Tag: ayurveda

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Ayurveda Mindfulness Politics of Well-Being

Late Winter Stirring

Late winter survival

As we shift into the season of late winter I am weary of the endless icy roads and sidewalks, the cloudy days, and unpredictable temperatures. Nothing feels as it should to me. I’d prefer the moderately cold throughout the winter to the freeze/thaw patterns we’ve been experiencing of late. The sidewalks are treacherous and many roads are so beaten up as to be nearly impassable. Cross country ski trails become icy and sticky. And to add insult to injury, opportunist politicians diss my city with stupid accusations – again. This is my crabby time—but not for long.

Late winter, a season well described in the Ayurvedic tradition, is more than just a segment of the traditional year. It reflects the energetic forces we’re currently experiencing planet wide. A cold, regressive, immobile energetic front has been settling over our world. This leaves me, on one hand, in a state of despair, but on the other, in a state of hopeful anticipation—for we’re experiencing LATE winter. And this is followed by spring—rebirth, regrowth, possibility, and regeneration.

Treasure Beach Jamaica, WI
The natural cycles of the planet allow for the possibility of rebirth and regeneration.

I have been tempted to either retreat into my cocoon until things settle down (which could be awhile) or “let loose” against those who who hate (I’m not sure what form “letting loose” would take, but it wouldn’t be pretty). Instead, in the spirit of my commitment to the well-being of myself and the world, I have decided to focus on caring for myself. I try to remember that if I am not in a state of well-being, I am damaging the universal body at worst and can do little to improve the state of anything, at best. As we prepare for yearly and energetic spring, it is incumbent on all of us to take care of ourselves: our bodies, spirits, and minds so as to keep the universal body healthy as the new winds of change emerge.

In the spirit of love, compassion, and self-care I’ve put together a few ideas for surviving late winter and preparing for spring that may help us all reach the light at the end of this long, dark tunnel.

Develop a routine

There is ample research from both conventional western and integrative sources that affirms the health benefits of living with a broad daily routine. This includes regular (preferably earlyish—before 10 p.m.) bedtime, and early arising time (5:30 to 6 a.m.)

As early winter progresses it becomes more difficult for me to arise at 5:30 a.m. It is a stretch to crawl out of bed in the dark. I find myself engaging in sleep creep with later and later rising times. Late winter, with morning light appearing well before 7 a.m., is a great time to begin shifting our internal clocks so as to take advantage of maximum daylight. And an added benefit is that if we start paying attention to our waking time now, and begin to push it earlier, we are better able to cope with the upcoming daylight savings time fiasco and are able to transition more gracefully as we move into spring.

Lighten up the diet

After the heavy eating months of late fall and early winter when the cold moving air energy (vata) is down shifting and the cold solid earth energy (kapha) is upshifting, late winter is the time to lighten things up a bit. We no longer need to calm down the moving unpredictable air/space energy but would do well to lightly pump the breaks on the thick, slow moving earth-water energy. This is a great time to introduce more green leafy vegetables into our diets and back off of the heavy root veggies. Truth be told, I’m ready for this shift. I no longer find comfort in these early winter staples and they are starting to bore me. I find myself gazing longingly at the beautiful (albeit not local) rainbow chard and mustard greens in the vegetable aisle.

Swiss Chard presents such a beautiful colorful image, it’s hard not to crave it this time of year.

Shifting away from heavy red meat and towards poultry, fish, and light legumes will also help lighten your energy. And this is a good time to give more attention to reducing the quantity of food we eat.

Start moving

I often wonder what is going on with my perennials during late winter. I imagine the roots to be waking up in a super-drowsy state and pushing against the frozen soil as they prepare for their big moment—the spring thaw.

The native perennial garden looks bleak and moribund to the lazy eye. But the ice and snow melt indicates movement happening beneath the surface.

This is the time of year when our bodies can also use a nudge to slog through the heavy late winter environment. I’m not talking a marathon prep (unless that’s really what you want to do), but rather, like the plant roots, beginning a subtle increase in bodily movement. You might use this time to set an intention to move more. Try a goal of achieving, at minimum, the standard recommendation of 150 minutes a week of moderate exercise combined with three sessions of strength building exercise. If this is too much of a stretch, then maybe start with a goal of seventy-five minutes a week. Or, if goals bug you, set the intention to just move more than you are currently. And of course, if you are already at 150 minutes, set the goal a little higher. And then see what happens. A slight increase can trigger a lot of subtle changes in how we feel and function.  I’m already feeling considerably more mobile and notice that my skin has more color than it did a month ago. I attribute this to my increased activity—but it probably also results from the increase in green leafy vegetables.

Pay attention

I can’t help but think that my native perennials are paying attention as they wake up. If they weren’t, then they might wake up too early or too late. Somehow they know when to start stretching their roots. They seem to be very highly attuned to their environment.

