Editors note: If you live in the Southern Hemisphere, winter solstice is June 21. If you live in the Northern Hemisphere, it’s the same day for summer solstice. Use this handy world clock here to find the exact time of the solstice where you live.

Daily Routines Fuel Seasonal Transitions

I complete my days with a familiar walk around my house, filling thermos flasks from the kettle, transferring them to the spare room, laying out tomorrow’s clothing for me and my children, ensuring gloves and torches(flashlights) are ready for the cool dark of the next morning before I head to bed prepared. I feel excited at the delicious prospect of going to sleep and then waking up to experience the birth of the next new day.

My days didn’t always end this way…

When my children were very young, I was less organized than I am now. I spent my evenings restoring order from the day’s chaos. My house was a mess due to a vigorous day’s playing, eating and exploring in the house. Only after the household chores were done, I felt I could relax. I did no preparation for “tomorrow.”  There was no space in the evening routine for preparing myself for the following morning. I focused solely on tidying up after everyone else and that was all I could manage.

Greet the Dawn with Yoga

Things began to change dramatically when I started to practice yoga regularly. My love for yoga was immediate and all-consuming. To dedicate time to this new lover of mine, yoga, without upsetting the family harmony, was truly a balancing act. I went to class very early in the morning. I used military precision to start my day: the alarm (muffled under my pillow) would sound, I would silently peel back the bedcovers and rise, slowly tiptoeing past my daughter’s bedroom, try not to wake the dog on the way to the guest bathroom, use the toilet, dress and brush my teeth – all as quietly as possible and finally, breathing a sigh of relief not to have heard any “Mommy” shout outs, slowly slide the back door open to slip out of the house, hop on my bike and go to yoga.

After a few years I developed strong habits to support my early morning yoga practice. I consistently went to bed early enough to support my wakeup time and no longer needed an alarm clock. My children were older and slept a little more deeply in the morning which helped too. Although my family life could accommodate me practicing later in the day, I had become entranced with synchronising the start of my day with the dawn.

Morning Yoga Helped me Get in Touch with Nature

Now on days when I don’t go to the yoga studio, I still wake early and enjoy short walks with my aging dog or longer bike rides to the beach to witness the dawn. My morning walks and rides to yoga and the beach have put me in touch with nature. These mornings have become precious times; feeling the first rays of daylight on my skin is pretty miraculous to me. I notice the differences in temperature in the mornings. I feel the sensation of the sun’s heat over the course of a year. This awareness fulfills a deep need for connection to my environment. To acknowledge that my lifestyle affords me this opportunity fills me with gratitude. I notice the seasons because I get up early to greet the day. It all started with my yoga practice.

I Feel the Seasons

As we approach midwinter, I notice the sun’s morning rays are soft, gentle, nourishing and nurturing – a rare treat here in Western Australia. We are right underneath the thinnest part of the ozone layer where we feel intense heat without this atmospheric protection. Many people fear the effects of sun on the skin, especially in Western Australia and avoid it the summertime.

Mantras for Winter Solstice

On winter solstice I have been contemplating the seasonal mantras Maya Tiwari includes in her book, The Path of Practice.

Early winter – gather and contain

Late winter – rest and reflect

The solstice occurs at the transition between gathering/containing and resting/reflecting. From that darkest moment, the seed of light awakens to be break forth in spring. As we journey from mid winter towards spring, we have a chance to be efficient about what will grow in our lives. We want to expend our scarce winter energy on supporting the birth of the new version of ourselves.

We have an opportunity to look at what has been gathered, assess its value and determine whether to store and retain it or release it and let it go. Once these decisions have been made, we can rest, knowing we have made adequate preparations for the coming season

To manage the seasonal transitions that occur at the solstice we can tune into the Earth’s experience and align our own rhythms with the cosmic rhythms. These practices will create more ease during the seasonal transition of the solstice.

My Top Three Solstice Tips

Follow these important tips during seasonal transition times. will create more ease and clarity and deepen your connection to the wider cosmic forces, providing important markers in your seasonal calendar. If you invest wisely in the opportunity these transitions present, the choices you make afterwards may be more aligned with your greater good.

