Summer Chakra/Energy Balancing Smoothies
Drinking fruit smoothies during the hottest of days is an excellent way to tame summer's extra high flames of fire in your belly. Ayurveda, a natural medicinal practice from Southern India suggests that if you drink cold and naturally sweet drinks during pitta/summer season not only will you feel physically cooler but you can also help cure heart burn, bloating, skin rashes and temper flare ups. So go ahead and enjoy drinking those frosty sweet drinks up but make sure they are pure fruit based rather than filled with artificial sweeteners.
The best way to get the purest drinks is to make them yourself. It is easy and any blender will do. Personally I use a nutribullet. Since I've been making and taking pictures of the many different drinks I've made since late spring, the variety of fruits I used created a rainbow of colors that inspired this post. Motivated by their beauty, I've been envisioning while drinking my fruit smoothies that each color is internally bathing, cooling and healing a different chakra/energy center within my body. Here are some examples:
1st Chakra Lower Body Smoothie: Strawberries, unsweetened almond milk, a couple of dried figs and a few ice cubes. This rose colored root chakra smoothie will cool, center and ground your foundation. You will feel stable, confident and ready to move forward when you heal and balance your 1st chakra.
2nd Chakra Reproductive Body, Sacral/Lower Back Body Smoothie: Cantaloupe, coconut water, a few ice cubes and a couple of mint leaves blended in and to garnish on top. This smoothie will cool and purify the 2nd chakra's element, water. When this chakra is balanced, buried and new creations from within you will rise to the surface.
3rd Chakra Belly, Side Body and Low Back Smoothie: Mango, unsweetened almond milk and a few ice cubes. This smoothie will balance your inner spark and not allow your digestive fire to go to your head and heighten your ego's need to be right, ahead of everyone else and in control. Plus your inner fire will not be too dim and have you sitting on the couch. Instead your 3rd chakra center will have you feeling good in your gut and you will use it to feel your way through everything.
4th Chakra Heart Center/In Between the Shoulder Blades Smoothie: Honeydew melon, spinach, coconut water, a few ice cubes and a couple of mint leaves blended in and garnish on top. This smoothie will energize you to deepen your next inhale and exhale. This new found green energy will broaden your heart space and make it easier for you to balance your personal and professional needs.
5th Chakra Throat and Voice Smoothie: Frozen or raw blueberries, unsweetened almond milk, a handful of dried dates and a few ice cubes. Drinking this blue smoothie, although it photographs looking more purple will encourage you to speak up when needed and be quiet when no words need to be spoken.
6th Chakra Third Eye/In Between the Brow Line and Sinuses Smoothie: Frozen or raw mixed berries such as strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and blackberries, a banana, a handful of almonds, unsweetened almond milk and a few ice cubes. This healing third eye smoothie will help you let go of some old mind patterns and story lines so you can see through new eyes.
7th Chakra Crown/Top of the Head: Two bananas, unsweetened almond milk, unsweetened coconut flakes and a few ice cubes. This milky white crown chakra smoothie will keep you cool, calm and connected to everyone and everything regardless of the heat.
This coming Saturday July 26th 4pm at Bamboomoves Yoga in Englewood, NJ I will be leading my "Summer Belly: Finding Ease and Strength Workshop." Here I will thread in more Ayurveda Made Easy Summer Lifestyle Tips while we practice a belly, side and low back body focused yoga practice. Read more about it and register for this Saturday's workshop at www.bamboomovesyoga.com
