Although I only did one other WIAW post this month, I wanted to get in some more veggie time in my daily eating pics so here goes:
I started my day off with my favorite breakfast: oatmeal with cacao, maca, ginger, cinnamon, vanilla and coconut butter! I even added some carrot to up my veggie intake.
For lunch I had some good ol’ curried miso soup, made with chickpeas, carrots, broccoli and spices. Yum!
For a snack, I had some apple with a homemade chocolate-cinnamon almond butter creation that was AMAZING. Recipe coming soon
Ok, uhh yeah. This was supposed to be a picture of some incredible vegan mole tofu tacos with greens and radishes from Papalote but you know what? I was so hungry and they were so tasty so this is all that was left.
And what date night would be complete without some sweets? After dinner, we walked off gorging ourselves took a lovely walk around the Mission and got cozy at a cafe with some almond milk chai and a chocolate chip peanut butter cookie
And that’s all folks! I gotta run and finish making some sugar-free cupcakes before my husband gets home. Take care!
Ayurveda revolves around your “dosha“. Literally meaning “something that is out of whack,” your dosha is the unique constitutional body type that you were born with. Having said that, your dosha influences much more than just your outer appearance. It influences your physical, physiological, psycological and spiritual health.
To understand doshas, we must first understand the five elements. One of the basic tenets of Ayurveda is the belief that “everything which exists in the external universe has its counterpart in a living being’s own personal internal universe.” [1] Each action in our lives corresponds to an action within ourselves. A popular example is to compare the cooking of your food on the fire of the stovetop to the cooking of your food on your internal digestive “fire” in your stomach. This idea of interconnectedness can be explained by understanding the Five Great Elements. These elements are:
Earth: the solid state of matter
Water: the liquid state of matter
Fire: the power that can convert a solid state of matter to a liquid or a gas (or vice versa)
Air: the gaseous state of matter
Ether: the space in which everything is created and everything returns
These five elements combine to create the three doshas. It is important to understand that these doshas are forces in your being, not specific substances themselves. For example, Kapha is not mucus; it is the force that creates mucus. Each of these forces controls not only certain substances, but organs, body systems, seasons and life stages as well. No wonder doshas are so important!
In future posts we will get into the characteristics + qualities of the doshas in more detail but for now, let’s talk dosha basics:
VATA: Made from air + ether, vata is in charge of your kinetic energy, body movement and nervous system. Since vata is like the wind, the main quality of vata is dryness.
KAPHA: Composed of water + earth, kapha lubricates the body and is in charge of potential energy and body stability. Just like the solid soil we live on, the main quality of kapha is heaviness.
PITTA: Created from air + water, pitta balances the kinetic energy of vata with the potential energy of kapha. It controls digestion and both the enzymatic + endocrine systems. Akin to fire, the main quality of pitta is heat.
Your Ayurvedic constitution was determined at your conception, based on a variety of factors involving your parents and their physical, mental and emotional states. Your constitution at birth is called your prakriti. It is your true nature, what you have been (and always will be) and remains a vital part of who you are throughout your life. It is when we stray from our prakriti (through imbalances in our diet, health choices, etc.) that we become unwell. Therefore, the main objective of Ayurvedic medicine is to restore you to your true nature.
Pretty cool, huh?
Well, that’s all for this edition folks. Next time we will talk more in depth about the doshas and how they influence our health.
[1] Svoboda, Robert. Prakriti: Your Ayurvedic Constitution.
A few followers of my old blog have emailed me recently asking me if I could re-post my series I did last year on the basics of Ayurveda. Unfortunately, that computer has journeyed to the land of electronic ghosts and I don’t have access to those articles anymore
What I can do, however, is start the Ayurvedic adventure from scratch! Please bear with me as I try to remember everything we discussed and if you have any other questions, please comment below or send me a little message over at absolutelyayurveda (at) gmail (dot) com.
To begin this series, I thought it would be best to start from the often asked question “what in the world is Ayurveda?” Surely the concept of an ancient system of health that is both all-encompassing and extremely individualized can be daunting. But have no fear, “Ayurveda 101″ will help explain what this incredible health modality is all about!
The term “Ayurveda” is Sanskrit and it means “the science of life,” or “the knowledge of living,” or “the art of longevity.” Ayurveda originated in India around 5,000 years ago, although it spread to the Middle East many centuries ago and influenced (and was influenced by) other forms of medicine, including Islamic medicine (often called “Unani”) and Indigenous Medicine of the Middle East.
The main concepts in Ayurveda are:
We each are a unique combination of elements, which results in our constitutional type (our “dosha”)
Each part of ourselves relates to a larger part of the universe
The definition of true health is a complete balance of body, mind and spirit
The body, mind and spirit are always interconnected. A symptom in any one may be the result of a deeper problem in another.
Prevention is always emphasized over cure
Ayurveda is a way of life, not a short-term solution or a superficial means to attack a symptom
Throughout this series, we will address these concepts in detail to better understand Ayurveda. This beautiful system of medicine is all-natural, holistic and healthy and is a great way to re-connect with your inner and outer self!
