Summer's fiery reign is slowly fading, replaced by the crisp whispers of autumn. While we're all about those cozy sweaters and pumpkin spice lattes, this seasonal shift can sometimes leave us feeling sluggish and out of sync. Don't worry, though!
According to Ayurveda, the ancient Indian system of medicine, the body is made up of three doshas, or energetic forces: Vata, Pitta, and Kapha. Each dosha has its own unique qualities, and when they are in balance, we experience health and well-being. However, when one or more doshas become imbalanced, it can lead to a variety of physical, mental, and emotional symptoms.
Kapha is the heaviest and most stable of the doshas. It is associated with the qualities of earth, water, and cold. Kapha is responsible for our physical strength, immunity, and sense of stability. However, when Kapha is out of balance, it can lead to symptoms such as weight gain, sluggishness, congestion, and depression.
The Kapha season is the time of year when Kapha is naturally more dominant. This time of year typically runs from late winter to early spring. During Kapha season, the weather is often cold, wet, and humid. These environmental conditions can aggravate Kapha and lead to an imbalance.
If you have a Kapha constitution or find that you experience more Kapha-related symptoms during the Kapha season, there are a number of things you can do to stay balanced. Here are a few tips:
Eat a light, dry diet. Kapha-pacifying foods are those that are light, dry, and warming. Examples include fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and spices such as ginger and turmeric. Avoid heavy, oily, and sweet foods.
Get regular exercise. Exercise helps to move Kapha out of the body. Choose activities that are invigorating and energizing, such as walking, yoga, or swimming. Avoid activities that are too strenuous or competitive.
Spend time in nature. Nature has a balancing effect on Kapha. Spend time outdoors in fresh air and sunshine. Go for walks in the park, hike in the woods, or simply sit in your backyard and enjoy the fresh air.
Get enough sleep. Kapha is associated with the element of water, and water needs time to rest and digest. Make sure you are getting enough sleep so that your body can repair and rejuvenate itself.
Practice stress management techniques. Stress can aggravate Kapha. Find healthy ways to manage stress, such as yoga, meditation, or deep breathing exercises.
By following these tips, you can help to stay balanced during the Kapha season and enjoy the best of this beautiful time of year.
I want to show you that you can start enjoying the holidays with childlike excitement again and all it takes is a perspective shift.
I thought and thought about taking a break for about a month while my addiction persisted. And then one day I put my foot down and decided to take a social media break for a week. I shared it on my social media page and a lot of you joined in WHICH IS AWESOME. That’s what I call accountability (aka my jam). We had a solid crew running this experiment on their own and I can’t wait to hear how it goes for everybody. Here’s why I did it…
You've heard me say it before and I'll say it again. We're #adult enough to know that it's not healthy or fun to lose sight of our wellness goals when we go away on vacation. Being hungover, exhausted, bloated and being off schedule ain't fun. Why would we put ourselves through feeling like crap during a time meant for rest, relaxation and rejuvenation? In this age of wellness and travel (basically Instagram's M.O.) there are so many tools available to stay on track while we're away from home. I'm sharing a few of my favorites tips and tricks. Check it out.
I'm back from beautiful Barcelona and I want to share all the food goodness we experienced with you. Barcelona is a beautiful city overflowing with history, gorgeous architecture (hello, Gaudi) and of course FOOOOOD. There's actually quite an array of plant-based food around they city. You just have to hunt a little. I like bookmarking everything on Yelp before I arrive so that I always have a list of restaurants I know are good and can provide gluten free food in the palm of my hand.
Summer is here which means longer days, BBQ's, night's out on the town aaaand inevitably a beverage or two (or three). I'd like to start off by saying that I am not suggesting that you drink alcohol as part of a healthy diet but I also believe in the 80/20 rule which means everything in moderation. However, I do suggest limiting your intake of alcohol in the summertime specifically.
Hi Friends! Today we have a blog post by a special guest blogger named Sheila from www.fitsheila.com. She wanted to share some tips with my lovely readers on balancing life and self-care. You KNOW self-care is my cup of tea but for so many of us it can be hard to actually implement self-care practices when we have so much going on. Yes, I know you're busy. Yes, I know work is crazy. Yes, I know you might have kids and I don't so I don't get it. But listen up - if you don't practice self-care aka caring about yourself, you won't be as fun to be around, as big of a boon to your family and friends, or as involved in your community/work. My challenge for you is to do one thing this week that makes you happy. ONE THING. Bonus points if you do this one thing everyday for 7 days. Lately I'm getting back into abhyanga or self-massage because I can hear my body needing the nourishment from oil and touch. So I'll be doing 5-10 minutes of that everyday. What can you do? Leave it in the comments below! When you write it down it becomes more real. So post it, and do it.
XO
Natasha
It can sometimes be a struggle to find balance in our lives between our commitments to others and our commitments to ourselves. Getting to that middle ground is what self-care means. From our boss’s deadlines to making sure we get to Spin class on time, checking tasks off the to-do list shouldn’t come at the expense of our physical and mental health. If you need help balancing your fitness routine with overall self-care, these four tips can help boost your general sense of well-being.
Get Good Sleep: You need 7-9 hours of uninterrupted quality sleep to perform as your best self. If you are uncomfortable in your own bed, check out your mattress and pillows. Explore different shapes, materials, firmness and even cultures. As Americans, we often load up our beds with a variety of pillows, but some cultures take a very different approach to sleep health. Take the Japanese, for example. Many sleep with one oblong pillow under the neck. If comfort isn’t an issue, then you may find that a white noise machine can help lull you to sleep, or blackout curtains can block excess light that is creeping in on your ZZZs.
