Ayurvedic Spring Tips

Every season comes you should be switching up your diet slightly. The gunas (qualities) going on outside are reflected on what’s going on inside of us. Notice it’s more muddy, sticky, droopy feeling outside during early spring inside our bodies colds, coughs, congestion starts to occur more commonly the spring cold for example. Life is cyclical in that manner and our diets should be as well!

Learn what Ayurvedic practices are best for the spring season.

Transcript

Welcome to the Peaceful Power Podcast.

I'm your host,

Andrea Claussen,

And today we are going to chat about,

Are you Vedic spring tips?

Alright,

Can you believe it?

Spring is in the air,

Even though we just got dumped with snow on Sunday here in Minnesota.

But it is a different snow than we've had all winter.

Like this was a really heavy snow,

And it is a little bit of ice and some rain underneath.

And so that's a very kapha thing.

So if you live in a state where it still might snow for the next month or so,

Pay attention to the snow.

It's going to be different.

You know,

Even the rain.

It's going to be,

You know,

If you live in a state that maybe has rain versus snow,

It might be a little bit more rainy for you.

And that's more of that kapha feel versus that really cold,

Crisp vata air.

So that's kind of what we're going to chat about today because we are transitioning into that kapha season.

This is also a time of year where you might have the goopy colds,

You know,

Runny noses,

Just kind of that sticky feeling.

And that's what's going on outside.

So if we're looking around,

You know,

As I was shoveling snow on Sunday,

I was like,

Oh yeah,

This is really heavy.

But then as I was going down underneath the snow.

It was that runny goopiness,

And there was even some dirt,

There was mud underneath.

And then that's kind of going on like my son right now has a cold,

He has just a runny,

Gross,

Droopy,

Snotty cold,

Which is very common,

Especially in kids,

Because they're in the kapha stage of life.

And so this is a time where you might notice that arising more.

You know,

Knock on wood for myself,

I've kind of thankfully avoided it but I've been taking practices as soon as he started coming down with them.

I'm like,

Okay,

Let me up my game and I did a lot of the practices I'm going to share with you today,

Just to kind of transition my body so it's ready for that spring season.

So in Ayurveda we call it the gunas,

You know,

That stuff that I was talking about,

You know,

Where it's the muddy,

The sticky,

The cold,

Warm,

It's not warm in the kapha dosa,

But these are all gunas or qualities of what's going on inside and outside.

So that's what we're looking for,

You know,

As an Ayurvedic practitioner of like okay this is what's happening.

So we got to be aware of how this is translating into our bodies.

And so life is you know it's very cyclical,

Like it's going to change and our diets are going to change according to the season.

So where I like to start with people is really at their diet level.

You know,

You'll start to notice,

Hey,

I don't really want those heavy soups,

You know,

I want to switch maybe to a lighter soup,

Maybe it's something that is rich in dairy.

You might not crave meats anymore or those heavier denser foods,

Cheeses,

Grains,

Root veggies,

All of those more processed foods,

Those are stuff that we want to start to eliminate.

You know,

We want to transition into the kapha,

Which is going to be a lighter cooked food,

You know,

Especially if you're prone to constipation,

Cook those greens,

I cannot emphasize that enough.

I cook salads all the time,

Like if I buy a salad mix,

I will lightly cook it,

You know,

And so I don't cook it so it's so droopy and gross but just,

I give it a nice little light flare in some avocado oil.

So that is something that I highly recommend.

Green vegetables,

Almost all of them are stuff that you should be doing into your diet,

Adding into your diet,

And then the same with lighter grains.

So think quinoa.

If you can digest it,

Barley,

Millet,

Mung beans,

Lentils,

And then lighter treats such as honey as sweeteners,

Berries,

And those are to be eaten alone,

Not at mealtimes,

Ideally,

Fruit is in general.

So,

The main thing though for your diet is what can you digest and I actually just made a post on Instagram the other day about this,

And I was really worried I was like,

How should I post this,

Should I not?

I don't always talk about weight loss but that was kind of the lead in is saying,

You know,

No,

No diet is going to help you lose weight,

If you can't digest the foods you're eating.

And I think sometimes when we get stuck in these diets or even as we're transitioning into a spring diet,

We're like,

Okay,

I got to eat more of this,

This,

And this.

