​Just this week a friend was telling me how helpful having a routine has been during a stressful time in her life. Indeed! I know the feeling. During the last almost 15 months grieving the death of my husband, keeping a routine has given me a reason to get up every day (when I would rather pull the covers over my head) and take care of myself and my responsibilities (when I would rather tell the whole world to go to H - E double hockey sticks).

Ayurveda, India’s system for health and wellness, prioritizes routine over everything. No matter who you are, there are some aspects of routine that everyone has to abide by, but because everyone is different in body/mind/spirit, everyone has a slightly different routine. For example, some people do best early to bed, early to rise, while others do things later. But all people need to prioritize 7-9 hours of sleep every day. Another example is food: Everyone should eat foods that are healthy for their constitution and nutritional needs, but what is appropriate will vary from person to person. 

We could also mention exercise habits, the need for friendship and connection, the benefits of artistic inspiration and being in Nature, knowing one’s purpose in the world and having a reason to get out of bed each day, and experiencing unity consciousness through prayer, meditation and other spiritual practices. These are the basic needs of a human being and together they provide a holistic picture of a person who is healthy in mind, body and spirit. 

As we continue this month’s exploration of Nourish, consider this week how you nurture all these parts of yourself:

Are you ingesting food and drink appropriate for your constitution and the current season of the year? (more on this next week!)

Are you prioritizing your sleep by having good sleep habits and giving your body the right amount of rest for your constitution and the current season of the year? 

Do you move your body every day in ways that increase flexibility, strength and balance without causing harm to your body?

Are you giving adequate time and attention to the important relationships in your life?

Do you have a relationship with unity consciousness, such as your Higher Power, Nature or the Universe?

Do you know your purpose for being in the world? 

After you have reflected on each of these areas of life, pick one or two that may need some attention. Consider one thing you could do to enhance that area. Make sure your one thing is doable and practical. Then, just do it!

​We’re continuing with our Ayuvedic reset, a journey from summer into fall, with all the suggestions that will help us be our healthiest moving into this new season. The theme for month two is Nurture. And the focus for this week’s post is “making space.”

In Ayurvedic language we would say that we are making a transition from the hot, humid pitta season into the cold, dry, windy season of vata. These are the most obvious qualities of pitta and vata, the characteristics that we notice the most around us and in our own bodies. There is another quality of vata which is not as obvious, the quality of spaciousness. 

Consider how important space is in our lives. When we have too much space, we feel “spacey” and ungrounded, anxious and even afraid. When we don’t have enough space, we feel constricted, limited and stuck. But when we have just the right amount of space, we can move around freely and safely, having the right environment for spontaneity and creativity to flourish. 

It’s this “right amount of space” that we seek as we transition into vata season. Here are some ways of making space for creativity and spontaneity:

• Reflect on the important questions: Am I digesting well? Am I eliminating well? Am I sleeping/resting well? Am I moving well? Am I connecting with others well? Is my soul at ease? When you discover some area of your life that is not flowing well, ask yourself another question, What is one thing I can do to bring balance to this area?

• Arrive early: Whenever you have to be somewhere—a meeting, house of worship, yoga/meditation class, dinner with family or friends—show up 10 minutes early. This will give you time to use the bathroom, wash your hands, get a drink of water, and settle into your seat to engage fully with the experience. 

• Transition well: So often we move way too quickly from one thing to the next without a proper transition between activities. Going from a phone call directly into a meeting, you find yourself still thinking about the call, not fully present to the meeting. Stepping into the gym after being at work all day, you are still going over the details of the day. Here’s an easy yet powerful practice: In between activities take 1-3 complete breaths and say to yourself, “I let go of what has come before and I turn my attention fully to what is coming next.” You will have made a clean separation from what you were doing previously, showing respect for those you are meeting with and ready to engage whatever creative process is required.

What are your favorite ways to make space for curiosity and creativity in your day?

Welcome to month two of my four-month Ayurvedic healing journey. I started this because I am 14 months into deep grief. I lost my husband to death last year. I am just beginning to feel more steadiness in life and this seemed like a good time to take these healing steps. I’m not doing it alone; I am supported by the work of Ayurprana which is affiliated with The Ayurvedic Institute in Asheville, North Carolina. 

