Posted on

Lammas 2018 – Eat Bread

“This day of Lughnasadh marks the beginning of the sun’s decline from the high places of heaven, and the beginning of the harvest upon the breast of the Earth. The year wheel from this season rolls downward into the deep places of winter and the rekindling of new light.  The sun descends into the sky, into Autumn, but with glory.

The wheel is always balanced, and what seems to be lost of declining is regained elsewhere or at another time, for rebirth is the perpetual law of nature. Thus we gather the fruits of the marriage of Sun and Earth.” – The Druidry Handbook, p193

Celebrate grains

Today is known as Lammas or Lughnasadh (Loo-na-sa) in the Druid/Pagan tradition.  You may feel a shift in the air – we’ve had some thunderstorms, more wind coming in (though still warm) and the goldenrod is blooming. To me, signifying a shift from high Summer, to late Summer..and even early, early Autumn energy.  The grief is already sneaking into my heart.

This is an ancient day to celebrate the corn harvest. In Ancient European languages, corn (korn) meant any grain, not what we have come to know as Native American corn.  Though, of course, this is also the time of year when it’s time to enjoy corn on the cob!

I made sourdough bread over the last couple of days, baked this morning.  I have been working on keeping my starter alive for the past 8 months or so, and I’m glad to say it’s still going strong. #lifegoals

It’s an important time of year to eat healthy sweets. Grains are a natural sweet, and in Ayurveda, it is said that they should potentially make up half of the meal for certain body types.

This may seem like a different philosophy from a lot of our new diet fads – where grains are considered the enemy. I understand that they are a product of agriculture, that they can cause blood sugar spikes in some people, and that they may make some people feel as though they are gaining weight.

But quality and quantity is everything. And, it’s worth looking into your ancestry and knowing your Ayurvedic constitution, as well.#studyayurveda

Whole, unprocessed grains, and those eaten slightly fermented, are absorbed every differently in the body.  They are sweet, grounding, and their nourishment is made more available for the body to receive.

Energetics of Ayurveda

Both Vata and Pitta dosha are balanced by the Sweet taste.  White sugar, though, imbalances all doshas – so in this case, we are talking about more subtle or sattvic sweets.  This includes whole grains, root vegetables and squashes, oils like ghee and coconut, fresh dairy, super ripe fruits or things like dates an raisins.

Vata is also balanced by the Sour taste, and sourdough bread has that slight tang – which indicates a host of nutritional as well as the energetic benefits.  I, myself, usually get sluggish digestion if I eat much bread, but sourdough, in moderation, seems to help me digest the grains well.

I feel so much more connected to the rhythms of the Earth, my body, and my LIFE having this knowledge.  I am so grateful to the language and science of Ayurveda for giving me a deeper way to practice…bring human.

I have an email series coming out next week around food as medicine, slow bowel habits, and what it really means to practice holistic medicine.  As you’re on the email list already, you’ll receive them.

If you’ve been wanting to study Ayurveda, yet don’t want a huge financial and time commitment, I have two online courses starting in September. I have been teaching them for years, and solidly stand behind the information.

Applications are open for The Healing Diet – interviews start August 13. And Womb Healing is already filling up.

Praying that you soak up the end of Summer, luxuriate in Earth’s abundance, and feel the season’s nourishment deeply in your cells.

Posted on

The Simple Life

If you’re on my email list or follow adenaroseayurveda on social media, you know I share Ayurveda from my personal life and experiences. Many of my teachers say things like “Ayurveda takes time,” and “Be your own experiment,” and it does seem like (perhaps especially here in the US because our Ayurvedic education is still growing) this is the only way to go.

So, though I am lucky to be quite healthy, I have also been given painful and difficult experiences that have tested my mind and my body and my faith in Ayurveda and natural healing. In these, I have been able to put my beliefs to the test, and learn from my experimentation.

It’s certainly not all black and white, good or bad. But I do have more ability to be with ‘what is,’ and also know the truth that everything is always shifting and changing.

Thanks for witnessing my path. It’s important to share our own stories, ad to hear others. So if what I write resonates with you and your own journey, please, write me if you feel called.

I think most of us dream about ‘the simple life.’

And most-likely, because we don’t feel like we are living it. Our lives are pretty complex and complicated, and it’s not our fault. But it’s a truth.