So, why should we wander around oblivious to our surroundings when so much is happening? If we don’t pay attention to how we feel, what’s happening in the natural world, and what’s happening in the material world, we will become disoriented and may be functioning totally out of sync with our environment. And, our health and well being will suffer.

With so much happening in the world, and with our family activities, people fall for the false belief that paying attention to anything other than their own narrow needs will limit their usefulness in the world. My experience tells me just the opposite. By maintaining an awareness of our universe, I find I am better able to navigate my life through the stormy world in which we live. You can trust that I’ll be blogging much more about this—it is fundamental to my value and belief systems and is a core component of my health coaching practice.

This winter I’ve noticed a plethora of rabbits feasting on my blueberry bushes. They have reduced some to mere stumpy twigs. It’s disheartening, but I’m very aware that a lot can happen between now and mid-summer.

How?

It’s the HOW of paying attention that I find folks have difficulty with. To get started, I suggest a simple morning practice that I am borrowing from Pilar Gerasimo in her book The Healthy Deviant. As a prerequisite to engaging in this practice, I VERY STRONGLY suggest you remove ALL electronics from your sleep area…and yes, that includes your smart phone—in fact, especially your smart phone—remove smart-anything (except yourself and/or partner of course). If you need an alarm, buy an old-school alarm clock. “Impossible” you say? “Wrong”, I say. Period. Turn the phone off and leave it in another room at night. Your cell phone is not your friend at night. (More about my experience with this in another post, I promise).

This is an alarm clock. I suggest you buy one (but don’t set it for 10:15!).

Once you’ve weaned yourself off of your cell phone at night, this becomes a very easy exercise: Set the intention (and take the action) to do the following. Spend the first three minutes (or more) after you get out of bed doing something reflective. Whatever you do, DO NOT go to your phone or other electronic device within your first three minutes of getting out of bed. Something reflective might be looking at a candle, reading reflective passages (from a BOOK—NOT your phone!!), meditating, praying, or…I often use that time to water and spray my indoor plants (and I politely talk to them).

These guys migrated into the front porch as the temperatures fell and will make their way back outside before long. Last year the geraniums didn’t survive but I think they might make it this year.

That’s it. Set the intention and try this practice for a week and see how your days go.

Setting intentions

I’d love to hear from you about your late winter practices. What works for you and what doesn’t? Please feel free to comment below. I love discovering that people actually read my blog (it can be lonely out the in the blogiverse). In the meantime, eat less, move more, and pay attention. We all will be happier and healthier for your efforts.

Late winter is a great time to begin the practice of setting intentions. This season feels like a beginning to me and I find setting intentions comes more naturally this time of year than at the end of the solar year. This month, the Kindred Spirits group topic is Living with Intention. This is a great opportunity to focus on and clarify an idea which can greatly expand our field of  awareness and enhance our well-being. Consider joining us this Thursday for this thoughtful group.

Categories
Ayurveda Cleansing

The Kitchari Cleanse, part 1

The next stage of my fall cleansing is the Kitchari cleanse. This is an Ayurvedic style digestive cleanse designed to balance the mind body and spirit. It involves eating Kitchari (and ONLY Kitchari), a mung-bean, rice, and ghee based dish daily for the length of the cleanse (seven days, in my case), performing self-message and oliation daily (Abhyanga), soaking the body in a very hot ginger bath nightly, and spending time shifting your gaze inward. Truth be told, it’s a time of self examination.

The Kitchari cleanse is a three stage process. Step one is preparation, step two is the active phase, and step three is rejuvenation. It’s easy to skimp on phases one and three and just jump in and out of phase two. In our culture it’s the natural thing to do–just dive in. But over time, I’ve begun to see the folly in that strategy (if you can call it a strategy). Not properly preparing in advance for the cleanse means you’re wasting valuable cleansing time going through preparation. You can’t skip that part.

Peparation

When I prepare for seasonal cleanses I choose the time for the cleanse well in advance. I clear my calendar as much as I am able. I don’t want to put super strenuous activities on my agenda during a cleanse. Cleansing time is a time for inward focus and contemplation.

As cleansing time nears, I find it good to slow down and begin to contemplate my intentions for the cleanse. In other words, I want to clarify for myself why I’m taking the time to do this.

Then there are the logistical considerations. At minimum I want to stock the Kitchari Ingredients and the oils I will need for the Abhyanga. I also need the ginger bath supplies. While it isn’t absolutely necessary to use, I also like to supplement the Kitchari with an herbal medicated ghee preparation and have other specialty oils on hand. You also want to consider what special foods you may want for rejuvenation and, if not eaten fresh, purchase them in advance so you have them when you need them.

My stuff.