But if you're like,

Hey,

You know what,

When I'm actually having my bowel movements,

I can see the quinoa in my bowel movements.

Your body is not processing it,

You're not digesting that.

So that's maybe not a green for you,

It's time to explore something different.

The same thing with lentils,

I gave an example of myself.

I digest red lentils fine,

But green lentils don't sit well with me.

I don't know why,

You know,

It's just,

That's just something that my body doesn't process well.

And it might be,

You know,

Maybe I grew up having more red lentils than green,

And that can play a factor as well.

And the same thing with foods.

I talked about this before,

But it's so important to notice how did you grow up?

And if you grew up eating some odd combinations,

Like myself,

A lot of the people in the Midwest,

We had casseroles.

So you had some weird combinations going on.

I can digest that better than,

You know,

Some of my other clients,

Because I grew up having casseroles,

Having some odd food combinations.

Now,

Not all go well together,

And I can tell instantly,

I'm like,

Ooh,

This was a recipe that had too much going on.

Or I try to pinpoint what were the two ingredients that did not sit well with me.

And ArruVeda has a protocol for that as well.

But I have found,

Then working with numerous people now through the years that are all across the globe,

You know,

My clients who originated from Mexico,

Like they can handle spicier foods,

Even if they are a pitta,

Then myself as a pitta,

Because I didn't grow up on spicy foods.

And I have clients who grew up with Korean food,

Because that was their heritage,

And they can eat different foods than that sit well with me,

Because for me,

A lot of the Korean foods don't sit well with me because I didn't grow up eating them.

And so that's something to kind of pay attention to is what did you grow up eating?

What is your heritage?

Because that's going to play a factor in what you can digest.

So that's just kind of my caveat there.

So that's a little bit about food,

You know,

Again,

The end of the day,

It is what can you digest?

How is this sitting?

If you have to go to the bathroom instantly after eating,

That's a sign there's an imbalance going on.

If you're constantly constipated,

That's a sign there's an imbalance going on.

So those are just different ways to kind of just see,

Okay,

Am I having regular bowel movements?

Are my stools banana shaped?

Are they lighter brownish color?

Are they well formed?

Are they loose?

Are they hard?

Are they rabbit pellets?

All of that tells you different things.

And if you Google,

I don't remember what it's called,

But even if you Google,

Are you Vedic bowel movements,

You'll come up with a different recommendations,

And they'll have charts showing you if you really want to dive deep,

What your poo should be looking like.

So that's just a little caveat there if you want to dive deeper with digestion.

All right,

So now some other spring practices.

The number one thing that I always recommend doing,

And I always feel the pull to do this again is Abhanyanga,

Which is the self massage.

So the lymph system,

We want to get things moving.

Because remembering,

Kapha dosha is the one that's prone to stagnation.

So out of balance stagnation is the thing.

So that's why the self massage helps keep things flowing.

And the best time to practice Abhanyanga is actually right before your workout,

Which if you think about it,

Okay,

Like we're going to increase our circulation during the workout.

So it's wonderful to do a little rub down before you even work out.

So now you're really getting things flowing and moving,

And you're less likely to get things stuck.

Another time is before you shower.

So opening up those pores right before you happen to shower.

I personally,

I do it after my shower,

And I'll do it maybe a little bit before workout.

You know,

If I'm going to be completely honest of when I do it,

But that's what fits best in my day.

So I always tell people,

Really at the end of the day,

If you're going to do it after the shower,

Rather than before,

Before your workout,

I'd rather have you schedule it into your day than just skip it altogether.

So again,

These are the Ayurvedicly spoken best times but sometimes it just doesn't fit in your day,

You know,

Because if you have a 30 minute workout and that's all you have time for,

You don't always have time to do a 10 minute,

You know,

Self massage practice before.

So really,

When does it fit best in your day.

And then people always usually ask what oil to use.

Sesame oil is going to be the best for all three doshas,

So it's the Tridoshik oil.

Salflower oil is great for kapha dosha in particular,

I make my own lavender oil that I use that I really love.

So you can kind of play there with what feels best to you.

And then when to not practice this.

So during your actual bleeding phase of your menstrual cycle.

And mostly it's just because stuff is already flowing and moving.

