Stronger In Winter

Like the trees when their leaves fall, our juices will be receding into the core now. 

This time of year the digestive fire gets stronger, as it is localized in the central furnace of the digestive core. Which means we can digest more heavy foods and burn more calories. 

Along with this localizing in the core, however, it can also be necessary to move the body a bit more than in hot weather. Got to circulate it out from the core. In Ayurveda, cold weather is the time the body is strongest and can withstand hard work and exercise. After a bit of rest and rejuvenation with the fall transition, it’ll be time to get out there and enjoy.

WINTER OUTDOOR TIME

Last paddle pic as the green dies away. It's not my fave time of year friends! I feel the cold deeply and it causes all sorts of problems that get me into vata-management mode.  

I do not let the skin or respiratory passages get dry! I use licorice, and nasya oil, and do oil massage before shower every other day.   

One of the things I'm finding is that movement is key. After a vigorous and deeply rewarding teaching yoga vocation for 20 years, I really needed to rest...for 4 years. Seriously!

In 2023 I find myself stepping out into a lot more physical activity and finding the more I move the better I feel! This is a new and wonderful thing! When the activity is outside I get mental health bonus points, for sure. 

In the cold, its trickier- even taking a walk can kind of...hurt...until I warm up. If I'm moving more to stay warm, its better. Help me brainstorm some activities (that don’t involve driving in a car to get there??) I am thinking about winter hikes with micro-spikes, cross-country skiing on the golf courses, biking in a snowsuit...what do you do in the cold? Share your winter hacks below! 

Alarm Clocks Save Your Life

My most important personal rule about sleep and screen hygiene is here! 
Don’t bring it into the bedroom! It sounds obvious to me but as a practitioner, I kept hearing people saying they needed their phone to be an Alarm clock. Then...a little scrolling, a wee bit of email...and blah. There goes the sattvic morning vibes. 
Here is a photo of my bedside table. You will see a clear space+ Nasya oil+ that strange grey box there. That’s called an “alarm clock” which is a vintage contraption historically used for waking up. 
If you don’t have one, I highly recommend getting one. It can change your life. Please leave me a note in the comments below if you get one and find it improves your dinacharya. 

Did you know I have an on-demand workshop on improving sleep?? Find it under live events. 

Bedtime

A lot of folks are talking about/ asking about sleep lately. It's that time of year as it gets darker!  

It can take some time to figure out bedtime but in a very general sense, Vata types and Vata imbalances need ~9 hours. Pitta= 7/8. Kapha ~6 

Think how much sleep you need and count back from there to set your sights on BEDTIME. 

A disciplined bedtime, when one is able, makes such a difference in manifesting the day you want to have tomorrow. Sleep is way better than anything the TV can reveal. 😌 

Did you know I have an on-demand workshop on improving sleep?? Find it under live events. 

Cultural Changes

Ayurveda texts describe the importance of shifting our diet and routines with the seasons. Still, something I keep meeting in my Ayurveda practice is the pervasive effects of changes that AREN'T due to nature. 
Culture can also be a factor in lifestyle rhythms and greatly impacts health. In some places, fall is a time of massive change in daily schedules as children and university students go “back to school” and they as well as their families are swept into a sudden shift in the demands and timetable of daily life. It is wise to take into account the effects such changes have on the system! 
If you think about it, it makes sense the digestion, sleep, or nerves might go through the ringer a bit as things are suddenly quite busy, and quite different, from how they were a week or two ago. Simplifying the diet can make things a lot smoother, as well as implementing a few touchstone routines, such as a consistent lunchtime or bedtime, to ground down the days while change is afoot. 
Consider a Fall Community Cleanse as an opportunity to establish these rhythms, with a little help from your friends. Oct 14-23. The program is open for pre-order now- commit!

How Much Exercise?

That’s interesting, isn’t it? Don’t we usually believe that we should exercise UNTIL fatigue, or we are being lazy??? 

