Vegetarian Balance

This week one of our teachers shared simple hints on how to give your digestive system a break after the holidays. They are for all of us especially if we’re feeling run down after a hectic time over the holiday season.
We’re well into Winter, the season when the Kapha principle manifests, which involves qualities of heaviness, slowing down. Most of us have spent the last few weeks busy socialising with family and friends eating heavy rich foods. Heavy + hectic = stress & strain on all levels of our bodies.

To find balance the tips I shared with you last month are still valid. However, here are 3 specific post-holiday health hints.
Health Hint 1: Brew up a large flask of lemon and ginger water, enjoy it at the start of the day and sip throughout the day.
Health Hint 2: Chew a small piece of fresh ginger with a little salt and lime juice before your lunchtime meal
Health Hint 3: Go on a simple diet of lentils, rice & vegetables (kitcherie) for three days (see recipe below!)

Post-Holiday Kitcherie
Ingredients (for 2 portions):
basmati rice (100g)
red lentils (100g)
salt (to taste)
fresh ginger chopped into small pieces
1 teaspoon cumin powder
pinch of turmeric
pinch of black pepper
handful of raisins (optional)
½ lemon, juice of
160 g seasonal vegetables
4 tablespoons sesame oil /ghee
water (2 ½ x rice and lentils)
1. Squeeze the lemon.
2. Wash the rice and lentils thoroughly. Leave to drain.
3. Peel the vegetables and cut them into cubes or round slices.
4. Pour enough sesame oil/ghee into a big pot to cover the bottom.
5. Add the vegetables, cumin powder, turmeric, raisins, lemon juice, salt, the rest of the oil and the ginger. Then add the rice and lentils, stir.
6. Add 2 times the amount of boiling water and bring everything to the boil before reducing the temperature and cooking over a low flame for 30 minutes.
7. Turn off the heat and leave the dish to stand for 10 minutes. Serve & enjoy!

A subscriber contacted me recently who had learned that she has a “moderate to severe Vata imbalance.” She wanted “a few suggestions about foods to include in (her) diet to help with that?”
According to Ayurveda Autumn is the season when the Vata principle manifests. When we think of Autumn we think of a windy time of year, a time that is dry(ing) and colder than the warmer summer months. The wind also brings with it a lightness that can be refreshing and clearing. All of these are qualities we may also experience within the body. When the Vata principle is not in balance, there is more “wind”, more movement of air in the various body cavities which may cause discomfort. The lightness within the body might translate into a feeling of not being connected or grounded. Typically the feet and the hands are cold and dry, and the body feels the cold more easily.
At this time we all need to make sure that our diet has more liquid to counteract the drying effect of the season and also that it contains warming foods and herbs and spices. Soups are a super simple dish to add to our diet, especially those with warming spices and herbs such as fresh ginger, turmeric, and sage, parsley, and thyme and using local seasonal vegetables such as carrots, onions, pumpkins and other squash, and beetroot.
To manage the lightness and dryness of the Vata principle I like to make hearty protein-rich soups from mung beans, lentils, or other beans and add warming oils such as sesame oil or ghee. The soup could be our main meal (at lunchtime), and for those of us who lead busy lives, it’s an easy option to make plenty and have the leftover soup in the evening. But what about breakfast? We can carry on the soupy idea and have a warming porridge of oat groats or brown rice spiced with cinnamon and sweetened with raisins and soaked & peeled almonds. Mmm…
Meals at this time should help us feel comforted and cosy to manage any fear or anxiety we might have from not being grounded or feeling uncertain. Throughout the day we can drink warm to hot water or herbal teas to keep hydrated.
In Ayurveda we talk about six tastes and the ones that help to balance this principle are the sweet taste, the salty taste and the sour taste, in moderation. Sweet, as in whole grains, have a sustaining effect to your blood sugar, and sweet is the taste of love and compassion, emotions that are often out of balance or lacking in our Western society. The sour and salty tastes bring heat into the body and aid digestion as well as retain water.
And here’s one of my favourite soup recipes for the season. Enjoy with sprouted bread for a hearty meal!

La fin de l’été approche et on a beaucoup de choix. A une période de l’année où la vie peut être trépidente surtout avec la rentée, je favorise des plats simples.

