Cleanse – Adena Rose Ayurveda

Posted on May 4, 2015May 5, 2015 by Adena Rose — 1 Comment

Simple Herbalism | Spring Blood Cleanse

Spring Medicine

As soon as Spring arrives, I start looking for the familiar spiked dandelion leaves in my lawn. It’s finally time for me to make a simple Spring medicine – dandelion root decoction. Though I study Ayurveda, and mostly use Indian herbs in my practice, even Ayurveda says that the closest medicine is always the best medicine. And how much closer can you get than right out the front door?

Using herbs does not have to be complicated – though, I will say, it pays to work with an expert for most. There are some key weeds though, that are easy to use and pretty much completely safe for anyone and everyone. I am in love with Guido Mase’s book, The Wild Medicine Solution, in which he outlines those herbs, or families or herbs, which are safe and useful to all. Dandelion is included in here.

I use dandelion root as a decoction. This is like making a very strong tea. When using herbs in this way, as a freshly made, water-based solution, it’s most helpful to do so regularly over a certain period of time, so the blood, the body, becomes saturated with the subtle medicine. So that the system is constantly bathed with the energetics of the substance. This takes some attention, and for me in the Spring, becomes like a daily intention or ritual.

Energetics of Dandelion

The late Spring, according to the Ayurvedic calendar and rtucharya, is an overlapping of Kapha and Pitta gunas (qualities). Kapha qualities of late Winter and Spring like wet, cold, and heaviness fluctuate with the increasing Pitta qualities in the environment, like heat and sharpness. (Sharp is an interesting quality to consider in your environment – I relate to this right now as the bright Spring sunlight finally comes into contact with my winter white skin and delicate eyesight…)

The taste that bring balance to all of these qualities is bitter, or tikta. Remembering that the tastes contain the elements, and that the elements are what make up the doshas. And also remembering that like increases like in Ayurveda, so when looking to balance out the powerful external influences, the season, on our physiology, we choose foods and medicines with opposite qualities.

Kapha is made up of the water and earth elements, and Pitta is made up of fire and water. Bitter taste is said to contain mostly space and air. The space and air elements bring the quality or dry, light, and clear, which balance the qualities found in our environment at this time of year. Dandelion roots, as well as leaves, are a lovely, palatable bitter food/herb. So this makes dandelion the perfect Spring medicine according to Ayurvedic principles – though you may not call in an ‘Ayurvedic herb.’ Whatever that means 🙂

Something I love about Spring dandelions is that they are not all bitter. Use your tongue – there is most certainly a softness and a sweetness to the brew. I believe this makes the Spring tonic less aggravating for Vatas and Vata imbalances.

Why do it?

These doshas can affect us differently, of course, depending on our own constitution. But things that are considered ‘normal abnormalities’ in late Spring include allergies, hives, eczema, skin rashes or itching, red eyes, and irregular digestive stuff going on (whether slow or sluggish, or fluctuating between constipation and loose.) These symptoms can be connected to the doshas mixed with ama, a toxin that is created when our digestion is out of wack. And if digestion is out of wack, as in the case of the examples above, more toxins can be created. This toxin can easily become absorbed into the blood stream, causing skin eruptions, or worsening allergy symptoms.

Dandelion, and most bitters, are considered to benefit the liver and galbladder, which is the organ that cleanses the blood, and aids in digestion through the production of bile – in Ayurveda, blood is referred to as rakta dhatu. The liver has numerous, numerous functions – another one being, as it filters the blood, it aids in the breaking own of hormones. The gallbladder helps us digest our food properly by releasing digestive enzymes. In Ayurveda, we would translate this as agni, part of our digestive capacity.

So, dandelion can benefit us in many ways. The bitter quality of dandelion cools and blood, and aids in proper functionality of the liver, leading to less inflammation, inside and outside. And by improving the flow of bile, we may digest our food better. And when we digest our food better, we create less toxins to begin with, as well as have less daily discomfort. And we all know that digestion is the crux of health and healing in Ayurvedic medicine.

Did you do a cleanse this Spring?

