we are star stuff
a new perspective
variety is the spice of life. as we age, it’s easy to let certain constants fall to the back-burner as we face the onslaught of uncertainty that life offers us. some of these constants are as simple as having awareness of the way you sit down or carry your groceries. others of these may be a bit more complex, like our approach to new political ideas. somewhere in between these poles, we get use to our perspectives on wellness and we go on autopilot as we travel our avenues for health care. there is room for both reactive and preventative medicines, eastern and western disciplines— you just have to be willing to find the space, and offer yourself the grace to explore something slightly outside of your typical path.
we are elemental
in ayurveda, the whole of the cosmos is made up of just five elements. in an alternative story of creation, space began to move and created air, that air moved so much that it combusted into fire, the fire cooled and thawed into water, and the water solidified into the earth and planets. these elements can be found in all matter (organic and not) and are qualities in all things tangible (or not).
this perspective offers us an opportunity to simplify the way we see the world and our interactions with it. imbalances can be viewed through this elemental lens and the steps that we take to resolve them can be pared down based on simple understandings of ether, air, water, fire, and earth.
if you’re dealing with insomnia, you could notice the etheric/airy quality disturbing your sleep— so something that invigorates these elements in your body will probably not be of much help. as the saying goes— like increases like, opposites balance. on the contrary, if you’re sleeping a ton and having a hard time getting up in the morning, looking for comfort in more earthy-quality behaviors will most likely exacerbate the issue.
what does this mean
before we get big sick, or body sends little warning signals towards us. unexpected freak accidents aside, it’s uncommon to wake up one day with cancer having had no other red flags (such as systemic dysfunction, lethargy, pain, constipation, inflammatory responses). it’s in these small memos that we can begin to take preventative steps in our wellness and longevity— allopathic medicine reacts to the instance of disease, ayurveda (and similar disciplines) acts as “quality control” daily to keep your human system in balance in order to keep any progression of disease from happening.
i circle back to my earlier statement about there being space for both. you can’t make a painting if you don’t have paint or you don’t have a canvas— when you are ill you see the proper medical professional, but how episodic is that. the point i’d like to wrap up with is this: when you’re not urgently seeking care for an unavoidable ailment, what are you doing to keep yourself healthy and through what lens are you looking through.
bulk batch granola
makes 5 servings
what you’ll need
2 cups rolled oats
1 cup raw nuts
1/2 cup honey or maple syrup
1/2 cup coconut oil or ghee
a healthy dash of seeds (hemp, flax, chia, poppy)
spices to taste (cinnamon, cardamom, allspice, you name it)
how you’ll prepare it
pre-heat the oven to 350.
combine oats, nuts, seeds, and any other dry ingredient you have a taste for.
add in wet ingredients and fold it in til oats are coated in a tasty sheen.
spread uncooked granola on greased cooking sheet.
keep in oven for ~ 25 minutes (or until aromatic and lookin crunchy).
let cool.
ways you can consume it
currently obsessed with adding it to my morning cottage cheese parfaits (super easy to bulk batch).
can also eat as a quick snack.
try it as a crush on a berry crumble.
the options are unlimited.
june in your body
coming up on the midway point of the year and things really start to heat up. the cycle of the seasons are reflected in the cycle of life and even the cycle of the day. the beginning is cool and damp, the middle is the hottest part, and the end is chilly and dry. life imitates art imitates cycles and nature understands the concept of “work smarter, not harder”. she follows the same pattern all throughout without reinventing the wheel. with june’s arrive comes warmth and sun that winter-us dream of— so instead of immediately longing for the cold winter, let’s unpack some ways to make the most of the season without throwing your body out of balance.
lifestyle & routine
as the old adage goes, like increases like— so, as the temperatures outside rise, a lifestyle that is also hot and rajasic with minimal rest will exacerbate your hot quality. while we all may be drawn to exacerbating our hotness, heat in the body contributes to ailments such as inflammation, restlessness, anxiety, and volatility. because likeness is drawn to likeness (birds of a feather, after all), the longer days, warmth, and liveliness of the summer time fosters that in us. though the day is longer, continue to aim for sleep before 10pm so your hot organs (heart, liver) are able to reset and heal properly.
as another adage goes, opposites create balance— imbalance is the spice of life but encouraging too much imbalance makes everything harder on yourself. remember, work smarter, not harder. when you feel yourself getting caught up in the summer-y vibes of summer and need a bit of balance, try adding in a cool shower (or ever a cool face wash) in the morning.
with heat and humidity comes accumulation— this is particularly taxing on the lymphatic system which, when improperly set up in the spring, may be in a persistent state of stagnation. dry brushing (called garshana) helps to get the lymph moving. when your lymphatic system is movin and groovin, your immune response is more effective and your waste removal system gets to fire on all cylinders.
diet staples
so, in the hot time of year (and not too different from may’s staples), cooling foods and herbs will be your best bet. cucumbers, berries, bitter greens, tropical sweets, and melons will all quench your thirst and satiate the dry heat in the mouth. cilantro, fennel, coconut oil, quinoa, fish, and citrus add a splash of flavor to your meal without adding the weight/strain on your digestion.