Voici une  recette de soupe qui utilise un légume qui se trouve en abondance pendant cette saison – la courgette. Avec un (ou deux) pain(s) (au blé germé) vous avez un repas rapide et nourrissant qui rassasie.
Pour 2 personnes il vous faut

2 courgettes – moyenne
2 c.s huile de noix de coco ou ghi  (produit laitier facultatif)
1/2 c.c graines de fenouil
1/2 c.c graines de cumin
1/2 c.c curcuma
1/2 c.c poivre noir
1/2 c.c coriandre en poudre
sel selon votre goût
eau

1.    Laver les courgettes et les couper en tranches.
2.    Faire chauffer l’huile /ghi dans une casserole. Quand elle/il est chauffé(e), ajouter les graines de cumin et les grains de fenouil et faire revenir jusqu’à ce qu’elles brunissent.
4.    Ajouter le curcuma et et poivre noir et bien mélanger.
5.    Ajouter les courgettes et 1/2 c.c coriandre en poudre et du sel selon votre goût. Bien remuer.
6.    Ajouter assez d’eau pour couvrir les courgettes, recouvrir et laisser mijoter le tout pendant 10 minutes.
7.    Après 10 minutes passer le contenu de la poêle au mixer et mélanger pendant 10 à 20 secondes.
8.    Servir parsemé avec du persil et du pain plat ou pain au blé germé

Bon appétit!

For many of us bread is a staple at mealtimes.
Since the start of the year I’ve been making sprouted bread and  I even found a way to continue making it so while I was away travelling.

Sprouted bread is an ancient form of bread which has many health benefits for our modern-day life. For example, it has a low glycemic index so is digested more slowly. This means that  an individual’s  blood sugar level is more stable for a longer period, thereby diminishing the desire to snack.

Sprouting is  a way to produce nutritious, fresh and delicious food. It is economical in time, space and  money (most seeds etc. double in size when you sprout them). When the sprouts germinate the grain reaches its highest level of nutrition. The seed is broken down and the wheatgerm and endosperm prepared to nourish the growing plant. Germination improves the availability of Vitamins A, B and C and protein levels significantly. It also releases the iron, potassium and calcium and provides carbohydrates, which are easier to digest  since enzymes have already broken down their starches.

Sprouts are rich in :
- antioxidants, which help to eliminate free radicals (a product of oxidation in the body) which are considered to be responsible for ageing and tissue damage
- natural plant enzymes, which are important for proper digestion and connect us directly to a very natural way of eating and to nature, even if we don’t have a garden or a balcony to grow food.

Sprouted bread is simple to make and travels really well. It’s a good idea to store it in the fridge if you don’t plan to eat it within a couple of days).
Here’s a short fun video on the way I make it.
http://youtu.be/ta9QwNRKWRw
I’d love your feedback, especially if you consider yourself intolerant to wheat, and be happy to answer questions on this topic.

Here’s a quick recipe for a simple tasty soup that I’ve been enjoying after a day of study recently.

350g seasonal vegetables
1 spring onion
½ tsp cumin seeds (if cabbage family is used)
½ tsp fennel seeds
1-2 cm fresh ginger
Coconut oil
salt (to taste)
water
chopped parsley/coriander   (optional)

Enjoy!

Recently I was invited to give a talk on healthy nutrition with customised catering for a multinational company here in Geneva. All those who attended were keen to know how to improve their energy levels with a healthy nutrition especially while at work.

To give you a true taste of the material they received I’ve decided to share a summary of the presentation in the form of a short video.

View it here

Energise Your Life through Healthy Nutrition

and share your comments just below.

In February I was at the Sivananda ashram in France giving a week-long course on vegetarism and also yogic vegetarian cooking.Here’s one of the recipes I developed during the course.

Carrot and celeriac soup

Cooking time : approximately 25 mins

250g carrots
100g celeriac
oil
½ tsp cumin seeds
½ tsp. coriander seeds
½ tsp mustard seeds
1-2 cm fresh ginger
½ tsp turmeric
½ tsp black pepper
Salt (to taste)
water
Chopped parsley (optional)

1.    Wash and slice the carrots, peel the ginger with a small spoon and chop it finely. Peel and dice the celeriac.
2.    Cover the bottom of a pot with oil, let it heat and sauté the cumin, coriander and mustard seeds.
3.     Add the ginger, then as it starts to brown, add turmeric and black pepper.
4.     Add the celeraic and the carrots.
5.    Mix well then add 1 l boiling water and salt.
6.    Before serving sprinkle with chopped parsley (optional).

Enjoy!

Vos plats ayurvédiques sont extraordinaires et j’aimerais beaucoup commencer aussi la journée par un petit-déjeuner ayurvédique.

Pouvez-vous me conseiller comment le faire ou même s’il y a des livres que je puisse lire ?

Il y a des plats dans mon livre que vous pouvez utiliser pour le petit-déjeuner, par exemple, l’en-cas power ou le lait d’amandes avec une bouillie d’avoine ou autre.

Voici une recette pour le petit-déjeuner qui est dans mon nouveau livre électronique, un granola. C’est un plat bon marché et sans lactose. À manger avec le lait d’amandes! Les quantités sont pour environ 15 portions.

