This Mother’s Day, as I contemplate what it means to be a mother I’m overcome with melancholy. In just about 12 weeks my oldest daughter is leaving for college. She’s off to Northern Arizona to begin the next chapter of her life. I always knew this day was coming, it’s what we’ve been preparing for for 18 years now.
Red lentils are often a go-to for lunch at my house because they cook up quickly and they do not need any time for pre-soaking. This red lentil dal combines kapha pacifying spices for a quick and satisfying meal.
Simple, one-bowl meals, often called Buddha Bowls, have been all the craze for the last few years. You can pack a lot of flavor and a lot of nutrition into just one bowl. And āyurvedically speaking, you can pack all 6 tastes into just one bowl.
We all look forward to Daylight Savings, with its promise of long summer evenings basking in the sun ahead. But does the “spring forward” leave you feeling tired, groggy, and out of sorts? While a one hour shift might seem benign, it actually has quite an impact on the human system.
It’s almost sneezin’ season. There might still be a chill in the air, but the days are getting longer, the afternoons are getting warmer, and the ground is thawing.
This kapha pacifying soup includes mustard seed, onions, garlic, ginger root, cayenne pepper and other spices for pungency (warming and dissolving kapha’s cold stickiness). Kale and ground coriander add the bitter taste which has a drying action on kapha’s liquid quality, and stimulates peristalsis (moving food through the digestive tract). Lentils and fresh cilantro add astringency which also helps to dry kapha’s liquid quality.
Kapha tends to accumulate in the lungs and the stomach. Yoga āsana that stretch, compress, and otherwise stimulate these areas are ideal for busting up that stagnant kapha. Building heat by drawing on kapha’s inherent strength and stability in standing postures is another sure fire way to shake off the heaviness of kapha and feel lighter and more expansive in both body and mind. I developed the following sequence with an eye toward Āyurveda and pacifying provoked kapha.
Intentions are different than goals. Goals are about achieving something (I want to touch my toes). Intentions are more about creating the conditions for progress and growth (I’ll pay attention to my body). Intentions make us more aware of our thoughts and behaviors (with consistency in practice I’ll make progress toward touching my toes). Our intentions set the tone for the lives we are creating
In Ayurveda late winter through early spring is considered the kapha season. It’s during this time that, without proper attention, we can accumulate the qualities of kapha - hard, dense, heavy, slow/sluggish. Kapha is the convergence of the water and earth elements; think of the sticky mud after the snows melt, or the cold, heavy, wet snows of late winter.
“I just carry hope in my heart. Hope is not a feeling of certainty that all ends well. Hope is just a feeling that life and work have meaning.” ~Vaclav Havel
Poet William Blake wrote, “In the Universe, there are things that are known, and things that are unknown, and in between them, there are doors.” We may not know what lies ahead, but the possibilities are endless.
In the Northern Hemisphere today is the first day of winter. Of course, the pitta in me LOVES winter. This season is so magical - especially when it snows! But even without the snow, I find the crisp air refreshing, and I appreciate the extended hours of darkness, the chance to slow down and hibernate, and evenings cozy on the couch with a book and a blanket. There’s a sense of stillness that accompanies winter.
The holiday season is officially upon us. Whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza, Yule, or just get caught up in the excitement of the season, it’s not unusual for folks to feel more run down, exhausted, and overwhelmed around the holidays. So much of the overwhelm, stress, exhaustion and anxiety that we feel this time of year could be avoided simply by remembering what’s really important - hint, it’s not the perfect gifts, the perfect meal, or the best decorations.
Just as the time of day and season of year is influenced by the doshas, so is the stage of life. At each stage of life we will be influenced by the gunas (qualities of the dosha) and even exhibit more of those qualities ourselves. This is just another way that Ayuveda brings us into deep relationship with ourselves in our quest for harmony and balance. In the same way that we employ opposite action when treating a physical or mental imbalance, we can use opposite action throughout specific life phases to help us maintain equilibrium.
In the United States we split the calendar into 4 season - winter, spring, summer, and fall. In India there are 6 seasons - spring, summer, monsoon season, autumn, prewinter (cool season), and winter (dewey season). In Ayurveda we simplify these 6 seasons by their elemental make up and relationship to the doshas.
Aligning your day to the Ayurvedic Clock can be a challenge, given that most of us have jobs and extra curricular activities that keep us out until well into the kapha hour. Given some of our most modern health and wellness complaints - insomnia, poor digestion, anxiety - aligning to the Ayurvedic Clock can help you achieve balance and support your health and wellbeing.
What’s the key to deep healing, lasting health, and abundant vitality? OWNERSHIP. Taking ownership of your health and wellbeing will lead to positive, lasting outcomes.
Cool mornings, cardigans, warm tea, pumpkin spice……I LOVE everything about this time of year! As a pitta my whole system breathes a sigh of relief when those first cool breezes of fall blow in.
One of the most important concepts in living an Ayurvedic lifestyle is 𝗗𝗜𝗡𝗔𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗥𝗬𝗔, your daily routine. Dr. Vasant Lad says "A daily routine is absolutely necessary to bring radical change in body, mind, and consciousness."
“Yogaḥ karmasu kauśalam”, says Kṛṣna - Yoga is skill in action. This famous line from the second chapter of the Bhagavad Gita is often cited in reference to our skill at performing āsana, but how skillful you are at putting your foot behind your head, or kicking up into handstand isn’t quite what Kṛṣna had in mind — in fact, he had quite the opposite in mind when he uttered these words to Arjuna.