1. Create space in your schedule to dedicate more time to your spiritual practices. Block off time in your schedule three days before or after a solstice or equinox for extra meditation, contemplation or spiritual rituals. Focus both on grounding and connecting with the Earth as well elevating awareness to the stars and cosmic energy.
2. Put your naked palms and the bare soles of your feet in contact with the elements. Touch the earth, touch a tree or get your hands dirty in some soil.  Face your hands and feet upwards to the sun at dawn and dusk for 10 minutes each day around the solstice.
3. Invoke your inner guidance. Ask it to help show you what to let go of. In my case this year it has been an old collection of blurry photos from the 1980s, a beloved member of our school community and a whole pile of books which have been outgrown by my children.

Follow these tips. I recommend you also take time to reflect and journal what you discover. Do this every year and at every solstice. After a few years of these simple practices, you will notice larger patterns and cycles in your reflections.

How do you celebrate or revere the solstice? Were you raised with a connection to the Earth to transition times and the seasons? What have you managed to let go of this season? Please scroll down on the blog and comment below. Let’s support each other in a powerful solstice transition.

When I started to practice yoga, things changed as I began to take a different approach to my regular diet. My ego declared that I ate well enough throughout the year. My ego told me I didn’t need to buy into this idea of detoxing anymore. CLEANSE, DETOX-the words were loaded for me at that time. I had memories of expensive, heavily supplemented, socially isolating experiences that in the end, yielded, little long term benefit. I was done with DETOX!

Follow the Laws of Nature

All that changed again when I began to study Ayurveda. The concept of human beings FOLLOWING THE LAWS OF NATURE was planted as a seed in my fertile and inquiring mind. Now I began to observe nature more closely, observe myself and observe myself –in nature. I began to see the world through a different lens. I began to explore Nature (with a capital N) as a dynamic energy that moves in cycles and rhythms.

Cleanse Between Seasons

I also learned that the transitions between the seasons were significant. At these seasonal junctures, Nature takes a turn and the Vata dosha increases just as the season changes.  Vata dosha consists of the elements of ether and air, the elements from which all else emerges, it’s these elements that create possibility.  At each ‘change’ of season, the Vata energy increases the FIELD OF POSSIBILITY. At this time we can expand beyond the confines of the understood and documented parts of our lives. During the change of season, we can tap into greater potential than other times during the year. For this reason cleansing between the seasons is the best time to cleanse.

The Change of Season Happens Inside Me

I always loved the image of ice peaks on mountain tops melting in late winter. As the snow melts, it sends flushes of cleansing water into rivers and streams that then join the oceans in spring. I learned through Ayurveda that this global/seasonal cycle also took place INSIDE ME. This idea  expanded my horizons further. The concept of supporting the body through the seasonal transition began to make so much sense to me. Just like the mountain tops, I too would have water moving downstream. I realized that I had choices in my seasonal flow…

1. I could assist ‘the flow’ to have an easeful journey to the oceans.
2. I could mindlessly ignore ‘the flow’ and experience the consequences.
3. Or I could actively disrupt or go against ‘the flow’ with poor life choices.

This was an important realization to me. I discovered that how I acted during these seasonal transitions was entirely within my own control. I felt empowered.

I Found a New Way to Cleanse with Ayurveda

I began to experience a different kind of cleansing as a part of my Ayurvedic studies. I tried gentle monthly cleanses. Then every 3 months, I tried seasonal cleanse routines with other Ayurveda students. As students, we would experiment  – eating only warm foods only for a period of time, contrasting that with a diet that included some processed foods, performing regular purges to eliminate toxins from the bowel. Sometimes we would eat no meat for a while. I enjoyed sharing these experiences with my fellow Ayurveda classmates- noticing common responses to the effects of certain diet and lifestyle choices on our bodies, minds and relationships.

As my studies progressed, I learned about an in depth cleansing routine described as Panchakarma. This form of Ayurvedic detox was a series of treatments carried out by trained practitioners in a clinical setting. The choice of treatments for Panchakarma and length of time of the cleanse would be part of a specific prescription for the individual. The aim of Panchakarma was to gently mobilize and release toxins from the body and mind. As a student, I got to experience Panchakarma along with my classmates. I enjoyed the passive nature of  Panchakarma – I just lay there while the cleansing happened to me, I wasn’t an active participant and I didn’t need to do anything.

When my studies ended, away from the support of my fellow students, I struggled to maintain enthusiasm and regularity with my simple seasonal routines and home cleanses. My ego didn’t want to bother with simple seasonal routines. My ego once again decreed that annual Panchakarma in a clinic environment was enough cleansing – I didn’t need to bother with those seasonal at home cleanses which would be boring and isolating. So for a few years I relied on annual Panchakarma treatments to take care of detoxing for me.

