^{Photo by Milan Popovic on Unsplash}

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST on iTunes

 Let's chat about how to create a high quality mind by learning about sattva, rajas and tamas.

Cause, you know all that time, money and care we spend taking care of our bodies?!

Well, what if I told you...the mind is actually more important than the body! *big smile* To create a healthier body, we must start with a healthier mind.

The mind is the control center, the driver, of all we think and do.

When the mind makes choices, whether right or wrong, the body follows suit.

Example, if our mind chooses to get up early for exercise, breathing, and meditation, the body will do so. The body will feel energized and good based on that decision.

Flip side, if our mind chooses to sleep in, rush out the door, grab a coffee (for energy!) and pastry to go, the body will feel the effects of that rush and will only have nutrition as good as...

Below are the best foods for vata dosha and are especially balancing for fall and winter, which is vata season.

It's way easier to make the right food choices once we know what foods balance our dosha.

By the way, in case you were wondering, there is no such thing as "Ayurvedic food." 

Food is food. Certain foods will balance certain doshas better than others, however Ayurveda says that any food can be nectar or poison depending on the person who is having it. 

Below is an excerpt from my Ayurvedic book, In Your Elements. 

Oil is vata's #1 food

Why oil? Because the dry quality of vata is most likely to go out of balance first. And! Dryness causes all kinds of health problems. We don't want the body to dry out, because when it does, we break down, deteriorate and age. Nice right? Oils, people!

“Yes” foods for vata

Moist, grounding, building, nourishing, oily/ fatty, easy-to-digest and warming. Think: warm, goopy, soupy, sticky, comfort foods.

...

"What are common vata imbalances, anyway? And how do I know if I have one?"

In Ayurveda, vata is the energy of movement, responsible for all movement in the body. Vata is one of the three doshas. Vata is fast, irregular, cold, dry, light, and mobile.

When vata increases in us, in our body we might feel digestive problems like constipation, bloating, cramping, distention, gassy. In the mind, we can feel anxiety, we can feel like a racing mind, worry, panic, fear, insecurity, lack of confidence.

Anybody feel those things? Totally, and I've certainly been there too! Vata dosha is quick-moving so we have to be consistent with our practices because it can easily and quickly go out of balance. The good news is, it can come back into balance just as quick — so let's talk about how to do that!

Here are five simple fixes to balance vata!

Grab this Vata quick guide with even more vata-balancing tips!

#1) Three meals a day. Vata...

Grab a copy of my book In Your Elements on Amazon!

Interacting positively with each other is what makes life AWEsome so we should know what the doshas need emotionally to feel supported and loved in their relationships.

Use the insights in this video to start reshaping and invigorating your LIFE with the people who surround you.

I swear, when you have amazing relationships, life gets RICHER! All great relationships begin with you, so this is all about self-awareness, expression and showing our appreciation for those we care about.

In summary, here's what they need.

What vatas need in a relationship

Freedom of expression. Give them space to freely sing, dance, emote, play, whatever. They will get sad if they feel they don't have the allowance or the space to express themselves

Confidence builders. We all know confidence comes from the inside but vatas are emotionally sensitive and tend to be self-doubters. So while they work on building their confidence from the inside,...

Bringing Ayurveda to Life podcast episode #17

We all have certain things that drive us bonkers! You know, like the tumbling pile of shoes at the door entry, the residual toothpaste spit trail in the sink, or when someone places the wire veggie strainer in the soaking gooey mac n' cheese pot and you're like, "Dude, that was clean. Now there is melty, gooey cheese stuck in these mesh wires." Yep, certain things just drive us nuts.

Ayurvedically speaking, the doshas have certain preferences and tendencies. Some are more vocal about their dislike while others bite their tongue. 

We can use the doshas to strengthen our relationships when we find out what the other person needs, how they work best, how they like to be approached, etc,. Once you find that out, your relationships will be GOLDEN.

Before we jump into crazy-making there are 2 things to think about:

Our tendencies are not excuses. They are things to be...

Find more video trainings, on my  YouTube channel
Or, grab a copy of my book In Your Elements  on Amazon!

