As we transition from Winter to Spring, the sense of coldness we may have felt over the last few months begins to ‘melt’ with growing warmer days. As we start to feel the Winter stiffness softening in the joints and muscles perhaps becoming more relaxed, the various bugs and bacteria within us can start to move and flow too. If we’ve been favouring hot, spiced foods throughout Winter months, slathering on oils and keeping ourselves cosy, the build-up of heat within us can lead to eczema, skin rashes and irritations, and an overall feeling of heat in the body come Springtime. If you’ve been moving less over Winter too, perhaps consuming more sugar than usual, and generally living in a way that prevents healthy movement of blood, lymph and prana (known as qi in Chinese Medicine, but you could simply call it ‘energy’ as well), you may have a build up of ama.
Ama is the Ayurvedic term for undigested nutrients and un-eliminated waste products. We can think of the word loosely referring to ‘toxins’, and when these toxins begin to build up within us, we can experience allergies, weight gain, sluggishness, joint pain, bloating, slow metabolism, hormonal issues, tiredness, and a general feeling of ‘bleugh’. No one wants to feel ‘bleugh’ – especially in Spring – so this is a great time to experiment with a few gentle cleansing practices to help you feel lighter and brighter. As well as cleansing and detoxing from the ‘heavy’ feeling, I also see a lot of clients who experience excess heat and acidity in the body at this time of year. It’s important to remedy this ASAP, as things like heat and inflammation tend to spread quickly if they’re not treated (think of the way fire spreads quickly if it isn’t put out). If you’re experiencing mouth sores, ulcers, bladder infections, acne, headaches, irritability, and hot flushes, it could be because you have a little too much ‘Pitta’ energy in your body right now (characterised by the fire and water elements, resulting in a hot, acidic, irritable internal environment). To reduce excess Pitta, we need to remove excess heat from the body, then bring in cooling, bitter, astringent and naturally sweet herbs to keep things calm.
Try this easy A B C juice to help ‘flush’ the liver and gall bladder and improve their function, and remove excess heat from the body. For a 5 minute video explaining more about the Pitta dosha, click HERE.
INGREDIENTS
(serves 1)
- 1 Apple (organic and local if possible! Apples are on the ‘dirty dozen’ list, so they’re more likely to contain pesticides if they’re not organic.)
- ½ fresh beetroot
- 2 sticks celery
METHOD
- Add everything to a blender with 1 cup filtered water and whizz
- For a ‘juice’ consistency, strain through a sieve
- For more fibre and a smoothie consistency, simply drink straight away. You could also use coconut milk instead of water and 1 tbsp flax and 1 tbsp coconut oil for a breakfast smoothie.
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