Summer Has Launched
July 13,2020
Yes ! Tracy’s Calm has turned into Tracy’s Peaceful Pause. Yes! I have been working very hard on launching my new Gentle Wisdom Website. Yes ! Summer is here and we are in the depths of heat; fires in Tucson, emotions from protests, frustration with this pandemic and just good ole fashioned summer temps. So what’s a sweaty person to do?
Some of you may not know that besides asanas (poses) and meditation, yoga’s history and background also includes a healing science called Ayurveda (which means “knowledge of life” in sanskrit). Ayurveda looks at the whole person; body, heart, mind and spirit when diagnosing dis-ease and offering solutions. Practitioners use your body type (called doshas) along with other tools to identify your imbalances. Food, herbs and supplements along with other techniques are recommended to bring you back into balance.
Another fascinating aspect to Ayurveda is that the seasons are an integral part of this science (see...you knew I’d get back to summer didn’t you)? Certain foods are more beneficial for you depending on the season and your dosha. Here’s a very simple example. It’s a freezing cold winter day and you have the choice between a salad for your dinner or a warm bowl of soup. Which is more balancing for your system? I believe your intuition told you the soup... right? Right !
Ayurveda has so much depth and wisdom and I have only touched the very tippy top of the iceberg with this introduction. In today’s suggested practice I am offering some very simple tools and tips to cool us off during the summer heat. Excess heat in our systems can show up as difficulty sleeping, heartburn, lethargy, irritability and/or skin rashes. Try some or all of them and see if your body feels more in balance. When your body is in balance, your heart, mind and spirit can’t help but follow in its footsteps !
Oh...wait...did I mention that I’m launching my new website? I would LOVE if you would visit it and see what you think !!
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Today’s Suggested Practice
In Ayurveda, the summer season goes from July through October (there are 3 doshas and 3 seasons with this science).
Sitali/Sitkari Breath
Have a hot flash? Use this breath! Just gotten back from exercising and overheated? Use this breath! Just ate something super spicy and feeling hot? Use this breath!
Make a taco tongue or do your best to make a taco tongue. Inhale with your mouth open and pull the breath over your tongue and feel the coolness. Close your mouth and exhale through the nose. Or...place the tip of your tongue behind your front teeth where the teeth meet the gums. Inhale through the open mouth and exhale out of the nose with the mouth closed. Continue until you feel the heat dissipating.
Food and Drink Suggestions
These are some of the best foods for cooling the body. (Full list here.)
Herbal Teas (mint, hibiscus and dandelion). Avoid Coffee as much as possible.
Salads and Steamed Vegetables (especially asparagus, broccoli, cilantro, cauliflower, cucumbers, kale, watercress, zucchini)
All fruits that are in season
Maple Syrup as a Sweetener
White Rice (Brown Rice in Winter)
Legumes (garbanzo beans, tofu, split peas and mung)
Oils (coconut and olive)
Lighter meats (chicken, turkey, pork, freshwater fish)
Spices (coriander, peppermint, spearmint, anise, chamomile) Avoid spicy foods.
Nuts and Seeds (coconut, sunflower and pumpkin)
If you are interested in learning more about Ayurveda and/or learning what your dosha is click here.* *John Douillard is a well-known Ayurvedic practitioner in Boulder. I have learned a lot from his weekly newsletters.