though nothing hits like a summer-time day drink followed by some afternoon carb-loading and evening round two, alcohol is a ferment (like cheese, bread, kombucha). ferments contain the metabolic waste products from the “biotic additions” to the foods— essentially, we ingest a little bit of bacteria metabolites as a result of consumption. now, all things in moderation, but ferments in particular increase heat in the body and contribute to inflammation systemically. minimizing (or just moderating) ferment intake will support your system and save inflammatory energy for when it’s really needed.
what’s next
things are only going to get hotter and plans are going to continue to pop up, so be sure to schedule in your down time— rest, relax, recovery and then repeat so that you’re time out in life is most fulfilling. and, as always, reach out to your friendly neighborhood lifestyle consultant if you need a hand getting started.
ayurveda, defined
what it is
ayurveda is an eastern medicine science that comes from the vedic tradition. translated into english, ayurveda means “science of life” and is classified as a “biocharacteristic” medicine. this discipline uses a systematic approach to assess the individual and the relationship it has with the world around it. through diet, lifestyle, and herbal support, ayurveda is an experiential approach to wellness. it is less a “new approach to health” and more a “return to intuition”— serving to complete the picture of your healthcare team.
what it does
unlike allopathic disciplines which tend towards treating the singular “cause of disease”, ayurveda takes a big picture approach by identifying patterns of stressors on the unique constitution of the person. it is a categorical approach to disease through assessment of body type (or dosha) as well as imbalances of the qualities (or gunas) and elements in and around the body. we can boil it down to quality vs quantity— there is always a place for both.
instead of looking for answers for each disease in the body, ayurveda streamlines the complexity of disease and supports the healing process through easy to implement lifestyle and dietary routine. using a qualitative approach, ayurveda understands that all of life is a series of relationships— and in those relationships are patterns. through pratice and awareness, ayurveda integrates all of the parts of each relationship to find the path to balance in the body daily and seasonally.
what it do?
quality of life comes from daily living, not in the occasional visit to the doc (both planned and unplanned). ayurveda is a practice of preventative health care to support your individuality in the time in between. think of it like this— when your car is broken down, you may need a tow to take it to the mechanic to get a repair. it might take a few days to get it assessed, parts delivered, and installed. when you’re car needs an oil change, you take it to get serviced and within an hour you’re back on with your day.
stress: an overview
an appetizer
the act of living is an acceptance of the inevitability of stress. be it fluctuations in internal temperature, reactions to workload, or heated conversation— we all deal with it, and we all should have tools to heal with it as well.
whether external or internal, disruptive forces are frequently at play and our bodies, ever the mediator, are persistently striving to re-calibrate to balance. stressors are literally stimuli that disturb our bodily homeostasis. homeostasis is the state of balance that our bodies are fine-tuned to regulate to. the first step on the path to healing is always awareness so… “if you don’t know, now you know”.
the main course
when we sense something disruptive to our equilibrium every system in the body does it’s part to support the response. some systems get lit up and others downshift to preserve energy. You can find the nittygritty elsewhere on the internet (and eventually I’ll write a blurb on the juicy bits)— but for now, suffice it to say this: when the body is out of balance, it’s a stressor. full stop. of course we differentiate the quality of the stress on intensity of response, and so we might lose sight of how small things contribute to the big things.
alas, the small things tend to be the most controllable things and so minor stressors like seasons changing, weather variability, disturbed sleep, “multitasking for efficiency” keep our bodies in a subdued (but persistent) state of alarm. our systems are always on guard so things like ongoing, slightly elevated inflammation levels or down-regulated hunger signals become the subtle antagonists. illness and disease don’t exist in a vaccum, there are weeks (if not years) of perpetuated imbalance compounded that leave the system vulnerable.
TL;DR— cave people didn’t just wake up one day to a full blown ice age, it took time for temperatures to drop, for the climate to be juuuust right for the continued accumulation that was the ages of ice.
just dessert (but more optimistic)
stress is a non-negotiable in our daily experience and lawddd do I know that there are factors that are well outside our control— but we can’t forget that which is in our control. keeping things simple seems too hard in our complex lives, but that’s just where we should be— the motto: work smarter, not harder. something as simple as having awareness of your stress response works wonders on mitigating aforementioned stress response. it’s incredible.
and, while it may be compelling to conflate simplicity with lack of action, there’s a sense of agency that comes with identifying and acting upon the controllables. on the path to healing, you start with awareness and you follow that with recognition (an act of identifying or labelling the state you’re in). at that point, the decisions to follow are up to you: are they acting in accordance with support, balance, homeostasis— or are they perpetuating the imbalance.
we have much more control than we think we do— start small (like even smaller than you may be thinking) and start minimal. find one thing that feels like it gives you balance and prioritize that. observe and reflect on your distractions— explore and take action on your passions. do something and let that first step empower you onwards and upwards to become an actor in your own life.