The theme for month two is Nurturing. It’s a logical next step at the conclusion of the Cleanse. Have you taken some time to eat less, clean up your diet, and consider how and why you eat the things you do? If so, good for you! It’s an enlightening process, right? If not, there is still time to do so as we will be in the transition between summer and fall for a couple more weeks.

Nurturing starts with food. I encourage you to continue to explore the Seasonal Food Guide so that you can choose foods that grow in your area at this time of year. Don’t be fooled by what you see in the grocery store! Those foods hardly ever change, and many of them are being trucked in from all over the country. If you can visit your local farmers’ market you will see what is seasonal. Being healthy starts with making healthier choices. 

Here’s a favorite recipe that I will be making this week. It calls for baby bok choy, best found in an Asian market, but regular sized bok choy works well too. The fresh ginger is warming and tridoshic, which means it’s good for all constitutions. Please don’t use dry ginger in this recipe as it will be too heating and might give you heartburn. Garlic is anti-inflammatory and supports the immune system as we move into fall. Share this nurturing food with a friend or family member and you will experience the joy of connection. 

Sesame Bok Choy with Tofu

2 T sesame seeds
16 oz pkg firm tofu drained and cut into bite-size cubes
4 t sesame oil, divided
1 ½ lbs baby bok choy cut into 1” pieces
2 T fresh ginger, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced

1. Place sesame seeds in a bowl. Add the tofu to gently coat with the seeds. Heat 2 t oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Cook the tofu, turning occasionally to lightly brown on all sides.

2. Heat remaining 2 t oil in a wok or large skillet over high heat. Add the bok choy, ginger and garlic and stir-fry for 4 minutes. Add in the tofu.

3. Serve with rice or noodles. Enjoy!

​My nine-day cleanse is almost over and it’s time to transition back to a normal diet. If you did a one-day or four-day cleanse this past week, good for you! How do you feel? I feel lighter in my body and emotions, and there is more clarity in my mind. After an experience like this, it’s a good time to reflect on how you really want to take care of your body and mind every day, not just when you are taking a break during a cleanse.

Here are some things to notice and questions to ask yourself:

Cravings! Do you really need to consume that particular food or drink, or is it serving another purpose in your life?

What is the purpose of food and drink in your life? It’s not meant to be a judgment of what you eat or why you eat, but rather a question of curiosity and exploration. When you are aware of these connections, you can make better decisions.

How do you feel in your body and mind when you consume certain food and drink? Which ones make you feel heavy and sad, and which ones make you feel light and happy?

What are two small changes you can make this season that will serve your good health as you head into the cold, dry season ahead (i.e., known as “cold and flu” season)?

May you enjoy the exploration. I know I am!

If you’re following me, you know that I’ve just started a four-month journey through the Fall season. This week is the Fall Equinox, the first official day of Fall. Yay! And it’s also the week for our Ayurvedic cleanse. I have done many four-day cleanses, but never a nine-day before, and I’m excited to see if I’m able to make it all the way through. 

If you’d like to cleanse this week too, I have a couple of suggestions for you:

One-day cleanse: For one day drink cucumber-ginger juice. No other food, but herbal teas are fine. You can use honey or maple syrup as a sweetener. Try to do this cleanse on a day when you don’t have many responsibilities so you can rest and reflect. Take time to journal, go outside and sit under a tree, do some gentle stretching and meditate (I like the Insight Timer app). Try to continue with the suggestions from last week to wean off caffeine, sugar, alcohol, meat and heavy foods. 

Cucumber-ginger juice recipe: Peel a large cucumber and remove the seeds (you can eat the seeds if you like, and if you have a high speed blender they will pulverize). Peel a two-inch piece of ginger. Chop up the cucumber and ginger and place in a blender. Add the juice of ½ lemon, or more to taste. Add water as needed to blend and create a juice drink. 