 

IMG_3108

Here is a shot of the sourdough bread I finished at 9:30pm last night 😉 and of course had to break into. In Ayurveda, routine is said to be extremely balancing to our body mind system. I think in our modern lives that word is synonymous with ‘boring,’ and something to be avoided if we are to live a fulfilling life and take advantage of all their is to offer.

I’ve been there – in my 20’s. And perhaps I will be there again. A time of rich ojas and less responsibility and perhaps I’d say less purpose.

If healing is required (when is it not, on some level?) we need to root out to cause of the imbalance. Often times in this complex life, simplicity can be the medicine. Simplification as the opposite, and balancing quality of complexity and chaos.

The solution is different for each of us, though I will tell you what is working for me.

1. Making a weekly meal plan (will share mine later.)
2. Sleeping and waking at the same time each day.
3. Warm water each morning, and waking before my son for ‘me time.’ (Meditation, pranayama or writing.)
4. Turning off the radio in the car, and only listening to inspiring podcasts
5. Baking fresh bread every Sunday (just kidding, but #goals.)

When we add things, old things must fall away. How can you simplify? Are you afraid of letting go? Things you know are not serving you? Or on the other side, can you follow with awareness what IS serving you?

We can use a more forgiving word: rhythm. And when you have rhythm in your life, your body responds with predictable rhythm in your sleep wake cycle, menstruation, energy levels/cortisol maps, bowel function, and more. The little things do matter, the little things shape your life.

One thing that prevents me from letting go, and many of my clients and friends and colleagues is ‘nothing’ but FOMO: Fear Of Missing Out.

For example, we don’t say no to the glasses of wine because we might miss a fun time. We might be judged by our friends. We might lose those friends.

So we post-oine healthy choices for ourselves (for how long?) and just continue with the old standard. Which usually doesn’t give more fun or more satisfaction.

We think we need to register for all the things – retreats, conferences, trainings – because our colleagues will ‘get ahead’ of us. Or we won’t be seen as relevant or hip. But we have a baby at home, we are pregnant, we have a mother to take care of, we have to put it on a credit card, we are ill and really should wait of rnext year…etc.

Are these ideas implanted by outside influence? Social media? Other people? Or are they true desires or aspirations, things you need to do to feel fulfilled?

Because sometimes they are, and need to be fulfilled, no holds barred. And other times, much of the time, they are just obsessions, or pressures, or expectations and ‘shoulds’ we hold ourselves to.

I don’t have the answers, but I think cultivating awareness (and maybe experimenting and learning from truths and failures!) is the only way to figure it out.

And slowing down, and simplifying, allows us to have more awareness.

I made a list of what is working for me lately (above). And if you’ve have me, I’ll be sharing more. And please, share yours. Thank you for being here.

Love,
Adena

Posted on

First slush tonight

And I’m staying in.

I want skills. But more than just the skills (which are easy enough to gain) I want to get good at them, to do them over and over again until it becomes true knowledge and meditation. Like baking bread: Bread idea.

Guess that means taking the time to do something, regularly. I hope I am capable of something like that. I am comforted in some ways that perhaps this is a skill that is not mastered when one is young, that maybe as I get older, I will be able to sit still for longer periods of time, to think less, to slow and focus my thoughts. Practice. Even without much effort, and just practice, I believe one can’t help but get better at something. Like blogging (which I hate calling blogging) Ill call it writing, well typing. It’s easy this way.

My GOODNESS I ingested a lot yesterday…some things which I will not speak of here. (Note, the pic above is not from Thanksgiving, but from my trip to Austria in August.) We spent the night at our friends’, which was the smart decision. I can’t tell what kind of confusion or guilt I am feeling, but I know it’s nonsense – and I feel it too often. Travel really does throw off my discipline, which is another reason I decided to stay home this weekend.

Om suryaya namaha

I chanted this often while I was gone. It’s a mantra calling upon the sun, the dispeller of darkness. Dispell me from this dark cycle of thought. Dispell us from our ingestion sickness.

I am making a grocery list, and I am very bad at buying snacks, because I dislike buying prepackaged things. Any suggestions? (I want to get more of this nut butter at the next farmer’s market.)

On this note, I have purchased daily multi-vitamins for Jamie and I for the winter…I’ll post more on that soon.