Abhyanga Self Massage Ritual

The practice of Abhyanga, oil massage, has roots in the Ayurvedic Tradition of Eastern India.

This is a ritual that can help reset the nervous system, provide a sense of calm, relaxation and deeper connection with the self, as this is a gift that you will be providing for you.

This ritual is perfect for anyone looking to deepen their self-care practice, those working with depletion in the body from trauma, chronic stress or daily stressors. It is also a beautiful practice for those in the sacred window of postpartum.

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Amanda Montoya
Mesoamerican Eclipse Beliefs and Rituals

Eclipse transits will open a gateway of energy that can be productive, active and positive, when you engage consciously with the shadow sides of self that may be revealed to you during an eclipse. Offerings, prayers, and dances were part of the mesoamerican rituals to ensure that balance was restored. 

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Amanda Montoya
Harmonious Herbal Smoke Blend Recipe

This soft and beautiful herbal smoke blend will offer relief from the busy mind, it will soften the body and open the heart. This blend is THC and Tobacco free. Herbs are non habit-forming and can be beneficial for people attempting to quit more addictive substances like tobacco and cannabis.

Smoking herbal blends has roots in ancient ceremonial practices. Many Indigenous groups, including the Blackfoot, Cheyenne, and Chippewas peoples, would dry the leaves of different plants to smoke for their healing or ritualistic properties. In Egypt Priests would burn herbs like mint and thyme as offerings to the gods. In Ayurveda smoking different herbs (Dhumpana) was believed to release the plant's medicinal properties throughout the neck and head region.

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Amanda Montoya
Easy Curried Lentil Soup

In Ayurveda it is always suggested to cook all of your own meals at home, the process itself can be extremely meditative not to mention a healthier and safer option if you have any food allergies.

This soup is warming, balancing and supportive for ALL Dosha types. Lentils are also considered a sattvic food, so they are also calming and nourishing to the mind as well as the body.

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Amanda Montoya
The Philosophy of Ayurveda

All things in the universe, both living and nonliving, are joined together. It is said that everything in the universe is actually made of the same five gross natural elements: space, air, fire, water, and earth. Ayurveda is rooted in this belief.

“Ayurveda is a traditional healing system of India. Additionally, Ayurveda is believed to be the oldest-surviving complete medical system in the world. Ayurveda dates back approximately 5,000 years.

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Amanda Montoya
Nurturing Golden Milk Recipe

This beautiful, warming tonic is golden nectar. With a sprinkle of cinnamon on the top, it opens the heart, eases the mind and relaxes the body with every sip.

Golden milk, also known as turmeric milk or Haldi Doodh (Turmeric Milk), is an Ayurvedic elixir that's made with turmeric and other spices.

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Amanda Montoya
MotherCulture

What is “Mother Culture? “It is a movement that recognizes the profound impact that a mother’s growth and well being can have on her children and community.” It encourages mothers to invest in themselves just as much as they invest in those around them. It offers spaces where mothers can sink into themselves beyond being a mother, while embracing the new versions of themselves as a mother.

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Amanda Montoya
The Mother Wound

In order for me to show up in an authentic way, the deeper layers of these wounds needed to be dealt with in order to create a new layer of understanding of the mother wound and how it has shown up for hundreds of years, shapeshifting, with the root remaining the same. The cycle and non-linear nature of the healing journey when you say yes to learning more.

“Mother Wound healing requires that you untangle the subtle, overt, and unspoken messages about motherhood and to mothers. This questioning leads to an internal reckoning with the definition of femininity, sovereignty, and womanhood. “

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Amanda Montoya
Creating Sacred Spaces

Creating a sacred space can be a part of a ritual or ceremony, with the intention to release, extract, or honor. In Mesoamerican traditions, creating a sacred space in any area is to vivify, create and renew the space, raising the vibration to meet that of the Divine.

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Amanda Montoya
The Authentic Self

Part of harnessing our power for creation involves connecting with the authentic self.

