One strand of spiders web across the window, blowing in the wind, as two little birds arrive in the branches of the tree out front and the sky, is chunky grey.
Yesterday, I enjoyed the bright yellow daffodils in an orange vase on my desk fully opening in the sunlight. Blue skies surrounded that early golden morning.
I sat with my warm mug as a seagull swooped in front of me in the sky, and to my left at the same time; a black crow disappeared behind the red-bricked house opposite. All was silent, and I noticed on the other side of the road one of the trees had turned green, as tiny leaf buds had started to open up. Over, on that other side of the road, a church steeple towers above a red slate roof. It reminds me of the old church and its ringing bell, of Vejer de la Frontera, a sound that rang out across that frontier town with its colourful plaza, warm air and sometimes, lavatera winds.
Today, back on this little piece of the planet, this morning, two black crows flew over my head, great flapping wings moving the air currents and then a fly swept past, so tiny by comparison. There then gone.
I’m looking at telegraph wires strung across our street, without raindrops today, moving like French skipping ropes. Black lines matching the crows wings. The tree out front with firework branches swaying in the breeze has three tiny birds flying in and out, as a blackbird nestles into it’s branches.
Slowing down by noticing simple things in this fast-paced world soothes tired minds, protects them; heals them, especially when there’s silence. Ayurveda says that when it’s silent you can hear internal sounds and that these are very healing for the mind. And I know this is true because when I started to go deaf in my 30’s, that sound of silence that you hear when there’s no other noises, was really soothing on stressed days.
When I look out of these eyes searching for the small natural things of this world I remember. I remember I am a whole human being.
Joy dots
String of cobweb blowing in the wind
Church steeple
Church bell in Vejer de la Frontera
Firework tree
Birds
Birdsong
Daffodils
Warm mug of something nice
Tree trunks
Sunlight on wall
Early mornings
Recipe
Quinoa tahini lemon bowl with Squash and kale
This was a tasty grain bowl. I cooked up some quinoa and while it was cooking made a lemony tahini dressing—tahini, little water, lemon juice, tamari, raw honey, garlic. I toasted sunflower seeds and tossed in tamari. I toasted hazelnuts and ground them into a dukka with sea salt, black pepper and cardamon. I steamed chopped up winter squash and shredded kale. First I made the grain bowl with everything except the veggies, so I could use it later on in a different way, then I added in the veggies and more of the dressing. It was, lovely.
Ayurveda
I wanted to say a big THANK YOU to my subscribers who took part in the 21-Day Ayurvedic Challenge, which will, from now on, be called the 21-Day Ayurvedic Journey. This is because, although during these 21 days I share the foundations for any Ayurvedic healthcare plan through daily challenges, it is a journey into Ayurveda, and a very rare person who could embed these into their life immediately.
In April I will be offering support to carry out an Ayurvedic spring cleanse to any of my subscribers who would like this, as a thank you for opening and reading my Slow Sundays, giving me the encouragement with what I’m doing. This support will include information emailed to you prior to each part of the cleanse—there are three parts—and a What’s App group where you can ask questions and chat with each other. So, email me if you would like to take part in that.
Understanding the Ayurvedic approach to health
I thought it might be useful for anyone interested in Ayurveda, if I shared a core understanding around nourishment.
Nourishment
Ayurveda explains that we feed ourselves in three ways, and that we need to make sure we are nourishing ourselves through all three, if we want to be really healthy.
We feed our body with food, our mind through the things we take in through our senses, and our heart through our relationships.
Any one of these areas can cause a substance called ama to build in our system (undigested food and experiences) if what we are consuming is toxic, for example, junk food and junk experiences come under this category. What follows looks at digestion and toxicity, it may sound a bit complicated, but it’s worth reading if you want to understand why what we feed ourselves in these three areas matters.
Digestion
The foods we eat, when and how, all impact the incredible process of digestion within our body, which includes our microbiome and all the other things that allow for metabolism to take place.
Ayurveda refers to our digestive process as ‘agni’ or ‘digestive fire’. The process of Agni metabolises the food we eat to provide energy for our cells—the process of metabolism at a cellular level releases energy the cell uses to carry out its functions; and a nutrient rich substance to nourish our tissues. This process takes about 35 days and leads to ‘Ojas’ being created, a subtle substance which determines how strong our immunity is—no Ojas no life.
