Many new parents tell me that even when they try to eat well and take care of themselves, they still feel like their body isn’t quite functioning the way it used to. Or that they never really felt totally well, even before becoming pregnant, and now feel even worse.

There can be a sense of heaviness, stiffness, or simply feeling slowed down. Sleep is often interrupted, routines change, and suddenly the small rhythms that once supported your well-being are harder to maintain. You might notice digestive discomfort such as bloating or constipation, along with a foggy or dull feeling that lingers throughout the day. Perhaps you’ve also noticed a coating on your tongue in the morning or an unpleasant taste in your mouth. You might be feeling down and out. Your bowel movement may be irregular. You may feel like you have no energy. You might experience anxiety.

In Ayurveda, these can be signs of accumulated ama in the body. Ama is often described as metabolic toxins that develop when digestion isn’t working optimally. In Ayurveda, the disease process begins with accumulated ama and imbalanced dosha.

Ama doesn’t appear out of nowhere. It’s usually a signal that something deeper in the digestive system needs support. When we begin to understand and address the root causes of ama, it can make a meaningful difference in how we feel, and live, day to day.

Why digestion often struggles in early parenthood

One of the most common contributors to ama is a weakened digestive fire.

In the early years of parenting, meals are often rushed, skipped, or eaten while caring for a baby or toddler. This adds to high vata, which is connected to weak agni (digestive fire). Sleep deprivation, stress, and irregular eating times can all affect digestion and our general balance. Poor food combining will lead to fast-accumulating ama. Imbalanced and unprocessed emotions will also disrupt the digestion. Ayurveda is incredible in that it acknowledges mental and physical ama. When we are not able to process emotions and life, it will affect our physical bodies.

When food isn’t fully digested, it can linger in the digestive tract longer than it should. Over time, this can create a heavy, sticky residue (ama or toxins), which disrupts the body’s natural balance. You can think of it like a drain that slowly becomes clogged. When debris builds up, water can’t flow freely. In a similar way, ama can accumulate and slow the body’s natural processes.

Simple ways to reduce ama and restore energy

The good news is that supporting your digestion and clearing ama does not have to be complicated. In Ayurveda, small daily habits can make a meaningful difference over time.

For new parents especially, the goal is not perfection, but gentle consistency.

Start the morning with warm water
Before breakfast, drink a cup of warm water. This simple practice can help awaken digestion and support the body’s natural cleansing processes after sleep.

Reduce caffeine
Before I tell you to ditch the coffee, I’ll gently say to really reduce it to start. Reduce to one cup before noon, then reduce to 1/2 a cup. You do not need coffee to maintain energy. It is a drug that lifts you up, then brings you to a crash and you end up believing you need more. It also contributes to high vata, and what we need now is a calm system working well. Have a warm cup of ginger tea, or a warm barley drink with oat milk instead. I like to have a warm drink like this in between breakfast and lunch- it makes me feel warm and cozy in between client calls. What will support you with energy is clearing out ama, getting to bed early, eating well throughout the day, and asking for help.

Choose warm, cooked foods whenever possible
Warm, freshly cooked foods are much easier for the body to digest than cold, raw, or heavily processed foods. Soups, stews, porridges, and simple grain and lentil dishes help support digestive strength while providing steady nourishment. If eating meat, consume it at lunch when the digestion is stronger. Remember to use a 60/40 ratio with meals. Breakfast can be simple- a porridge or homemade bread or muffins.

Eat three meals a day
We recommend eating three meals a day, without snacking, to give the body a chance to process and digest the prior meal. Meals are 4-6hrs a part. This helps to avoid the accumulation of ama. However if you are breastfeeding, snacking may be very well necessary, depending on your appetite and constitution. In this case the snack falls 2-3hrs between the meals (ie: breakfast oats at 7am, a muffin and tea at 10am, lunch at 1pm, dinner at 5pm, evening milk at 7/8pm, asleep at 8/9pm). Yes, early to bed tired mamas!

Use digestive spices
Simple spices such as ginger, cumin, coriander, fennel, black pepper are traditionally used in Ayurveda to help kindle digestive fire. Cooking with these spices regularly can help the body process food more efficiently and reduce the buildup of ama. There is also CCF tea that you can purchase on Banyan Botanicals that is nice to drink throughout the day that clears ama.

