Soooo...raise your hand, if you have kind lost your appetite lately. Or, notice any strange cravings, like you just want a bowl of cereal for dinner or a piece of fruit for lunch?

You're not crazy! It's because we are moving right into pitta season! In pitta season the fire + water elements govern the weather, the greater nature surrounding us.

We tend to think of summer as hot/fire, so you might be thinking, "But wait, it's hot...like increases like, so I should be starving." Good thinking! But notice that water element.

Because of the water, our digestive fire actually goes down a little bit. Water puts out fire.

Spicy, saucy, savory foods don't really sound good to us right now, it's counterintuitive to what's happening in nature. Instead we start craving pitta-balancing foods that are cooling and sweet like sweet fruits, sweet cereals, maybe ice creams! We no longer order a hot chai, we ask for an iced matcha.

 In fact, I just...

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Transcript below:
The reason why I wanted to start this is because we make decisions all day long, every day in relation to our health and well-being. And that's what Ayurveda's really all about.

Ayurveda says that the things that we do daily is what makes the difference in our health over the long-term.

And so that's what we're after. And earlier this week I asked for some suggestions from you, about what you want to know about Ayurveda diet and lifestyle.

You guys gave me lots of ideas! People had all kinds of different perspectives and different ideas, but there was one thing that I saw that was a common thread.

And it was so awesome, so I turned it into the topic. And so today, we are going to talk about...

What does Ayurveda say about disease?

And why am I bringing up disease? Because so many of you had all these topics, but then...

SO! For the past four weeks, my neck, head, shoulders, and upper back have been a HOT MESS. Pain! Tightness! Moving like a robot!

Insight: I went back to my old job part time so maybe that has something to do with it (feeling the weight of the world?).

Can anyone else relate to crazy tension like that? 

I blame hours at the computer and clenching my jaw at night. Hot mess. Anyway, been having headaches, my teeth/jaw hurts when I chew, and I can't turn/loop my head which comes in handy, you know, for things like looking around when I'm driving.

I've been adjusting my work chair, doing yoga for my hips and lower back, oil massage, peppermint oil rub, tapping my face, lots of stretching, lots of water, laying on the hard floor, sleeping on my back, you name it. I even used some kind of shiatsu device to dig all in there (um, ouch). Nothing helped.

How many of you get tummy troubles from time to time? It can be such a bummer! But I have help :) 

First of all, there are a lot of different kinds of tummy troubles including gassies, bloaties, crampies, loose poops and stuck poops. But what they all have in common is that agni, our digestive fire, is not working properly.

I have three remedies to share with you that may fix the problem in a pinch and work to increase agni's strength overall.

But before we get into it, please know that in Ayurveda, one size does not fit all. For this reason, I usually don't share remedies because if the wrong person with the wrong problem tries the wrong remedy, Ayurveda will not work and/or they could have wrong/worse effects.

Keeping that in mind, I'll be a little bit general, but overall, we want to make sure that agni digestive fire is working properly. When our digestive fire is working we, for the most part, are really dang...

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One of you wrote to me and said,

"Hey Monica B. What is one small change that I can make based on Ayurveda, that would achieve great results?"

And I was like, "That's a good question. I have like five, maybe eight things that she could do!" and then I was like, "Dang, she said one, I've got to think of one."

So I did it. I thought of one thing that is hugely impactful, and achieves great results and I'm excited to share it with you!

Something important to note, the one thing is not very exciting. In fact you might be like, "Meh, that's it?" but I want to understand the benefits you'll notice because that's where the goodness is!

My one recommendation for the small change to make is, to make lunch the biggest meal of the day. 

And why do I say that? Because usually we're at work, or we're in the middle of our day, we're rushing here and there. We grab...

photo credit: This is my daughter Alella when she was teeny. We stuck a mustachio on her and...photoshoot! We were sleep deprived and slap happy. She has a pitta tongue with a wee bit of milk on it :) 

Below is an excerpt from my book In Your Elements. Get your copy on Amazon! 

Our entire digestive system is reflected on the tongue.

If you didn't know what your tongue says about you, well, I'm gonna share! Our tongue tells us a nifty story, we just have to know what to look for. 

A simple practice: Every morning, first thing, check your tongue. It will most likely have a little coating on it, so if you have a tongue scraper, scrape it a few times. Look again. If it is pink, that's a great sign. If it is white you may have ama, which is toxins or undigested food stuffs. 

Come along and let's learn what other things Ayurveda says about our tongue!

Besides a white coating, there are other things we can look for on our tongue. If there is redness, it can...

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Quick lesson on kapha dosha: Kapha is the energy of lubrication and structure. Kapha type people will have a very well-built structure in their body and are very steady in their mind. They don't get really stressed out or angry like a pitta and they don't get anxious or worried as much like a vata. They're pretty steady, easy-going, peaceful, and happy.

But when their food is too heavy, kaphas can feel very heavy in their body, and in their mind — because kaphas already have a well-built nature.

Because of that risk of getting overly heavy or overly built, a vegetarian diet is the most balancing for kapha.

Why? Because vegetables light, astringent, and bitter — which are all the qualities and tastes that balance kapha.

The bitter and astringent tastes are foods that "break the body down" which are balancing for kapha. These tastes...

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Heat therapy has many benefits but for today we'll address is specifically for kaphas and/or springtime. You could also use the ideas in fall or winter when the weather is cooler. Overall, if the weather is cool, we need to bring heat into our bodies to keep our digestive fire strong.

The biggest thing about springtime is that, agni or digestive fire really starts to dampen.

So, our job is to keep that nice and strong and fiery because we want to digest our food property. If we don't digest our food properly, it can give way to all kinds of different disease because the old food stuff goes into different places of our body and can cause problems. We want to always make sure that we digest our food well.

3 ways to use heat therapy for spring

#1 Spices

One of the ways we can bring in heat therapy is internally through spices in our food.

Ginger. We can start to add things...

Those over-filled closets, basements, garages and storage spaces need attention! It's kapha season, which means now's the time to clear the clutter!

Kaphas, one of the best things for you is to clear the clutter.

You see, kaphas are the glue emotionally, physically and...materialistically. They like to keep stuff, like, forever if they could. However, this clingy energy bogs them down which is the last thing kapha needs.

Kapha needs more space, lightness, and flow. When we have possessions that are all piled up, we can't even see what we own, much less enjoy what we have.

A good bi-yearly cleanse of nooks, crannies and closets followed by a trip to the donation station will bring joy and lightness to their lives. For any kaphas having a hard time parting with “stuff” it might be easier to swallow when you know you’ll be giving it to someone else who will love it. Kaphas are very generous and will gladly help those in need, so this could be an easy sell to...

Who just got back from spring break or is going on spring break soon? *raising my own hand!*

We did an impromptu quick trip down to LA for a few days to reset and it was awesome! Warm weather, our favorite foods, flip flops, no real agenda except to enjoy ourselves as much as possible (and avoid rush hour).

It's always hard for me to leave LA and as we were heading out I said to my husband, "How can we feel like this all the time?"

And isn't it true? We get back from a wonderful vacation and after 2 days back in daily life, we've already lost our bliss and relaxation. What the Fruit?!

But WAIT! How sad is that?! LIFE is WAY longer than vacation! So, let's learn how to bring joyful aspects of vacation to our every day — daily enjoyment is what life is all about.

While taking time to luxuriate daily might seem impossible (or makes you roll your eyes), it's not. It just requires a little prioritization and focus. We work hard — we all deserve to take an every day vacation....