Emma Newlyn Yoga

Ayurvedic Advice For Spring: Balancing The Kapha Dosha

Looking at the world through the lens of Chinese Medicine and Ayurveda gives us a rich and broad language to use when describing the way we feel, the different seasons, and the many ways we can get well and stay well naturally. Whist we can all intuitively feel a difference between each season of the yearly cycle, Ayurveda classifies each season as having a different energy and therefore affecting us in different ways. Knowing the various qualities each season holds, we can tune into how the weather, amount of light, the seasonal food etc is making us feel, and how we can align our daily activities with what’s happening out there in nature.

Ayurveda’s wisdom often refers to the five elements: Earth, water, fire, air and ether (or space). Everything in nature is made of the elements and the specific qualities of each element are mirrored in our bodies. The earth element shows up as our bones and muscles, the water as our synovial fluid, the water in our systems, our sweat, urine and tears; the fire element is our digestion and all the processes involving heat; air is our breath and the movement of circulation and nerve impulses, and ether is the space in our bodies and minds. Each season is also governed by certain elements, and from an Ayurvedic perspective, Spring is all about Earth and Water, which together for the dosha or ‘type’ known as Kapha.

Earth & Water

Kapha dosha – being made of earth and water – is the dominant energy during Spring, which means all of Kapha’s characteristics tend to show up during this season. The primary characteristics of Kapha are: Heavy, slow, cool, loving, loyal, strong, consistent, cohesive, sticky, wet, prone to routine, stable, growth, abundance, endurance, and sweetness. Spring presents these characteristics in the wetness of rainy days and April showers, the abundance and growth of plant and new-born animals, the stickiness of mud, the heaviness of the air, which can often be damp and pollen-filled.

We can also recognise when Kapha season arrives because we may start to feel different within our bodies. Digestion during Spring can be a little slower, as can metabolism of both food and water, making us a little more prone to water retention and puffiness or oedema. Clogged pores and cool, oily skin are other signs of having a build-up of Kapha in the body, as can a thick white coating on the tongue (suggesting slow digestion, indigestion or an accumulation of ‘ama’ or ‘toxins’ in the digestive tract). Feeling heavy and lethargic, unmotivated, being prone to emotional eating and feeling overly attached to material possessions, people and memories are typical signs of harbouring excessive Kapha energy.

Strength & Softness

The news isn’t all bad, however! Whilst an excessive amount of Kapha doesn’t feel good (just as an excessive amount of anything doesn’t feel good), this dosha comes with some valuable chaacteristics that we can really make the most of come Springtime. Kapha is all about unity and togetherness, meaning we may feel more loving towards others and enjoy spending quality time with family and friends. In the very same way; that unity and togetherness refers to the body, as our tissues tend to be stronger and more resilient at this time of year, making it the perfect time to start a new exercise regime, take on a challenge or heal aches, pains and niggles. Endurance is a key aspect of Kapha energy, so anything that requires a commitment and lasting effort (such as a marathon, triathlon or a long walk in the countryside) is supported during this season. Kapha’s strength also shows itself in the immune and reproductive systems too, meaning that even though allergies and sinus issues can manifest in Spring, the body is less likely to catch an illness or infection, and we’re generally a little more fertile than in other months. A craving for sweet foods may show up during this season – especially if you already hold a lot of Kapha energy – so be mindful of when your body has had enough.

Stay Well This Spring

Knowing all of this and becoming more aware of how we feel on a daily basis can all help the body and mind stay in a state of good health and balance. A daily routine or specific practices focusses on balancing Kapha energy during Spring can also be a great way to align with the season and stay well. Try the following and notice the difference:

Redefine Your Relationship with Light: The way we interact with light is essentially the exact opposite of what nature intended. Before we were able to stay indoors for the majority of the time and light up our houses at the flick of a switch, we had a far more natural and beneficial way of working with light from the sun. Living in tribes in close contact with the earth (as some parts of the world still do), our circadian rhythms (the body’s clock) would be perfectly balances and in tune with the arc of the sun. We would wake just before or just after sunrise depending upon the season, and go to bed a couple of hours after sun set. The important factor isn’t just the natural waking and sleeping times we would have experienced; it’s the way we used light during those times. In the morning, the natural light outside contains lots of blue light waves, which essentially tell the body clock to wake up, start revving up digestion, releasing hormones and getting us ready for the day. At dusk, that blue light is replaced by more red light waves, which help us wind down for sleep, eventually leading into darkness. Today however, the light we expose ourselves to indoors is nowhere near as bright as the outside light, meaning we don’t properly ‘wake up’ until we spend some prolonged time outdoors in the morning. At night, we tend to miss out on those red light waves and natural darkness, because we switch on lightbulbs and screens that emit blue light waves, preventing us from releasing the necessary hormones required for healthy sleep. If we want to feel well, the number one thing we can start doing this Spring, is to get outside in the morning and absorb that morning light, and try having less ‘light pollution’ entering our eyes at night.

Seasonal Eating: Nature tends to provide us with the exact nutrients and vitamins we need in our immediate environment, and trees even give off specific scents from their essential oils that benefit us in different seasons! As the season changes, head to your local market, farm shop or browse the ‘seasonal foods’ section of your local supermarket and try adding in more of those foods wherever you can.

Be Bitter: Kapha’s heaviness can soon be relieved and cleansed by consuming more bitter foods, which help increase digestive strength and ‘scrape’ toxins from the digestive tract. Choose foods like lemon, rhubarb, dandelion root, milk thistle, green and black tea, lettuce, sorrel and turmeric.

Spice It Up: Adding warming, stimulating spices to your meals can really help enkindle the digestive fire and prevent that lethargic, heavy feeling in the abdomen. Ginger, cinnamon, clove, cardamom, ajowan, fennel, turmeric and black pepper are all great ways to spice up sweet and savoury dishes.

Experiment With Intermittent Fasting: Whilst we need enough calories to feel strong and resilient, as well as of course making time to enjoy meals with friends, the body does benefit immensely from brief periods of fasting. Intermittent fasting tends to be most easily practiced overnight, leaving a 16 to 18 hour gap between dinner and breakfast. During this prolonged break from food, the digestive system starts digesting any ‘leftovers’, and cleans up the intestines. With less energy placed upon the process of digestion, the body uses this extra energy to repair injuries and rejuvenate cells, thus helping increase longevity and wellbeing. Not everyone is able to fast or will enjoy fasting, but if you’re able to, Spring is a great season to practice it.

Boost Circulation: With Kapha’s tendency towards sluggishness, keeping circulation moving is important during this time of year. Enhancing circulation not only helps the body’s processed work efficiently, it also helps the immune system fight off illness, particularly chesty coughs and Spring colds.

Body Brushing: Another way to boost circulation; body brushing involved using a bristle brush in a circular motion all over the skin, paying particular attention to the armpits, chest, inner thighs, abdomen and lower back. Start on the legs and brush upward towards the heart.

Spring Cleaning: As simple as it sounds – de-cluttering our environment can seriously help de-clutter the mind. When we see things around the home we’ve been meaning to sort out for a while, or things that are broken and still haven’t been mended, it all creates subconscious clutter in the mind, and becomes an addition to the ‘to do’ list that never quite gets ticked off. To create calm and clarity in the mind, schedule a few hours to de-clutter, fix and Spring clean your home.

Take on a physical Challenge: Kapha’s qualities of strength and endurance are supportive of taking on new challenges this Spring, and as the weather becomes a little warmer and brighter, it also contributes to feeling more motivated. Have you always wanted to start running, join that outdoor bootcamp, or climb a mountain? If you have a physical goal in mind, this is a great time of year to start working towards it, especially if it involves getting outside.

Choose Your Colours: Balance out any heaviness and lethargy by embracing those bright Spring colours. Vibrant reds, orange and even violet can help increase energy and motivation. Try wearing these colours, having them around your home, or switching your phone and computer home screen to match these energising colours.

Raise Your Vibration: How We Can Heal Through Sound

We already know that sound has a big impact upon us, because we each have favourite songs or genres of music, and we each have sounds that make us feel uncomfortable. Indeed, the entire universe is actually made up of soundwaves, vibrations and frequencies that we aren’t even aware of.