Support Daily Elimination
Regular bowel movements help remove ama. Drinking warm water upon waking, eating fiber-rich cooked vegetables along with grains and legumes or a small amount of meat, and taking a short walk after meals (even around the house with the baby) can encourage natural elimination. Avoid processed food- it isn’t nourishing, and tends to get stuck in the system for too long. Reducing stress & calming vata dosha with pranayama and meditation can support with regular elimination.

Create small rhythms around meals
New parenthood can make schedules unpredictable, but even a little consistency helps digestion. Sitting down for meals, taking a few slow breaths before eating, and avoiding rushing through food can support better digestion and absorption.

Prioritize rest whenever you can
Fatigue and sleep deprivation can weaken digestion over time. Even short moments of rest during the day help the body restore energy and maintain balance.

Mental Ama

In Ayurveda, ama can accumulate not only in the body but also in the mind—often called mental ama. For new moms, this can show up as mental fog, overwhelm, irritability, emotional heaviness, or feeling “stuck” after long periods of stress and little rest. Supporting the mind gently can help clear this subtle form of ama.

Here are a few tips that relate specifically to clearing mental ama:

Create Small Moments of Quiet
Even a few minutes of silence can help the mind digest the day’s experiences. Sitting quietly while the baby naps, stepping outside for fresh air, or taking ten slow breaths before the next task allows the mind to settle and release accumulated stress.

Limit Excess Mental Input
Too much information—news, social media, constant messaging—can build mental ama. New moms benefit from simplifying what they take in and focusing on calming activities.

Practice Gentle Breath Awareness
Slow, steady breathing helps clear emotional stagnation. A few minutes of simple breathing (in through the nose, out through the nose) can calm the nervous system and help process emotions.

Express and Release Emotions
Talking with a trusted friend, journaling, or even crying when emotions arise can prevent experiences from becoming “undigested” in the mind.

Step Into Natural Light
Time outdoors, especially in morning light, helps clear mental heaviness and supports emotional balance. Even a short walk with the stroller or sitting by a window can help reset the mind.

Favor Calming Evening Routines
Mental ama often builds when the mind stays overstimulated late into the evening. Soft lighting, warm tea, gentle stretching, or quiet music before bed helps the mind digest the day and settle into rest.

Be Compassionate With Yourself
Ayurveda recognizes that self-judgment creates more mental ama. Speaking to yourself with patience and kindness helps the mind stay lighter and more resilient during the early parenting years.

Energy returns when digestion is supported

In Ayurveda, energy and digestion are deeply connected. When digestion improves and ama begins to clear, many people notice that they feel lighter, clearer, and more energized.

We want to digest food, but also our life experience.

For new parents, this doesn’t require a strict cleanse or complicated routine. Often, it begins with simple, nourishing meals and small supportive habits that fit into daily life.

Over time, these gentle shifts can help restore balance and bring more vitality back into your days.

I recommend healing meditations with Myra Lewin on Insight Timer for releasing energies that no longer serve you. We’re offered in every moment an opportunity for freedom.

I did it. I graduated from Hale Pule Ayurveda and Yoga’s Holistic Health Counselor program in mid-January ‘26.

My heart has expanded and transformed- how else to explain- it’s a really big deal to me that three years ago at age 43 I decided to take my interest in healing to a deeper and also professional level. I still can’t believe all the hard work I put in, all the grasping of new ideas and more than anything- applying it to my own life. When the commitment to oneSelf & the honest exploration of that Self is at the center of life, there is unimaginable healing and growth. It is after that journey that one can be ready to guide others.

My sweet 9yo son calls me a professional healer. My friends say I already was (makes sense right? I was a birth and postpartum doula from age 20). For me however, I am beyond titles and just so grateful I stepped into the program, managed to understand the concepts, apply them to my life, and pass many in-depth case studies along the way. My mentor Myra Lewin is a saint and I am forever indebted to her, I’m sure from many lifetimes. I am just giving myself hug after hug for being willing to do the work on myself- to see clearly into where I’ve been, release the old baggage and move into where I’m really meant to go. In Ayurveda, the Sattvic path is the path of ease, joy and truth. We all have a birthright to be on the Sattvic path.

