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Greetings!
Vata season is entering (app October-January) and the autumn winds blow in dry, cold, rough, and light qualities that we see all around us. Without adjustments, our internal conditions may match these external changes and lead to our own coldness,  dryness, roughness, stress, immune-system aggravations and sometimes weight gain. This is a good time to prepare for Vata season and to fortify your balance so that you do not get blown over into Vata aggravations.
Vata is such a predominanat dosha that when aggravated it can also knock out Pitta and Kapha. So in this eNews you will find "Readiness Tips" to greet Vata with a smile for the energy and movement it can bring to your life. Out of balance vata can be anxious, ungrounded, worrisome, dry, cold, prone to insomnia, and with aggravated conditions of constipation or gaseous digestion.  In balance Vata is creative, enthusiastic, lean, quick, lively in conversation and activity, flexible, agile, and spiritual. Let's be balanced and ready to invite in the good stuff! A few adjustments and your autumn experience may be filled with healthy Vata and all the liveliness that brings.
Live with radiant intention and be well, Rhonda
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Balancing Vata
 Vata is responsible for physical and mental movement in the body, elimination of all wastes, sensory inputs and nervous system impulses, communication via speech, respiration and other functions relating to movement. It's main site is the colon, and so if you experience bloating and gas these may be early signs of Vata aggravation. Also watch for dry skin, constipation, irregular appetite, lack of sleep, stress and tiredness. Internal drying can aggravate our organs and disrupt the fluid functioning of our systems.
Many of us can get a little anxious in the Fall when we are in the influence of Vata season. Vata is made up of the elements air and space and emotionally can stimulate the racing thoughts and the pounding heart of anxiety.
To balance Vata, focus on a diet and lifestyle that introduces the qualities opposite of what the Vata season brings. Think grounding, warming and routine.
Vata Balancing Tips
- Follow a Vata Pacifying Diet- cook with ghee or olive oil, use spices like cinnamon, cloves, cumin and ginger, have a warm breakfast of cooked quinoa or cream of rice, eat
 more soups and easily digestible kitchari, and enjoy nuts like walnuts, almonds, and cashews. Minimize raw foods and salads. Avoid iced and cold drinks. More diet tips. - Sleep and Rest Well- drink warm milk with a pinch of ground nutmeg or turmeric to take you into slumber. More on the "Sleep of Your Dreams."
- Nourish Your Senses. Touch, taste, hear, smell, see. Try some on treatments for nourishing your senses.
- Establish Routines for Grounding. Be Still-- Vata is aggravated by excessive movement and feelings of insecurity or fears so take time to meditate, do gentle yoga or other self care, quieting routines. Eat at regular
 times. - Take extra care with your skin that can become dry.- Enjoy a daily warm oil self-massage with warm sesame oil--called abhyanga.
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Classes in Kalamazoo
Rhonda Egidio, Ph. D. is an Ayurvedic Practitioner with great passion for sharing the wisdom of Ayurveda and the simple yet effective practices that can make important upgrades to our digestion and overall radiant health. For more info visit: http://RadiantLifeAyurveda.com
Wisdom, Tips, and Strategies for Healthy Modern Living-"Upgrade your Life to Radiant with Ayurveda"
Oct 14, 1-3:45pm. $40 advance, at door $45. details
Cholesterol, Arthritis, Diabetes Prevention and Treatment for Common Health Concerns - "Upgrade your Life to Radiant with Ayurveda"
Nov 18, 1-3:45pm $40, $45 at door. details
Bonus for both: Upgrade Your Life to Radiant Duo-Wisdom and Cholesterol (above) for $70 advance.
Meditation for the Deaf Community with Karina Mirsky and Rhonda Egidio Wednesdays 5:30pm. Oct 24, Nov 14, 28 and Dec 12, Jan 2. details
Perfect Digestion: Firing Up Agni, Clearing Ama Monday Oct 15, 5:15-7pm, $25 register
Ayurveda Super Herbs and Spices. Making Churnas and Seasonal Teas Monday Nov 12. 5:15-7pm, $25 register
Perfect Digestion and Ayurveda Super Herbs package at Sangha - both for $40. Recommend early registration, space limited
Natural Meditation - Free Class
Learn to meditate. November 11, 12 and 14. Two one hour group sessions plus a 30 minute individual session to receive your personal mantra. Class size limited details
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Slipping Into Slumber
Do you find it difficult to switch off your mental chatter in the evening? As we lie down to go to sleep our mind may become identified with the objects of our senses. We may think about the events of the day and reproduce the emotions and thoughts that accompanied our daytime  experiences. If we are not able to detach from them, we may have difficulty falling asleep or sleep so lightly that we are not deeply resting. Do you grind your teeth? Perhaps you have emotions that have not sufficiently been digested.
What happens during sleep?