Make a Meditation Routine: When you are feeling stressed, what do you do? Keep a log for a few weeks every time you feel frustrated, stressed or upset, and be sure to document what happened before, during and after those moments. What you’re doing is starting a pattern of mindfulness—being aware of why you think, feel and act the way you do in the moment. Successful mindfulness often works in partnership with meditation. Once you’ve begun to realize the pattern of distress, practice techniques to let go of the stress. In your office, you can close your eyes and take 10 deep, slow breaths; in public, you can put in your earbuds and listen to a meditation app on your smartphone; and in your home, you can create a soothing meditation space. Creating a regular meditation practice isn’t just a benefit to self-care, but can improve your overall sense of well-being. Add some pillows and candles, and remove clutter and distractions in a spare room or an open corner away from the commotion of the house. Choose a spot with a soothing view or where you can hang a comforting picture or inspiring mantra.
Pick Up a Hobby: Self-care starts with a focus on activities that improve mood, self-esteem and a sense of purpose. That’s why hobbies are a vital component to self-care, especially ones that sooth the mind and relax the body. Do you have a close friend with a birthday a few months away, or one with a new baby on the way? Try your hand at knitting. The internet has thousands of free tutorial videos, or you can take a class at your local fabric store. Do you need to zone out after work but also want to tap into your creative side? Pick up a pack of crayons and an adult coloring book. You can cultivate a state of creative relaxation by coloring zen-inducing mandalas and landscapes.
Destress Exercise: Exercise is important for a healthy life—now and in the future. In fact, the Department of Health and Human Services recommends 75 minutes of vigorous activity (where you sweat a lot and it’s difficult to have a conversation) and 150 minutes of moderate activity each week. Sometimes, however, we become so fitness focused—especially in our American culture that is fixated on appearance—that exercise stops helping self-care and starts hurting it. Ways to avoid this include making fitness a part of your regular activities, like taking the stairs, parking in the back of the parking lot, or riding your bike to work. You can also make time to exercise with friends, like jogging together in the evenings or taking a dance class on the weekend. Friendship is another important component to finding balance in our lives. Making exercise a social outlet is just another way to boost self-care.
Self-care isn’t just important for your own well-being; it helps you care more deeply for others, too. We’ve all experienced times when our partners, children or friends need us and we are simply too tapped out emotionally, mentally or physically to be fully present. If self-care is a daily routine, you’ll have not only more time for love and compassion for yourself, but for others as well.
Still struggling to implement self-care into your daily practice? Click here to schedule a free 30 minutes consultation with me and we can come with a plan together. No strings attached!
Until next time.
What are you investing in right now? A home? Good. You'll need that. Expensive clothes? A fancy car? A gym membership you never use? Not good. These investments will not pay off. Let me tell you about an investment that WILL pay off. YOU. YOUR HEALTH. YOUR ETERNAL HAPPINESS. This is the best investment you can possibly make! I bet once you invest in yourself and become truly happy from the inside out, you're not going to need clothes or a fancy care to make you happy.
Seasonal cleanse round 2 has just ended and WOOF that was a trip! Not in a bad way, but in a super amazing holy-wow-I'm-learning-so-much-about-myself way. And this is coming from a chick who's been cleansing for years. I learn something new each time I cleanse.
I asked one of my detox-ers, Anna Cardoso, to write up an honest review of her experience of my 7-day whole food and self-care New Years Detox from a couple weeks ago. She was a very active participant in the cleanse which helped her dive deeper and gain insight on herself which helped her grow through the process two-fold. I should share with you that this is not solicited or edited in any way. Here's what she had to say!
First off—we aren’t talking about the black rocks thrown on the grill to cook our burgers. Thank goodness! Unlike regular charcoal, which is a well-known carcinogen, activated charcoal is medicinal, commonly known as Carbon. Often in the form of a fine black powder (derived from bone char, coconut shells, peat, petroleum coke, coal, olive pits or sawdust), activated charcoal has been used for thousands of years in Chinese medicine and the Ayurveda millennia.
Well, Fall has suddenly moved in, and Vata season is in full force—colds, sore throats, and the flu begin to lurk in the air around us. So fun right? As we transition seasons, we shift from a Pitta (fire)-dominated summer to a Vata (air)-dominated autumn. In the fall, the air element is prominent. While our bodies have accumulated plenty of heat in our tissues through the summer months, fall forces the leaves to change color and the wind to brush our face. As a result, Vata takes the stage, which is often marked by change, instability, and anxiety---often throwing us off balance and out of our element.
Concepts surrounding adaptogens are rather new to the modern Western wellness guru, but is fundamental to Ayurveda. While adaptogens have been used by herbalists for thousands of years, you are probably hearing more and more about the remedies behind these naturopathic herbs, or “healing plants,” as you dive deeper into the world of wellness.
I don’t know about you, but mealtime is a sacred part of my day. Whether I eat in, dine out, or pack a brown paper bag, feeding my body is a special experience I savor every time. And so there’s nothing worse than enjoying your favorite meal only for it to be spoiled by the subsequent discomfort of bloating—or gas, stomach pain, constipation, heartburn, fatigue, etc. And bon appetite soon becomes just blah. Been there? We all have.
You’ve probably heard the word “dosha” in relation to Ayurveda being thrown around a bunch. I’m going to dive into the doshas a little bit as they relate to food (lifestyle, and exercise will come later).
