1. Connect with the outside from inside
Eating in tune with the seasons and weather helps bring inner balance. Take a look outside from the inside of your home each day and assess what the weather looks like. So, just as you would choose to wear extra layers on a cold day, choose warming and more calorific foods when it is colder outside or when you yourself are feeling cold e.g. soups and stews. Similarly, when it is warmer, you can enjoy foods that are cooler in temperature and lighter in calories e.g. salads. Nature provides the perfect ingredients that the body needs at that time of the year; so, in the winter look out for locally grown root vegetables and in the spring/summer for leafy greens.
The Ayurveda Kitchen
2. Introduce routine into your life
Our bodies are governed by our circadian rhythms and it is really important to follow routines. In Ayurveda we discuss the four pillars of health; Food, Sleep, Lifestyle and Sex/emotional wellness. Doing all of these at the right time is important, for example a regular bed time between 9pm and 11pm, 3 meals per day at roughly the same time each day etc.
3. Include the 6 tastes in your meals
Sweet, Sour, Salty, Bitter, Pungent and Astringent is how Ayurveda classifies tastes. It is important all these 6 different tastes are included in each meal to promote digestion properly. Astringent is the puckering taste you get in your cheeks when you eat a lot of spinach. Pungent is the spicy taste you get in black pepper or chilli.
4. Slow down at meal times
Eating your food consciously and slowly really helps improve digestion. This means that less air is ingested and therefore, less gas is produced after a meal and less chance of indigestion. Before you tuck into any meal, pause, smell the dish in-front of you and express some gratitude. Doing these small steps kick starts a whole cascade of digestive processes.
5. Give you and your kitchen some love
Your kitchen is a special space in which you can learn to nourish yourself and others through lovingly preparing delicious food. Keeping this space well kept and designed how you want will create a space that you want to be in. In the same way giving yourself some attention and love helps create a body you feel comfortable in. So before showering take some warm cured sesame oil, olive or sunflower oil and gently apply to yourself from head to foot before stepping into a warm shower. It will help create a barrier to the water and prevent the water from drying out your skin (particularly for those who live in hard water areas) as well as deeply nourishing your skin. Sesame oil in particular has special warming properties that nourish and strengthen the skin as well as soothing the nervous system. This personal touch helps release oxytocin (known as the bonding hormone) and gives a feeling of self-love.
The Ayurveda Kitchen by Anne Heigham is available to purchase now.
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Ayurveda takes a totally personalised approach to health and wellness. Ayurveda is a person-centred and not a disease-centred system of health. Each person is born with a unique constitution (dosha type) and the aim is to stay as closely in balance to this as possible....
