Summer Moon Milk

“Sleep is the golden chain that binds health and our bodies together.”

–

Thomas Dekker

Good sleep is one of the first things, that quickly fall prey to stressful times. When you have poor sleep, you are tired during the day, which causes more worries, anxiety and insomnia.

Lack of quality sleep can even lead to digestive issues, muscle ailments, emotional imbalances and lowered immunity. Because the body’s own restoring mechanisms work throughout your sleep, good sleep is even more important during stressful times.

Stress can also influence your weight. Being under constant pressure activates cortisol production in the body. Which is essential for survival, but cortisol can cause more appetite than usual, even food cravings and can over time be harmful when leading to fatigue. Ashwagandha helps as it is stress reducing, by inhibiting the body’s cortisol production. Further, Ashwagandha stabilizes your blood sugar levels. When the blood sugar level drops too fast, the body reacts with a bigger appetite than normally. Implementing Ashwagandha into your diet may reduce your appetite to its normal state.

But the adaptogen Ashwagandha has much more to offer than weight control. It fulfills many essential roles to assist you in busy times.

It not only supports restful sleep, but also strengthens your nervous, endocrine and immune system. Ashwagandha is perfect for recovery after sickness, to strengthen the immune system. It aids with nervous exhaustion of long-term psychological stress and fatigue. Because Ashwagandha regulates our hormone system, it is suitable for men and women who wish to have children, especially for men.

The Sanskrit name Ashwagandha means “smell of a horse” and gives the first hint to its positive effects, by helping us gain the “strength of a horse”. Ashwagandha belongs to nightshades and often times is called “winter cherry” and Indian Ginseng. Its scientific name is Withania somnifera and somnifera means “sleep-inducing”.

In India Ashwagandha is almost always consumed with milk and ghee. The fat helps to make the active compounds of this plant available to your body. If you use nut milk, I highly recommend adding another fat, such as a teaspoon of coconut oil.

If you feel scattered, anxious or overworked Ashwagandha will help you feel calm, steady and energized without making you jittery or anxious like coffee. It helps you stay grounded amidst change and alleviates anxiety, which may be associated with Vata dosha.

Instead of Ashwagandha you could also incorporate Shatavari (if you are menstruating) during the second half of your cycle , as it helps with menstrual cramps. It is a root that translates into “100 husbands” from Sanskrit and is mainly used as a female aphrodisiac. With its nurturing properties, it calms burning sensations, lubricates us, is anti-microbal and anti-inflammatory.

Shatavari builds ojas, therefore, our natural immunity and vitality are increased by its nourishing qualities. Whenever there is dryness or burning, this sweet herb soothes fiery Pitta dosha. Especially great during summer time.

A warm mug of this sleep milk will settle your racing mind and aid in a restful sleep.

This moon milk was especially created to help you ease into sleep during warm summer nights, find out below which properties each ingredient has. Please make sure to buy those ingredients organic, if possible seasonal.

This recipe serves one person and takes less than 5 minutes to make.

INGREDIENTS

-       1 cup oat milk

-       1 tbsp rose water

-       1 tsp coconut oil

-       1 tsp maple syrup

-       1 tsp cardamom, freshly ground (leave out in case of pregnancy)

-       ½ -1 tsp Ashwagandha (start slow and feel which amount is best for you)

-       OR ½ -1 tsp Shatavari (if you are menstruating - use it for the second half of your cycle)

-       ½ tsp beetroot juice, fresh or powdered or ground freeze-dried raspberries (if not available to you, you can omit it, it’s just for the color)

-       pinch of nutmeg, freshly ground

-       pinch of rock salt (mineral salt)

INSTRUCTIONS

Add all ingredients in a pot, stir on middle heat for a few minutes and pour into a cup to drink.

You may also put all ingredients into a milk frother, which will mix and warm the beverage. It will froth the milk at the same time.

You can use organic rose petals for garnishing the moon milk.

Please find below all benefits of this beverage, its ingredients and alternatives for each dosha.

Oat milk gives this nightly beverage a nice, rounded flavor.

Additional coconut oil is slightly cooling and helps with the bio availability of Ashwagandha. Oat milk alone does not contain enough fat, hence we need to add a little bit of coconut oil into this drink.

Rose water is tri-doshic, meaning it will pacify all three doshas and calm the nervous system. Roses are slightly cooling, just like the coconut oil, making this recipe perfect on a warm summer’s night. Further, they are anti-inflammatory to the gastro-intestinal tract and soothing to the heart, especially when combined with a natural sweetener.

Organic maple syrup is the perfect sweetener for people with a Pitta constitution and during the season of Pitta, in summer.

Cardamom pacifies all three doshas, it is slightly pungent and cooling, so you may use only half a teaspoon, it helps to balance the strong taste of Ashwagandha.

Cardamom is a great addition to this beverage, because it relaxes muscle tissue and is a calming antispasmodic. Therefore, it is useful in colic, asthma and headache caused by spasms in blood vessels. Cardamom also aids with mucus and cleanses the lymphatic system.

Because it is a carrier herb, it helps with the accessibility of Ashwagandha. When you have eaten too much, cardamom supports you by relaxing your stomach as well. Cardamom stimulates and strengthens your memory and heart, making it the perfect spice for all yogis. But please omit it in case of pregnancy.

Nutmeg stimulates digestion and is great for treating insomnia.

The beet juice powder is used to give the drink a touch of color, you may leave it out.

You could also use puree of cooked beetroots. When beets are cooked, their starches transform into sweeter sugars which are cooling to the body. They are cleansing and cooling the blood, while nourishing the liver. Beetroot is great for anemia, improve eyesight and increase stamina.

We all are individuals with specific needs, however if you have a prevalent dosha or imbalance, here are some recommendations:

Vata: raw, unhomogenized milk (nourishing), 1 tsp of ghee instead of coconut oil (lubricating and nourishing), instead of maple syrup you can use jaggery (it is warming raw cane sugar), skip the salt (salt + raw milk is not a good combination in Ayurveda)

Pitta: instead of oat milk you can use coconut milk (cooling), instead of 1 tsp, add ½ tsp of Ashwagandha (due to its heating nature)

Kapha: nut milk (extractive) or rice milk (tri-doshic), substitute maple syrup by using honey (slightly pungent, drying in nature), just make sure, you do not heat honey over 45°deg celsius, as it turns toxic when heated

Dalai Lama said, “sleep is the best meditation”, make it so by finding rituals that work for you, be it sipping on a moon milk, meditating, gazing into a candle or massaging your feet with rich oils to calm your mind.

I also want to note, before you start incorporating adaptogens, such as Ashwagandha or Shatavari into your diet, I highly recommend talking to your Ayurvedic practitioner in case of health issues, pregnancy or if you take other medications.

Enjoy this lovely nightcap milk!

With Love,

Lisa