Real Spring Cleaning from the Inside Out...

First of all lets discuss your kitchen contents. In the Ayurvedic view, your kitchen is your first pharmacy. Every spice jar, every fresh herb, every grain is more than a flavour; it’s a precise combination of qualities that either steadies and grows your inner fire or smothers it.

Ginger, cumin, coriander, turmeric, fennel, should not be thought of so much as exotic add-ons but rather, everyday medicines that kindle Agni, dry up excess Kapha and help clear Ama.

The sages never separate food from medicine because to them, nourishment and healing are the same act. This is common thinking in the east... stating to be a concept in the west too now even in some mainstream platforms.

So, when you start to see your pantry as an apothecary, your relationship to food shifts from passive consumption to conscious tending.

Instead of reaching for packaged “detox” products, you reach for the intelligence of nature: a pinch of spice, a bitter green, a warm tea. Each meal becomes a small, daily act of therapy ... a way of stoking the sacred hearth of digestion, clearing residue and keeping your channels open so that energy and clarity can flow. Put basically, this is the real meaning of “food is medicine” in the yogic-Ayurvedic tradition.

In Ayurveda, the true engine of vitality isn’t what you eat, but what you digest. This inner transformative power is called Agni -the sacred fire. When Agni is bright, food becomes energy, thoughts become insight, and experience becomes wisdom. When Agni is weak, we accumulate Ama - the sticky, undigested residue that clogs the body and mind. What some like to call 'blockages'...

Think of a hearth (this is the base of a fire place btw): if the flame is strong, even heavy logs burn clean. If the flame is smothered under ash, even the most burnable twigs just produce smoke. Most of us in modern life are throwing more “logs” on the fire - which kinda looks like>>> constant snacking, heavy dinners, endless scrolling ... while never tending the flame, so we feel dim. Lets simplify this and break this down a little bit as this is big, complex content to take in...

Agni works on three levels:

1. Digestive Agni – breaking down food in the gut.

2. Cellular Agni – transforming nutrients into energy in every cell.

3. Mental/Emotional Agni – processing impressions, emotions, and information.

   
   

When one is off, the others are affected. A bloated belly can come with brain fog and emotional heaviness — that’s Ama at work. A lot of us can relate! Especially if we favour indulging in excess cheese or chocolate type thing ;)

How Ama Builds Up Today

• Eating when not truly hungry.

• Cold, heavy, sweet, or processed foods.

• Late-night meals and overeating.

• Sedentary lifestyle (no movement to “stir the pot”).

• Taking in too much information/emotional drama without digesting it.

Ama doesn’t just mean “toxins” >> it’s any undigested residue. It blocks the channels (srotas/ nadis) through which prana (which translates to life-force or life energy) and nutrients flow. This is why you can feel “stuck” .... even when you’re eating well. Has that happened to you?

Tending Your Fire: Daily Agni Rituals

• Eat with the strength of the sun: light breakfast, main meal at midday when the sun is over head at its strongest, lighter earlier dinner. (I know, in the west we are so used to skipping breaky and having a rushed on the go lunch and then hoeing down heaps at dinner. We were not taught correctly for our constitution to thrive unfortunately and need to unlearn and re-train our brain.. and our gut brain!)

• Leave space between meals: allow hunger to return before eating again.

• Spice your food with Agni-kindlers: ginger, cumin, black pepper, cinnamon, turmeric, fenugreek.

• Sip warm water (can add a slice of ginger and squeeze of lemon) or herb/ spice tea between meals: keeps channels clear without dousing the flame.

• Breathing before you eat: three slow breaths to shift into parasympathetic mode.

• Scrape the tongue and rinse the mouth each morning: a simple, physical way to remove overnight Ama. Get a copper tongue scrape and do oil pulling. (ask me how, I have the products for sale most of the time too or can direct you)

• Move after meals: a short walk or gentle twist aids digestion also helps ease bloat. Not straight after maybe 15/20 mins. Brisk walk or exercise only BEFORE meals.

  
  

Ama-Clearing Checklist for Spring

• One day a week of kitchari or a simple mono-meal to give the gut a break.

• Try not eating anything after your early dinner. Observe the difference of how you feel in the morning. You may need to do for a week to feel the difference notably.

• Digital fasting: no screens during meals, upon waking or before sleeping! Create screen-free hour/s daily.

• Journalling to “digest” experiences before sleep.

• Twists, side bends, Kapalbhati to stoke the inner fire.

• Writing a list of things that 'fill your cup'... avid letting it become your 'to do' list. Maybe its more creative... "Learn a song on guitar" "Go to a life drawing/ pottery class" "Hike in nature" "Ocean swim" "Read a book on the beach" "Call an old friend with a homemade brew of chai" "Hit the spa" "Get the paintbrush and art canvas out" "Propagate that plant you've been meaning to do for an age" "Go to a look out point and simply just look" That kind of thing. Just one thing, for you as a priority that we so often put our to do list in front of. Flip the script!

Reflection Prompt: “If my inner fire is a sacred hearth, what am I feeding it that burns bright? What am I adding that only makes smoke?”