Then I began Yoga Health Coaching. I started to learn about a new model for helping people to experience positive change in their well being. In this model, I would be working with groups instead of individuals. I learned how much more successful the group cleanse experience could be for the client and coach alike.  Armed with this new information, I invited some of my clients to participate in a group cleanse experience. It was fun, it was supportive, it was motivating, we kept each other accountable, we made each other laugh, we shared our successes. We expanded each other’s ideas of what a cleanse could look like.

Get Rid of the Rules and Get with a Group Cleanse

I reflected on how isolated I felt following strict detox protocols. I remembered how much more enjoyable and effective leading a group cleanse experience was for me. Now the final piece of the puzzle was in place – I didn’t have to follow strict rules, I didn’t have to deprive myself and I didn’t have to go it alone or hand over my responsibility for cleanses to a Panchakarma technician. Instead I could come together with other people committed to taking a regular review of their well being and dedicating some time to redressing the balance in their lives. Now I had stimulation and encouragement. Assigning time for a regular cleanse in my annual calendar became as routine as adding the school holiday dates.

As the years pass I see commitment to regular cleansing yielding 3 great benefits:

1. EFFICIENCY from repeated practice, in both preparation and execution of a cleanse. We spend less time and effort in food preparation and more on doing the things that will support us on deeper levels. Time in nature, constructive movement, less time on electronic devices and plenty of contemplation.
2. EXPLORATION with the boundaries of what a cleanse can look like. A big factor of my March 2017 cleanse was saying “No” to any demands on my time. I enjoyed some afternoon naps and was in bed by 9pm for 2 weeks. Supplements were not a part of my cleanse this time.
3. PLAN for future cleanses. Cleanses create momentum and forward thinking- In September 2017- I may include some ‘space’ cleansing as we prepare to move house. I can now plan in advance what my future cleanses will look like – based on life events. Or I can plan  to experiment with something new that I may have heard of, such as Intermittent Fasting or Coffee Enemas.

I encourage you to take a leap of faith and join a group cleanse. Here are 3 tips for finding one that will suit you:

1. Be VERY clear about WHY YOU WANT TO CLEANSE – If your main aim is to lose weight, then you will want to choose a cleanse that promises to deliver that result. Think about your ‘why’ as this will also carry you through when you feel uninspired.
2. FIND YOUR GROUP- Go to your local gym, health food shop or yoga studio and ASK if anyone offers group cleanses in your area. If no one does, find an online cleansing group that you resonate with. 
3. BOOK YOUR CLEANSE at least 3 months in advance. Join an online or in person detox program early, so you can have it on the horizon. The intention to cleanse can influence your health decisions before the detoxing begins. And with more advance planning, you can clear your calendar with greater ease.

And finally, BE OPEN to your own inner guidance during the cleanse. Ease into the SPACE created by reducing decisions around food and meals to explore where your SOUL wants to GUIDE you next in your life. With regularity, these transitions become a return to neutral, a time in our busy lives to evaluate where we have come from, where we want to go and how best to get there.

How have cleanses impacted your life? Are you a regular cleanser? What types of things does your cleanse include? Please post your comments below, I would love to hear from you.

When I first set eyes on this very memorable mechanical installation at MONA, I had no idea what it was. The exhibition was called Cloaca and to see it I had to enter a large dark room and was faced with a series of clear plastic pouches, hanging at eye level and linked together with tubes. It looked like hospital equipment or a strange experiment set up by a mad scientist. Just as I was starting to wonder why I detected a foul smell in the air, a lady in a lab coat entered the room from a small side door. She was wheeling in a food trolley that looked like one from a hospital. She proceeded to pour Spaghetti Bolognese from a bowl into the machine. The food began to churn in the designated receptacle. Suddenly it dawned on me what I was seeing and I realized what the smell was. At the opposite end of the series of pouches was a device which was depositing poop onto a tray! This was an electronic digestive system! Each of the pouches was a different stage of digestion each with it’s own highly specific chemical transformations taking place.

Of course, like all self respecting poop geeks, I was intrigued! Most people left pretty soon after the poop started to hit the tray but I stayed on and walked around to investigate further. This poop was uniform, totally consistent in shape, colour and texture; the waste produce of perfectly scientific digestion.

