Mung Bean Sprout!

It's officially Spring or Kapha Season one week from today! This the time of new beginnings, creative endeavors & cleansing. We are in a period which Ayurveda calls ritusandhi, or the junction between two seasons. Ritusandhi lasts two weeks before and two weeks after the season crossover. This is an ideal time to modify your diet and eat foods that facilitate a lightening of the body and clearing of the blood to prepare it for the approaching warm days. Now is a time for legume sprouts and spring vegetables; a generally lighter fare compared to Winter's heavier foods.

Spring/kapha season is a time of moist, cool, heavy and fertile energy. The season affects you whether you are aware of it or not. We are slowly moving into a time of activity, like the hibernating bear coming out of it's den; it's slow going. This is a time to gradually increase your exercise & it's intensity. Also a time to eat more bitter & astringent veggies. We are more susceptible to getting sick; so this is a good time to use your jal neti pot, use pungent spices like black pepper & cayenne, drink teas with orange peel, cloves or strawberry leaf, use lemon & honey, & keep the echinacea on hand. Ayurveda asserts that we are affected by nature in every way; also that we are by nature designed to be self-healing. It's through proper food and routines that we can align ourselves with what is gong on in our environment.

Grocery List of for Kapha Season

Fruit

Dried

Vegetables

Alfalfa sprouts

Bean sprouts

Beet greens

Brussel sprouts

Burdock root

Cabbage

Carrots

Cauliflower

Celery

Chicory

Chilies, dried

Fresh Corn

Collard Greens

Daikon radish

Garlic

Green beans

Kale

Leafy greens

Lettuce

Mushrooms

Mustard greens

Onions

Parsley

Peas

Spinach

Sprouts

Swiss chard

Turnips

Turnip greens

Watercress

Grains

Corn

Millet

Rye

Protein

Goyas

Lima

Kidney

Mung

Sweetener

Raw Honey

Spices

Black pepper

Cayenne

Cloves

Oils

Corn

Teas

Pungent (spicy) teas

Cardamom

Chicory

Cinnamon

Cloves

Dandelion

Ginger, esp. dry

Hibiscus

Orange peel

Strawberry leaf

Stay tuned for 5 days with Sprouted Mung Beans, beginning this Monday. I will introduce you to mung beans, sprouting and more. Posts will include easy ayurvedic recipes, ideas, suggestions, and photographs to support you transition from Winter into Spring!

Once again we shall

See the snow melt,

Taste the flowing sap,

Touch the budding seeds,

Smell the whitening flowers.

Know the renewal of life.

-From an Anishnabeg (Ojibway) Thanksgiving for Spring

For more information contact me at ayurvedamama@gmail.com