the value of daily routine
our cells, our organs, and our bodies are like well made swiss watches. we are a part of nature and therefore move like nature— just like the 24 hour cycle of a day, or the seasonal transitions of the year. we perform best when we maintain organization through routine.
by nature, we have evolved to operate much like energy-efficient appliances. both sleep-time and wake-time having a part in our cellular repair and organ recovery. but in this modern time, it’s quite tough to find balance through something as simple as daily routine.
how do we “make time” when time is money and popular concepts of “self care” looks a lot like vegetating in front of the television? start small, and remind yourself that just a few minutes of intentional practices make a world of difference in your rhythm.
routine and digestion
our digestion, or our agni, is like a furnace that has peak times and down times. our body adapts to when nutrients are introduced to the body and begins to plan accordingly. before food even hits your tongue, your body begins sending hunger signals the the brain and primes the gi tract for food introduction. when we eat irregularly, it leaves our body in a state of being “on call”, which fatigues the signalling systems and may also contribute to indigestion and poor assimilation.
as the day turns to night, our furnace starts to cool down— rerouting the energy towards healing and higher level digestive processes (think small/large intestine). if you continue to take in food, the workload gets backlogged and you end up with fermenting food stuffs in your gi. gross.
eating at regular times everyday sets your internal clock on a path of success (big bonuses if you eat most of your nutrients before 5pm and cease intake after).
meals and bedtime
we don’t get the privilege of learning much about sleep other than the high level “get 6-8 hours of sleep” and “sleep is good for brain health”. sleep is this incredible adaptation that allows our body to shut us down just enough to preserve energy used to reharmonize our organs and heal from metabolic waste product accumulation.
part of what makes mondays so unpleasant culturally is the misunderstanding that “8 hours of sleep” equates to great sleep, no matter what time you head to bed and wake. so when the weekend comes around, it’s compelling to indulge in later nights (culture of alcohol notwithstanding) and later mornings. in essence, this pattern sets us up for weekend-jet lag and dysregulates our sleep hormone balances.
as it pertains to routine, meal times, and sleep— keep it simple and plan to go to bed and wake within a two hour window every day (yes, even the weekends), and plan to get in bed no sooner than 3 hours after eating your last meal.
contemplation and mindfulness
at minimum, giving yourself time to connect with the world around you in an intellectual way works wonders to stabilizing the outcomes of poor routine. conscious awareness, mindfulness, has an incredible way of slowing time down. taking just a few moments to expand your perception or sense experience attunes you to the infinite nature of the now.
not to parrot this popular/toxically positive narrative that “there is only now”— what has been and what will be hold significant places in your present tapestry. reconnect with time to begin with the end in mind, to set your highest goal and then try to reach it locks your sights on a tangible target, instead of simply floating along to the rhythms of the world around you.
explore how your day unfolds when you start and end your day with yourself, a moment of appreciation, enthusiasm, or pride in something you have (or hope to) create hits like a jolt of lightening and lays the groundwork to your most successful behavior changes.
pr-oat-ein oats
makes 2ish servings
what you’ll need
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups oatmeal
1 tbsp flax seed
1/2 cup oat milk
cinnamon, all spice, nutmeg, any warm and sweet herb
1 tsp poppy seeds
maple syrup or honey
fruit of your choice
how you’ll prepare it
put dry oatmeal, flax seed, oat milk, sweet herbs, poppy seeds, and eggs into stove top pot.
turn stove to medium-low heat.
stir until eggs are no longer runny and ingredients are blended.
eat fresh or store for bulk breakfast options.
ways you can consume it
add a drizzle of maple syrup or honey.
top with seeds like chia, hemp, more flax.
add dry or fresh fruit sliced, diced, and bite sized.
tastes great cold or warm.
late spring quinoa salad
what you’ll need
2 cups beets
1 can chickpeas
2 cups quinoa
2 apples
1 white onion
apple cider vinegar
olive oil
2 cups spinach
himalayan pink salt
how you’ll prepare it
preheat oven to 450°. add prepared beets when oven indicates “ready”.