All sounds are waves and are produced by the vibrations of material objects. If you clap your hands together, this creates a vibration and thus soundwaves and frequencies. If you strum a guitar, the vibration of the strings sends out waves, heard as frequencies. These vibrations are transmitted through air, or they move through other mediums such as solid, liquid, gas or plasma. When vibrations reach the ear, they are converted to electrical impulses in the brain, which we interpret as sound. Lower frequency sound vibrations can also be felt by the body.

NASSA have uncovered soundwaves in space too, known as stellar sound waves, with a technique called asteroidseismology. They say that; “The biggest stars make the lowest, deepest sounds, like tubas and double basses. Small stars have high-pitched voices, like celestial flutes. These virtuosos don’t just play one “note” at a time, either — our own Sun has thousands of different sound waves bouncing around inside it at any given moment”. The universe is literally made of sound, and we benefit when we start using sound on a therapeutic level.

Our Vibrating Planet

Everything we can see and touch (i.e. every material object in nature or man-made) is made of vibrational frequencies. Matter is vibration, and the quality of that matter – solid, liquid or gas – depends upon the frequency its vibrating at. Everything has an impact upon frequency, including size. As the mass of a vibrating body increases, its frequency decreases, but as the tensionincreases the frequency also increases, thus balancing the body’s vibrational sound frequencies. The earth has a natural frequency pulsation of 7.83 hz (humans can hear between 20hz and 20,000hz). Note: ‘hz’ means the number of repeating vibrations that occur within a second.

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Autoimmune disease specialist Christina Sessmus says; “Humans have an optimal frequency–as does everything else in the universe–that occurs when each of the cells in our body vibrates at the frequency it was designed to. Bruce Tainio, famous researcher and developer of Tainio Technology, found that a healthy body resonates at a frequency of 62-72 MHz, (MHz takes 1 ‘hz’ and multiplies it by a million) and when your frequency drops to 58 MHz, that is when disease starts. Bacteria, viruses, and disease each have their own, low frequency that influence your energy field^”. As your frequency drops due to environmental and physiological factors, your immune system is compromised and opportunistic bacteria and viruses are able to wreak havoc on your body–making you more susceptible to disease. Trapped emotions stored in our organs, muscles and tissues as pockets of electromagnetic energy also have a negative influence our wellbeing. Disharmony and imbalance in the body’s energy field shows up long before it becomes a physical problem^.”The lower the body’s frequency, the less healthy the body becomes.

Raise Your Vibration

As we know, holistic health and healing isn’t just about working with the physical body, it’s about working with every aspect of life. Our vibrational frequencies are what we might call ‘energy’, ‘prana’ or ‘qi’, and everything we do or come into contact with can affect our energy and vibrational frequency.

What Decreases Your Vibration?

Intuitively, you’ll be able to feel when you’re vibrating at a lower or dissonant frequency. To put it simply; stress lowers the body’s vibrational frequency, and relaxation raises it. The following things are likely to lower the body’s vibrational frequency and decrease wellbeing:

Toxins in the environment
Processed food
Foods that are heavy and greasy, or that you cannot digest well
Stress
‘Toxic’ relationships
Too much time indoors
Traumatic Memories
Pain
Negative Thinking
Noise or a general ‘hum’ from construction work or traffic that causes discomfort

What Increases Your Vibration?

The more we look at high-vibrational experiences and objects, the more it becomes clear that mostly, the things we enjoy and that genuinely fill us with positive ‘vibrations will help maintain a healthy and harmonious frequency.

Chanting and toning
Listening to music you enjoy, or specific binaural beats / frequencies
Organic and unprocessed foods
High grade essential oils
Relaxation
Spending time with people you feel safe, happy and comfortable with
Enjoyable exercise
Pranayama (breathwork)
Meditation and positive visualisation
Using and being around crystals (specifically clear quartz, watermelon tourmaline, jade, selenite, celestite, shungite, hematite,
Using organic herbs in cooking
Earthing and going barefoot

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If you want to start making more positive life changes, begin paying more attention to the sounds around you and consider how they make you feel: do you often spend time in a room that has a constant low humming sound or a high pitched note? How does that make you feel, and how do you think it could be impacting your vibration? Perhaps start listening to sounds and songs that uplift or relax you, or focussing on reducing the amount of ‘low vibration’ things you’re exposed to and including more ‘high vibration’ activities in your life.

