Get Rooted in Wellness

        Nutrition through an Ayurvedic lens is quite different from the conventional view. The conventional view is we eat for personal preference, by habit, for body image and because of emotions. Calories are taken into consideration along with different food groups. The saying 'You are what you eat' comes to mind. Through the Ayurvedic lens we view food as life sustaining, with focus on the panca mahabutas (the five elements) and how the body processes what we eat, or agni (digestion). It's based on our individual constitution (prakriti) and the sadrasatmaka ahara (the six tastes). Food is considered Ahara, or anything we take in to nourish our body and mind. This includes food, water, breath and perceptions/senses/emotions. The saying is 'You are what you digest'. No food is bad, but it depends on the context and the need to understand yourself and your digestion. Ayurveda's interesting approach to include the mind, senses and breath is like nothing we'v...

      The holiday season was a tough one with schooling. Extra work, busy schedules and the feeling of time slipping away but we made it through! I hope 2024 brings you good health, wellness and balance! I love choosing a word of the year and mine is BALANCE. It seems most fitting after an overloaded end to 2023. So let's get into learning a little more about the mind.     We are composed of Sarira (physical body), Manas (mind), and Atma (soul). When these three things are in balance or harmony there is health. The function of body & soul depends on the mind. Mind care is life care. There is no separation of mind and body. It's a cycle that affects each other. The mind could have anxiety or depression which can alter the immunity, create metabolic disorders, and the inflammatory response. The opposite is the same. Altered immunity, metabolic disorders and inflammatory responses can create more problems in the mind like anxiety and depression.    ...

      Doshas translates to 'that which can go out of balance'. There are three of them - Vata, Pitta and Kapha, and they govern the functions of the body. All three are present in everyone, but the combination is unique only to you. Prakriti is the state of dosha predominance in the nature of each person, established at the time of conception and does not change, although it can be modified. There are daily, seasonal and lifetime changes that can affect you Prakriti. You can have a single dosha predominance, dual dosha predominance, and rarely we find a tridosha (all three) predominance.      Knowing your Prakriti helps you know yourself better. Preventative and treatment plans are dependent upon this information. Maintaining physical balance, harmony at the subtle levels, appropriate regimens, understanding disorder tendencies, proper diet & herbs, exercise routines, safe and effective treatments and adding life to our living - are many of the things k...

     I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Spending time, taking pause, and being grateful for all that we have. I know it goes so fast and then we are thrown into the hustle of the holidays hours later. But remember to keep a piece of that with you. It's needed for our body and mind.      November has been another intense month of studying in Ayurveda. Easily a lifelong practice and study! I'm taking it all in! So much information and concepts are being covered and tested. We covered physiology, a branch of biology that deals with the normal functions of living organisms and their parts. Most notably, taking into consideration that the human body is a mirror of our physical surroundings. The space we inhabit, the air we breathe, the water we drink, the heat of the sun, and the earth underneath our feet. These are some examples of the physiological structures outside the body reflected in our elemental compositions.     I've learned about ...

 Hello friend, I'm in the beginning of my Ayurvedic journey, and I'm ecstatic to continue on and share with you what I'm learning. It's fascinating, yet simple holistic ways to help keep you feeling your best. Which just so happens to be my aspiration in life. I've always been drawn to helping others in my career, even when it wasn't planned. These things just tug at you. This path with Ayurveda is no different.  So what is Ayurveda? This is a new word to many of my clients. You're not alone! It is a word in the Sanskrit language that translates to 'the science (or wisdom) of life'. Ayurveda emphasizes the importance of creating and maintaining positive health. Its focus is an individualized, multi-dimensional approach in preventing the imbalances that lead to disease and the treatment of these imbalances.  Why I love this is that it takes into consideration the uniqueness of the person and considers body, mind and spirit. It offers natural ways of t...