The Newsletter of Alandi Ashram and Alandi Ayurvedic Gurukula

Agni The Newsletter of Alandi Ashram and Alandi Ayurvedic Gurukula 7
Alakananda, Sadananda and the graduates performed
a yagna to the Goddess of Learning,
Sarasvati with the support of family and friends of
the graduates.
The ceremony blessed each one of the graduates as
a healer steeped in the Ayurvedic tradition and as
a vehicle for compassion. Alakananda invited each
one of the graduates to carry the tradition of heartcentered
healing and compassion that was experienced
at Alandi Ayurvedic Gurukula out into the
world. May it be so!
Summer Herbs & Cures
MountainSun Diamond
“Lavender Vinegar” Sunburn Spray
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1 /2 cup aloe vera gel
1 /2 cup lavender flowers (infusion method) or
25 drops lavender essential oil (quick method)
In a glass canning jar place 1/2 cup lavender flowers.
Pour 1 cup apple cider vinegar over flowers.
Close canning jar with a plastic lid (specially made
to fit canning jars) or use wax paper and the ring
top of the canning jar.*
Let lavender flowers infuse into the apple cider
vinegar for 1–2 weeks. Shake or stir daily. Strain
apple cider vinegar (now called “lavender vinegar”)
and add 1/2 cup aloe vera gel.
For the quick method add 40 drops pure lavender
essential oil to the apple cider vinegar and then add
1/2 cup aloe vera gel.
Put in a cosmetic-type mister bottle and spray on
skin after a day in the sun or sunburn. Use as needed
for relieving heat and pain from sunburn.
* Use only a plastic lid when making any type of
herbal vinegar to avoid metal corrosion from the
acetic acid.
“Herbal Flower Honeys”
A great way to preserve edible summer flowers is to
preserve them in honey. Flowers of such plants as
violets, rose, harebells, dandelion, bee balm (my
favorite for honey!), yarrow, red clover and mint are
delicious, medicinal and can be easily preserved
for the year to come in honey. Honey is a great natural
preserver for flowers, leaves, roots and plant
juices due to its high sugar content.
Gather flowers on a cool, dry morning. (It is important
that they are not wet, this could cause mold to
grow in your honey.) Pour honey over the flowers,
covering the flowers by 1–2 inches. Mix daily for 1
week and start eating, using as a medicine or
sweetening your tea as soon as you can taste that
the honey has become flavored. There is no need
to strain; keep flowers in the honey and eat them
along with the honey.
Other great honeys can be made with the leaves of
such medicinal herbs as: thyme, oregano, peppermint,
alfalfa, garlic, onion, turmeric, and osha.
Herbal honeys are best made with herbs that have
volatile oils. A volatile oil is the medicinal components
of a plant that gives the plant its smell and
taste. This is well preserved in honey whereas hot
water (such as in a tea, infusion, or decoction) easily
disperses the volatile oils.
Let summer be a time of deeply and joyously connecting
with the plants that grow around your
home and in your neighborhood. There are many
medicinal plants just waiting to meet you!
Conversations with Sadananda
On Vedic Fire Sacrifice
“When we perform a fire ceremony such as agnihotra
or healing mantra homa, we are uniting
mantra, breath, mudra and intention. When the
mantra is chanted via the breath, joined with the
mudra or hand gesture of offering and with our
intention, the prayer is carried into the fire through
the medium of the offering. Then, on the vehicle of
the smoke, our mantra, prayer and intention are
spread into the surrounding area, to purify the
atmosphere, balance the pranas, or vital airs, and
energize the trees, plants, birds, and animals in the
surrounding area. Thus, through the smoke of sacrifices,
we can create a mantra-charged area.”
Sadananda gives individual meditation instruction,
free of charge. If you are interested in learning meditation,
please call him at 303-786-7437