And so, agni allows us to metabolise life. When it is balanced and working well, we are happy, emotionally balanced, have strong immunity and a clear mind. When agni becomes compromised, ama (biomolecular sludge) gathers in the digestive tract. The slow build-up of ama causes the immune system to react with an allergic reaction causing inflammation, and the digestive system weakens to the point where it may not be able to digest gluten or properly digest food leaving partially undigested food particles (more ama).
Ama blocks the body’s cleansing pathways and as it builds, if not addressed, it travels out into the blood stream with inflammation the result which becomes chronic if ama isn’t addressed. Once ama is in the blood it can cause havoc in the body—organs, tissues, cells and biological processes.
The chronic inflammation caused by ama causes cells to start disfunctioning with symptoms developing that can include fatigue, low resistance to infection, muscle weakness, joint pain, digestive disorders, acne, anxiety, headaches, depression, allergies, body weight chaos, diabetes, heart diseases, dementia, cancer and other chronic diseases.
Ama is responsible for the breakdown in communication within and between cells that leads to cancer. Cancerous cells are cells that have become isolated from the rest of the system due to this toxic sludge called ama. Ama is, from an Ayurvedic perspective, the underlying cause of all our modern chronic diseases.
Todays chronic deceases have been on the increase since the post-war period when the typical Western diet and lifestyle started to change dramatically—our modern lifestyle does not support the healthy functioning of digestion.
When digestive issues start turning up, if the ama, dosha imbalances and diminished microbiome are not all addressed, other symptoms will start appearing further down the line as the body expresses dis-ease, eventually arriving at an illness that Western medicine will be able to label.
When agni is balanced and working well we can handle life and the body can handle many things like toxins and inflammation; it can rebalance itself. But when agni is weak we find life hard to handle, the body struggles to maintain homeostasis and Agni is further impaired.
The answer is to build the digestive fire (agni) so that it can burn up the ama, then eat a diet that will support the body to then clear this out, along with a few therapies that support this.
Ama has to be removed and Ojas (the pure substance from completely digested foods) needs to be strong so that health can return. Ojas moves throughout the body and sustains our biology. It brings clarity to the mind (when there is no clarity Ojas has been compromised) and leads to balanced emotions (emotions can also become unbalanced when one of the doshas is moving out of balance – pitta anger, vata anxiety, Kapha depression).
Agni also metabolises experiences. We can consume toxic and junk experiences as well as toxic and junk food, both have an impact on our digestion, our dosha balance and our microbiome; with stress being an example of toxicity coming into our system through our senses.
Toxins
Toxins come from our external environment, and internally through the process of metabolism. A healthy body with good digestion will clear these out, but when digestion is compromised, the body starts to struggle to do this. This is also the case when the toxic levels are too high. For instance, toxins in the environment which we are all exposed to, stress related toxins, toxins that accumulate due to particles of undigested substances.
Ama develops at first in the colon and small intestine, and then enters the blood stream and makes its way around the body taking up residence in the weakest tissues or organs, causing disease in these areas. The quickest way to reverse this is to go to a reputable panchakarma clinic, then follow the post-panchakarma advice. But this is expensive.
It is possible to address this at home in a gentle way, depending on your health context. At the centre of this approach is the Ayurvedic Cleanse, adapted to the needs of the individual and the season.
The Ayurvedic spring cleanse is a simple home cleanse that is both gentle and nourishing while supporting the strength digestion.
If you have any questions pop them in the comments.
As I finish writing this, there is a tiny splash of blue in the sky, but in my imagination I have stretched it into a full deep blue sky with sun setting over the sea, where I am swimming with a whale in warm soft waters.
Warmest wishes,
Lucy x
Thank you Lucy for all the wisdom you have shared over the 21-day journey. I have implemented quite a few gentle changes, and am particularly loving the sesame oil massage. I'm not sure I'll manage the full cleanse at this time as I'm preparing for travels and getting married! But I'd love to do it when I have more space to give it the full attention it deserves 😊
How fascinating to learn that Ayurveda says listening to internal sounds amidst external silence is healing for the mind. I absolutely find this to be true - and practice with it during my evening meditation. But I’d never heard (no pun intended) anyone else mention it before. Thank you, Lucy, and wishing you a beautiful, easeful week ahead! xo