Reboot Your Body Clock To Feel Your Best: Infographic

Our ‘body clock’ or circadian rhythms, are designed to work in alignment with nature; we evolved to rise and energise with the sun and relax and sleep with the moon. Of course, in today’s modern world, we don’t necessarily live in alignment with nature any more, and this can seriously disrupt our circadian rhythms. If circadian rhythms are disrupted, so is our sleep, digestion, energy levels, ability for cells to regenerate, and essentially every other aspect of health, wellbeing, and just feeling OK on a day-to-day basis.

Whilst getting enough sunlight in the early hours of the morning and ensuring you’re not exposed to too much blue light at night can be a wonderful way to get your rhythms back on track (read my blog ‘The Light Diet’ to learn more about that), there are things we can do throughout the day to keep ticking along optimally. Feel free to share this infographic with someone who would benefit from rebooting their circadian rhythms too!

Breaking & Completing The Stress Cycle

The Stress Cycle

Stress has become a household word, and something we not only talk about regularly, but have come to expect regularly. Stress has become the number one cause of workplace disability, and in the past year alone, 74% of people have been so stressed they’ve felt overwhelmed or unable to cope, according to statistics from mentalhealth.org.

Just because the ‘stressor’ has gone,

it doesn’t mean the ‘stress’ itself has…..

One of the reasons we tend to suffer with stress more acutely today than ever before, is that we’re not actively doing things that let our bodies and nervous systems know that it’s ok to relax, and that the stress is over. Recall a time when you’ve felt heightened stress or a sensation of being overwhelmed; perhaps whilst stuck in traffic, in a high-pressure meeting, completing a deadline or giving a presentation. If any of these situations cause you to feel stress, it’s likely that your body is reacting in the same way it would if it was being chased by a predator and trying to escape a near-death situation. Thousands of years ago, we’d act just as animals do – we’d either be devoured and become some animal’s dinner (which in the modern world equates to succumbing to stress through a heart attack or stroke, and in many cases severe burnout), or we’d run away, escape, breathe a sigh of relief and reflexively shake it off. The three actions of running, breathing and shaking vigorously would all subconsciously tell our brains that we were safe and out of danger. Recall again that situation that causes you stress. What do you do after that stressful occasion has passed? Many of us might turn to alcohol or food, television, high sugar snacks, cigarettes, drugs. Those who head to the gym or go for a run to relieve stress have the advantage of doing something our genes have evolved to recognise as ‘stress relieving’ since we literally were running from predators all those thousands of years ago. The problem there however, arises in cases of over-exercising or exercise addiction, that ends up only causing more stress to the body and mind….

Stress can be addictive. That buzz we get from doing something productive, feeling needed, completing tasks and goals, and always having a focus can cause us to get stuck in the cycle of feeling stressed, yet compulsively creating more stress for ourselves. (In the form of saying ‘yes’ to every single opportunity, even if we have no time or energy left to do it, over-working or filling our calendars to the brim). The American Institute of Stress offers several questions to aid in figuring out if you could be a stress ‘addict’, including; ‘Do you thrive on tight deadlines?’; ‘Do you leave things until the last minute?”; ‘Does it take you a few days to feel like you’re on vacation? [and] when you’re on vacation do you spend much of it thinking about work?’; ‘Do you lack time to see your friends or participate in hobbies you enjoy?’. It seems that stress can even be as addictive as drugs in many cases; “In addition to the hormones adrenaline and noradrenaline, stress also releases dopamine, a “feel good” chemical. Dopamine encourages repeat behaviours by activating the reward centre in our brain and may be at the heart of many addictive behaviours and substance abuse issues” say researchers and doctors from the American Institute of Stress.

Whilst creating ambitious to-do lists is useful for productivity and providing that little boost of fulfilment when we tick off tasks, those very same lists can actually prevent us from achieving meaningful tasks. To-do lists tend to encourage more attention to be given to the easy-to-do but not particularly effective tasks. We might tick off ten ‘tasks’ in a day (things like answering emails, doing the laundry, buying a relative’s birthday present etc), but if that one fulfilling and meaningful task that will actually make a difference to your life isn’t ticked off, you’ll still end the day with a sense of uneasy guilt, stress, and a feeling of being ‘stuck’…. The stress cycle is quite similar in this respect; too often we pay attention to removing the small and pretty insignificant stressors from our lives, without paying attention to the stress itself, or the big and important stressors that will make a real difference.