Four-day home cleanse: Every morning you can make a mixture of basmati rice, yellow mung dal and spices called ​kitchari. Here is one recipe, and you can search for others. Eat this mixture as your meals throughout the day for four days in a row. You can supplement with vegetables from the Seasonal Food Guide and drink herbal teas sweetened with honey or maple syrup. Try to keep a quieter schedule those four days because you may feel a bit tired not eating your usual diet. It’s a good time to journal, practice yoga and meditate. And as my teacher likes to say, “Simplify, simplify, simplify.”

What a beautiful way to greet Autumn!

I’m beginning a four-month journey and I am inviting you to go along with me. Over the past three months I’ve written about the summer season, and I ended the summer series with guidance for transitioning into the fall. To keep the momentum going I’ve signed up for a four-month fall journey incorporating both Ayurveda and Yoga. The timing is right for me: It’s been a challenging few years with my husband’s illness and death. Although I am far from being healed, I am feeling better and stronger. I believe this program will help me take care of myself physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually with the support of an online community.

Each week I will share with you what I am working on with some suggestions for how you might explore the same issues and questions with me. It should be interesting and fun.

This week I am preparing for cleansing. Ayurveda teaches that it is essential to make an appropriate transition between the seasons, in this case, leaving the summer behind and easing into the fall. The two seasons are very different from each other, but we are now in the in-between time when they melt together.  

Here are some things to do to prepare for cleansing:

-Take time to reflect on the summer, especially what worked out and what did not, and hold onto special memories you’d like to carry with you

-Pay attention to the signals that fall is on the way—shorter days, the way the light touches the earth at a different angle, the waning of the garden plants, the arrival of new fall-friendly plantings, and the change of appetite

Next week I will be eating a monodiet for several days. I will share some cleansing foods you might like to try. Think of it as a clearing of the palate to prepare the digestive system for the change of seasons. You might like to join me in cleaning up your diet in preparation for next week’s cleanse:

-Wean off of caffeine, sugar, alcohol and meat. Or at least eat less of them.

-Look at the website Seasonal Food Guide, search for the seasonal foods that grow where you live and make the effort to eat several items from that list this week.

“When summer gathers up her robes of glory, and like a dream of beauty glides away.”
– Sarah Helen Whitman

​Not so fast, my friends: Even though the signs of fall are surely arriving, summer isn’t through with us yet. So today we offer the tenth and final installment in our “Yoga and Ayurveda Summer Series.” Over the past couple of months we’ve tried to explain how the hot, wet weather of summer transitions into the cold, dry weather of fall. Here in the northern hemisphere the earth is making this transition, and our bodies must make this shift too.

Ayurveda teaches about “thermal accumulation,” an interesting phenomenon that happens at summer’s end. As the summer progresses the earth heats up internally. And because we are earth-bound people, we also heat up internally. If the heat accumulates unchecked, we put ourselves at risk for poor health this fall and winter. This is why Ayurveda teaches us to take care of ourselves in the current season so that our immune system can be strong in the next one.

Here are some of the symptoms of thermal accumulation: diarrhea, inflammation, hot flashes, skin rashes, poor digestion and allergies. As the weather begins to turn cooler, these symptoms can change to constipation, dry skin and fall colds. If the immune system is weak, even more serious illnesses can arise. 

Ayurveda also teaches that prevention is the key. We are still under the influence of pitta, the hot season of the year. Eat cooling foods: cucumber, cilantro, fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains. Favor Pitta-pacifying foods that taste sweet, bitter, or astringent. Avoid foods that are pungent, sour, or salty. 

The two best foods for easing thermal accumulation are apples and watermelon. And both are abundantly available in stores right now. Eat one or both every day.

To reset the digestive system you might consider doing a four-day kitchari cleanse in September to coincide with the change of seasons. Kitchari is a mixture of basmati rice and mung dal cooked with spices. Here’s a recipe to get you started

Also stay hydrated, even when it’s humid. Drinks should be room temperature or hotter. Never drink cold drinks because they douse digestive fire. Strive to drink ½ of your body weight in ounces each day (150lbs = 75 oz or about 9 cups)

Follow these guidelines and you’ll glide into Fall with a strong immune system!

​This is the ninth installment of our “Yoga and Ayurveda Summer Series.” This week and next week are transitional posts as we make that all-important shift from summer to fall. You feel it too, right? Shorter days, cooler mornings and evenings, and the changing energy as we let go of carefree summer and get to work on fall projects. 