Ayurveda is the ancient science of life that teaches us to live in harmony with nature and our own inner rhythms. It sees the body, mind and spirit as deeply connected, and guides us to nourish ourselves with food, herbs, energy, movement, and daily practices that align with the natural world. By listening to our body’s signals, honoring our cycles, and slowing down to care for ourselves, Ayurveda helps us release old patterns, restore balance, and awaken a sense of joy and vitality from within. It’s not just about healing illness- it’s about reconnecting to our truest self and finding harmony in every moment.

Anyway, the shoulder.

How it started: At the end of September my shoulder was beginning to bother me. I noticed I couldn’t lift my hair into a high bun, or reach to scratch my back. It started to hurt more and more. I gave it a good few weeks to resolve and it didn’t. It felt icky just sitting down to work on the computer. So I went to physical therapy, and it just got worse. Little did I know my shoulder was in the freezing stage- so much that I developed so much pain over November, it was unbearable. I went to see an orthopedic specialist to see what he thought about my issue. I was sure my bones came out of place- it was that intense. He diagnosed the shoulder as frozen and I went on 10 days of anti-inflammatories (!!) While this is not something I feel proud of (as someone wanting to figure it out naturally), I really was suffering- my shoulder felt like it was going to fall off. I was afraid to move it at all. It was awful! I finished the dose, then flew off to Florida for 2 weeks. It was a sweet time, however my mom did all the driving there, and I mostly rested my arm and body- it was still in the phase of discomfort although much, much better.

First, I want to tell you what has helped.

Then I want to tell you what I learned- the deeper pieces. Thanks to the Self inquiry I learned in Ayurveda and Yoga, these deeper pieces were easy-peasy to see and accept.

What has helped:

• Physical therapy: I found an amazing new therapist in the beginning of January. In just six weeks my range has improved 50%. Who you see for support matters. Just because someone went to school does not mean they are a good match for you. He sees frozen shoulder as systemic- he knows that the cause of the condition has to do with the larger whole. That is helpful to me as a person who sees things holistically - I go into those sessions knowing it is Me who is healing, not anyone else healing me. I get to have my own inner process around it- he’s there to support me, to be my ally. I’ve cried, I’ve talked too much, I’ve told him about my arm pits- whatever- it all comes down to me being the one to connect the pieces, do most of the healing work, and move onward to where I want to be.

• Herbs: I work with Myra my mentor to support me with an herbal protocol. These herbs help to calm my nervous system, and bring down the inflammation in the joints. They help to calm vata and pitta doshas (vata is air and space and movement, it causes pain and dryness in the joints; pitta is fire and it’s pushy and prevents us from discerning in life well, if out of balance). There are choices that I made that led to a frozen shoulder. I am learning how to reverse it and also how to live in more harmony with life and myself to avoid it again.

• Medicated oils: Ayurveda has incredible herbal oils that are used as medicine. I apply these morning and night to calm the doshas and reduce pain. They help to lubricate the joints, easing mobility.

• Pranayama: Being connected to my breath and my inner world allows my system to relax, let go of guarding, and channel my energy to the place it needs healing most. When we get to know the inner world, we can make better choices in life. Sitting in meditation after focusing on the breath supports calming the doshas and creating balance in the mind and body- even 3 minutes each day to start out is enough to see a difference in mood and attitude - reactions become responses and that’s something to celebrate.

• Nourishing diet: In Ayurveda, ahar (diet) is so critical to healing. I focus on warm/unctuous foods, warm water and teas throughout the day, and avoid snacking. While focusing on three nourishing meals per day at the same time each day, CHEWING well becomes a new habit, putting my utensil down in between bites. Chewing initiates digestion by triggering the release of saliva, which contains digestive enzymes- this has to happen in order to get any nourishment from our food. These are just some of the things that I practice each day with ahar.

• Going to bed by 8/9pm. At 6pm, I have my self care hour with a warm shower, oiling the body, hydrating, and tidying the last pieces of the kitchen. I’ll listen to an audio or music too, or just light a candle and be in silence. Then I snuggle with my son after 7pm and then get cozy after that in my bed with some light, inspirational reading (not an intense novel ;) Going to sleep early is key to healing.