During sleep we reconnect with the underlying field, our source, so that we can receive divine intelligence and energy for our well-being. We process food, emotions, and experiences that aid our concentration, emotional balance, zest for life, proper digestion and elimination, radiant skin, and overall glow and energy. During restful sleep we repair and rejuvenate our physiology for tissue growth and support the proper functioning of our Immune system.
When Vata Blows Into Town
Vata winds of change can agitate our sleep. Routine soothes Vata so consider both daytime and nighttime routines that will invite restful, rejuvenating sleep come nighttime. In addition to the Vata pacifying tips above, try these to invite restful sleep.
- Arise early in the morning--by 6am if you can.
- Eat daily meals at regular times without snacking between to support complete digestion. Have your evening meal by 7pm
- Begin to quiet in the evening. Avoid late evening stimulation especially the news. Take a warm bath.
- Enjoy a small cup of warm milk with grated nutmeg (calms the mind) or a sleep inviting tea like Sleepytime (chamomile).
- Upgrade your thoughts--thinks of what you appreciate in others, what you feel most grateful for in your day. Catch and release--meaning catch thoughts that are taking you down an anxious or judging line of thought and release them...you do not need to complete them. Hint: Meditation is a daily practice that helps with this.
- Plan to be in bed and ready for sleep by 10pm. Let go of body tensions and problems--now is not the time to solve them. If you wish to listen to relaxing guided meditations to help with letting go, consider these: Getting Into the Vortex: Guided Meditation with
 Esther and Jerry Hicks or, "Your Present: A Half Hour of Peace" A Guided Imagery Meditation by Susie Mantell. - Try deep breathing once in bed. When we are anxious our exhalations are shorter than our inhalations. Make your exhalation twice as long as your inhalation.
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Personal Ayurveda Assessment
Rhonda Egidio Ph.D., provides Ayurvedic assessments of primary health  concerns, diet, sleep and lifestyle and offers Ayurvedic recommendations. Check out assessment and session options. Rhonda Egidio, Radiant Life Ayurveda 269-345-2991
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Upcoming Events
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Awake and Aware:
Healthy Modern Living Oct 14
Prevention/Treatment for Common Health Concerns Nov 18
Sangha Yoga:
Perfect Digestion
Oct 15.
Meditation for the Deaf Community begins Oct 24.
Ayurveda Super Herbs Nov 12
Unity of Kalamazoo:
Free Meditation Class begins Nov 11
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Stewed Apples
This is a great recipe for breakfast as it promotes digestion and metabolism.
Raw apples can aggravate Vata but cooked apples prepared with spices can produce ojas and pacify Vata and Pitta. 
1 whole fresh, sweet apple, cored and peeled. You may use a pear
3 whole cloves or powdered spice blend of cloves, cinnamon, and cardamom (¼ tsp or to taste).
1/4 cup of water
1 tsp ghee
can add a bit of turbinado sugar to taste.
Directions:
Slice apple. Add spices, apples and water in a covered pot. Cook about 10 minutes until apples are soft.
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"When the seasons change, we experience a sympathetic internal shift.
All life- forms open
themselves up to receive cosmic redirection from nature during these crucial seasonal transitions, so we are likely to be more
vulnerable and unsettled."
Maya Tiwari, The Path of Practice: A Woman's Book of Ayurvedic Healing
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Vata Churna
3 tsp fennel
1 tsp each (as you choose) turmeric, ground cumin, ground ginger, black pepper, salt, cardamom, turbinado sugar, and fenugreek.
Grind all in a spice/ dedicated coffee grinder and saute in a bit of ghee or olive oil to add to recipes. Well help to pacify Vata.
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2 Vata Tea Recipes
Equal parts ginger, cumin and coriander
or
Equal parts licorice, cardamom, cinnamon plus a slice of ginger or ground ginger.
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Meditation Timer
Want a gentle invite into and out of your daily meditation?
Visit Insight Meditation to stream or download meditation timers varying in length from 15 to 60 minutes.
They begin with a bell chime and end with 3 bell chimes.
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Pass It Along
Perhaps you know someone who may find life benefit in Ayurveda knowledge? Please forward this eNews on to them.
If you do not wish to receive future mailings from Radiant Life Ayurveda, you may unsubscribe at the bottom of this email. This mailing list will not be sold or shared with others in respect for your privacy. Rhonda
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Ayurveda information shared here is for general educational purposes and is not intended to substitute for medical or psychological advice. Please consult with a qualified medical professional in these matters.
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Free thermos  |
Are you ready to have some customized knowledge about your Ayurveda constitution and doshic imbalance to stimulate your health journey?
Make an appointment for your Ayurveda Assessment and 1 followup for $160 (regularly $180). Your choice, receive a ginger grater or a thermos ideal for drinking daily hot spice water for detox and weight loss.
Expires October 31, 2012
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