Day 4: You Gotta Try the Chai! (Jessica)

Hello everyone! It’s been wild and crazy here the last few days. We have lectures and yoga continuously from 6:30am-9pm, hardcore right? haha No, but we’re absolutely loving every minute. I’ll give you a day in the life of Jessica and Cindy:

6:30-7:00am- Yogic Shuddhi Kriyas (nettie pot and scary rubber cord down throat)

7:00-8:15am- Yoga (You can choose from basic, advanced, or therapy)

8:30-9:00am- Breakfast

9:30am-12:00pm- Lecture (Principles of Ayurveda)

12:00-1:00pm- Lunch

1:00-2:00pm- This time is usually filled with running around and meeting people, buying toilet paper, power naps, or extra lectures

2:00-4:00pm- Naturopathy/ Ayurveda Cooking Class

4:30-5:30pm- Yoga (Basic/Advanced/Therapy)

6:00-7:00pm- Meditation lectures- Pranayam (breathing techniques), Tratak (meditation/activating the “third eye”)

7:15-7:45pm- Dinner

8:00-9:00pm- Group lectures with varying topics (ex-lectures on different aspects of yoga, stress management, etc)

So as you can see are schedule is jam packed, but honestly, I’m excited to learn each and every bit of it. The other day I actually chose to use my free time to study (NOT typical of me, haha)!

On another note, I’ll talk a little about the other people staying here at the center. Some are here for a yoga certification course, but the vast majority of people staying here are Indians that are here for alternative medicine treatments. Those treatments include an initial consultation with an Ayurveda doctor using pulse reading (SUPER cool by the way! I had it done and by feeling my pulse he told me about my family history of heart disease and sensitive stomach, and how I deal with stress), then oil massages, mud baths, foot massages, weight loss techniques, and others.

Are teachers here are also great! The other day, our naturopathy teacher Prachi invited us to her dorm room to teach us how to make chai. Now, the chai here, like most teas here, is COMPLETELY different than the chai in the U.S. I’m not trying to dog it or anything, but the U.S. version is like the red headed stepchild compared to Indian chai.

It’s soooooo good! Cindy and I have cravings for it just about every night. Also, here they don’t drink an extra large, enough to fill a small swimming pool with size cup. It’s just enough to be satisfied.

Prachi and her two roommates, Lucky and Shreya, who are all naturopathy interns here, taught us how to make it!

I’m having this recipe framed in my house and hanging it on a wall it was so good. They also let us try their spices they keep in their room and made us a snack made of puffed rice and vegetables which we all ate together family style on the bed. They said they eat this way normally with their families to keep the love in their lives :)

The Best Chai Tea You Will Ever Taste

1 cup water

2-4 tsp black tea

2-3 tsp fresh grated ginger

1 stalk lemon grass, chopped

3 cups milk

2-3 tsp sugar

Steam milk and set aside. Boil water, 2 tsp black tea, 2-3 tsp ginger, and lemon grass for 5 minutes. Strain contents. Add milk, 2-3 tsp sugar to taste, and 1-2 tsp black tea to bring out color and boil another 5 minutes. If you want, add cinnamon and cardamom to taste.

In our Ayurveda class we have also been learning some of the medicinal properties of different foods. One that caught my attention today was ginger. Many uses! In particular weight loss, sore throat, bronchitis, and arthritis.

Dried Ginger Powder and Weight Loss

3 tsp dried ginger powder

2 tsp honey

1 cup luke warm water

Mix ingredients together and drink early in the morning on an empty stomach to help with weight loss (worth a try at least!)