Granola maison

1 kg flocons d’avoine
50 g graines de sésame
50 g graines de tournesol
pincée de sel
2 poignées raisins secs
1/2 sucre non-raffiné
1 c.s cannelle en poudre
1/2 c.s cardamome en poudre
1/2 c.s muscade rapée
300 ml eau chaude
2 c.s huile d’olive/sésame

1. Préchauffer le four à 150°C
2. Mettre les flocons d’avoine, graines de sésame, les graines de tournesol, le sel et les raisins secs dans un bol et mélanger bien.
3. Verser l’eau dans un bol et ajouer le sucre et les épices et mélanger bien pour faire un sirop.
4. Verser le sirop dans le bol qui contient les ingrédients secs et mélanger pour bien couvrir le tout.
5. Verser de l’huile dans un plat à gratin et l’étaler pour bien couvrir le fond.
6. Etaler le mélange dans le plat et le mettre au four pendant une heure.
7. À toutes les 15 minutes, sortir le plat du four et bien mélanger pour créer des petits morceaux.
8. Après environ une heure, quand le granola sera légèrement bruni, le sortir du four et laisser refroidir.
9. Verser dans des bols et déguster avec du lait d’amandes!

Si vous avez aimé cette recette, vous pouvez trouver d’autres recettes de ce genre dans mon livre électronique “Nouvelles recettes faciles”

Breathing is essential for survival and vitality. Most of us cannot survive for more than 5 to 10 minutes without oxygen. When we breathe we take in oxygen, essential for all bodily functions and, therefore, it is the key to nourishing the body and to achieving vitality.

However, when most people take a deep breath they push out their chest as they breathe in. We use a fraction of our lung capacity and our breathing is shallow.
We can learn a lot from the way babies breathe. They all breathe from their bellies and so use all their lung capacity. However, as we get older, we breathe more from the chest, which is much more inefficient since the stale air stays in the bottom of our lungs. As a result fresh air has a hard time reaching the lower section of the lungs where the blood vessels are wettest and warmest and so most efficient for moving oxygen into the blood.

Correct breathing is important for physical and mental health. By learning to breathe correctly we can increase our energy levels. Simply by slowing down our rate of breathing, for example, we start to change the chemistry in the body from an acidic pH to an alkaline pH.

If you are interested in learning further correct breathing exercises, I would recommend attending specialised classes. Hatha yoga can train us how to breathe properly again since, from the start, emphasis is given to proper breathing.  We learn to push out the stomach as we breathe in, then the breath filling up the chest and right up to the collarbones. As we breathe out we are encouraged to contract our abdominal muscles. Breathing is ideally slow, regular and rhythmical, ideally between 12 and 20 breaths a minute. By breathing this way for a few minutes a day you can  combat stress and improve your overall health generally.

Recently clients and friends have been asking me how they can deal with their “hunger” when they get home from work. Sometimes the hunger is real because they’ve had a light lunch that didn’t have all 6 tastes we learn about in Ayurveda nutrition and a  snack of some trail mix or a sweet fruit with a cup of herbal tea can be a useful quick antidote. However, often the hunger is linked with emotions. We may be feeling tired because we have been giving/serving all day. We need to do something to quell  our “hunger”.

For example, one friend and client I recently met with commented how he feels the need to eat something when he gets back from work and finds that in the evening he eats the most amount of food, something he would rather avoid.

As I listened I thought about how this reaction would be interpreted in Ayurvedic terms. During the day when we work we are serving, constantly giving. Many of us spend the day constantly busy interacting with colleagues, clients and customers  or working on projects that require a lot of mental energy. After a day working like this we may either have a lot of nervous energy or feel drained. When we get finish work we often feel the need to give something to ourselves, to nurture ourselves in some way because of all we have been giving out but it’s important also to manage our energy levels.

In Ayurveda nutrition the sweet taste is associated with love, affection, nurturing so the most simple and instinctive  way  we have of nurturing ourselves is to eat something, usually something sweet to give our cells a boost. Sometimes we grab something to eat because we feel physically  hungry but even after the hunger pangs have gone we continue to eat to satisfy a possible emotional hunger. So I’d like to share with you  7 simple strategies to to nurture yourself when you get back from work/in the evening that don’t necessarily involve eating but will help you move into a space to nourish yourself regularly on a more sustainable level.

1. Lie down and do a relaxation exercise – start from the head  and silently instruct each part of your body to relax.
   “I am relaxing my  …[insert part of the body]. [insert part of the body]is/are relaxed”
   If necessary record the instructions with your own voice and then listen to them.
   This autosuggestion technique is effective and will take you about 10 – 15 mins
2.   Do some physical exercise – go for a walk, run, swim, cycle on your own
3. Have a quick shower – water is a good way to wash away the tensions of the day
4.   Listen to a relaxing piece of music or sing a few of your favourite songs.
5. Do 6 rounds of alternate nostril breathing
6. Have a massage or give yourself a massage
7. Drink a cup of freshly brewed tulsi tea – tulsi is one of  my favourites!