Some of you have already done your Spring cleansing ritual. And some of you joined my Ayurvedic Cleanse a couple of weeks ago. Making a dandelion decoction is a way to extend the benefits and continue to slowly metabolize toxins, and get a jump on Summer Pitta flare ups.

Here’s how I do it:

As soon as I see the dandelion greens pop up in my garden, I go out with the shovel and dig up one of two. Be sure to get deeper than you think, and come up with your tool underneath the plant. Shake away the dirt from the root (and earthworms!) and bring them inside with you.

Wash the whole plant under cool water. Fill a pot full with fresh water. Don’t worry about the exact ratio – but I use a smaller pot, adding about 3-4 cups of water.

Chop the roots roughly, and add roots and leaves to the water. Both parts of the plant have medicinal qualities – the leaves tend to be more of a diuretic, working on the kidneys, and the root, the liver and blood. Both get more and more bitter as the season progresses.

Alternately, you may save the leaves (wash them well!) for a simple bitter salad.

Simmer this concoction over medium low heat until the water is reduced by half. This concentration ratio is considered a decoction, and is much stronger than a tea. Strain and drink, or you may also cool this before drinking – it’s a great room temperature tea.

The next morning, dig up another root or two, and repeat. Leave the previously boiled root and leaf in their for a day or two, then strain and compost.

Feel free to drink up to 2 cups per day. About what you’ll probably yield.

*Be sure that where you are harvesting your dandelions they are NOT SPRAYED or treated with chemical fertilizers!

If you have pitta imbalances in the Summer time, like hay fever, hives, heat rashes, acne, boils, loose stools, hormonal imbalances, heavy menstrual bleeding, or a lot of irritability, start using this medicine now, and see how your season will change.

If you want to learn more about using food as medicine this Summer, join my ECourse for Pitta dosha, which begins on June 5th. Registrations just opened. Many of you have asked for more introductory courses in Ayurveda, and I’m answering!

Love,

Posted on April 23, 2015April 23, 2015 by Adena Rose

Ayurveda and the Mind: One of the hardest things about cleansing

I feel really blessed to be writing today. It has been a while since I have been able to sit down and share my musings on Ayurveda and life from an inspired place.

I have been creating and running my online programs – things I have been so happy to invite you into and share with you, but between all that sharing, I haven’t been able to create much new content. Plus, I am 6 months pregnant, and my self care got very much pushed aside with all this work. And it was taking it’s toll, and then, I was able to return to what I needed…dropping a lot of things along the way. I also look forward to sharing more about these experiences as my vitality returns.

So today, as I am fielding a lot of comments from my lovely Spring Cleansers, I write again about cleansing. About what really comes up during a cleanse, the deeper challenges. The emotional stuff that tends to come up when we deliberately change our habits and our diet. The experience of the real and deep shifts that come along when we step onto the path of self healing.

We are complex beings. A cleanse is much more than just what you eat..or don’t.

We are in day 6 of our 7 day Ayurvedic Cleanse, (congrats my loves!) though I started thinking about this writing on just day 3. Day 3 is only the second day of eating our mono-diet, our ‘fast’ of kitchari. And much of the group were feeling big shifts already this early on – and many in an uncomfortable direction.

How can this be, after changing your diet and habits for only a day or two? This brings up some questions I like to explore around our relationship with food, and the process of self-healing and transformation.

We have such busy lives. I love that I can reach out to people interested in Ayurveda, around the world, something I would not be able to do without the internet. And the online courses I offer can easily be signed up for, and joined from the comfort of home. Certainly, part of the transformative process, part of the healing , begins upon registration. But the monetary exchange – that’s actually the easy part. Changing our lifestyle, our diet, and stepping onto our healing path is often uncomfortable. Whether we remember it or not, it’s what we wanted – the mind and body do not like to be uncomfortable, though the uncomfortable moments are the moments of true transformation.

The vibrations I am feeling from the cleanse group feel like frustration, with waves of calm and understanding, and then perhaps even resignation. Then up again as the energies continue to change.

