After covering  the basic principles of Ayurvedic nutrition, the participants enjoyed a brunch of 8 dishes to illustrate the theoretical points raised and had a chance to get their questions answered.  Among others I had questions about the merits of eating particular foods including garlic & onions, wine, milk.

In Ayurveda, foods can be considered as a medicine, as nourishment or as poison. It depends how they are used. The  action of particular foods within your body is very important. That’s why it’s important to be conscious of what you eat, how you eat and how you feel after eating it.

I was fortunate to have a concrete case to deal with during the workshop. The oldest participant, a lady of eighty, commented, while partaking of dishes 6 & 7 (kitcherie and cucumber raita) that she felt that one of these dishes was  too acidic for her since she was feeling the effects in her body. She felt that the raita was to blame since there had been other dishes with an acidic taste that she had eaten without problem.

The acidity she felt could have been a result of eating too much of the sour taste from various dishes. It could also have been that she was particularly sensitive to natural shop-bought yogurt (I suggested that freshly made home made yogurt could be an alternative since it would be less acidic). However, after further enquiry it, it turned out that she didn’t normally eat dairy but was enjoying herself so much that she had eaten the raita anyway.

I had a quick think, looked at what I had accesible and, since, cucumber is sweet and cooling, offered her a little cucumber juice to neutralise the acidity.  A short time after she reported that she felt much better.  By her immediate awareness of the effect of the food on her body, this lady was able to get help in a simple natural way.

How often do we ignore “alarm bells”  from our digestive systems only to find them ringing even more loudly a few hours, days, weeks, months or years later?

Share your comments below!

Recently I went to the Christmas party at my local yoga centre. I heard a story taken from the book “The Yogi: Portraits of Swami Vishnudevananda” that I felt summed up how important the act of giving, in particular, is to create your own “paradise” or balance in your life.

Here’s my rendition of the story :

There were some people who had heard about paradise and hell and wanted to see what it was like to live there. Since paradise and hell were next door to each other – there was just a wall separating the two – they set off to explore the two places.

First of all they visited hell. Everyone there was sitting round a long table groaning with food. They had long wooden spoons attached to their arms. The spoons prevented the diners from bending their arms at the elbows. The only way they could eat was by throwing the food up into the air and catching what they could in their mouths. There was food flying everywhere.

The visitors quickly left hell to visit paradise on the other side of the wall. When they got there they saw that everything was the same. The only difference was that the people had golden plates and long golden spoons attached to their arms. However, everyone was enjoying the food because they were using their spoons to pick up the food and serve it to each other.

At this time of year when we are surrounded by abundance – in the form of food, loved ones, time to rest and enjoy etc, our environment both internally and externally is changing all the time. The best thing we can do is to practise acceptance and adapt to deal with the changes. If we resist and hold on to challenges, our health and vitality will be adversely affected. A simple example on a physical level is constipation. And we all know how that makes us feel.

So this holiday season I encourage you to remember to “give a little”. Be thankful and say “yes” to that which comes your way – just try it out and experience how much better you feel and how well your immune function responds. It means you’ll stay in good shape to enjoy the holidays. You and everyone around you will be able to appreciate the nurturing and enduring Kapha energy that comes from giving and receiving.

Have a Happy and Healthy holiday season!

(c) 2008 Janet Gomez

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About the author:  Janet Gomez, nutritional consultant, produces the “Nutri-Jyoti News”, a free bi-monthly e-newsletter for busy professionals. Feel ready to learn how to use nutritional strategies to manage your energy levels? Then sign up for her FREE e-course “5 Nutritional Keys to Vitality in your Life” at http://www.nutrijyoti.com