Good digestion is the heart of a healthy mind and body.  The food you eat becomes your tissues.  Digestion is the epicenter of your immune system.  It is both what you eat and how you eat that matters.

Here are a few tips to improve and support digestion:

1. Eat wholesome, fresh, mostly cooked food.
2. Eat regular meals, fasting between meals and at night.
3. Eat in a calm environment, sitting down.
4. Eat a light breakfast, more at lunch and a lighter evening meal.
5. Sip room temperature or hot water with a meal and avoid iced water or cold beverages.
6. Include all 6 tastes.

The Basics of an Ayurvedic Kitchen

• Fresh vegetables and fruits
• Ghee and other healthy fats such as olive oil and coconut oil
  
• Fresh herbs and spices
  
• Whole grains
  

​The practice of Ayurveda helps to increase your body's natural healing abilities and prevent disease.  Begin your practice by paying attention to the qualities of your food and your own nature, noticing how you feel after you eat.  Your food should make you feel good!

​Being healthy means living in balance with ourselves and with nature.  Developing seasonal awareness will help us make good choices that help keep us in balance throughout the season.
There are three ayurvedic seasons, Vata, Pitta, and Kapha, based on the elements, just like the doshas of the body. Fall to early winter is Vata season governed by the elements of space and air. The dry leaves and winds of fall move us into the crisp, dry coldness of winter…change…motion. The most prevalent energy of Vata season is movement or flow.  Do we see this in nature, or as part of our nature?  Or, do we resist what is happening around us, instead of flowing with the changes?
The Vata principle of movement is in the body as well—the movement of breath, of food through digestion, and the constant flow of thoughts. When we resist or block the subtle flow of energy mentally, physically or spiritually, we feel “off” or stagnant.  So, the phrase “go with the flow” has special meaning this season!
Moving through the season gracefully means allowing yourself to actually BE aware of nature and flow with it. Dress warm, and when you step outside each morning, take in the day. Is it bright, crisp, windy, do you notice how the snow muffles sound, or how the cool air makes the ground “crunch” beneath your feet?   To balance the cold, dry, mobile qualities that may also accumulate in the physical body, eat more warm moist foods, like soups and stews and minimize cold or raw food and beverages.  Add healthy fat to your diet like olive oil, sesame oil, or ghee to moisturize the body from the inside out.  Finally, take time to be still.  Do what you need to do to feel grounded…meditation, a restorative pose, listening to music… allowing space between your thoughts, so you’ll be better able to let go of what you don’t need and “go with the flow!”

Yoga at home has become the new practice, whether you are taking a live class on Zoom or practicing on your own.  It can be a challenge to assemble all the props, find a clear space, and uninterrupted time to make it happen.  Keeping up your own practice outside of class is very important for general well-being and to nurture the things you learn in class.  It is often hard to start.  What to do?  What comes next?  Here are three tips for your own home practice:

• Pick a regular time.  It can be 15 minutes in the morning before work but find something you make happen every day.
• Start small.  Pick two or three poses that you enjoy and do them.  Can't think of more? Repeat what you know. Repetition builds awareness and skillful action.
  
• Listen to your body.  You are your own best teacher!
  

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The Covid19 pandemic has changed the way we work and live and practice yoga!  I am offering classes on Zoom Mondays and Wednesdays through the Yoga Center Retreat.  While we cannot gather in person, we can gather on the screen and keep our practice and community together.  It has been so wonderful to see faces from all over!  You can register for a class at theyogacenterretreat.com.  Stay healthy!  

Spring has finally arrived.  Time to shed the heavy coat and reach for something lighter.  We can benefit from doing the same thing with our diets.  Paying attention to the rhythms of nature and eating seasonally improves digestion, supports our immune system and helps us shed those extra pounds.
If you want to know more about eating seasonally, join me on Saturday May 18 for Simple Healthy Cooking for Spring at the Yoga Center Retreat in St. Louis Park, MN.  
To register or see more information click on this link:  https://clients.mindbodyonline.com/classic/ws?studioid=6303&stype=-8&sTG=23&sVT=688&sView=day&sLoc=1&sTrn=100000566&date=05/18/19

In our media driven world, it's counter culture to think that we should want to eat to add insulation to our bodies in any season.  But Ayurveda teaches that eating the right foods for the season will not only nourish our minds and bodies but also support our bodies natural healing abilities.  We are right in the middle of winter season which is cold and dry.  To nourish and balance the body, and also build our immunity we will benefit from eating foods that are warm such as cooked vegetables, soups and stews, whole grains, proteins and good fats like olive oil and ghee.  These foods help insulate the body keeping us warm while also building the necessary strength to support our immune system. 

Lately, I have been starting my day off with this delicious Slow-Cooker Oatmeal by Anna Stockwell from Epicurious.com.   You can make it the night before and wake up to a wonderful warm and nourishing breakfast.
The recipe serves 8 as printed here.  You can cut it in half with good results.  To make it a bit more Ayurvedic I add a Tablespoon of ghee (to combat dryness) and a generous pinch of cardamom.