And so if you're prone to a heavy flow and you're doing Abhanyanga,

It can maybe have that flow be extremely heavy.

So that's one of the main recommendations there.

I guess if you're having a more scantier flow,

You know,

Maybe having some Abhanyanga practice might help get things moving.

Pregnancy is another time that's not always recommended.

Acute constipation,

Illness,

Like if you're,

I mean,

Usually if you're having the flu,

You're not thinking I want to give myself a self massage right now.

So it's kind of goes self explanatory there.

And then swollen joints.

So if you have something that's really,

Really swollen,

They don't recommend rubbing that.

And again,

That is probably going to be,

It's probably an injury of some sort or arthritis of some sort and there's some underlying things that we want to explore.

So another area is dry brushing.

And so dry brushing again helps move that lymph.

And if you're prone to that stagnation.

And so when to not do this is over infected skin,

Overly dry or thin skin that gets easily irritated.

And again,

Acute illnesses.

So the dry brush is very similar to the Abhanyanga in terms of the lymph.

If you have time for one,

I like to choose Abhanyanga personally,

But you might love dry brushing.

Now the reason I do Abhanyanga is because I'm in Minnesota.

And so,

Even though we're in March,

And we're hitting that spring season,

We really don't warm up really until May.

And so the self massage is really nice and my skin is pretty dry until,

You know,

Late April,

Early May.

So if you're prone to dry skin,

And maybe that Vata constitution.

You might prefer the oil massage versus the dry brush.

So if you have a Vata imbalance going on.

And that's a very dry Vata Doshas imbalance going on like you're constipated you have dry skin,

Your nails,

Your hair,

Everything is feeling really dry.

And so if you think about doing dry brushing.

That's going to be increasing that because like increases like and opposite heals.

So we want to make sure that we're not,

You know,

Compiling a problem by trying to do good but realizing,

Oh,

We should actually be doing the opposite we need to have that oil going on if we're really dry.

So hopefully that makes sense there.

So I just have a couple more practices I mean there's tons of different stuff that you can do but I just wanted to highlight a few things here on the podcast today.

Another one is decluttering.

So that spring season we often hear the term spring cleaning.

And there's a reason for that,

You know,

We feel that urge like,

Oh,

It's getting nicer out we look around our house from like,

I just want to get rid of some stuff.

You know,

Even this morning as I was after I finished my meditation I was looking at my bookshelf and I'm like,

Yeah,

It's time to get rid of some books you know I need to declutter I've collected some over the winter and I'm ready to,

You know,

Get rid of some.

The same thing with my son's clothes and like he's outgrowing his clothes and they're just kind of piling up.

And again that spring season we feel that urge to be like yep it's time to get rid of some stuff.

So you might have that natural urge,

And that's a great sign because it means that kapha balances is in most likely is in balance for you,

Because the opposite kind of side of that.

So kapha dosha can be one that's prone to hoarding things.

It's prone to just clinging on and has trouble letting go.

And so when that's happening you might have a little bit of stagnation going on in the body,

Or in the mind,

And so just noticing okay,

You know,

A lot of the times with decluttering it might be in the mind,

We're clinging to something that it's time to let go of,

We just have to figure out what that is.

So for example,

Maybe I really wanted to keep all of the books,

You know,

What am I clinging to why,

What are these books represent to me,

You know,

Maybe it was like ones that I just finished,

It's not but this is a great example I just finished my you know 500-hour yoga teacher training last year,

And maybe I really want to,

You know,

Keep those books and I just don't want to get rid of them because I don't want to lose that amazing connection and that amazing time that I had with that group the past instead of saying you know what,

No,

It's time,

It's time to go it's time for someone else to learn these things,

And I don't need those anymore I've gained what I can from this book and it's time to let to release and let those things go,

Knowing that those memories are always going to be with me they're not tied to this item.

So that would be an example.

Alright so last few things we're going to talk about our spring yoga and pranayama practices.

So for spring yoga some pacifying kapha yoga asana,

Which are just the poses themselves.

So incorporating more backbends lateral side bends extensions,

Meaning you know getting nice and long and tall in the spine.

Inversions,

So inversions,

You know headstands handstands or down dogs,

Anything where your head is below your heart,

Those are inversions.