• Energy practices: Take a peek at an amazing practice from my mentor Myra that teaches you to center into your own body, learn to manage your energy, and also learn how to let go of that which is holding you back (hint: anything that isn’t yours!) I work with these regularly. She’s also on Insight timer with a series of guided energy practices.

The deeper learning and reminders I give myself daily around the frozen shoulder:

• It takes a while to heal. Love yourself daily as you and your body heal. The healing now is a removal and calming of deep seated vata.

• How long does it take to heal? It depends on the amount of resistance to the healing. It can take 3-12mo, however 3-6mo is the norm. On the internet it says 2-3 years however this might be someone who is not working to calm the system and heal on all levels. The shoulder can’t heal if the entire system isn’t healing.

• Where did the frozen shoulder come from? Some emotional pieces to look at:

  • We take ourselves to a situation where we feel we can’t act.

  • Our creativity is not being allowed to flow in the way we want.

  • We are doing something that isn’t coming from the heart.

  • There is a stuck feeling - not knowing if/where we belong.

  • A Co-dependency piece: All one ever does is help people, not themselves or not filling themselves first.

  • There’s too much of something- too much giving- somewhere there is “too much” so the body freezes to slow that down.

A big one for me was the “over-giving” piece, and “holding it all”.

I am learning that it’s okay to ask for help.

I don’t need to carry it all on my own anymore.

In life, we have the power to feel in balance, in a strong foundation of who we are. My visual of being strong in a foundation in my Self is: two feet planted on the earth, straight posture, a knowingness of Self, a listening to my Self always and making choices that are true to me always.

This foundation grows and strengthens with daily practices (meditation, eating well, sleeping well, putting ourselves first- caring for ourselves, loving ourselves, knowing who we are and discerning well in life). If we don’t take care of our foundation, how do we celebrate all of the caring for others that we do? As Myra says: It doesn’t work just by giving continuously.

I am committed to building the steady foundation, it will keep growing as I stay consistent with the things that grow it.

I am committed to letting go of anything that isn’t mine, and anything I’ve been carrying that I wasn’t meant to.

I am slowing down. Less is More.

I give myself permission to stop trying to control the course of life. It’s more fun to have faith that there is something bigger than me, guiding me. Intuition is mine to follow, and all I need to do is keep going in the direction of Sattva.

Thanks for being here with me, listening to the personal pieces when I have the courage, the gentle sleep articles, and the insights on Ayurveda and the Family. My hope is that they serve you immensely.

If you’ve been craving better digestion, deeper energy, or simply a sense of inner steadiness, Ayurveda offers a beautifully simple place to begin: the balance of foods on your plate. When you nourish yourself with the right mix of grounding and cleansing foods, your body naturally moves toward balance — and with it comes more clarity, calm, and vitality.

The Power of the 60:40 Balance

Ayurveda teaches that your body needs slightly more augmenting foods than extractive foods to maintain healthy tissues, support the doshas (the three natural energies or “mind–body types” that describe how you function physically, mentally, and emotionally) and keep your agni — your digestive fire — strong. A gentle rule of thumb is to aim for 60% augmenting foods and 40% extractive foods at each meal.

This 60:40 balance is calming to the nervous system, stabilizing for the mind, and deeply supportive of digestion. When meals are prepared mindfully in this way, along with nourishing oils and spicing that supports digestion, they help the body stay strong and nourished, leading to more joy in life.

What Are Augmenting Foods?

Augmenting foods nourish, ground, and rebuild. They replenish what the body uses throughout the day and give you steady, sustained energy. These foods tend to be naturally sweet or mild in flavor, such as:

• Rice, oats, barley, other grains

• Carrots, sweet potato, pumpkin, beets, zucchini

• Avocado, soft cheese, raw milk, ghee

• Fruits

Think of them as the deeply supportive foods that help you feel grounded and replenished.

What Are Extractive Foods?