Creating a life that is fulfilling seems like a dream to most of us. Is that even a thing? Where we thrive and spend our days in spaces that inspire and nurture us. To experience the entirety of life, its important for us to be in situations that aren’t always uplifting and peaceful, we were created as multi-dimensional beings that evolve when we allow the fullness of the light and shadow aspects of life.

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Amanda Montoya
Savory Sage Soup Recipe

This warming and nourishing soup has ingredients that are anti-inflammatory and easy to digest, which gives the body time to heal during stages of depletion from sickness, chronic stress and during the postpartum time. The combination creates a savory and earthy creation.

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Amanda Montoya
Baby Massage Flow

Massage can be such a soothing practice for baby and for the person giving, helping to create a deep connection with your baby in a new way. Slowing down the day, and creating a space for connection and relaxation with presence, is a gift you are giving to yourself and to baby. It signals safety and security for baby.

Here is an audio version of this gentle and soothing massage flow.

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Amanda Montoya
Baño Blanco Recipe

Ritual or spiritual bathing is a practice that has been used for 100s of years by various cultures around the world. This specific baño combines Mesoamerican Practices with Afro-Caribbean Traditions - baño de limpieza and baño de flores is a practice also used in Peru.

Baño Blanco can be a powerful ritual for cleansing, and purifying one’s energy. There are times in one’s life when there is this heaviness present in and around the body, and there is this knowing that a spiritual reset may be needed, this ritual is for those times.

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Amanda Montoya
Allowing Softness

Society shows us that the more we do, the more successful we are, which in turn leaves us empty, and truly unfulfilled and imbalanced within. This can lead to burn out, leaving a void we try to fill with people, things and situations that widen the void that was created in the first place.

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Amanda Montoya
Replenishing Ojas Milk

This warming drink is nourishing and replenishing during the stages of life that add stress to the body. When the body feels depleted, and our reserves have been used up. Ojas literally translates to “vigour” it is the subtle essence of our reproductive fluid.

This isn’t your ordinary tea or warm drink, it’s more like a hug in a mug, that boosts the system in ways we are sure to notice, not just on a physical level, but also a spiritual level.

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Amanda Montoya
Sweet Rice Pudding for Postpartum

This is a blood building staple for new mothers, which gives you access to instant accessible energy. This dish can be made ahead of time, stored in the fridge and eaten as you wish, throughout the day.

“During the postpartum period, it is suggested to provide the body with as much warmth as possible. The mother is full of the mobile, light, dry, and cold qualities after the loss of energy and blood and fluids, not to mention the loss of a huge space in the abdomen (previously occupied by the baby).”

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Amanda Montoya
The Medicine of Grief

I am no stranger to death and loss, it has been my souls initiation in this lifetime to become intimate with grief, dancing with it, alchemizing it into faith and purpose. And, like any relationship I encounter in, allowing it to change me on a cellular level, molding me into this new version of me. Carefully utilizing its chisel to chip away at all parts of me that no longer serve me in a productive way. That’s what grief can do for us if we sit with the natural process of it without running and hiding from it.

“According to the Vedas, when a being passes, they shed their emotional armor and find themselves finally free to love us fully, purely, and deeply in a way they may not have been able to do while here.

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Amanda Montoya
A Note on Emotional Alchemy

What are we purifying during the emotional purge—known as the alchemical process?  As humans we have the ability to bring awareness to our emotional processes and experiences, utilizing this process for our inner growth and spiritual evolution and development in this lifetime. As we process our situations and experiences, we have opportunities to use this information to better ourselves, and notice where we can make changes for the future based on the past. 

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Amanda Montoya
Homemade Rose Water Recipe

Rose water is a simple but powerful way to work with rose. Rose is a beautiful plant ally to add to your spiritual practice and daily rituals. Her presence can help aid in the healing of the heart, for grief and sorrow, softening the walls we place around the heart for protection. She can encourage love to blossom in one’s life again, awakening the passions within. Rosa has an infinity for the heart, and blood which often connects her to the womb and the feminine. 

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Amanda Montoya