This weekend in the United States, some of us move our clock 1 hour forward, which also means we lose 1 hour of sleep. This can mess people up energy-wise and yet some people do just fine with it.

Personally, I think a lot of this has to do with the mindset because a) we are pretty resilient beings b) it's only one hour. You've stayed up one extra hour before and it didn't mess you up.

I have 5 easy Ayurvedic tips to keep in mind as the time change approaches!

1. Control your mind and go with the flow. Don't make the spring time change a bigger deal or worry than it needs to be, because the mind affects the body. If you tell yourself it's going to be bad and you're going to be dragging for two weeks, you'll probably fulfill your prophecy  :) However, you've done this before and have done just fine. Remember that you used to rock out on the occasional Saturday night, losing at least an hour, and then you woke up on Sunday and got your stuff done. No...

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One of the questions I get all the time from my clients and students is, "I know the right choice to make, but WHY don't I actually follow through with it?!"

Sound familiar? Like you know which foods you should be eating or what you should be going to bed . Or you know that you should get up before the sun or exercise or take a break during the day or build in time for self care, or, or, or., etc., but you're not doing any of those things. And you're like, "What's my problem?"

Well, good news, you're not broken. And it is totally possible to break that cycle of disappointment! Especially now that it's the new year, you might have new practices and new goals — so how do you stick to them?! 

I have two tips for you to start practicing what we call in Ayurveda, "right choice, followed by right action."

Tip #1 is No Negotiating. Act Fast.

You know those little glimmers of right choices come into our brain like a...

Many people choose January 1 as the day to turn over a new leaf and rework their life habits. I don't think that's a bad plan. The only bad thing is punishing yourself or quitting all together if you get off kilter. If you made a resolution already, remember to have forgiveness and tenacity. Meaning, don't beat yourself up for not adhering to perfection (psshhht...who's perfect afterall) but at the same time, don't throw your hands up and quit if it's not easy.

There is a fine line. Two steps forward, one step back is still one step forward. Right? Cool.

I put together some DOSHA-lutions that you might like if you are having trouble deciding what to work on. These are suggestions based on your dosha! So, more than a resolution, this is a dosha-lution which is based solely on what will benefit your life and body-mind.

The goal is to build upon your dosha-lutions over time so you build yourself new habits and a better way of living healthy! Remember to pick just one thing to work on....

This is the story of a major Thanksgiving fail, but Ayurvedic win. 

For Thanksgiving last week, I wanted to make fun mini caramel apple bites on a stick! So cute and mini-sized to go along with some of the heavier desserts. Perfect! 

There is nothing Ayurvedic about these, btw. 

Around 11am on Thanksgiving (after the parade! *jazz hands*), excitedly, I went to work. I didn't burn the caramel!! And that's the only good thing that happened.

Watch this 4 second video to see the results of those sassy apples...

Never make mini caramel apples. Just don't even do it. No matter how cute the Youtube videos are, they lie. It sucks. 

Ok, so. In a panic, I scrapped the cute little disasters. My husband calmly said, "What do you know how to make that's tried and true?"

{think-think-think} 

"My chewy ginger snaps!"

I ran to the closet, grabbed my book, In Your Elements, and flipped to page 155. RECIPE!

{stomach sinks} Uhhh...I don't...

"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...

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....

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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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....