Ingredients

The Kitchari is simple to make and has only a few basic ingredients. It is a porridge like stew made up of split mung beans, basmati rice, ghee, and spices (both ground and whole): cumin, colander, fennel, black pepper and turmeric. Some recipes include brown mustard seed and occasionally I add black cumin. I also add a little salt. You can also add vegetables if you want. I’ll be adding carrots, onions, and spinach to my first batch. I was considering substituting millet for rice this time around but I think I’ve changed my mind for reasons that I may explain in a post far in the future.

There are as many Kitchari recipes on the web as there are people making it. I usually start with the one published by Savastha Ayurveda. Her recipe uses more items than some and I don’t always use all of them and sometimes I add different vegetables. You can also substitute red lentils for the mung beans, although I like mung beans for their high protein content. I also cook my Kitchari longer than the recipe calls for. Everything in the stew needs to be well cooked–soft. Yes, even the carrots (if you’re using them) and especially the rice. The mung beans dissolve and are the basis of the stew. This soft quality of the Kitchari is one of the reasons it is so cleansing–it is very easy for your system to digest.

It’s a good idea to buy these ingredients in advance because you’ll be cooking with them every day for a week. The split mung beans and spices I purchase online from an excellent Ayurvedic retailer, Banyan Botanicals out of Albuquerque New Mexico. I like them because their products are clean and fresh and certified organic. You can find split mung beans at a number of local Indian grocery stores but the beans are typically not organic and are of questionable age. I can tell the Banyan products are fresh by how they cook up and by how they smell (and look). Penzy’s is another great option for spices. I don’t think they are certified organic but they are obviously fresh and well sourced. Penzy’s is by all accounts a terrific company.

Cumin Turmeric and Corriander
The big three: Cumin, Turmeric, and Coriander are used in most Ayurvedic (and other Indian) cooking. They are full of medicinal qualities. I buy from Banyan but would also recommend you purchase from Penzy’s spices. They are a great company and are very aware of the universal body.

The basic oils I use for Abhyanga are organic sesame and organic coconut (sesame when I want a warming oil and coconut when I want cooling). I also use specialty oils based on my dosha (more about that at an undetermined date). Here’s a good video showing how to do the oliation/massage. Fyi: unlike in the video, it can get messy. Unless you have a gigantic spa-like bathroom like in the video, I suggest you clear things out of your bathing area that will just get in the way. You’ll be soaking, massaging, and oliating in that room and the fewer unnecessary things you have in that room, the easier it will be to clean up.

In addition I use nasal oils and am trying a new ear oil. The coconut oil I purchase at Seward Coop in Minneapolis. You can purchase plain organic sesame oil at the coop too but I buy the sesame and specialty oils from either Banyan or another excellent Ayurvedic vendor, Savastha Ayurveda (out of Boulder CO).

  • Oils
    Oleation Oils (seseme and coconut can also be used for cooking). Two specialty oils (far left and far right) are formulated for people of particular constitutions. The one on the left is warming and the right one is cooling.
  • Specialty Oils and Medicated Ghee
    Specialty Oils.
  • Basmati Rice and Millet
    Basmati rice and millet.

Make sure you have easy access to a lot of towels. You also want to put fresh, but possibly older, linens on your bed knowing that they will be absorbing oil (even though you soak after your Abhyanga, your body will still be oily, including your hair). I have a special set of sheets I use only during cleansing time. That way I don’t ruin all my sheets. FYI, you clean the oil off your body in the morning with either a hot shower or soak. You’ll be washing your hair a lot that week.

Rejuvenation supplies

It’s a good idea to have the rejuvenation supplies on hand too. Rejuvenation is a phase of introducing foods and activities that nourish and replenish us. Ghee (more about that in a few) is a great rejuvenation food. I also like to use Triphala tea in the rejuvenation phase (and beyond). It’s a powder made up three ground dried berries that have many replenishing properties. Triphala is replenishing to the blood and aids in reducing inflammation. It is also great for digestion and elimination. I’m trying a new product this year: Chyavanprash which is an herbal jam. Here’s a picture of the ingredients. I haven’t given enough thought to the rejuvenation phase in the past so this is my attempt at becoming more aware of it. We’ll see how it goes.

Label
Here’s what Chyavanprash is supposed to do. Impressive.
Here are the ingredients in Chyavanprash. It looks sweet and rich but that could be deceiving. Will report back.

So, those are the supplies I am stocking for this Kitchari Cleanse. I must say that photographing and blogging about all these items provides quite a different experience than I’ve had in the past. It’s a little difficult to fix my gaze inward while also trying to reflect things outwardly. It produces a push and pull feeling. We’ll see how far I get in reporting how it’s going. You’ll probably hear more about this.

The best part: Ghee!

