This past month, I've had the wonderful opportunity to enroll in the "Introduction to Ayurveda" course from the Natural Epicurean Academy of Culinary Arts. We covered: a brief history of Ayurveda, and the Ayurvedic view on why diseases occur, the three doshas, six, tastes, tridoshic cooking, and cooking with setting intentions, differnet Ayurvedic cooking techniques, and doshic effects of grains, oils, dairy and ghee, as well as discussions on healing modalities with spices/ingredients. We submitted homework, created recipes, took photos and reflected on the procedure as well as attended weekly webinars, and created an Ayurvedic routine of our choice (mine included hot water, tongue scraping, massage, raw foods, bitter foods and digestive spices such as fennel and ginger, making chai, and so much more).

Overall, this course was a way to be introduced to the Ayurvedic way of life, although it only scratches the surface and I'm very excited to learn more. Mostly, I've found a lot of answers to a lot of my questions: for instance, I learned that I am a Pitta (fiery nature) and it turns out that raw foods really help this condition, to cool me down and help balance me. Is it ironic that I am a raw foods chef? I went into raw foods not knowing this. I also love the use of spices, and really want to do this more. Each morning, I've been adding amla and fenugreek to my smoothies and sneaking them in whenever I can. It's been a wonderful new addition to my evolving lifestyle.

The best part is that this leaning will continue for me...I love Ayurveda and want to go even deeper, and in the future, find ways to combine it with my love of raw foods. Stay tuned!

Hope you've enjoyed a sneak peak into the recipes from this course.