So just throwing those into your practices maybe in the morning routines.

I also like to do twist,

I found that that is great,

If you have some junk going on in the chest,

I've done this in many classes where I've had people come in and they're like yeah I've got that just the junk,

You know the spring junk.

And so getting some twists in there to kind of loosen up some of that stuff that might be stuck there.

And then in terms of pranayama,

Kabalabhati,

That's one of my favorites,

It's one of the practices I start,

You know,

Every day with.

And I do 30 rounds.

And so basically,

I have a linked video for the next practice,

But kabalabhati you breathe in through your nose and then it's kind of a forceful exhale out.

I've demonstrated this on the podcast before which I don't know if this demonstrates well but it sounds like this.

So I'm forcefully exhaling out my nose and then bringing my belly up and out.

So it's really great first thing in the morning on an empty stomach.

So I usually don't even drink my water until after I do that practice so,

And I do about 30 rounds of that sometimes,

I forcefully exhale,

I rest a little bit and then I might do a second round if I feel some ama or some stuckness going on.

And then the other one that's another great practice to do is the bistrika or bellows breath.

And I've linked a video on how to do that one.

This one I am,

I have not,

I've done,

But I'm not as familiar with it's not something that I have in my regular practice.

So I just have the video linked up if you want to have someone else who is well more versed than I am to teach you how to do the bistrika breath.

Now,

The last thing I want to share about workouts because this is also tied into that kapha dosa season is,

This is the time,

Are you Vedicly speaking where workouts can be kind of their,

The most intense.

So if you're someone who really loves intense workouts,

The spring is a wonderful time.

And if we think about that in terms of temperature wise,

It's a little bit cooler.

We don't have that vata energy,

But the kapha dosa is the one who needs movement to keep things going and so you don't get in that stuck stagnant energy.

And then in terms of like I kind of look at this too with my menstrual cycle I really work out around my menstrual cycle.

And I will go pretty hard.

I mean if I'm going to be honest I really use my cycle as my main thing.

And the seasons are just kind of the,

The times of day where I might work out I won't probably go for a run,

Let's say in the summer at noon,

Just because it's gonna be really hot.

It's usually the hottest time of the day.

So I'm going to avoid those outdoor runs at that time.

But in the springtime,

I might,

Because it's a little bit cooler it's not it's not as hard for me to get out there and get a run going.

Plus if it's you know 30 degrees out noon sun feels really good.

So that's kind of how I use that,

You know,

Again my cycle is my main,

My main thing that I use and just tapping into that energy level,

And then just being smart with it you know,

Trying to work out,

You know,

First thing in the morning.

Again,

Hormonally.

So are you basically.

This is totally a caveat I did not think I was going to go down today but we're going to tap onto it lately.

So are you basically speaking six to 10 is ideal because again that's the coffee hours.

Now my other cap,

This is kind of like my trainer cap or my,

My hormone side cap says okay,

But a lot of women at different times of our cycle.

As a cycling person,

We don't necessarily feel our best at 7am for those early morning workouts might not feel good in your body you might be still waking up.

You know I was just telling a client at our 9am session today I was like yeah I finally feel like I'm awake at eight o'clock session I'm a little like half waking up and then 830,

You know,

I'm like okay I'm going and then by nine I'm like okay I feel like,

And that again can be a hormone thing,

You know,

Like,

It's not necessarily.

We don't run on that 24 hour clock like men do,

You know,

That's why the men,

That's why we have meetings in the morning because then you know that's when they feel their strongest and that's when they feel their most alert,

Because that's why those mornings are there but women,

We sometimes start to wake up mid morning.

You know that nine o'clock,

10 o'clock hour.

And so for myself,

I have found like 1030,

11,

That's when my body feels most ready or prepared to work out.

And that's past that six to 10 window Ayurveda,

Speaking.

So that's kind of my caveat on not beating yourself up about when you're getting some of these practices in it really is about tuning into you.

And at the end of the day,

That's what Ayurveda suggests is tuning into you,

And it might not be what they had an ancient text.

And again the ancient text a lot of them were written by men,

But how can we adapt this to make it fit into our lifestyle as you know someone with female hormones like how can we make that shift and so we feel our best and it might not quite fit ideally into the box originally laid out.