Slow-Cooker Oatmeal with Apples and Ginger
1 apple cut into 1/2 " pieces
1 2" piece of fresh ginger finely chopped
2 cups steel-cut oats
1 cup short -grain brown rice, millet or quinoa
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/2 cup rolled old-fashioned oats
1/2 cup slivered almonds
2 tablespoons flax seeds
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Preparation
Mix apple, ginger, steel-cut oats, rice, old-fashioned oats, raisins, almonds, flaxseeds, cinnamon, and salt in a slow cooker.  Cover with 12 cups water and stir to combine. Cook on low until porridge is thick and soft, 7-8 hours. 

Autumn is a major transition time from the heat of summer into the cool of winter.  As we are part of nature, if we pay attention, we can notice changes in our bodies as well as the environment.  Toward the end of summer, the body accumulates heat causing dryness in our skin and mucous membranes.  Since we are moving into a season that is characterized by being dry, we need to remedy this now so we don't continue to create more dryness. The crazy thing is, when our mucous membranes dry out, it creates an environment perfect for cold and flu bugs and the sinuses react by producing more mucous.   There is a reason we call this cold and flu season! Our best defense, according to Ayurveda, is to have a seasonal routine to balance the effects of each season.  It is considered a cornerstone of health all year long. 
Some ideas to counter the cool, dry, erratic, windy days of fall are:
     Eat more foods that are warm, cooked and moist - eat less foods that are cold, raw, or dry foods like chips and crackers
     Consume plenty of good fats like ghee and olive oil.  You can cook with them liberally and also add them to your grains and soups
     Drink plenty of water - room temperature or warm is best
     Eat foods that are in season. This is exactly what the body needs.  Apples for example are ideal fall food as they help to dissipate heat in the body.  Sweet potatoes, squash and beets are excellent foods to add nourishment, moisture and a sense of groundedness to the mind and body.
     So, if you have the good fortune to be near a local farmers market, stock up on the seasonal vegetables and fruit, buy some tasty olive oil and ghee and enjoy the beauty of the change of season!

 Preparing some cool summer drinks that will not only quench your thirst but also rejuvenate you may be just what you look to do as the temperatures rise. Summer fruits are the perfect place to start.  How about a Banana Smoothie with Lime and Cardamom?  The qualities of the fruits are hydrating, helping to replenish fluids. Limes also enhance digestion which can be less strong in the heat of summer. Bananas natural sugars restore your energy while also restoring your electrolytes. While many smoothies incorporate milk or yogurt as a base, this one is fruit alone. Ayurveda looks at certain food combinations as being incompatible and thus difficult to digest.  Milk and fruit are one such combination to avoid. Eaten alone, each is easily digested but eating them together may have a negative effect on digestion. Since fruit and dairy require different enzymes to digest, eating them together interferes with the digestive process leaving some of the food to sit in the gut undigested.  We may experience this as heart burn, gas, or stomach ache and appropriately, call it indigestion! Using coconut water will not only aid digestion but also rehydrate you.
Banana Smoothie with Lime and Cardamom
From Joyful Belly
2c. Banana
¼ tsp Cardamom
1c.Coconut water
1/3 whole lime
Combine all ingredients in a blender until smooth. Serve and enjoy!
Optional: If you don’t have coconut water, use water.
ere to edit.

 In the winter season, our bodies accumulated dryness and cold.  It served us well to eat hearty meals, heavier foods, more good fats and proteins to keep warm and grounded.  As we move into spring, the rains come, snow melts, the earth holds onto more water and so do we.  This often manifests in the body as congestion and allergies. So, as the seasons change, so should our eating habits. Avoid heavy foods like red meat, dairy, nuts and shellfish, and favor lighter foods like bitter greens, sprouts, and beans. We naturally tend to crave lighter meals and looking at what nature has to offer in the early spring we only need to go as far as our own back yard! The dandelion is one of the first blooms to appear and it happens to be just what the body needs to help flush out excess water and fat from the system. Best of all, according to the author of Eating on the Wild Side, Jo Robinson, wild foods offer more nutrients than their grocery store counterparts. Dandelion leaves have eight times more antioxidants, three times more vitamin A and two times more calcium than spinach! All parts of the dandelion are edible: flowers, leaves, and roots. Be sure you harvest dandelions that have not been sprayed with pesticides.  And what to do with those “weeds” you just picked?  Use them as you would any greens in salad, chopped and sautéed, added to scrambled eggs or steep the leaves in water for tea.

Dandelion Tea
2 pinches of cardamom
Handful of dandelion leaves
Steep cardamom and dandelion leaves covered in boiling water 2-3 minutes.
Let cool slightly and enjoy!

Dandelion Salad
Bunch of dandelion greens
Juice of ½ lemon
¼ cup olive oil
1 teaspoon honey
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
Mix dressing ingredients together and toss with greens