I could see parallels between how the food had been deposited (or dumped!) into the opening chamber of the machine and how I have put food into my body. I remembered when I used to spend most of my waking life in an office. I was so busy I did all of my eating in a mechanical action. But the difference was that my human machine was secreting adrenaline all throughout the day. I would hurl a chocolate bar, a bag of potato chips, a sandwich or anything quick, easy and sweet into my mouth without pausing from my work duties. Every hastily churned ‘chew’ would be followed by a violent exit from my mouth where my partially chomped on food would travel down my esophagus, My ‘swallow’ was infused with stress. For years I asked my digestive system to accommodate this unskillful method of feeding my body. I acted like I was a machine, when this caused me to ironically disregard the important parts of me that were so not like a machine!

And it is not just stress that will be absorbed by the body, any emotion experienced during production and eating of food can influence its energetic makeup.

Why for example does the apple pie made by your mother taste so much better than the apple pie from a five star restaurant? Or anybody else’s mother’s pie for that matter. Is it because, at the time of making the pie, she may have remembered fondly her own mother who perhaps handed her the recipe? As humans we add energy to our food in the form of love. It cannot be measured by a machine. Bound into the folds of pastry are memories – perhaps of a special occasion when she had eaten or made it, how she has changed the recipe over time and who she is making it for today. As the years pass, so too do any grudges and she will remember her ancestors with forgiveness and acceptance. These peaceful qualities become infused in the pie. A machine could never make this pie. And our favorite restaurant pie might taste good, but it’s never the same. And we wouldn’t digest it like our mom’s pie.

This subtle emotional component may not be recognized by the tongue (although please let me know at the comments below if you know something contrary to this.) but I believe it is experienced by the body in its subtlest layers. We measure food scientifically via calories, which google describes as “the energy needed to raise the temperature of 1 kilogram of water through 1 °C, equal to one thousand small calories and often used to measure the energy value of foods”.

This measurement would certainly not take into account any intergenerational emotional energy wave stirred into the apple pieces as they were transferred into the pie. We have no measurement for this less tangible, but still significant, ingredient.

My Ayurvedic teacher once, very wisely and subtly, encouraged me to back off counselling my older daughter against the perils of sugar. She pointed out to me that the emotional ama generated through my daughter experiencing shame, anger or guilt when eating sugary foods could have more of a negative impact on her physiology than the sugar itself. Passing on a habit of associating negative emotions with a particular taste can lead to challenging consequences and be difficult to overcome.

Our mindset while eating is incredibly important. It affects our digestion. Pausing between our busy ‘doingness’ to prepare and eat our food consciously is as crucial to our wellbeing as the quality of the foodstuff. We are not machines, our poop is not going to come out perfectly just because we injested the ‘perfect’ superfood ingredients. Food, after all, is energy and energy is more subtle than the shapes, colours and textures of what is on the plate.

While we cannot influence the way our produce was harvested, nor can we control the mood of the chef in the kitchen, we can prepare ourselves to receive only the best energy infused in each meal. It takes some focus and I am working myself on taking these simple steps to receive the best from my meals. As an Ayurveda expert, I am happy to share my tips below on how to receive food mindfully, not mechanically..

1. Pause before eating anything at all. The power of the pause is so important. It allows a switch from action to passivity and receptivity.
2. Take a deep breath in and out. Accentuate that switch from doing to being.
3. Prepare to receive – Welcome the positive energy contained in the food, invite it to nourish you on all levels. Give thanks to those who helped grow, harvest, prepare and cook your meal.
4. Deeply taste the first mouthful of food, chew consciously and thoroughly. Take your time, savor the flavors.
5. Pause, put down the fork or spoon and simply notice the sensations within the body and mind. Make eating a holistic or whole body activity.

What do you do to enhance the energetic component of the food you eat? Can you taste the difference between your mother’s signature dish and the same dish prepared by someone else? Remember that you are not a machine. You have a mind, emotions and a spirit. How are you integrating the more subtle parts of yourself into your meals. Scroll down and comment below. I want to know about how you are eating more consciously. What do you receive from your food when out is cooked by a loved one or eaten at a restaurant? Please do tell.