This transition is so very important because fall is a time when people are susceptible to getting sick. Sure, we might get a summer cold or a tummy ache from too much ice cream, but fall sickness is often worse—flu, virus, coughing, pneumonia, etc. According to Ayurveda, fall sickness is not inevitable, and there are things we can do to make a healthy transition into fall. 

For one thing we have to recognize that when we shift seasons we are also shifting dosha dominance. As we’ve seen, pitta dosha has primarily hot and wet qualities. As we move into fall, however, the qualities of vata dosha, cold and dry, begin to appear. Notice that the dominant qualities are actually opposite. Ayurveda teaches that we must mitigate the qualities of one dosha before we can embrace the qualities of another.  

In next week’s blog post we’ll talk about transitions in the body through food and lifestyle, but this week we will offer a meditation that can foster a calm mind. Have you ever wondered why we feel mentally overwhelmed when the fall arrives? Most of us would say it’s because school is starting and we’re already stressing out about the holidays. But Ayurveda offers a different answer: It’s because pitta is declining, vata is increasing and we are affected by the one quality they share: They are both mobile.

The mobile quality of pitta is our inclination to keep pushing and moving forward. In the summer it’s fueled by lots of healthy foods and long days to hike and hang out at the beach. Pitta is naturally hot and wet, so these experiences are welcomed and usually well-tolerated.

But things take a dramatic turn when this same mobile quality moves into vata season. Since vata is cold and dry, it tires more quickly as the days get shorter. Piling on more work at the start of the school year feels overwhelming when vata just wants to rest. Before long vata becomes aggravated and we experience insomnia, anxiety, dry skin and constipation. 

Here’s an excellent way to work with the mobile quality of the mind during the transition from summer into fall. So Hum is simple breath meditation that affirms our connection to a greater energy that has the power to calm and heal us. 

Sit in a chair with feet on the floor, or sit on the floor with legs crossed. Sit up tall so that the spine is erect but relaxed. Breathe in and out through the nose, closing the eyes if you like. When you breathe in, hear the sound SO, a mantra that refers to the Great Energy that holds everything together. When you breathe out, hear the sound HUM, a mantra that refers to the individual—YOU!—having this experience of life. Repeat the mantra So Hum for 5-20 minutes each day. It could be just what you need to meet the challenges of a busy seasonal change.

In the yogic tradition we have the amazingly wonderful breathing exercises known as pranayama. The Sanskrit word literally means to lengthen, control or direct the prana. Prana is our enduring life force. And we want to keep it healthy and strong!

Different types of pranayama are used to rev up the body or calm it down, heat it or cool it. This hot weather calls for a cooling pranayama known as Shitali (shee-tah-lee), or cooling breath. This exercise will cool the body in hot weather, cool the mind, and is also said to chase away hunger and thirst. 

Practice this pranayama every day for several minutes so you can learn it, then you can recall it easily when you need it when the days and nights are so hot.

Find a place where you won’t be disturbed and sit up tall on your sitting bones. Relax your hands onto your lap. Lower your eyes or close them so you can concentrate. Curl your tongue into a tube if you can and stick it out between your lips. If you can’t curl your tongue, make a circular shape with your lips. (Fun fact: this is called a “crow’s beak”) Sip breath into the mouth like you’re sucking on a straw. At the end of the inhalation, retain the breath in your lungs for several beats. While retaining the breath, close your mouth and gently place your tongue on the roof of your mouth just behind the teeth. Breathe out through your nose. Practice 10-20 times, or about 1-2 minutes. 

FAQs
How long should I retain the breath? As long as it feels comfortable. You should not get dizzy or anxious when you practice. 

Why should I put the tongue on the roof of the mouth? The upper palate is a powerful energy point that links directly to the brain. This is why the exercise calms your mood.

Why can’t I curl my tongue?! No one really knows why. Depending on the country, 65-81% of the population can roll their tongue while the rest cannot. It’s more common among women than men. It could possibly be something that is learned in childhood. Contrary to popular belief, however, recent research suggests it is probably not genetic.