So that's just kind of my caveat with workouts and just really tuning into what works best for you.

Now the last area I want to discuss our spring herbs.

So,

This is one that I'm giving you some teas primarily and then a couple herbs that I personally take on the regular so I feel versed to talk about them.

But chosen brush.

That's great for immune support and energy boost each morning.

So I usually take like half a teaspoon a teaspoon every morning,

Say very thick kind of sweet herb.

And again it's great for the immune support.

So that's what I've been taking instead of my fire cider I didn't make my fire cider this year I just been doing that.

And then I have my son he does elderberry syrup.

But unfortunately,

I had to throw out my elderberry syrup because it had molded.

And so he hasn't had it this winter and then,

You know,

Of course the time when I need it now I don't have it for him,

But that's what I give for him.

I don't think he would do the chosen brush.

You can also put it on toast or on.

I know some people who do that put it on like a bagel or whatever in the morning,

Because it's a very jam like substance.

So that one's really good and that's great for all doshas and that's a wonderful practice to incorporate each morning is usually when you have that.

Trifla.

So this one you can take a tablet form or tea form usually at night,

And that's kind of help you have a regular bowel movement.

And again,

It's great if you're having stagnation to have that.

I will say talk to a practitioner before you take more than maybe one tablet or before you take more than one,

One cup of tea a day.

And I know that I've spoken with and some consults,

You know,

Are taking quite a bit of it.

I don't always I don't recommend that,

You know,

I try to get people to take as little as possible to help them stay regular,

Because we want our bodies to naturally do it.

And then the way that I like to do trifla,

You know,

Let's go six weeks on maybe six weeks off and just see how the body is adapting.

And then you can kind of see okay are my bowel movements regular.

And this is something I do take regularly.

And I do take those six weeks on,

Take a break,

Maybe it's a week maybe it's six weeks.

You know it's very intuitive for myself and then maybe I get back on it or maybe I feel like no I'm actually pretty good I don't need to get back on it.

So that's how I personally use that.

And I do take the tablet form I was doing the tea form but I found the tablet form works just as fine for myself,

And the tea is doesn't taste the greatest.

So,

It is a it's a thing to get used to.

Now,

Other teas to enjoy during the spring season are fresh lemon ginger honey and turmeric tea.

It's a great anti inflammatory tea to support your system during this season.

So,

I make this all the time I don't ever measure,

I usually do a fresh ginger chunk,

Like I just throw a chunk into the my,

My warm mug.

I sprinkle in some turmeric.

I add lemon so I usually cut up like maybe a quarter of a lemon squeeze lemon juice in.

I let it cool just a little bit.

And then I'll add the honey,

And again honey to taste just a little bit.

And that's great for the coffee dosa so lemon and honey are wonderful to pacify that during the season.

Then the other tea is CCFT,

Which is cumin coriander and fennel,

And all those spices are again are wonderful for that coffee dosa it's great to have after you have your lunch,

Or after you have dinner you know just having a regular time to have that Banny botanicals has,

I think three different varieties,

And I have a,

I'm gonna say it's like a joy one,

It's really good I think it has hibiscus in it.

So I highly recommend that if you want,

You know,

Maybe you like CCFT but you want it with a little twist.

They have some,

Some ones with a little bit of a twist to it,

Just to give you a little bit more variety with your palate,

So highly recommend those.

Otherwise you can always make your own and just do a one part of each so you do one part cumin coriander and fennel.

Alright so those are the spring tips that I have for you today to enjoy that coffee season spring season.

If you're wanting more I have a free spring,

Are you made a guide that I emailed out to everyone who gets my weekly newsletters last week.

It's a nice I think it's like a 17 page guide about,

You know,

Morning rituals yoga practices.

You know actually outlined spring body scrubs recipes tea recipes,

All of those are in that guide.

So if you want those you can head over to the show notes,

Where this blog post is,

Or just head to my website I believe it's right on the homepage to at Andrea Clausen.

Com if you want to grab that.

Are you a Vedic spring guide,

Which is,

I've already had people email me so they loved it and they're using some of the practices so that's what I like to hear.

So if that's something you're interested in head to my website and check that out.

Otherwise,

I will be back in a couple weeks with another solo show,

And I want everyone to go out there and spread your peaceful power.