Imagine you are staying in a beautiful chalet in the cool, crisp, cleansing air of the Swiss Alps. Feeling invigorated from a good night’s sleep, you’re planning on spending the day exploring the valleys and peaks laid out before you. You set off early and after walking, swimming and enjoying the pristine surroundings you notice the sun has peaked in the sky and you have a light purr of hunger vibrating in your belly. Your hosts have left you a basket of food for lunch at an agreed location which you arrive at a short distance later. A blanket is laid out for you to sit on and a light cloth covers the basket. You approach, take off the cloth and………..what would you love to find waiting? A colourful mix of dishes? Fresh vegetables still glistening with the morning dew from when they were picked? An aroma of freshly baked bread? Plump sweet berries?

Keep your image in your head and write down three words that describe the image.

Perhaps that scenario was too much a ‘holiday’ version of life, perhaps this one works better for you.

Imagine you are heading off to spend the day doing physical work, lifting and carrying. Picture yourself taking a break in the middle of the day, sitting down with a drink and opening your lunchbox. Someone who loves you deeply and rarely gets to nurture you anymore has prepared the meal for you. They have taken utter delight in imaging you restored and replenished from eating it. You are feeling hot, tired and achy but you smile as you open the bag and reach down inside and pull out………..what would your loved one have prepared for you? A lightly browned wedge of your favourite pie? A thermos filled with steaming broth? A cool slither of apple pie? A little love note folded small and tucked into a napkin?

Now it’s time to IMAGINE A BETTER LUNCH…

Stay in touch with your imagination in your head and write down three words that describe the image.

Are there common factors between the two images?

Now remember what you had for lunch today…

How does what you ate compare to how you imagine a satisfying and nutritious lunch?

Could you describe it using the same words you used to describe the imaginary lunch? Take note if there is a disconnect as you answer the next question.

Did you take the same care preparing your imaginary lunch that your host or loved one did?

What did your inner world of imagination show you?

Is there something there to serve you in the outer world too?

While I was growing up I regularly visited family in Italy. I distinctly remember feeling excited at lunchtime, the beach would start to empty and as we walked home, the streets were rich with the smells of home cooking wafting down from the balconies above. At my Aunt’s house we ate three courses – FOR LUNCH! A small bowl of pasta (fresh, hand made, light), a protein dish and a salad or vegetable platter. It was always a challenge for me to leave sufficient space in my stomach for the second and third courses – I could have quite happily have eaten nothing but that delicious pasta! All the food was prepared by hand and consisted of simple but deeply flavorful ingredients. I just loved these meals, they were delicious, plentiful and social.

As I grew up and reached my teenage years, I was surprised how radiant my Italian friends and family were.Their skin flawless without makeup, hair shining richly, they were boisterous – laughing and conversing effortlessly, embodying European chic in slim, stylish clothing. I noticed that a different idea of a ‘healthy’ lunch was being marketed to me in the UK – quick and easy with minimal disruption to the rest of your non-stop day and “guaranteed” to prevent weight gain. The snappy and upbeat grab-a-bite version made sit down lunches appear old fashioned, fattening and indulgent. Yet here these relatives were, still eating three course lunches and appearing to be thriving on it. I didn’t consider I had the option to cultivate the same lifestyle for myself. As I grew older, my lunch no longer could be described as delicious, plentiful and social. I missed the fabulous lunches with my Italian family.

Back to my current life as a Mum...Recently I spent time in kindergarten with my younger daughter. To return to the womb of the kindergarten classroom as an adult was quite an experience. I was back in the world of delicious, plentiful and social. Here are the lessons I learned that no one should ever grow out of.

     1. Eat at Regularly Scheduled Times. After singing, activities and playtime it was time for morning tea then vigorous outdoor play before lunch. The meals at the same time each day, this strong repetition meant the children’s digestive fires were expecting food and they experienced true hunger sensations as the time approached.

      2. Eat a Variety of Foods. The children enjoyed a varied diet; mixed fruit salad for morning tea and a different grain each day of the week

      3. Eat Mindfully. All eating was done sitting down, after washing hands and singing a joyful grace of thanks. Taking time before eating to remember where food comes from is important when many families source their food from a supermarket. Joining voices lifted the spirit and put us all in a positive mindset before starting our meals.

      4. Eat Together in Community. Five minutes of silent eating was observed before a low level of conversation on all different subjects hummed in the room

      5. Eat Your Lunch on a Leisurely Timetable. I couldn’t believe how much food my daughter could eat at this time of day if she was given enough time to do so. Schedule extra time to eat your biggest meal of the day.