wash, peel, dice beets. toss with olive oil and a dash of pink salt.
drizzle olive oil in pot on medium-low heat, add quinoa and brown.
peel and dice apples and onion.
add 1 cup of water to quinoa and bring to a boil. hang out for approximately 8 minutes.
mix onion and chickpeas into quinoa. let boil for about 12 minutes.
add cut up apple and spinach to quinoa pot. turn heat off and add a splash of apple cider vinegar. cover pot.
turn off oven and bring out beets when tender enough to skewer with fork.
eat fresh or divide up into lunch portions for the week.
ways you can consume it
add a splash of italian dressing and parmigiana cheese.
top with light meats like fish or poultry.
tastes great cold or warm.
we are star stuff
a new perspective
variety is the spice of life. as we age, it’s easy to let certain constants fall to the back-burner as we face the onslaught of uncertainty that life offers us. some of these constants are as simple as having awareness of the way you sit down or carry your groceries. others of these may be a bit more complex, like our approach to new political ideas. somewhere in between these poles, we get use to our perspectives on wellness and we go on autopilot as we travel our avenues for health care. there is room for both reactive and preventative medicines, eastern and western disciplines— you just have to be willing to find the space, and offer yourself the grace to explore something slightly outside of your typical path.
we are elemental
in ayurveda, the whole of the cosmos is made up of just five elements. in an alternative story of creation, space began to move and created air, that air moved so much that it combusted into fire, the fire cooled and thawed into water, and the water solidified into the earth and planets. these elements can be found in all matter (organic and not) and are qualities in all things tangible (or not).
this perspective offers us an opportunity to simplify the way we see the world and our interactions with it. imbalances can be viewed through this elemental lens and the steps that we take to resolve them can be pared down based on simple understandings of ether, air, water, fire, and earth.
if you’re dealing with insomnia, you could notice the etheric/airy quality disturbing your sleep— so something that invigorates these elements in your body will probably not be of much help. as the saying goes— like increases like, opposites balance. on the contrary, if you’re sleeping a ton and having a hard time getting up in the morning, looking for comfort in more earthy-quality behaviors will most likely exacerbate the issue.
what does this mean
before we get big sick, or body sends little warning signals towards us. unexpected freak accidents aside, it’s uncommon to wake up one day with cancer having had no other red flags (such as systemic dysfunction, lethargy, pain, constipation, inflammatory responses). it’s in these small memos that we can begin to take preventative steps in our wellness and longevity— allopathic medicine reacts to the instance of disease, ayurveda (and similar disciplines) acts as “quality control” daily to keep your human system in balance in order to keep any progression of disease from happening.
i circle back to my earlier statement about there being space for both. you can’t make a painting if you don’t have paint or you don’t have a canvas— when you are ill you see the proper medical professional, but how episodic is that. the point i’d like to wrap up with is this: when you’re not urgently seeking care for an unavoidable ailment, what are you doing to keep yourself healthy and through what lens are you looking through.
bulk batch granola
makes 5 servings
what you’ll need
2 cups rolled oats
1 cup raw nuts
1/2 cup honey or maple syrup
1/2 cup coconut oil or ghee
a healthy dash of seeds (hemp, flax, chia, poppy)
spices to taste (cinnamon, cardamom, allspice, you name it)
how you’ll prepare it
pre-heat the oven to 350.
combine oats, nuts, seeds, and any other dry ingredient you have a taste for.
add in wet ingredients and fold it in til oats are coated in a tasty sheen.
spread uncooked granola on greased cooking sheet.
keep in oven for ~ 25 minutes (or until aromatic and lookin crunchy).
let cool.
ways you can consume it
currently obsessed with adding it to my morning cottage cheese parfaits (super easy to bulk batch).
can also eat as a quick snack.
try it as a crush on a berry crumble.
the options are unlimited.