Questions that come up for me are:

1. Is food really this powerful?

Well, let’s explore yes. That’s what we’re here to talk about right? How food is actually so powerful, it is medicinal – the choices we make can bring us closer to homeostasis, mentally and physically and energetically, or further from it. In fact, this is what first drew me to learn more about ayurveda (and I am sure most of you, too) – especially the idea that the food we eat affects our state of consciousness. And for it to do this, it’s an obvious connection that what we eat influences our thought patterns, our emotions. Because it is the emotions and thoughts which make up our mind.

Removing certain foods and sensory stimulations is perhaps even more difficult than adding something new. The nature of the mind, according to Dr. David Frawley in his great book, Ayurveda and the Mind, is dualistic. Meaning it has a tendency to understand things in pairs of opposites: love/hate, yes/no, good/bad etc. It is prone to extremes. He suggests that in order to balance the mind, we must not try to force the mind in any particular direction, nor train it with negativity, but to seek to calm it from any extremes. (Side note: This is one reason that in my programs, I try to stay away from saying anything is good or bad. By understanding the energetics of things, we can simply make a judgment as to whether it will bring us towards or away from homeostasis.)

Let’s come back and get grounded in the physical body. Foods have different energies and strengths. Like, for a strong example, think of a cup of chamomile tea vs. a cup of whiskey. Okay. Of course these things are going to affect the body (and inevitably due to the real mind/body connection, our mind) in different ways. Comparing a bowl of kitchari to a bowl of kickin’ buffalo wings – which is more like the tea, which is more like the whiskey? For those of us who are used to whiskey, it might be the chamomile tea that feels more disturbing in the body at first.

I work with quite a few clients with powerful coffee addictions who expect to be ‘drinking chamomile tea for a week,’ if you’ll continue on the metaphor with me. These are often the clients who get physically ill during the process, perhaps intense migraines and nausea or vomiting. So many of us like to blame it on the kitchari, on the new thing we invited in. Though really it’s allowing/forcing us to look at what our current state of homeostasis really is, or was. The caffeine was affecting the body that deeply, it was keeping them in a false state of homeostasis. They are just now finding out their true state of energy, that the reliance on substance was hiding.

‘Impure foods’ (I dare to use this terminology, before I dive into the Ayurvedic categories of Sattva, Rajas and Tamas) that pull us from homeostasis come in many forms. If we are stuck in a loop of needing certain sensory stimulations, we are not in control of our own body and mind. Food, again, exerting much power. The more we learn to release our emotions that come up around food, which can be done through periods, or a slow change in cutting out foods with these sorts of energies, the more we can feel more in balance, find our homeostasis, in all aspects of our lives. When we do this as individuals, the selfishness and fear in communities can lessen, and this is the real healing.

2. Is this safe?

Before a cleanse, I field some important questions around it’s safety. There may certainly be times when a kitchari fast is not appropriate – say, extremely low blood sugar, pregnancy (1 or 2 days may be okay for certain individuals), or extreme depletion. Most of us are NOT in these categories. I do lead people through deeper home cleansing, and there are more cautions with this, because there are purgative practices to be endured, before rebuilding.

And this said, human beings are incredibly resilient. I believe that many of us get lost in the perspective of our culture – not having seen or experienced the levels of mental and physical stress that many in other parts of the world (or simply other socio-economic status’s) must endure. This is not to lay any blame or cause guilt. For one, I want us to connect with and trust our bodies more – to trust the signals we receive from them. Two, a little discipline can gain us a lot of perspective.

For those concerned, kitchari does offer daily protein, and the added vegetables of your choices provide plenty of other easily accessible nutrients. There is never a limited amount you must eat or not eat. And important to remember that you are always in control and can go back to your old habits whenever you so choose – if you choose to.

3. Is it all in our mind?

I have done a seasonal cleanse for years – and the hardest part each season is picking a start date. We all have busy lives. There is rarely a perfect time to set aside. Sacrifices are always made – and again, this is all part of it. The sacrifices, whether sensory, social, or otherwise, are part of the practice of letting go. Part of the practice for the mind to be content with what is, whatever that may be, that allows for deper mindfulness and fulfillment throughout our whole lives.

Yes, the body ‘knows’ there are some changes upcoming before a cleanse. Though mostly, for the body, it’s getting the good end of the deal – rest, oil massage, a break for digestion, etc. It is really the mind that knows we’re undertaking an adventure that will disrupt its habits/patterns, and so it resist until day one – and then once the cleanse we begins, each time it becomes easier to surrender, and I am just in it.