Why is Stress a Problem?

Other than making us feel emotionally unwell and downgrading our enjoyment and quality of life. Stress has a very real impact upon physical health, especially if it’s the long-term, low-level chronic stress many people are living with today. Stress weakens the immune system, creates physical tension, encourages addictive and compulsive behaviour, can cause depression, burnout, relationship issues, and feelings of hopelessness. A worrying indicator of where we’re heading in terms of stress trends, is the mentalhealth.org statistic that found 70% of older adults reported feeling overwhelmed or unable to cope in the last year, compared to 97% of younger people.

Two Ways to Deal with Stress

Knowledge is no longer as powerful as it might have once been. There’s ‘knowledge’ everywhere. Turn on your TV, browse the internet, scroll through social media and there will be information there waiting to fill your mind. What we do with it, and how much we really understand it however, is what really counts. There are a couple of useful ways to practice reducing the amount of stress in your mind and body, and they’re powerful when we start using them purposefully.

Breaking the Stress Cycle

This technique requires us to observe how we’re feeling, and tune in to our physical, mental and emotional ‘symptoms’ as they arise. These symptoms can range from an increase in heartrate and perspiration, to racing thoughts and even nausea. The more subtle the symptom, the more sensitive we need to be to feel them, and the more practice it may take to sense them.

Within the stress cycle, it’s in the space between ‘stress’ and ‘reaction to stress’ that we can start practicing observing our reactions, and begin breaking the cycle. Of course, the cycle can be broken at any point – many of us may not realise we need to take action until we’re at the point of ‘increased sensitivity to stress’, when a loved one may point out how ‘stressed’ we seem. The earlier we can break the cycle though, the healthier and happier we’ll be. Depending upon how deep you’re into your own stress cycle, you may be able to observe the stress as it arises, or you’ll be able to pick up on the symptoms of chronic stress:

Symptoms of instant reactions to stress:

Change in breathing pattern (short, shallow breath, holding breath)
Tightening of muscles (clenching jaw, tensing shoulders / stomach / hands)
Uneasy feeling in stomach
Increased heat beat
Anger or frustration
Feeling a need to control or feeling a loss of control
Worry or fear
Racing thoughts
Sweating
Quicker reactions

Techniques to break the stress cycle at this point:

Slow, deep, diaphragmatic breathing
Making sound (singing / sighing / chanting)
Consciously relaxing muscles
Shaking / dancing / jumping
Thinking of someone or something you love, or something you’re really looking forward to
Thinking of 5 things you’re grateful for
Writing down how you feel
Repeating a mantra or affirmation
Tapping

Symptoms of chronic stress:

Low energy
Low mood levels or depression
Anxiety
Change in hunger
Cravings for sugar or heavy foods
Addictions
Sleep issues
Increased sensitivity to stress
Low libido
Increased heartbeat
Aches and pains
Gut issues (nausea / constipation / diarrhoea)
Lowered immune system
Headaches
Loss of enjoyment in life
Quicker to react emotionally (crying, anger, irritability et)

Techniques to break the stress cycle at this point:

Spend time in a place you feel safe and relaxed
Socialise with loved ones
Practice slow, deep, diaphragmatic breathing 3 times a day
Get a massage
Practice Qi Gong, Tai Chi, Swimming or Yoga
Frequent exercise
Spend time in nature
Practice hot / cold therapy
Take a digital detox
Cut down on sugar and alcohol
Get more sun exposure
Listen to music
Sing
Join a community group (dancing, choir, crafting etc)
Journal
Learn meditation techniques
Create boundaries between work and leisure

2. Techniques For Completing The Stress Cycle

This is a part of relieving stress that not many of us think about. Remember; the stressor and the stress are two different things. Just because the stressor (the traffic, presentation, intimidating manager, deadline etc) is gone, doesn’t mean the stress in the body and mind is. Our nervous system has to get the message that we’re safe and sound, and the brain we’ve been busy evolving for millions of years (that same brain that previously experienced stress when we were running away from predators), still needs that same trigger to move from stress to relaxation. Repressing natural urges and needs leads to a build-up of stress, so allowing the stress to properly process and release includes practicing things we’re naturally evolved to do.

