In Ayurveda, ginger is called vishwabheshaja, the “universal medicine”. It is also recognized as a sattvic herb, meaning it carries the vibrations of harmony, balance, and clarity. Understanding its qualities will guide you in deciding when is the best time to use it.

For this month, your movement snack is a reset practice that you can do on the floor or on a chair. We are so used to holding in our abdomen the entire day that we don't spend very much time moving our core dynamically.

In Ayurvedic cooking, spices and herbs have been used for thousands of years with incredible success. They play an essential role in nurturing our health. They make the food taste delicious. And more, they have incredible medicinal powers. Spices are what turn food into medicine.

Being aware of these qualities will guide you into a conscious lifestyle and dietary choices as you apply the fundamental principle of Ayurveda: like attracts like and the opposite balances.

Here I want to share with you a recipe for roasted veggies that you can adjust considering the environmental changes at your location.

Pancakes are usually heavy and hard to digest. This recipe, however, uses warm spices that help digest rich foods. It uses healthy fats that internally lubricate the body.

An obvious change as the temperature drops is that our bodies naturally seek grounding and nourishing foods to counter the qualities prevailing in the environment. This helps us settle down for the long winter ahead.

In the late summer and early fall, our body needs to expel built-up heat from the summer so we can transition through this season change with ease. Bitter and astringent tastes are excellent for clearing out the accumulated heat. These tastes are extractive, which means they are cleansing in nature. Leafy greens are great at doing this job! Our ancestors lived on a diet high in leafy greens and nuts.

By taking a little time this month to adjust our diet, we will arrive thriving in the fall, instead of feeling weary or edgy. To inspire you to move with the flow of the season, relax, and soak up the rest of the summer sunshine, here is my Lime Peach Popsicle Recipe.

As things heat up, we need to continue eating cooling foods that reduce inflammation and are easy to digest. Ayurvedic wisdom then guides us to incorporate more of the sweet, bitter, and astringent tastes in our diet. These tastes calm, cool, and soothe the system, which in turn supports our liver, blood, skin, and mind.

To keep you cool and calm during this season, here is my Coconut Mint Chutney recipe.

The veggies and fruits of this season are the way to go. Put them at the center of your meals. Favor the sweet, bitter, and astringent tastes and avoid hot, spicy, and salty tastes like in chili peppers and chips.

To inspire you to eat more veggies and cook them (just a bit) with Ayurvedic wisdom, here is my Sautéed Summer Squash with Radicchio and Mint recipe.

This breakfast recipe brings the lightness we want to cultivate in the spring and the coolness we need to maintain in the summer. Quinoa is a complete protein, making it a very satisfying breakfast, and the spices will ignite our digestive fire without aggravating it.

To incorporate lightness in your spring diet, here is my spring green chutney recipe! It is very easy to make. It has cilantro, which is filled with so many great qualities, as well as spices that will ignite your digestive fire.

This early spring cleansing soup has the ingredients that can break up congestion, reduce fats in the blood, and drain excess water retention.

If you are going for an Ayurvedic cleansing, kitchari will be the food you eat for the days you detox. But what I want to share with you is a practice that you can do in February and perhaps you may like it so much that you will do it every month!

I love muffins so much. Crazy love. But a store-bought muffin is just too sugary and is likely to be nutritionally empty. This is actually great because it gives me the opportunity to make my own wholesome, homemade muffins and follow Ayurvedic wisdom when preparing them.

This recipe is an example of a balanced ratio. Augmenting foods are generally sweeter in taste. Examples include rice, carrots, potatoes, and avocados. Extractive foods are mostly bitter or astringent in taste. Examples include dark leafy greens, legumes, and nuts.

According to Ayurveda, the five elements — ether, air, fire, water, and earth—found in all living things are the building blocks of life. The doshas are an organizing principle that help us to describe the action of the five elements within us. The concepts of the five elements and the doshas provide a foundation to understand ourselves and the world around us.

I played and played and came up with my fav version of oatmeal. I should say versions because it changes according to the seasons and what’s going on individually with me or my husband.

Here is my version for the fall – a more vata-pacifying oatmeal.

Take this time to check your vitality and ask yourself: do I usually get sick when fall comes? Is it usually the same illness? Consider your seasonal practices and determine what could be improved (food, exercise, sleep, etc.) to help your immunity.

Our digestive fire (agni) is lower in the summer. It is important then to favor meals that will be easy for our bodies to break down and assimilate. Coconut Rice is easy to digest and has cooling and soothing qualities, making it a great option for our summertime breakfast!