Ayurveda and the Mind

There so many gems in this book I mentioned by Dr. David Frawley. Three important terms used to discuss Ayurvedic psychology are known as Sattva, Rajas and Tamas. I am sure many of you are familiar with these from yoga, or from Ayurvedic reading. Foods can be talked about the have Sattvic, Rajasic, or Tamasic influences, which is how we look at how they affect the mind, on another level than the elements/gunas, and how they affect the doshas and our physical body.

Transformation often involves going from Tamas towards Sattva. Dullness and ignorance towards peace and calm. It is rajasic energy that is the catalyst for transformation and change. Both Tamas and Sattva are still, though one is in darkness, the other in light and clarity. It is inevitable that we must move through discomfort, frustration, action, to move from one to the other.

Dr. Frawley describes healing in three stages. First, personal healing, which really is about moving from Tamas to Rajas.

“Fire is necessary. We must wake up, act, and begin to change. Deep-seated patterns of attachment, stagnation, and depression must be released.” As a part of this, he explains that we must recognize our suffering and our pain, and learn from it, and that creating a new sense of who we are and what we do is required. And Rajas, or Action is indicated. A seasonal cleanse may from the outside, seem benign, but anyone who is in it, knows this is certainly a powerful transformative action!

For now, let’s stay focused on our self-healing through this cleansing action. One step at a time. One foot in front of the other. Know it’s not designed to be easy. And that this action and transformation is something you’re fully, humanly, capable of, and perhaps even here for.

I’d love to hear more of your thoughts and experiences. Leave your comments below.

Love,

Posted on April 13, 2015April 13, 2015 by Adena Rose

Kitchari Never Ceases to Amaze me

Want to feel lighter in your body and mind? Do a little Spring Cleaning?

Join us for the Spring Cleanse – we begin on Saturday.

The power of kitchari never ceases to amaze me.

Have you ever made it? For many, I find that it’s a love or hate relationship. I feel blessed that I am usually on the love end.

I will be the first to admit that eating a mono-diet, eating kitchari only, for more than a couple of days is super challenging.

I have shared the story of my first Ayurvedic Cleanse (feel free to re-read it, here) and how it was super challenging and the first time I ‘gave up.’ But how that little bit of discipline, then returned to, again and again, helped my will power grow, the understanding of my mind deepen, and the relationship with my true sense of hunger to clarify.

Not to say anything of the toxins I felt lifted from my tissues, the changes I saw in my digestion, and in my seasonal immunity. And since I put in the days, hours, of cooking kitchari for myself, I have that staple recipe to return to, ANYTIME I NEED IT.

A meal of kitchari never ceases to amaze me.

When I am under the weather, I can make a pot, and know I am eating something balancing for my doshas, and that won’t bog agni down.

When a friend or family member is…ditto.

When I’m feeling heavy, or gross, and not sure what to do or eat. Kitchari. When I am feeling bloated or constipated…kitchari usually does the trick. And by the next day, a comfortable bowel movement that moves it all out…ahem.

But really.

And that’s the crux of healing in Ayurveda, keeping the pipes clean. And a regular, seasonal cleaning keeps things running smoother all year.

You know it – you’re probably dreaming of some Spring Cleaning right now. How good does it feel to wash your windows? To scrub out the oven? To dust the ceilings?

Give your physiology a little dusting, too.

We start on Saturday, but registration closes tomorrow.

I want you to have enough time to prepare. So, join us now, and commit to a little bodily de-cluttering. Members will receive full preparation instructions on Wednesday, by email, and daily guidance by email and through the private online Facebook forum. Any other questions (like, what is kitchari? Can I do hits?), simply write adena[at]adenaroseayurveda.com

1549287_10101456430154149_467708568_n — Kitchari! Join us. Click Above to Register.

Love,

Posted on March 20, 2015September 28, 2015 by Adena Rose

Do more than ‘Remain Neutral’ | Why I Do a Seasonal Cleanse

Cleansing is important to me – it has been the most important catalyst for deepening my understanding of Ayurveda, in my own body. Those of you who are on my email list have all received a copy of my one day Ayurvedic cleanse guide. Did you use it? What did you think of it?