Emotional release: cry, shout, scream
Make noise: sing, chant, sigh
Do some vigorous exercise: get your blood pumping to mimic escaping that predator. Run, dance, skip, jump
Shake: Animals naturally ‘shake off’ stress, and until we started` considering ourselves separate from animals and more self-conscious, we would do the same. Shaking is incredibly effective, simply shake all your limbs, or visit a TRE (trauma release exercise) to help ‘unlock’ your body’s innate ability to naturally shake stress away.
Visualise: Athletes famously use visualisation to add another level to their training. Mirror neurons in the brain become activated when we harness visualisation techniques. In brain imaging scans, parts of the brain that light up during exercise also light up when we intentionally visualise exercising. The same is true with completing the stress cycle. If you’re having a difficult time with work colleagues or your partner, visualise something that would help you resolve any conflict or make you feel more relaxed. Focus on making the situation as real as you can. Imagine the smells, colours, sounds, textures, and how you’d be feeling emotionally.
Human contact: Whilst we’re apparently the most ‘connected’ we’ve ever been via the internet; we’re more physically disconnected than ever before. We once lived in close-knit tribes, villages and trusted communities, with plenty of human contact every day. In our modern world however, it’s easy to go a full day without speaking to another real person, let alone come into physical contact with them. Our bodies and minds know we’re safe when we do things like hugging, especially if it’s for more than 20 seconds. 20 seconds is enough to elicit the relaxation response, and start moving the body from stress to serene.
Breathe: Consciously` breathing slowly in and out of the nose can start bringing the body back from the brink of a meltdown. Breathing slowly and deeply can’t be done when we’re running away from a dangerous situation, so when we’re practicing breathing in a calm way, the body and mind know its ok to feel calm and relaxed.

Completing the stress cycle is as important as breaking it. So, if you aren’t able to jump into the cycle quick enough to break it, or if you’ve been dealing with lingering stress for a long time, make sure you prioritise completing it and letting it leave your body and mind.

Relax & Restore Home Practice Video

Merry Christmas! As a gift to you, here’s a short restorative practice to give you some time out amongst the busy festive season. Give yourself about 10 minutes to re-set, and the rest of your day will flow so much better. I plan on sharing lots more short home practice videos in 2020, so if you have any requests, get in touch!

Decadent Dark Chocolate & Hazelnut Cake (Dairy and Gluten Free, With Avocado Frosting!)

Chocolate and hazelnuts are a dream combination, and even better when they’re combined in a (healthier) triple-layer cake! Using gluten free flour as the base and avocado for the filling and icing, this delicious and decadent cake is definitely worthy of serving at any celebration. With far less sugar than shop bought cakes, and being completely dairy free, this is a recipe to bookmark and bring out for guests with allergies and intolerances, or for when you want a healthier indulgence.

INGREDIENTS

Cake:

2 cups Doves Barn self raising gluten free flour
½ tsp bicarb
½ tsp baking powder
½ cup cocoa
¼ cup coconut oil, melted
½ tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
3 tbsp stevia
Splash of almond, oat or coconut milk
1 handful finely ground hazelnuts

Filling and icing:

1 large avocado
2 tbsp cocoa
1 tbsp maple syrup
4 dates
4 tbsp yoghurt of choice
1 handful crushed hazelnuts
5 squares dark chocolate + 1 tsp coconut oil

METHOD

Pre-heat the oven to 180C
Line 3 cake tins with coconut oil or baking paper
In a large mixing bowl, add the flour, bicarb and baking powder, cocoa, stevia and ground hazelnuts. Mix to combine
Add the eggs, melted coconut oil and vanilla extract, and mix
Add enough milk to create a thick batter and mix again
Pour the cake batter evenly amongst the three cake tins and bake for roughly 30 minutes or until cooked right through and slightly springy
Leave to cool for a few minutes, then remove from the tins and leave to cool completely
To make the filling and icing, blend all the filling ingredients together (other than the 5 squares of chocolate + coconut oil) to create a thick mousse-like texture, and spread over each layer of cake
Stack the three cake layers on top of each other, spreading any leftover icing on the top of the cake
Melt the squares of chocolate and coconut oil and pour over the top surface of the cake
Press the top down gently to allow the filling to slightly spill out of the edges of the cake, and use a spatula to smooth around the edges – this add a great final touch and makes it look surprisingly more ‘finished’.
Scatter the crushed hazelnuts over the top

Enjoy!