I think the question may be whether is it the mind or the body that we are trying to “tire out” 

In Ayurveda, a state of exhaustion is not desirable at all. A busy mind can create a lot of nervous fluctuation in the body. This is best smoothed by gentle and rhythmic movement and breathing. Maybe meditation/ visualization. I made a “seasonal movement bundle” with three practices that include all of the above.

That being said, in a world where many sit at a desk most of the day, vigorous exercise may be in order- taking care to save some juice for later.  

What I'm wondering is, how many of us base our exercise choices each day on how the body feels?? Versus what we are “supposed” to do given some external idea or program. 

The middle path, and perhaps the most healing, is a combination of discipline, hard work, self-nurture, and deep rest. This takes time to develop, in my experience. And is always shifting. 

How Might Ayurveda Use Mushrooms?

More mushroom talk.

There is an ayurveda formulation for increasing sperm count that calls on a mushroom. The slimy, dense, heavy nature of the shroom can be a strong nourisher, grounder, and instigator of shukra- the vital and reproductive energy.

Serving mushrooms in damp weather however, or along with foods that promote dampness, such as cheese, is not something Ayurveda would recommend doing on the regular. Maybe sometimes, sure, especially if one is looking for an aphrodesiac.

Think of the shroom as a food to ground you, to support a vegetarian or vegan diet, and to increase sexy juices. For those seeking to elevate the consciousness in a yogic fashion, not so much.

Make sure its cooked, and with a bit of something sharp like ginger, to balance that slimyness.

What Does Ayurveda Say About Mushrooms?

One very often asked question that I have promised to discuss is: what does Ayurveda say about mushrooms?

It may not be what you expect. Now, I am biased. I have HATED mushrooms my entire life. All kinds of them.

In classical texts, mushrooms are said to aggravate all the doshas and are almost never included in medicines and foods.

I once heard my yoga teacher answer this question: “They grow in the dark, on dead things.”

From the yoga viewpoint, mushrooms are Tamasic. This means they can foster heaviness and inertia in their minds. Interestingly, these days, many folks may need and crave this kind of mental slow-down. Mushrooms are heavy in the earth and water elements, slimy, and building. This makes them a better food for light, airy types, stressed-out folks, and for surviving cold climates.

You can imagine in the tropics, in medieval times, how mushrooms could appear rotten, and a little too close to the bugs and such that crawl on decaying vegetation.
It is, however, a circle-of-life situation here! Stay tuned later this week for more on how and when mushrooms might be very useful.

Business Mission and Growth

How is a business like making herbal ghee?  

How do we build a business around what we love where the mission is central to every action? 

Answer to both: self-purification.  

Distilling the mission is the hard part, in my experience, and once this is seated in you, if you stay true to it and keep it in your heart, building an income doing what you love, and making the world a better place go hand-in-hand. 

 Identifying what drives you is BIG inner work, maybe tectonic, and takes some time to distill.  

Getting to the heart of your mission and who you want to serve through Ayurveda is one of the keys in the Business Coaching Kit. Find it in my bio and drop any questions below.   

AMALAKI for Summer

AMALAKI! Herbs are our allies. Think of them like foods but with concentrated qualities. I’ll be posting a series this week on some of Ayurveda’s pharmacopeia favorites, their classifications, and how they work.

You can get the full idea, and recipes, by checking out the section in The Everyday Ayurveda Guide to Self-Care on Anupama and the directory of medicinal substances

Link: https://www.kateodonnell.yoga/ayurveda-book

Amalaki is a powerful rejuvenating pack with Vitamin C. It is the main ingredient in Chywanprash, a Rasayana found in most Indian homes, and in Triphala, a common digestive compound. This powder made of dried amla fruit is said to enhance and preserve life and can be used by all ages. It tastes very sour but has a sweet after-effect, a rare and prized combination.

Botanical name: Emblica officinalis
AKA: Indian Gooseberry, amla
Parts used: fruit
Rasa: sour, bitter, astringent, sweet, salty
Virya: cooling
Vipaka: sweet
Qualities: light
Rtucharya: summer, fall
Actions: nourishes all seven tissues, purifies blood, relieves acid indigestion