Imagine if we stayed with these rhythms for life. If it remained as natural as breathing to celebrate this midday experience.

Read again those words you wrote down at the start of this article. What would it take for them to describe your actual lunch more often? Those words don’t have to remain in that elusive realm.

There are steps you can take today towards a better lunch:

• Do the IMAGINE YOUR LUNCH exercise with your household and find out which words are communal
• Experiment with giving life to the words, you might not be able to take out a hamper and picnic rug at the office but perhaps a pretty napkin will help you make a celebration of lunch.
• Produce a lunch meal planner for the coming week, have your schedule handy so you aren’t planning for a freshly cooked lunch on a day you have no kitchen available.
• Invite friends and family to enjoy lunch out instead of dinner at weekends.
• Choose a kindergarten lunch rule and try it out for a week.

And of course…….Post your intentions in the comments below.

Last night I hosted a workshop titled “The Ayurvedic Clock.” A group of people from my small town in rural Western Australia gathered together at a local yoga shala and enjoyed a bowl of dahl while we discussed our daily routines. As the attendees arrived, I asked them to take three sticky stars (one silver, one red, and one blue) and post them on a large clock that I had drawn. They placed a star on the clock to show.

1. The time they wake up (gold)
2. The time they eat their main meal (red)
3. The time they go to bed (blue)

This small activity at the beginning of the workshop was a great ice breaker. People huddled around the clock and discussed possible answers to what I believed to be straightforward questions. It was interesting for me to note how different Ayurvedic energies manifest in the way people approached a simple and straightforward task such as putting stars on a clock. Those with more space and air (Vata) energy in their constitution immediately requested confirmation. For example, they asked questions like, “do you mean what time I go to bed or what time I go to sleep?”. Those with more fire energy (Pitta) focused intensely on the task, keen to complete it promptly and accurately. Those with more earth and water energy(Kapha) didn’t attend – this was an evening event and it was harder for them to stray from their usual routines.

What is the Ayurvedic Clock

The hours on the Ayurvedic clock are the same as a traditional clock but the Ayurvedic clock is viewed through the lens of Ayurveda. Ayurveda provides an explanation of the energies relating to times of day. Energy during early morning hours disperses in all directions (picture birds at dawn flitting at all angles across the skies.) Energy from dawn to mid morning has a downward pull – towards the earth (picture those same birds now warmed up and tending to their bodily needs, tugging worms from the earth.) In the middle of the day the energy rises upwards, the same as heat which is strongest at that time because the sun is directly overhead. The pendulum swings back as the Ayurvedic clock, returns to dispersing energy in the afternoon, downward energy in the early evening and upward energy through the middle of the night.

To align our daily habits with these energies would require us to wake up in those radiating early morning hours, eat in the upward mid day hours and unwind in the downward hours of evening. Diurnal creatures in the animal kingdom are setting a constant example and reminder of these patterns –  the birds rise with the first light of dawn, the kookaburra here in Australia squawks loudly and persistently at this time of day, exercising vocals chords and warming up as they wait for sufficient light to start hunting. As diurnal creatures, we humans would benefit from listening to our animal friends and rising with the sunrise.
Our bile production peaks in the middle of the day, with the sun higher overhead. This is the time to satiate our digestive fire, eating the bulk of our calories and nutrients.

Rather than working late or digesting a heavy meal in the evening hours, we can follow the example set by the bird kingdom again – showering, playing and eating lightly, relaxing and unwinding, preparing the body for rest.

What Can the Stars Tell Us?

With the stickers in place on the clock, we could see the trends in the workshop group:

1. Waking time between 5 and 7am
2. Main meal between 6 and 8pm
3. Bedtime between 9 and 11pm

Encouraged by the waking time and bedtime, which aligned not too far away from the Ayurvedic  ideal, we could focus on the lack of red stars between 7am and 6pm.

What are we doing here that prevents us from enjoying eating and digesting our main meal of the day, when the heat is highest – both externally (hello sun, up ahead) and internally in our belly fire? When we tune into the feelings within our body, we can sense this increased heat in our stomachs – digestive juice production is experiencing its daily peak – this peak happens once in a 24 hour period, inviting us to consume our largest and most nutrient dense meal now. So what we are doing here instead of eating our main meal? “Getting shit done”, we call it. Whatever it looks like: work, children, exercise, driving, consuming. We are focused on DOING. And we DO a lot. Every minute of the day something is asking to be crammed in, included, given attention to, sorted out.