Gingerbread Men (vegan + gluten free)

‘Tis the season of feasting and celebrating, followed by the season of trying to un-do all the feasting and celebrating….

This recipe isn’t here to tell you to count calories or cut down on anything this Christmas though – the enjoyment of being with others and celebrating together is way more important than watching the waistline for these few days. What this recipe can do however, is provide a way of enjoying gingerbread men without the gluten or dairy some people’s bodies can’t tolerate. These make great gifts, and ensuring they’re both gluten free and vegan should mean they’re suitable for all your festive guests!

INGREDIENTS

1 ½ cups Doves Barn Gluten Free Flour
2 tbsp molasses
2 tbsp coconut oil
3 tsp stevia
2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp nutmeg
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
Optional: A couple of dairy free chocolate chips or raisins for eyes

METHOD

Add the flour, bicarb, stevia and spices to a bowl and mix to combine
Melt the coconut oil and molasses together and pout into the bowl
Mix well – if it seems too dry, add a tiny splash of milk, and if it seems to wet, add a little more flour
Briefly use your hands to create a ball of dough and place in the fridge for 30 minutes – 1 hour to set (this allows the biscuits to cut to shape a lot easier, and they’ll keep their shape better whilst baking)
When you’re ready to bake, pre-heat the oven to 180c
Roll out the rough to roughly ½ cm – the thicker you roll the dough, the softer the gingerbread men will be, and of course the thinner you roll, the shorter baking time you’ll have, and the crispier they’ll be.
Use a cutter to cut out the gingerbread man shapes and place on a lined baking tray
Bake for roughly 12-15 minutes or until they turn golden brown
Leave to cool and enjoy!

Digestion-Boosting Lemongrass, Ginger & Cinnamon Tea

‘Tis the season of consumption – whether that’s gifts, food, chocolates or festive fizz, its likely most of us will be enjoying foods and drinks we wouldn’t usually opt for this month. If you’re looking for a way to prevent bloating and indigestion, or are in need of something to boost your Agni or digestive fire, this simple tea recipe will serve as a valuable addition to your kitchen cupboard.

Lemongrass helps enhance the production of amylase – a substance found in saliva that helps break down carbohydrates and starches, and kicks off the digestive process. Within Chinese medicine, lemongrass is used to treat headaches, stomach issues, coldness and muscle ache, whilst Brazilian folklore uses lemongrass to calm the mind and remedy fatigue. Ginger is a powerful remedy for almost any digestive discomfort, and cinnamon is an effective blood sugar balancer. Search online for organic loose leaf teas or herbs, and you can even make a batch of tea to give as thoughtful gifts! After multiple Christmas parties and heavy meals, they’ll be much appreciated…

INGREDIENTS

Firstly, find yourself a jar to store the tea in, and follow the recipe accordingly
1/2 jar dried lemongrass
1/4 jar dried ginger
1/4 jar cinnamon sticks
If there’s any room left over, pop in a few peppercorns to enhance digestion even more

METHOD

Add the dried herbs and spices to the jar and shake well to mix
When you want to drink the tea, simply add 2 tbsp to a teapot and steep in boiled water for 5 minutes
Best consumed before dinner for a digestive boost, or after dinner to help aid the digestive process.

Bitter Is Better: Utilising The Power of Taste This Festive Season

If you’re looking to keep your digestive tract healthy, your hunger and blood sugar levels stable, and prevent cravings from causing you to go overboard with the mince pies and chocolate this Christmas, consuming more of the bitter taste could be your best bet.

