by Nandini Natasha Austin, Certified Ayurveda Movement Coach & Ayurvedancer
Photo credit @ MartinPowell
"Last month, in partnership with the non-profit Soul to Soil, a division of the Holistic Health community, I hosted an Ayurveda Nutrition cooking class at Peoples Place in Kingston which featured a Mauritian Curry made with Ayurvedic spices.
The goal of the class was to learn about Ayurveda and its health benefits, how Ayurveda nutrition, differs from Western medicine, as well as the medicinal benefits of spices.
So What is Ayurveda?
Ayurveda is a philosophy for life,
The principle behind Ayurveda is to find and maintain a perfect balance between mind, body, and spirit. All three of these elements are inextricably linked, meaning that an imbalance in one will affect the others.
As a healthy living modality and holistic practice, Ayurveda strives to prevent illness and treat disease by identifying the cause of the imbalances and reversing what has caused it in the first place.
It is a scientifically energetic system, that starts with first correcting the internal imbalances that prevent us from being the healthiest we can be. Imbalances often stem from how we eat, move, and live in our space. Ayurveda identifies that each of us has a distinct Dosha, or body type, which in turn has individual needs that must be addressed accordingly.
Literal meaning Sanskrit “Ayur,” meaning life, and “Veda,” meaning knowledge, Ayurveda is the science of life.
This holistic system of well-being developed in India some 5,000
And is The Sister Science Yoga
It recognizes that One size does not fit all
Ayurveda Nutrition
What, how, and when we eat is at the heart of Ayurvedic Nutrition, which teaches us to nourish and satisfy our bodies — very different from us in the West who have been taught that the way to a healthy life is a low-cal, low-fat diet.
In Ayurveda nutrition, we determine food based on the gunas - taste and qualities instead of proteins, fat, carbohydrates, etc. We focus on digestion and gut health which are central to our well-being and, like all other parts of an Ayurvedic way of life, are specific to each individual.
"Simply put, by being conscious of eating the right type of foods that suit your specific body type best, you can begin to feel great in all areas of your life" emotionally physically, and spiritually,
Ayurveda reminds us that every root is medicine so there is no good or bad food simply ones that can promote balance and provides a logical approach to eating balanced foods for optimal nutrition by formulating food groups that work together, allow proper digestion, and promote maximum absorption of essential nutrients. Spices too are helpful to the digestive system and we learned about the power of aromatic spices.
Nandini Austin @ Peoples Place
In the class, we also discussed the history of curry and spices, and how every curry is different. We also learn about Mauritius, my parent's homeland, and why Mauritian cuisine has a strong French influence and differs from Indian curries. We discussed how Mauritian cuisine uses more provincial herbs like, 'thyme leaves' making our curries lighter than some Indian curries.
It was a fun well-attended class, and for first-time curry eaters, I hit home that making curry is hard. It isn’t. -You just drop ingredients into a large pot in the right order as you do when cooking a stew. What difference was you learned how and why these spices work for your body, and how to use them in a variety of ways to get their medicinal benefits.
I concluded that
Ayurveda and Ayurveda Nutrition are a healthy way of living and ideal to adopt because.
It's not rocket science, but it's Scientifically backed philosophy.
It's affordable, not $$$$ as there is no investing in fancy supplements and vitamins.
It encourages whole foods so everything has fewer additives and GMOs
You can find everything in a local supermarket not only in a health food store or specialized store.
It's common sense - logical as you understand why certain food suits your body and works in harmony with it.
It encourages Mindful eating and conscious cooking.
It offers sustained - weight loss
To see the full recipe head over to my blog. It's sure to provide you with warming to your belly and your guests will love you even more.
Cheers
Nandini Natasha Austin