NOURISH TO FLOURISH
Henna or mehendi application during occasions and marriages is considered a festive ritual in many parts of India. Henna leaves are dried and ground to a paste and then applied on the palms or feet.
1. Salads, fruits, buttermilk, cucumbers and lemon juice are cooling foods which deal with the excess heat developed in the body.
2. People living in coastal areas sweat, which aids in cooling the body. However, people living in dry areas may or may not sweat and this results in heat being trapped in the body.
3. When heat is trapped in the body and foods are not cooling enough, people develop heat boils on their skin, heat boils near the eyes, burning sensation in the eyes, loss of appetite, cracks in feet, fever and runny nose.
How can you use it?
1. Buy good quality henna or mehendi from the store.
2. Mix a small quantity of the powder with water and apply on the palms or soles of your feet or both. Decorative designs have evolved so that people get excited about applying it. For cooling, a simple round application will suffice.
3. Men who are hesitant to apply it on the palms can apply it only on the soles of their feet for a longer time.
4. Wait for 15 mins and wash it off. For children, the time can be reduced to 10 mins.
5. Some people cannot apply mehendi or henna paste on their head as it triggers off asthma, sinus or migraine attack. They can try this cooling technique.
Our ancestors had based a lot of the rituals on logic and some of them are still relevant in this time and age. It is easier to just grab a chilled aerated drink to cool yourself, but the soft drink just gives you an illusion of cooling and does not actually cool your body. Sometimes, you just have to try it to believe it.