Extractive foods are cleansing and light, ie greens. They can also be harder to digest, and the body takes more time and energy to process them, ie meat, legumes, eggs, nuts. They help your body release what it no longer needs and support the breakdown of healthy fats. These foods are often bitter or astringent, including:

• Kale, collards, spinach, celery, bok choy

• Legumes, meat, eggs (eat meat and eggs at lunch only as agni is stronger mid day)

• Nuts and seeds

While they’re essential for maintaining digestive clarity, too much extractive food can feel depleting and ungrounding — which is why the 60:40 ratio works so well.

Creating an Easy-to-Digest, Balanced Meal

It’s simple: Include slightly more grains and sweeter vegetables than legumes/meat and bitter or astringent vegetables. This creates a meal that’s grounding, cleansing, and energizing all at once — without overwhelming your digestion.

Cooking with this awareness becomes a grounding ritual. But it’s also just one doorway into the wider world of Ayurveda — a lifestyle full of wisdom, self-understanding, and practices that restore harmony on every level.

The Balance Bowl isn’t meant to limit you; it’s meant to support you. Once you understand the basic structure, you have the freedom to get creative, explore flavors, try new ingredients, and adapt your meals to your body’s ever-changing needs. I love to make Mexican style tacos with the framework, or my own version of Vietnamese pho.

Start Where You Are

Try out the framework for lunch and dinner. For breakfast however, try something more augmenting, like a warm bowl of steel cut oats, or a fresh bread. Agni (your digestive fire) is weaker in the morning and isn’t ready for much extractive food.

Aim not to snack between meals, unless underweight or nursing or very active. If you need to snack, allow 3 hours between the snack and the next meal (ie lunch at 12, snack at 3, dinner at 6). Your agni needs time to process what you fed it at the previous meal.

So that means don’t snack all day! But if you need some nourishment between meals, think about a nice bowl of fruit (eat fruit on it’s own to prevent gas and indigestion) or a fresh bread, or a delicious latte made with oat milk or whole milk (skip the caffeine!). A couple of fresh dates are also a nice choice. They can be eaten with snacks & meals, as they are NOT considered a fruit that turns sour in the body during digestion- therefore not leading to indigestion.

Remember during meal time, it’s important to have a balance of tastes, and that includes the sweet taste. Make some homemade cookies without refined sugar and enjoy during your meal. Dessert doesn’t need to come last nor does it need to be a “treat”— it can be a part of your nourishing balanced meal.

Sit down while you eat, take some deep breaths before you begin, give gratitude to the food and the farmers that grew it. Go slowly, chew well. There is no where to go. You deserve the time it takes to enjoy it. Your body deserves the time it takes to process and gain nutrients to thrive - so that you feel WELL in life.

Agni is our digestive fire, it’s how we digest food, and also how we digest life. We must have good physical digestion in order to have a clear mind so we can process life. We also must have good mental digestion in order for our body to be in a state of calm and equilibrium so that it can assimilate and process the food we feed it. It’s a spiral of health that we all have access to- if we commit and make the right choices. The path to health is our natural path. It’s right inside of us.

P.S. Do you have a little one? Eat together, it increases oxytocin, the love and bonding hormone. Add in a little laughter and some cuddles after dinner. Genuine connection does magnitudes for lowering stress levels.

xo
Erica

Massage helps your baby to relax and let go of tension. Your loving touch helps your baby grow in every way. Massage can help your baby sleep better, can ease stress around feedings and support with reflux and colic. It might feel daunting to offer your tiny baby a massage. Connecting with touch helps build confidence as a parent and promotes bonding.

Touching is the first communication a baby receives. The first language of his/her development is through the skin.” Frederick Leboyer

Getting started and Tips

• Make sure the room is warm. Use a soft surface to put the baby on, in front of you, while sitting on the floor or the bed. You can also extend your legs and lay the baby on top of them. Place a towel under the baby.

• Some parents place a pillow under the baby so there is less of a chance for the startle reflex to bother them.

• Sing or play gentle music and dim the lights. Routine is important, so try to do this every time you offer a massage so that the baby knows what’s about to happen.

• You can also create a familiar ritual by rubbing your hands together and wiggling or moving fingers before you begin.

• Ask for permission:​​ Ask your baby if they are ready.