Are we fuelling ourselves to get that shit done efficiently?

I see so much potential in three shifts.

1.  Allow the body to repair at night, instead of digesting a heavy meal.
2.  Fuel yourself during the day to get your work done more efficiently.
3.  Enjoy down time after work.

Quit Being at War with Time

We expect our bodies to accrue energy and weather decades of debt resulting from failure to give our bodies the time to “repair and restore” at night without any notable effect. Each night we demand that our bodies focus on digesting a large rich meal instead of working on housekeeping tasks such as removing toxins and repairing damaged cells. The following morning we feel tired on waking, our sleep has not been deep and restful as our body has not been focused on restoring optimal functioning. We have been withdrawing from our body’s health account overnight, instead of adding credit by allowing important repair work to take place.

People are often paid extra money for doing shift work, there is recognition that employees are being asked to go against their natural inclination by working unsocial hours, a kind of danger money – acknowledgement of the significant adverse effects of working during sleeping hours.

Our human wellness budget is limited, we cannot expend energy relentlessly with no impact. Our budget is blown much more quickly by repeatedly eating late at night. However, because it is such a slow accumulation of debt, we have been doing it for years, we don’t notice it…..until it has moved along the spectrum from subtle to gross…..in the form of a huge wake up call, one we can’t just roll over and press “snooze” on. The weight piles on slowly, the skin dulls slowly, the eyes lose vitality slowly and the energy levels grind to a virtual standstill. Often we will remain in denial when that big debt collection request (aka disease) comes calling. We do not connect those little warning signs to the now chronic situation – attributing them instead to “genetic predisposition” or “typical and unavoidable effects of aging”.

By making earlier and lighter dinners our new normal, we can store up some savings and afford at times to splurge and eat later or heavier at night. Instead of fuelling up in the evening to give us energy to stay up late…. getting even more shit done instead of unwinding with that downward flow of energy, we would do well to carve a 15 minute self care session in the middle of the day and truly enjoy a good fat and protein rich meal.

Anything less than this routine is being at war with Time.

I know this battle well and I don’t win it every day of the week. For many years I ate a heavy meal at night, continuing patterns learned in my family of origin and supported by the cultures I lived, studied and worked in. A regular early morning asana practice was what initially motivated me to change this habit. I noticed my yoga practice varied greatly depending on what and how much I ate the previous night. So I began to change. I also started to go to bed earlier so I could wake up and do my yoga practice before the world awoke.

But it was years more before I made changes to my midday meal, continuing to survive on sandwiches and snacking through the afternoon to handle the energy slump that naturally occurred through not providing my body with sufficient nutrient rich fuel.

I’m definitely still fighting to clear the line of debt I’ve been running up against Mother Nature by depriving her of her housekeeping hours. She is already offering me glimpses into the credit side of the spectrum. I notice my skin, weight and vitality improving, my sleep is restful, during night hours my body is delighted to be doing what it needs to do to keep me functioning at a higher standard throughout the day. My cells are less clogged with toxins, the mortgages I took out against my wellbeing during my late teens and 20s are being paid off and I’m starting to build resilience for my later years. My lunches have become a celebration of my humanity – I unite with the animal and plant kingdoms and rest from activity, gather some tasty and nourishing morsels and truly feed my entire body. This is where the alignment between body mind and spirit exists, waiting to be received.
After 6pm, enjoying Kapha’s sticky time with loved ones is where the insights into a radiant future reside for me. Switching from doing to receiving from 6pm is powerful. For me it is also dependant on having had enough lunch; in this case I can receive a light meal, receive the connection time my children are longing for, receive the release of weight from my shoulders, and be replenished before bed, a sleep borne of love not exhaustion.

If this blog resonates with you, if you are feeling the pinch from having withdrawn too much credit from your human vitality account, start with a small step. You could try having lunch as your main meal at weekends, or focusing more on lunch during the week – making sure you aren’t doing anything else at the same time or including more protein and healthy fats at this time of day. Make a plan to enjoy your evenings with the family – I’m teaching my daughter to change light bulbs and plugs at the moment! Or simply set a timer for different times of the day, stop what you are doing and feel into how the energy is moving – radiating outwards, down or up. Then compare what your internal energy is doing – are you aligned or going against the flow. Turning direction may seem hard at first but once you are headed in the right way, being in flow is the path of least resistance.