Over the past 4 years of twice-yearly doing an Ayurvedic cleanse, each one has been different. Each time I approach it, and plan it, I feel different. Mostly, my cleanses were and are more a time of intention, pulling back, turning in and tuning in. Sometimes I like what I see, other times it’s super challenging and feels like during that season I took two steps backward, one step forward. The cleanse was that step forward and I am grateful that I am creating that habit for myself…my body starts to know when the season shift is coming…and tells my mind it’s time to pick a start date.

Ayurvedic cleansing is usually centered around eating kitchari. I’m sure amny of you are familiar with this – might already have opinions of loving it or so-not-loving it. For those of you who don’t – there is a recipe in my 1 day cleanse guide, that I mentioned above. Two actually.

Why do it?

The goals of an Ayurvedic cleanse are to improve digestion, remove or burn up toxins, and improve our willpower. Strengthening your will power might take a little force, or the yogic term we use is tapas, a purification through effort. An important aspect, which juxtaposes this effort, is also taking more time to nourish yourself, especially through living your more ideal routine, getting enough sleep, and learning self massage.

By making a little effort, it becomes easier the next time. In my experience, stretching your will power is best done gently – just like any stretch. Regular stretching over time is going to be more beneficial than say, forcing yourself into a split, and tearing your hamstrings. Making it difficult or impossible to even walk 🙂 With this concentrated effort, over a week, ad done twice per year, stretching your will power becomes easier – making it just EASIER to make better decisions around food, drinking, or expending your energy is ways you do not want to.

Wouldn’t it be great if things – anything – was just plain easier in this life?

“Slowly and slowly”

Digestion is the crucial piece to all healing in Ayurvedic medicine – as well as preventative medicine. Fasting is an interesting and important practice which can improve digestion – and there are certainly helpful and not so helpful ways to do it. A juice cleanse might serve some constitutions, at certain times of the year. Skipping breakfast in the Spring time may serve someone with a heavier Kapha constitution. Eating a mono-diet of kitchari is one way to very safely introduce a fast into your life.

According to the Ayurvedic understanding, our digestion is known as our agni. This word relates to our metabolic fire. Our ability to assmilate and absorb. There are very specific guidelines in Ayurvedic medicine for taking care of our agni. It’s not really an ‘anything goes’ approach, though that’s how most of us approach our diets and eating.

An Ayurvedic Cleanse is an opportunity to learn about and experience some of those food rules – even if it’s just for the week – it’s beneficial to help clear up and clean up soe of the little messes we create throughout the rest of the year.

And sometimes those habits just happen to stick around, because they feel good, and just MAKE SENSE. Oh, how I love this stuff.

Do more than Remain Neutral

One of my mentors, Dr. Claudia Welch, says that in her experience, it takes at least 2 hours of self care per day to just remain neutral. And by remaining neutral, she means staying level and sane and maintaining our current state of health in our world as it is today. Amongst all the environmental stresses, our work, family responsibilities, social pressures. 2 hours to keep your head above water. And how many of us are really doing this?

Self care can include the Ayurvedic techniques, and yoga, and baths, and cooking for yourself, and taking walks. Whatever works for you.

Setting aside time for a seasonal cleanse is how I have taken leaps forward in my health and well-being – beyond just the remaining neutral. It’s a concentrated dose of me time.

Do your worst- and commit to a little me time this Spring. It’s the best time of the year to cleanse.

If you’re like me and have been feeling sluggish, sleeping in, have a little sinus congestion, nausea, or a few extra pounds from winter, get on board with us for April. Nature’s lightening up, and it just makes sense that we follow suit.

The next group cleanse is: October 12-18, 2015

EARLY BIRD PRICE: $75 – Goes up to $95 October 6.

Commit early and save

PS: If you’ve cleansed before, and are ready to go deeper, talk with me about a guided home panchakarma. This traditional Ayurvedic cleansing practice follows a very similar protocol as the group cleanse, but it requires one on one guidance because we utilize purgation techniques which are not for everyone. Apply here.