Being committed to a healthy diet and lifestyle is one of the smartest decisions you can ever make. But what is healthy eating and what is a healthy lifestyle?

If you feel overwhelmed by all the conflicting nutrition and diet advice out there, you’re not alone. It seems that for every expert who tells you a certain food is good for you, you’ll find another saying exactly the opposite.  North American opinions on food change on a regular basis; on the contrary, Ayurveda has not changed its principles and ideas on healthy eating and lifestyle in 3000 years!

​In a society that constantly overwhelms us with the next best diet, it can be difficult to stay focused and know what’s actually beneficial and effective for healthy weight loss. 
​
Ayurveda, an ancient system of medicine developed in India, is the sister science to yoga. It seeks to prevent disease and promote health, balance, and longevity through simple guidelines that follow the natural rhythms of nature, the seasons, and the time of day.

​Here are 5 Ayurveda tips that can naturally and gently guide you toward holistic and healthy weight loss, without the use of chemicals, processed food, or extreme diets.

Winter is the most still of the seasons. Ponds and lakes begin to freeze as the earth slows into quiescence. Woodland creatures are in their hibernation burrows. Birds have migrated south to warmer climates. The midday sun brings little relief; its warm rays seem to barely reach the earth. January's chill forces you to turn up your collar and wrap your scarf all the way up to your cheeks.

The seasonal tastes to favour are sweet, salty, pungent and a hint of mild bitterness. Sweet and salty tastes support you in keeping juicy while the air is still cold and dry. Read More

If you practice Yoga, Ayurveda is the perfect compliment to Living Healthy in 2014.

Long before a disease has progressed far enough for western medicine to diagnose it, there are signs that something is wrong. We may just feel crummy. Nothing big, just little things that don't even show up on western medical tests. But these feelings hover in the background and they give us a nagging feeling that all is not right. This is the wisdom of intuition, because all may not be right in the world. 
We live in a world were the masculine qualities are revered to the exclusion of the feminine qualities of spiritual goals, emotional equanimity and physical nourishment. We are so committed to societies default course of continual stress and movement that we don't even notice when we feel crummy. Or we notice it and ignore it in favor of pushing on. Or maybe we aren't even aware of the difference of feeling whole and healthy and feeling crummy.
Here are some symptoms of those "feeling crummy" signs. If you have any of these your body is telling you that something is out of balance.

Confusion or foggy thinking                    headaches
little aches and pains                             digestive complaints
stress, irritability or depression               gas, bloating, indigestion
heavy or light periods                             constipation or loose stool
                                                                    hot flashes                                            lack of appetite
                                                                    insomnia                                               over eating

There is no way that pills and potions can counteract the effects of these signs or the stressful things we encounter daily in our lives. There is also no pill, drug or herb that can entirely take the place of an appropriate daily diet, constitutionally correct lifestyle and stress management routine. These three management treatments are your first line of defense to not "feeling crummy" and maybe feeling worse. Yet  for many people diet and lifestyle are not there first choice they still reach for the vitamin or over the counter medicationor the latest diet to deal with many of the symptoms mentions above.
Ayurveda recommends diets that are appropriate for you, eating mostly whole, freshly cooked foods. Our bodies have evolved to know how to digest and assimilate these foods. What we eat is important, but what we can digest is even more important. Something that is not frequently addressed.
In Ayurveda, lifestyle and stress management are inseparable, one cannot exist without the other. If we have an appropriate lifestyle it goes a long way to managing our stress. Having a daily routine is a crucial part of health. When the body adjusts to a routine and learns to count on it, the nervous system relaxes.
 In Ayurveda a healthy low stress lifestyle includes daily routines of appropriate exercise, sufficient sleep, meditation, self massage, and breathing exercises. For more information on diet, lifestyle and stress management techniques for your specific psycho-physiological type ( mind-body) consult an Ayurveda Consultant.

Have you ever wondered what accounts for the difference in people. I have often pondered that question. Why some people are hyperactive and others still and graceful. Why some can eat a 5 course meal with ease, while others can barely finish a salad. Why some people are inherently joyous and others carry the weight of the world on their shoulders. 
Modern genetics offers some insight, but what about the idiosyncrasies and characteristics that make us unique.
Today science and medicine have boiled everything down to what I call "generalizations'. These generalizations are everywhere and have become part of our social hypnosis. We go to a book store, pick up the latest diet book and think we should all be able to use it or the doctor tells us we have this condition or that disease and we start to believe that we are just like everyone else. I have been this person. yet somewhere deep inside I knew that that is untrue and that I was unique. I brush the thought away... this small seed of thought," is uniqueness egotistical? " Of course not.
Embracing our uniqueness is where Ayurveda begins.
We begin to see that we do not need to be on the latest diet fad, or take the latest vitamins or exercise program. We begin to feel  the innate wisdom of our own bodies. It frees us from those chains of "everyone elsedness"
the journey is one of a lifetime and begins with the first step,,,,understanding your uniqueness. with this understanding everything flows with more ease, we craft our life and nurture ourselves with appropriate food, sleep and lifestyle.

Here's to new beginnings and fresh starts!
This year has been filled with some interesting turning points... both challenging and thrilling, and yet through all of the busy-ness, every new moment feels fresh and inspiring.

Launching my new business of Okanagan Ayurvedics has been on the table, so to speak, for a while now. This week marks a turning point as I received my new oiling table. A beautiful Dharapathi medicinal wooden table from India that has been honed specially and specifically for Panchara and Shirodara treatments. In the midst of preparing my new space and getting the bed all set up, I am having an absolute blast.

This new endeavour has set me to pondering about life's amazing gifts and how, when everything comes together, it all flows with great ease. Like that of the oil as it cascades along the groves in the exquisitely hand crafted new table I have as my centrepiece, my life too seems now to flow a little more effortlessly. Oh yes, I do have those moments where challenges sneak into my day... but they seem minuscule and the oil flows through and around them like the imperfections in the woodgrain of the table. All relished, and needed, to create this beautiful and brilliant piece of craftsmanship we call life.