The final, and very important item is ghee. Ghee is boiled butter and provides the oil for the Kitchari. It is also often taken on its own during a cleanse. You can purchase ghee but is is expensive and not made in your own kitchen. I learned to make ghee from Ruolph Ballentine’s book, Diet and Nutrition. If you are interested in how ghee is made, you can watch my first attempt at cooking while video taping below. Cooking ghee one-handed is quite an experience!

Break the butter up into the pan and heat up using medium-high heat.
More separation.
More separation, color change.
Second foaming.
It looks burnt but it’s not. The bits are actually brown. I suppose I need to learn how to do lighting now!
Categories
Politics of Well-Being Self-care

As seasons change the natural order emerges

Below the Soil-line

My block has been getting a haircut this week. Chain saws and cherry picker trucks are making their way up and down the block, pruning out branches from gangly trees. Trucks, chain saws, cherry pickers, rakes, and new faces are breaking the quiet calm of the neighborhood. There is nothing like the sound of a chainsaw in the morning to get me up and about.

The changing of the season is reflected in the tree trimming.
The tree trimmer machinery was on the block preparing the trees for winter.

Autumn is the season for this sort of activity. Many trees are best pruned in the cooler weather, and it feels natural to see piles of branches on the ground, waiting for pickup. This is, after all, the time of year when things start to fall down. Apples are being picked, tomatoes are making their last hurrah, and generally mother nature is shedding herself of her fruit. So, the tree trimming seems like a natural extension of seasonal rhythms.

Shifting inward as the season changes

Preparing for winter is a thoughtful affair. I’m looking at a long stretch of pulling closer to myself, with introspection, and quiet, but I find it a little confusing that even though winter feels like a more inward time, I am driven to be more productive and focused on outside work during winter than I do other seasons. I wonder if that is because there seems to be little else to do in our dark, cold winter; or maybe it is the natural order of things. Maybe, as the flora sits buried under the mulch during the cold months, more is going on than meets the eye.

The garden is looking a little tired from all the summer activity. The little prairie on the alley, which flourished this summer, is in full bloom but looking a little faded and worn out. I wonder about what is going on down there beneath the soil line to enable this little miracle to reappear in the spring and flourish throughout the summer, despite the brutal winter conditions to which it is subjected.

The seasonal changes are reflected in the parairie garden
The look of the prairie in the spring is very different at summer’s end. The pink puff balls on the right are native Prairie Onions. In the foreground the Prairie Sage has sprawled majestically. The Milkweed in the background is barely visible in the spring picture. The Pussy Toes, the fuzzy flowers on the left, are barely visible by summers end.

The echinacea, which astonished me this year by pretty much taking over its garden space (after a very sparse year the previous summer), is ready for a break. What happened over the winter that enabled a few lonely echinacea plants to turn into an echinacea jungle?

Ehinacea reflects seasonal changes.
The Ehinacea is pretty worn out come summer’s end.

Finding the natural order

These days the world in general is also looking faded and worn out, as we teeter on the edge of the abyss. I find myself hoping, against hope, that things are happening under the soil line, out of my line of sight, that are creating the conditions for our world to somehow make it through what has been very long winter. What I do know is that under the soil line each microorganism, mineral, and animal has a purpose and a function that contributes to spring regeneration. This understanding motivates me to pay attention to the seasonal changes and prompts me to try to put myself in a position to contribute to the natural order of things.

So now I’m preparing and storing food for the winter and planning my fall cleanses. I’m planning my fall plantings and reviewing schedules for winter activities. I’m setting intentions and making commitments. If I wasn’t blogging, Facebooking, and Instagramming these activities, much of what I’d be doing would be below the soil line but I guess social media has changed all that.

Garlic is harvested and cleaned with change of the season.
Garlic went into the ground last fall, was harvested in mid July, cured, then cleaned and trimmed a few days ago.

The bustle of the tree pruning is slowing and the block looks nice and tidy, is a little bit brighter, and is a lot quieter. The trees look lighter and happier and more sun is penetrating the canopy. They appear ready to do their underground winter work.

I wonder if our world couldn’t use a little pruning. Maybe it’s time to pull out our big inner machinery and clear out the energetic forces that are blocking the sunlight so we can begin the real work of allowing our planet to thrive. And we can only do that if we each do our own work below the soil line. If we do that, then maybe there is hope.

Community Gathering

I will be hosting a monthly gathering at St. Peder’s church, 4600 E 42nd St, Minneapolis, MN 55406 in South Minneapolis’ Longfellow neighborhood. Cost is $25 per session. If you are seeking support for thriving, and fully contributing to our broken world, consider attending. You can learn more at Healing-ground.com/

This cool video captures the essence of how I imagine life below the soil line: full of activity, imagination, curiosity, and enlightenment. Thanks to Dan Rather for locating and publishing this video via FaceBook (@thedanrather).