ADJUSTING FOR KAPHA TIME

You all most certainly set your clocks ahead for Daylight Savings time a couple months ago, but did you also change what you’re eating for dinner?

In Ayurveda, we emphasis eating seasonally and especially the importance of making transitions between seasons, to keep our bodies in balance with nature.

When we move into the heat of summer, we nearly all reach for more raw, cooling foods.  And when autumn appears later in the year, we quite naturally move toward soups and warmer cooked foods.  But many of us miss this springtime transition that’s been all around us for the past couple months, this transition from cold winter days to a slightly warmer but still cool and wet springtime.

Often we continue to eat heavy foods that felt so right in the winter months.  But this time of year, springtime or Kapha-season, as we call it in Ayurveda, is an important time to clear the accumulation of heaviness from the winter months and encourage our bodies to lighten up, get moving, and prepare for the action of the year.  If you haven’t made this transition fully, it’s not too late.

Here are some tips for clearing excess Kapha (a heavy, cold, wet, dense quality) during springtime and preparing ourselves to harness the energy of the sun and warmth that (we hope) is just around the corner:

FOODS:

• Cut out sweet, heavy, foods, especially excess starches like potatoes and breads.  This doesn’t mean you have to go carb-free.  Just don’t overdo it.  Add more grains like quinoa and corn; avoid cooked oats, wheat and cooked rice (basmati rice is ok).
• Heat up your favorite dishes by using pungent foods and spices in your cooking: add onions, garlic, ginger, mustard seeds, cumin, black pepper and cayenne pepper.
• Avoid mucus-forming dairy and choose lighter milk alternatives like rice or goat milk.
• Instead of heavy meats, choose protein sources like red lentils, chickpeas and beans; add pumpkin and sunflower seeds to your favorite vegetable dishes.
• As always, eat your greens!

EXCERCISE: Get Moving!  If you enjoyed staying indoors during the cold rainy months, take advantage of patches of springtime sun and get outside.  This doesn’t mean you have to take up Extreme Sports or make drastic changes, simply adding a morning and/or evening walk or incorporating more active poses into your yoga routine can do the trick.

SLEEP: Wake up with the sun.  Get to bed early and wake up early.  Many of us sleep in during cold, dark winter months, but this time of year, adjusting our sleep schedules to rise and get going will give us more energy and strengthen our metabolic processes.

Learn about eating for your unique Ayurvedic type or imbalance.

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