April 2023 Issue 140
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Greetings!
Right Now Is the Best Time to Cleanse
Ayurveda suggests a cleanse at the transition between each doshic season, but spring—the transition from Vata season to Kapha season—is the most important and April is the best time to cleanse. Here’s why.

More than any other Ayurveda season, Vata winter (November through February; adjust time frame for your climate) invites toxin accumulation. Body systems become drier in winter, so toxins get stuck and stored, primarily in winter fat reserves.

To manage Vata’s qualities during the winter—dry, windy, light (weight), dark (visual), and cold—people often consume sugar and fats and just plain overeat. Major holidays in the winter invite rich foods, sugary treats, and perhaps alcoholic drink. The season often also means more time indoors doing low-key activities, especially this year with Covid, respiratory illnesses, and colds hitting us hard.

Nature returns moisture—like sap returns to trees—in late winter and early spring. So Kapha moisture begins moving into the dry area of stored toxins to loosen them for removal. Kapha season brings spring rains—March through June in many parts of the U.S. (Adjust time frame for your climate.)

Toxins will accumulate this month. This is the Nature of what happens in early spring. If all goes well, winter toxins move into your elimination systems and out. But with too many accumulated toxins, or if you have a dry system, or you lack strength or sufficient agni (digestive fire), then toxins, or ama, might not be efficiently eliminated. Instead, ama loosens and moves sluggishly until it hits a vulnerable spot and deposits. Consequences such as swollen glands, headaches, allergic reactions, muscle aches, weight gain, or depression can result.

The release of toxins and the blockages they create, restores the flow of energy and information throughout your body, bringing light to every cell and every thought. Rejuvenate and welcome spring with renewal by doing a little extra to detox.


Live with radiant intention and be well. Rhonda

Clearing Ama Daily- 6 Ways!

Ayurveds believe that detoxification is a daily experience. Six of the easiest ways to detox every day are to: 

  1. Take a few sips of hot spice water every 30 minutes throughout the day and hydrate more in general [recipe below].
  2. Scrape your tongue first thing each morning with the round part of a spoon or a tongue scraper.
  3. Start Your Day with Lemon Detox Tea [recipe below].
  4. Allow 3-6 hours between meals (no snacking) so that complete digestion can occur.  You may need to eat a greater volume of food at your midday meal to hold off hunger cravings between meals. 
  5. Take 1-2 tablets of triphala [or triphala guggulu which pulls out deep-seated toxins in joints] each night at bedtime or make triphala tea with 1/2 tsp of triphala powder to a cup of boiled water to support nighttime digestion.
  6. Needing to get off the sugar charm boat? Make a tea of gemnema leaves or fenugreek seeds--or better yet...add these to your hot spice water. They are revered for reducing sugar cravings and balancing blood sugar. Do not take with insulin medications or check with your health care provider on this.
Big Time Cleanse for You?????

Want to get more serious with a spring cleanse? Check Cleanse resources at Banyan Botanicals


Otherwise consider adding in the modest daily cleanse actions above to clear ama. Very important this time of year to at least do a little something.
Guided/Supported Full Spring Cleanse

If you wish to do a serious cleanse with guidance from an Ayurveda Practitioner, I suggest you check out the Ayurvedic Spring Cleanse, April 8-28, with my colleague Kara Aubin, owner director of the Ayurveda Wellness Center in Kalamazoo, MI. This seasonal cleanse program is available to you online, with modules opening April 1st. (right around the corner, but quite doable) 

You can find information and register here [https://ayurvedicwellness.center/ayurvedic-spring-cleanse]. Spring is the most important time to do a cleanse. Check it out!  

Have questions? Contact the Ayurvedic Wellness Center at 269-301-0621 for support.
Drink Ayurveda Hot Spice Water Tea...with a Punch!
hot spice seeds
Begin, continue or renew your commitment to drinking hot spice water. This is a daily detox, but give it a boost this month! Simply add thinly sliced fresh ginger root and/or fresh turmeric to the original hot spice water recipe. If you do not have the fresh roots, add a small amount of organic ginger powder and/ or turmeric powder. If you want to cut sugar cravings add about 1/2 tsp gemnema leaves or fenugreek seeds



1/2 tsp cumin seeds

All organic seeds in a quart of boiled water. Sip throughout the day.
Start Your Day with Lemon Detox Tea
lemon detox tea
Ingredients:
1/16 tsp Cayenne pepper
1 C water
1/4 lemon
1 tsp honey or grade B maple syrup [only add honey when cool enough to drink]
1/8 tsp Braggs raw apple cider vinegar  
 
Preparation:
 
Place ingredients in hot water and stir. Drink in the morning upon waking, a 1/2 hour before meals, or sip slowly after meals. You may use any type of vinegar although we prefer apple cider vinegar for taste.
 
ayurvedic notes
Lemon, honey, vinegar and cayenne form a classic, vivacious Ayurvedic blend to boost fat digestion and metabolism. A strong sour taste encourages the free flow of bile from your liver and gall bladder to your gut. After drinking Lemon & Spice tea, a warm sensation about the midriff will confirm these effects.
Spring Diet Changes
You may already have a sense of how you are drawn to different foods--but here it is:

Avoid
  • Heavy watery vegetables like squashes, sweet potatoes, avocado, and olives.
  • Intake of heavy oily or fried foods like cheeses, fried potatoes, pastas.
  • Snacking between meals.
  • Heavy fruits like dates, coconuts figs and bananas
  • Meat [minimize] and dairy products [reduce]
  • Cold drinks

Go For:
  • Fruits like lemons, pomegranates, prunes, raspberries, and blueberries.
  • Greens of all sorts--turnip, swiss chard, dandelion, and spinach
  • White basmati rice, amaranth, and quinoa
  • Black-eyed peas, lentils, green peas, asparagus, mung beans.
  • Spices of all sorts, especially heating spices--peppers.

For more specifics see the Spring Guide from Banyan Botanicals










20% Discount from

Banyan Botanical  

To support your herbal purchase for a spring cleanse, this month get a 20% discount at Banyan Botanicals --provider of Ayurveda herbs and seeds, follow this link and enter RHONDA20 at checkout. [usual discount is 10%]

If you haven't seen this yet--a one minute video that astounds!!!
Transparency

When you click on a link and make a purchase I receive a small remuneration.








by Rhonda Egidio

Available at a reduced price at Amazon 
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...and More!
 
Rhonda Egidio Ph.D., R.A.A.P., [Registered Advanced Ayurveda Professional] provides Ayurvedic assessments of primary health, diet, sleep, and lifestyle concerns and offers Ayurvedic recommendations.

You may wish to consider obtaining a baseline assessment to help you customize Ayurveda knowledge to your particular needs.  

Check out assessment and session options.  

Dr. Rhonda Egidio,  
269-345-2991[landline]
269-366-0442 [mobile]
Ayurveda information shared here is for general educational purposes and is not intended to substitute for medical or psychological advice. Please consult with your qualified medical caregiver in these matters.