Read more

My teacher asks me to come up with three of the most important things. When I am looking at an Ayurveda wellness questionnaire, it’s a challenge to choose only three things to recommend to a client to begin their wellness journey. I always respond with 50 things, but I’m starting to understand that it can start with just a few. Even a few changes can bring a deep shift in consciousness, a wider lens of what is possible for our healing. Fom there we keep adding on.

For the new family and for anyone really, a few things come to mind:

• Go to bed around 9pm. We need our rest, especially when our children are up at night. If we go to bed after 10pm, we are more likely to get overstimulated, stay up even longer, and the time after 10pm is when the body needs to be resting and healing. We are meant to rise with the sun and to say Hello to the day. This is only possible if we get enough rest and get to bed before 10pm.

• Eat three meals a day (and if breastfeeding, have a light snack in between meals if needed- ie breakfast at 7, snack at 10, lunch at 1). Do not graze all day. Your digestion needs a break in between all the work it does for you to thrive. Adding food on top of food creates indigestion and toxins in the system. This is turn creates erratic energy patterns, and of course disease in mind and/or body. Eat from the earth. Try a whole month cooking all of your food, and leaving out packaged food. Eat enough at meals so that you are not hungry one hour later.

• Chew your food. Put your utensil down between bites. Chew 20 times. Relax while eating. Pay attention to the tastes and textures. Think about where the food comes from and have gratitude. Eat until you feel satisfied. Eating slowly and with grace allows us to know when it is time to stop eating. Typically there will be a burp when our body feels complete at a meal, but if there is a lot of accumulated indigestion, the burp will always come too soon until we learn to slow down and heal the system.

That’s three ;-)

Here’s a bonus: Take Pause. At least a few times a day, sit with your eyes closed and take in 12 relaxing, slow breaths. Then smile to yourself. Whisper to yourself that All is Well. Set a reminder on your phone, or do this before each of your three meals.

For now, I’ll send this message along to your inbox and I’ll be adding another post soon sharing some more ways to begin the journey of healing yourself. This feels like a sweet place to start, with just a few ;-)

Thanks for being here on the ride to health and healing, for you and your loved ones.

<3 Erica

In Ayurveda, it is taught that our inner fire—our Agni—guides not just the digestion of food, but the transformation of every experience. When tended with care, it nourishes the body, calms the mind, and supports the heart, allowing us to move through life with clarity, balance, and grace.

With a balanced Agni, so much is possible in physical and emotional healing. With a happy Agni, we function better as people, parents, and partners/friends.

The Doshas

From an Ayurvedic perspective, everything in the universe—including us—is made up of five elements: earth, water, fire, air, and ether. These elements combine to form the three doshas—Vata, Pitta, and Kapha. Each dosha is made up of two elements and governs specific functions in the body and mind. The doshas are a way of describing our state of balance and imbalance at any given time.

• Vata (air + ether) governs movement and communication. It influences things like breathing, circulation, nerve impulses, creativity, and flexibility. People with a dominant Vata dosha tend to be energetic, quick-thinking, and adaptable—but may also feel anxious or scattered when out of balance.

• Pitta (fire + water) governs transformation and metabolism. It regulates digestion, body temperature, and mental clarity. Those with dominant Pitta are often focused, driven, and ambitious, but when imbalanced, they may experience irritability, inflammation, or impatience.

• Kapha (earth + water) governs structure and stability. It provides strength, endurance, and lubrication for the body and mind. Kapha types are often calm, nurturing, and grounded, but when out of balance, they may feel sluggish, resistant to change, or prone to weight gain.

Understanding our doshas in terms of balance and imbalance can help us make choices—around food, lifestyle, and the mind—that support our natural balance and wellbeing. We all have choice in life. We can go toward balanced, or direct ourselves away from it.

Pitta and Digestion

Pitta dosha governs Agni, guiding digestion of what enters both the body and the mind. Just as it turns food into nourishment, it transforms experiences into impressions that shape who we are. Imagine these impressions as images we carry, or memories, or ideas we grasp onto about the world and who we are. Ayurveda calls these impressions samskara. Properly digesting experiences looks like feeling emotions as they arise and not holding onto them- letting things go and practicing forgiveness. Unresolved experiences leave negative impressions that can hold us back, again and again.

