Why I am here…

The power goes out here a lot.  Usually it is just for a few minutes.  Long enough to be annoying if you are online or need some light, but not long enough to truly disrupt your day.  Often it is localized, meaning just in a small area.  Except for today.  Today the power went out early in the morning.  It was out in Bhagsu, it was out in McLeod, and it was out for most of the day.  Virtually ALL of the restaurants cook with gas, so grabbing a meal, a cup of tea or chai is not an issue.  Coffee?  No.  Fresh juice or fruit lassi?  Nope.  Upload your blog?  Nein.  Charge your laptop, phone or Kindle?  Negative.  Class?  Yes!  We just open the curtains to have enough light, and off we go.

This week we are focusing on nutrition.  The foundation of my interest and the primary reason I am here.  I have had the question from a couple of you asking to talk about the food, and how I am planning to apply my new knowledge.  I think I have shared that according to Ayurveda, each of us has our own body type, and therefore each of us responds differently to stimulus in our world.  This includes food.  There is a way for each of us to eat in order for our individual bodies to be balanced.  I have learned how to determine each person’s body type, and how to determine if they have any basic aggravations within their system (more on that to come.)  The more I learn, the more I want to learn – which is very cool.  I cannot recall feeling that way about any class I have taken, except for one on the effects of over the counter drugs that I took in college.

Here are the basics:  An Ayurvedic diet is not one of denying yourself your favorite thing, or restricting yourself to a set diet for indeterminate amount of time.  It is about paying attention to how you feel before, during and after your meals, and eating those things that help you to continue to feel and perform at your best.  Though each of us has our own basic body type, and therefore a type of diet that will generally work best for us when we are at our best, Ayurveda recognizes that we are NOT always operating at our best.  During times when we are sick, be it for a day, or with something chronic, there are foods that will either aggravate or reduce the symptoms of whatever is bothering us.  Afflictions as complex as Cancer, Diabetes, and Arthritis, or as common as dry skin, dandruff, obesity or heartburn (and several hundred more) are addressed within this 5000 year old science.  Our bodies are amazing.  They can heal themselves given the right combination of time, nutritional tools and frame of mind.  Ayurveda is a long term overall health plan.  It is intended to give you the best quality of life for the longest period of time possible.  It certainly works if the lifespan and attitude around these parts is any indication.

To give you a fundamental idea, here are some of the key points:

• All foods are characterized into 6 different tastes: sweet, sour, salty, bitter, pungent, and astringent. Each of these tastes should be present at every meal for the meal to be balanced, and for you to feel completely satisfied.  By having these tastes present, your body will have received the tools it needs and bonus!!! Cravings will be reduced.  Cravings happen when your body does not feel nourished or satisfied.  Understand that an occasional craving is normal.  Long term and/or constant cravings indicate an imbalance.  (Pregnant women excluded of course – they are to get whatever they want!)
• Eat seasonally. Ayurveda also recognizes the seasonality of both foods, and the human body. (There is a valid reason why you don’t want to eat a heavy meal when it’s hot outside!)  Certain foods cause certain reactions in your body.  Fresh foods, prepared at home or anywhere that you can know what’s added, eaten with awareness and in proper quantity will add strength.  Processed or highly preserved (canned foods or commercial premade frozen meals) and anything eaten in excess will make you sluggish and fog your mind.  It’s common sense!
• Your body needs you to eat fat. I think the Western nutritionists are just getting back to this.  Low fat diets are body weakening and create space for illness.  However, you must get the RIGHT kind of fat.  Minimally processed Olive, Sesame, Grapeseed oils and ghee are all good sources.  Nut oils are good.  Avocado and coconut oils are good.  Anything highly processed such as Canola and Soy are not.  Of course, Ayurveda was created long before GMOs and synthetic pesticides so… just stay away from that stuff in general.  If it isn’t as nature intended, your body cannot identify it and therefore cannot process it properly.
• Your diet needs to be varied… protein, grains, vegetables (both raw and cooked) etc. should be different each day. This is the only way to get everything you need.

There is a lot more but these are the basics.  Once you know your body type or Prakriti you can know how to focus your eating i.e. more veg based, more or less protein and correct type of each.  Are you somebody who can tolerate a lot of meat, or should you focus more on vegetable proteins and eat meat sparingly?

So let me say, I have a LOT more to learn.  I am just at the tip of the iceberg and yet I know enough to begin to work it into a plan I can run with, and I can use some feedback here.  My thought is (and really has been for a while) to take the information I have, combined with the research I’ve done through the years, and go into business (or continue on really) as a personal chef.  What would that look like exactly and is there a market? Would I be a Wellness Personal Chef?  Health Supportive Personal Chef?  What would I call myself? (I am open to ideas.)

Also I need some practice, and that means volunteers.  If you would like for me to give you an idea of what your Prakriti is, reach out and let me know.  Send a text, PM, or email, or leave a message here with your email address, and I will follow up with you.  Get some free education on what will work for you according to Ayurveda before I start charging for this stuff!  (meals not included…)