One of you wrote to me and said, "Hey, Monica B, what does Ayurveda say about milk and cheese?"

Great question! Is it good for us, bad for us, good for certain people or certain seasons? Lots to think about!

Some people absolutely love it and it does really well for their body. Some people are actually intolerant of it and can't have it at all.

So I wanted to talk a little bit about what does milk and cheese exactly do for our bodies and who it's good for.

First let's talk cheese. Cheese comes in 2 different tastes:

1) sweet and
2) sour

Cheese is heavy. It is coating, and sometimes it can be sweet, which is cooling, and sometimes it can be sour, which is heating.

Sweet cheeses are soft and more milky like cottage cheese, mozzarella cheese, especially fresh mozzarella and burrata. Ricotta also falls under the sweet category.

Sour cheeses...

 What does Ayurvedic say about Restless Sleep?

Ayurveda says that restless sleep is usually a vata-pitta disturbance.

Vata is the energy of movement and if vata is increased, that zippy energy can keep us awake and amped when we should be sleeping.

Pitta energy is the energy of transformation and that also has a mobile quality in it because when something transforms, it changes from one to the other.

Between these two energies the root cause of the sleep problem could be weighing more on a vata side, or a pitta side or a combination of both. Because of this interplay between vata and pitta, we can get insomnia, and there's actually two different kinds of insomnia.

#1 Vata-Type insomnia. This type of insomnia is when we can easily fall asleep but around 2:00 AM or 3:00 AM, we *wake up!* and we're not able to fall back to sleep (until the sun is about to come up...and then we get drowsy). If hat happens to you, that points...

Raise your hands if it's HOT outside! Maybe the weather is sticky humidity or maybe it's hot n' dry — feeling like you're walking in a blow dryer (Vegas, anyone?).

Or maybe you've got a perfectly sunny 75 degree day with a light breeze. *exhale, wiggle toes* The sun is out much longer this time of year, creating more heat and longer days, but that can feel kinda like we're "on" all day long. While we are excited to play in our day a bit longer, which can make us a bit more tired. 

When the seasons change, we need to transition properly so that we practice the right diet and lifestyle regimens in the correct season. 

How (and why) to transition properly from spring into summer.

Spring is kapha season, which is ruled by the elements water and earth. In spring we love to have light, spicy, dry foods to balance the dampness and chilliness in the environment.

Summer is pitta season, which is ruled by the elements fire and water....

If you like these, join me Live on Fridays at 11 am PST.

What does Ayurveda say about hunger?

Ever wonder if we are supposed to feel hungry? Like what if you feel hungry all the time? Or what if you never feel hungry at all? How hungry should we feel?

Sometimes we're taught that we're actually not ever supposed to feel hunger so we should eat five to six meals a day to avoid getting hungry.

Years back I saw a nutritionist and was told to eat five or six meals a day to never get hungry. And what happened? I gained some pounds within two weeks! My pants were tight and everything was tight. I felt heavy. I felt just really overall kind of awful. I knew it wasn't working for me.

It wasn't until I discovered Ayurveda that I figured out why eating all those small meals left me feeling so terrible.

So, what does Ayurveda say about hunger? It is good to feel hungry! Yay!

There are three guidelines about hunger.

1. It is a signal from our digestive...

Have you ever wondered, "How much water am I supposed to be drinking every day?"

We're told to drink, "eight glasses of water." Or, for weight loss, "drink a bunch of water before your meals so that you don't feel as hungry!" I've even heard if you divide your body weight by 1/2 and and turn that into ounces, that's how much water you should drink!

So, how much water should I drink? Well, it depends on your dosha.

Vatas, you would think would need a lot of water, because they are the driest. But along with the water, they also need a healthy amount of oils. You're like, "Why? Water is hydrating!" It is hydrating, but think about this. If you do something with your hands in water for a long time, like let's say you're washing dishes, your hands get very dry. So for vatas, because they have a dry constitution, they will need a good amount of water, but they need some oil to provide the unctuousness they need.

Pitta is the dosha that needs the most water because pittas are...