When I think about postpartum rage, I think about a Pitta dosha that was high pre-pregnancy to begin with. It isn’t the baby that’s making the mama angry. It’s the built up feelings from before the birth, and most likely from years before the pregnancy. A mama who then feels alone in postpartum and completely overwhelmed is going to feel intense anger, resentment and overwhelm- high Pitta sign. This comes out as rage and a feeling of not being in control.

We digest food and life much easier when Pitta dosha is balanced. When Pitta is imbalanced, Agni is overheated and thus food passes through us too quickly, and we may be sweeping our emotions under the rug- there they build and build, creating what feels like lava inside that eventually erupts for example when we get triggered by something. We can keep Pitta calm with simple practices and the key is commitment and consistency. Keeping Pitta calm allows us to enjoy the fullness of life, both inside and out.

Taming Pitta

Pitta’s qualities are hot and sharp. It’s important to bring in cooling qualities to our lives in order to tame Pitta. We digest life better with a balanced Pitta dosha.

Remember, each of us has a bit of every dosha. Even though one dosha (or two) is more prominent inside of us, we have a bit of all three. Note: You are not your dosha. No need to run around saying “I am Vata!”. Your main dosha/s just describe your tendencies. And we want to know what those tendencies are so we can live an ideal lifestyle, making choices that keep us balanced.

How can we slow down and relax when we are doing all the things, all the time? Here are some tips:

• Don’t over do it in life- avoid overworking, overdoing and avoid using screens all.the.time.

• Keep hydrated, but not only with drinking water. Your meals should be hydrating - this looks like stews, soups, and plenty of cooked vegetables and a grain in each meal.

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You just had a baby. What’s most important right now besides keeping your baby safe, fed, and cozy?

REST Get to bed early at night. Before bed, drink a soothing tea, read a book, listen to an inspiring podcast, relaxing music or a meditation track. Put the screens away 1-2 hours before bed. Take a nice relaxing shower, or bath. Ask someone to rub your feet or your neck, or do it yourself. Sometimes you don’t come “first” if the baby has a need, but coming in with a close second is just as good.

Put your feet up throughout the day and sip on warm water to support digestion. Take pause a few times a day, breathing in and out slowly, 12 times each round.

In the daytime, ask for help so you can rest alone for 1-2hrs at a time.

NURTURE Eat nutritious meals, 3x a day, 4-6 hours a part. Lunch and dinner should be balanced, so make sure you have four compartments to your meal: a grain, a legume/meat, an nourishing/grounding vegetable (sweet potato, carrot, beet) and a cleansing vegetable (greens, broccoli, cauliflower etc). Add in a snack between meals as needed (for example if meals are 6 hours a part), but don’t graze all day because your body needs time to assimilate and digest. A light snack between meals looks like a nice fruit bowl, or a fresh bread with a medjool date.

Drink lots of warm water, and other nourishing drinks throughout the day.

Go for a walk. Stretch. Paint, draw, read, or sing if you love doing that, too.

REFLECT Write in your journal. Talk to a trusted mentor or therapist. Sit down with your partner or a close family member to talk about your feelings and needs. Call an old, close friend.

Join a new parent group to connect with others going through a similar experience. Go outside at sunset for fresh air and some alone time- the end of day energy can remind us of our essence!

CREATE AFFIRMATIONS that work for YOU: I can get through this. I can rest. I can let it all go. I am supported. I am on the way to teaching my baby something new- I know they can do it. I know what is right for my family. I am still learning what I need.

Remember your self-care is so important. Your needs matter. Your feelings always have a need underneath them.

REMEMBER WHAT YOU ARE GRATEFUL FOR Make a gratitude list daily.

Ask your partner to do the same.

BE KIND TO YOURSELF Parenting can feel challenging. Our children have a lot of feelings and needs. So do we.

Make sure you are in touch with your feelings and needs, and get your needs met, so that you don’t feel as triggered and depleted when offering support to your children.

Let a tough moment go, forgive yourself, and know that the day can still be filled with small celebrations.

RESOURCES

• RelaxMelodies

• HeadSpace

• Calm

• Glo