Of the six tastes known throughout Eastern medicine (sweet, sour, salty, bitter, pungent and astringent, as well as the additional Japanese-originating Umami), bitter is the one we in the modern world seem to steer away from and know the least about. In fact, of all the senses, scientists know the least about taste than any other. Our love of salty and sweet snacks almost a global addiction, there’s little room for consuming things that are bitter and unindulgent. One of the reasons many of us may have a dislike for bitter foods, is that the bitter taste is sometimes a marker for toxicity. Plants and herbs that are inedible or poisonous generally taste bitter, and the taste buds that specifically detect bitterness have been long thought to be located at the back of the tongue as our ‘line of last defence’. The bitter taste buds however, are found in much larger and more dispersed areas of the tongue, indicating that humans have evolved with a much closer relationship and use of bitterness than we may do today. In edible foods however, the bitter taste can be incredibly beneficial for reducing craving and enhancing digestion.

Staying Balanced With Bitters

So what happens when we consume bitter foods? For one thing, the consumption of bitter foods moderates blood sugar and hunger levels, two things that can be very difficult to moderate over the festive season. Dr. Andrew Weil is an integrated practitioner of medicine with over 30 years experience, and has an extensive blog covering a wide array of natural health topics. He says; “Bitter foods also affect health in that they stimulate the liver to produce bile, which is an important part of optimal digestion. Bile emulsifies fats and renders nutrients – especially fat-soluble ones such as vitamins A, D, E and K – more available”. So by consuming bitter foods, we can prevent liver damage from those Christmas party drinks, and actually retain the benefits of the festive foods high in these vitamins like carrots, greens, meats, nuts and seeds, and butternut squash.

If you’re experiencing feelings of lethargy or heaviness, or feel the onset of indigestion and bloating, opt for bitter herbs as the tonic to reducing these issues. Ayurvedic wisdom says that indigestion and bloating, heaviness and lethargy are some of the symptoms of excessive Kapha and Pitta energy. The Kapha dosha holds the qualities of earth and water, steadiness, cohesion, stability, lethargy and heaviness, and Pitta digestive issues usually present as acid reflux or heartburn. If you’re feeling these qualities, opting for the light, sharp, cleansing qualities of bitterness, or Tiksa in Sanskrit, as it helps reduce water retention and clear a congested liver. Try some of the following bitter herbs and foods to help yourself stay well this festive season – its likely these foods will be on your table this season anyway!:

Cruciferous vegetables like broccoli and brussels sprouts
Citrus peel
Turmeric
Fenugreek
Leafy greens
Basil
Nettle
Bitter Melon
Bitter tonics like Angostura Bitters before dinner
Cranberries
Unsweetened cocoa
Coffee
Green Tea
Red wine

Butter Bean, Banana & Beetroot Brownies

When it comes to making healthier flourless muffins, cakes and brownies, getting the right consistency can be difficult… When it works however, there’s cause for celebration, as the result is something that cooks well, tastes delicious, and is 100% good for you!

Butter beans are high in potassium, magnesium and plant-based protein, making them an ideas addition to an active lifestyle to help improve circulation, muscle recovery, relaxation and repair. Beetroot is high in nitric acid, which is brilliant at boosting blood flow and increasing iron levels. Bananas are also famously high in potassium, and one of the best foods for preventing and repairing sore muscles. In short, these brownies make a great breakfast, post-exercise snack and dessert, and are worth making asap to get you through the week!

INGREDIENTS

(makes enough to fill a standard loaf tin)

Brownies:

1 can butter beans
2 small beetroot (cooked or steamed to soften)
1 banana
½ cup cocoa
1 tbsp stevia
1 handful seasonal berries
1 tbsp hemp seeds or your choice of nuts / seeds
1 tbsp coconut oil (melted)
2 eggs / 2 chia ‘eggs’ / 2 flax ‘eggs’
¼ cup your choice of milk
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda

Topping:

1 tbsp peanut butter
4 squares dark chocolate
1 tbsp cacao nibs

METHOD

Pre-heat the oven to 180C
Blend the cooked beetroot, butter beans, milk and banana to create a puree
Pour the puree into a large mixing bowl and add all the other brownie ingredients
Mix to combine and pour into a lined loaf tin
Bake for roughly 45 minutes or until you can slide a toothpick or knife cleanly in and out of it
When baked, remove from the oven and leave to cool completely
Remove from the loaf tin and place on a tray or cooling rack
For the topping, melt the chocolate and peanut butter together and pour over the top of the brownie
Sprinkle over the cacao nibs and serve when the chocolate has set!
Store in the fridge and consume within 1 week