[photo found here, from the film Ayurveda: The Art of Being]
well, here i was wondering what topic i should write about first on this blog and lo and behold, i got hit with a cold a few days ago.
and not just the sniffles, but a painfully sore throat, achy bones and all out fatigue. luckily, i am unemployed at the moment so these past few days have consisted of my (equally unemployed) husband making me breakfast, spending the whole day on the sofa and watching episodes of 30 rock and the office. but as much fun as the previous activities can be, they lose their luster when you are coughing up a storm, have snot running down your nose and on the edge of tears when you have to swallow.
so what is a natural health lady like myself supposed to do? guzzle a gallon of dayquil and go about my merry way? no, i say!
i will admit, it is more difficult to treat a tough cold and cough without those heavy hitters but they aren’t good for you anyway (and they only mask your symptoms instead of holistically healing you from the inside out.) in addition, strong cold medicines like nasal decongestants can make your cold worse and give you all kinds of other problems.
in an effort to take a giant step away from chemicals and pharmaceuticals, i wanted to write about some helpful and healthy remedies for the common cold and everything that comes with it.
in ayurveda, a cold is a kaphic disorder, with the kapha imbalance creating excess mucus and congestion. there are many natural remedies to pacify kapha and relieve your symptoms.
the cold:
if you are experiencing a runny nose, the sniffles or nasal congestion, there are a few main ways to make you feel better real fast.
for a runny nose or the sniffles, a steam of mint, ginger and/or eucalyptus will immediately begin to clear your sinuses. reading my tea leaves has a great post (with pictures!) on an easy way to create a steam at home. a tea of 2 parts ginger, 3 parts cinnamon and a pinch of ground cardamom will also clear up a cold. you can make a large amount of this tea ahead of time and steep 1 teaspoon in hot water for 10-15 minutes. if you feel it needs to be sweetened, you can add honey as desired.
nasal congestion can be alleviated by the wondrous neti pot. i myself haven’t bought one yet since i am a little scared of sticking a stream of water up my nose but once i get over that fear, i will pick one up. everyone i know who has one can’t stop raving about it and the variety of benefits that can come from this tiny little pot. if you aren’t ready for a journey through full nasal irrigation yet, i would highly recommend an all-natural saline spray such as xlear which has xylitol and grapefruit seed extract added to soothe your sinus passages. it really helps relieve a runny nose and it also helps heal irritated nasal cavities.
the cough:
in ayurveda, there are two types of coughs. a “dry cough” which is a vatic disorder and a “mucus cough” which is a kaphic disorder. if you have a dry cough, you can eat a ripe banana with honey and black pepper. a mucus cough can be helped by eating ground black pepper with a spoonful of honey. this should be taken a few times a day for 3-5 days. if the cough simply won’t go away, you can boil a chopped clove of garlic in milk (if not dairy, try to use nut milk, not soy milk). then add 1/4 teaspoon turmeric. it might taste a little like garlic soup but trust me, it is worth it.
the sore throat
oh boy, this is one of the most painful things to have. to relieve a sore throat you can do one (or more) of the following:
gargle with salt and hot water. this seems to work some of the time but not always. if that doesn’t do the trick, you can make a mixture of equal parts honey and apple cider vinegar. although it might smell (and taste) horrid, apple cider vinegar is an absolute godsend. in fact, it is so amazing that it will be have a post of its own at a later point in time. for now, just deal with the POW! that ACV hits you with and if you gargle (and swallow) the mixture, your sore throat will be on its way in no time. if you can’t handle the ACV (which happens to some people, my husband couldn’t even be in the kitchen while i was making the mixture), you can always gargle with the juice from half a lemon and a tablespoon of honey.
one remedy that i always use (even when i don’t quite have a sore throat) is what i call “TLC with HLC”. fill half a tablespoon with honey, fill the other half with fresh lemon juice and sprinkle cayenne pepper on top. one slow swallow (so that the mixture can coat the throat thoroughly) and you will be feeling better already!
the wonderful leslie from crunchy betty posted an excellent article on other cold and cough remedies, including a homemade sage honey for a sore throat (i am dying to make it!) and an amazing elderberry syrup that you can use either when you are sick or when you are just trying to prevent a flu. her website is incredible so you should put aside an hour (or two) to peruse her endless natural health wisdom.
a few side notes:
since aspirin and ginger are both blood-thinners, you should not take them at the same time.
if you are vegan, maple syrup can substitute for honey.
make sure you get plenty of rest. that includes napping and sleeping in. tell your boss absolutely ayurveda said so!
stay away from animal products sugars, dairy, cold drinks/foods and caffeine. they create even more mucus and slow down your recovery. instead, stick to hearty whole grains, steamed colorful veggies and LOTS of tea.
take time to relax and let your body heal. all too often, we are running around, trying to get everything done…even when we are sick!
make sure that your house is warm and that you are bundled up with socks, a sweatshirt and a head covering. if available, use a humidifier by your bedside. add a few drops of lavender to the humidifier water and it will relax you to sleep.
i hope this article will help you get well next time you are hit with a cold. and i leave you with this dreamy gem to relax your mind!
