. Robert Svoboda, the first western male Ayurvedically trained in India, Ayurvedic Doctor, says,

If vāta is high, then sit down, have a cup of tea.

Actually, Dr Svoboda. says that sitting down to a cup of tea is good for everything, and I have to agree.

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Sitting down to a cup of tea for a calming moment is especially important right now because all the doṣha are aggravated during WTF times.

Every day some unprecedented, negative, painful news hits our consciousness creating more stress and fright flight freeze reactions in our nervous system.

* Stress, anxiety is heightened for everyone and no one feels safe.

* I don't feel safe.

* The unknowns of tomorrow feels particularly frightening.

* It feels like we are are living in the dystopian worlds of sci-fi movies.

The other day I was wondering, what can I do to help? What can I do to release some steam? Reduce the pressure? Not add more stuff onto our plates?

This is an auspicious time of year. We recorded the video are on the Equinox.

It is only auspicious if we guide ourselves through the transition in a thoughtful way.

The return of light is keenly evident as the daylight overtakes the night. We receive bursts of energy as spring emerges. If we aren’t careful we can burn out by doing too much or become too spontaneous.

When we are young its easy to handle but as we age being measured is more appropriate. Do the extra things but don’t go over your energetic budget. Taking care to usher in the spring appropriately.

The timings of these Ayurvedic Tea for WTF Times Lives are very specific and can be very auspicious.

Our tea pause takes place at 2 o'clock in the afternoon my time, which can be any time between 1pm and 4 pm in the Americas. This is a daily liminal time for the shift from pitta to vāta time.

It is also the time when:

* many of us reach for a cup of coffee because we're exhausted

* realize that the day is almost done without finishing our too-do list

* Maybe we haven't had lunch yet and are starving

This is exactly the time to pause to slow down for a bit.

If not, we create an anxious, exhausted, stress snowball effect as we barrel into the end of the day.

These are the inevitable creations of the daily stress snowball

* The evening meal is hurried

* The evening routine gets sidetracked.

* Hurry up and relax activities occur

* Try to finish work without much energy

* Sleep hygiene gets pushed aside

* You don’t wake up refreshed.

* Your morning routine loses its resolve.

Rinse, Repeat, Rinse and Repeat Day after Day after Day.

The shift between pitta and vata hours is the perfect time to pause and reverse the cycle.

🙏🏽 In order to serve, I’m opening a water cooler space on Substack, to pause.

CCF Tea (Cumin, Coriander and Fennel)

CCF Tea is a classic, balanced, tridoshic, meaning it's good for all doshas,tea for this time of day as it also supports your digestion.

Directions Option 1:

I usually take equal portions of about ¼ tsp each of Cumin, Coriander and Fennel seeds, place into a pot add about 3 cups of water. Let it boil until you get a lovely yellow color. This will give you at least 2 cups of tea.

As you get used to making this you can change the proportions.

You must boil the water and not just let it steep because when using seeds and bark to make tea, or a tisane the official name of these types of teas, you need to let it boil to extract the water soluble nutrients.

Directions Option 2:

Another way to make this tea, if you don’t have time to let the tea boil. Is to prep the seeds so all you have to do is add boiling water.

* Dry roast the seeds, I would put the Coriander seed in your skillet first then add the Cumin and Fennel.

* Roast the seeds until the mixture has a great aroma.

* Allow to cool off.

* Grind the cool seeds to a powder in a coffee grinder.

* Store the powder in a jar.

When you are ready to have your tea, boil water and put ¼ tsp to 1 tsp of the mixture in your cup to taste. Enjoy your CCF Tea.

Sweeten your CCF Tea to taste but I find that the Coriander is sweet enough. If you are going to sweeten it, I recommend jaggery or coconut sugar.

Cumin Benefits

Cumin is one of the great kitchen spices that helps the digestion and just gives food a great earthy taste.

I often recommend cumin tea to my clients if they have slow digestion or sluggish digestion to have some cumin tea after meals or throughout the day depending. Cumin Tea is simple to make. It’s the same process as making CCF Tea just without the Coriander and Fennel.

Ayurvedic Tastes

According to Ayurveda Cumin is a little pungent and bitter.

The pungent taste will help ignite and increase digestive fire.

The bitter taste supports liver function.

Ayurvedic Qualities

Cumin is light, which is why it can burn easily if dry roasting or sauteing. The light quality can often mean it is easy to digest.

The Tissues Cumin Supports

Plasma (lymph), Red Blood and Muscle

It has been known to assist in reducing inflammatory conditions but there are some cautions. If there is an active high inflammatory condition in process then abstain from taking therapeutic doses.

**You can still use Cumin in food.**

My teacher Dr. Bharat Vaidya mentioned that it could be used in uterine inflammatory conditions, but consult a knowledgable practitioner before using for this purpose.

I would say drink Cumin Tea if you are experiencing PMS but not if you are having migraines along with your PMS.

Cumin for Heartburn

* 1 cup of Buttermilk

* ¼ tsp - ½ tsp cumin

Allow to warm to at close to room temperature. Drink! You will discover how quickly the heartburn disappears. No need for Tums or antacids.

I'm hope that these 15 minute Ayurvedic Tea for WTF Times inspire you to pause between Pitta and Vāta time (approx 1:30 - 2:30pm) throughout the week.

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Make New Moon Ghee is Saturday March 29th 9am Pacific Noon Eastern if you’ve made ghee before or a total newbie join us

The next of the series stars Coriander! Read and watch here.