Nourishing in November
My word for November is nourish! I want to encourage you to nourish yourself inside and out. Through your foods, practices, thoughts, speech, and lifestyle choices. I challenge you to choose that which will support you during this season.
We are now fully in Autumn aka Vata season. During this period, we can feel the erratic nature of vata. This is the energy associated with the fall/winter season. The qualities associated with this time of year are cold, dry, light, mobile and rough. Perhaps you are noticing more dryness in your skin, lips, feet, hair, nails, emotions or even humor.
Are you feeling a bit ungrounded? Do you find yourself too busy as if there an overabundance of movement and motion in your life? Is your mind on a constant chatter cycle? These are all signs of aggravated vata dosha.
Ayurveda teaches that the way we bring ourselves back into balance is to apply the opposite quality. When there is dryness of vata, we add fat and healthy oil, internally and externally, in the form of food and massage. There is an ayurvedic proverb that says “Oil to the Body is like Love to the Soul”. When we apply oil in the morning with long slow loving strokes, not only will the dryness and stagnant energy be addressed, but it will also help to calm and ground the mind. This is an amazing away to nourish the body which will have a direct effect on nourishing the mind.
This is a quote taken from Vol. 1. of the Charaka Samhita which is one of the oldest and most important authoritative writings on Ayurveda:
“The body of one who uses oil massage regularly does not become affected much even if subjected to injury or strenuous work. By using oil massage daily, a person is endowed with pleasant touch, trimmed body parts and becomes strong, charming and least affected by old age.”
Least affected by age? Sign me up! Happy to help if you would like your own personal suggestion for an appropriate oil for your daily massage. Generally, for this season sesame oil is advised. There are some oils that have herbs cooked into them that can be extremely helpful too depending on your unique constitution. Contact me directly so we can have a quick chat.
Nourish your digestion by consuming warm, oily, well cooked, and easily digestible foods such as nourishing broths, soups and the beloved one pot meal. This is instant pot season in our household. Enjoy some kitchari, barley, rice, oats, and cheese. As always look at the vegetables in the garden that are full of prana and growing now. I encourage you to build a relationship with local farmers at the farmers markets. Eat foods with more sweet, sour, and salty tastes. Avoid fasting and cold raw foods during this time. What you put in your body is what fuels you and all of the ways you show up in the world, so eat well, simple, and savor the dish. According to Dr. Vasant Lad, a vata-soothing diet compromises of 50% grains, 20% proteins, and 30% veggies.
Sipping warm herbal water throughout the day will help to keep you hydrated. CCF (cumin, coriander and fennel) tea is good for vata time. Check out my featured tea this month if you want something with more dynamic flavors. This will not be a surprise it is aptly called Nourish. More information is below.
Warming and grounding physical exercises such as walking, hiking and yoga asana practices. Calm, slow and steady sun salutations, with deep long slow even breaths will go a long way to calm the nervous system and warm the body nicely. For extra grounding add a cobra pose, locust pose and bow pose. Postures that allow the lungs to open and the navel ground. When practicing standing poses feel your feet securely planted on the earth.
Are you noticing that your sleep is lighter right now? Maybe you are waking in the very early morning hours and having a difficult time falling back to sleep? The nights are getting longer but you are far from hibernating. Sleep disturbances are very common for a vata imbalance. Let me share a few nighttime hygiene tips.
First, plan on being in bed if not asleep by 10PM. I cannot tell you what a game changer this one is. Take either a leisurely bath or at least a quick rinse off if time is short before hitting the hay. We call it “cleaning off the day” in our house. It does go a long way to wash off the energy you accumulate since you woke up. Sip on some scaled milk (or warmed alternative mylk) with some nutmeg, cinnamon, turmeric, cardamom with a pinch of black pepper. You can even add a little Ashwagandha or try my Ashwagandha latte [recipe here].
Here is an easy one. Massage your feet with some oil at bedtime. In Ayurveda this is called Pada abhyanga. Use a combination of brisk shaking, extension and flexion of the toes, and twisting of the feet clockwise and counterclockwise to warm up the feet. Apply warm oil on the foot (one by one) and begin your Pada abhyanga. For Ayurvedic foot massage we pay attention to the toes, the space between the toes, the soles of the feet, the Achilles tendon, and the alignment of the fine bones and ligaments in the entire foot and the overall structure of the foot. I love to use Banyan’s sleep easy oil. It is a nice little bit of self-love that you can give to yourself before drifting off to sleep. If you would like to learn more about sleep and Ayurveda, I will be offering my sleep workshop in the new year.
I invite you to implement some or all of these suggestions to nourish yourself this season.
From: November 2021 Newsletter