Spring Cleaning

I'm starting to settle in to a more rural life in Three Rivers. Riding my bicycle through the winding streets this morning was pure bliss. Coasting downhill with the breeze in my face, I closed my eyes in sheer reverie for a breath so delicious that I have no doubt someone in a stuffy PR firm is trying desperately to market it. Even my digestion has improved in the two short weeks since I arrived. I've been on a bit of an emotional rollercoaster but also completely fascinated by mother nature and the tides of change that push and pull at me with magnetic force in this place.

I've also started to feel that voice, deep in my bones, whispering, coaxing: it's time to write, you have something to say.

It's spring and now that I'm relatively stationary in body and mind, it's time to unload. The season of cleansing and renewal is upon me; it may sound crazy but I have a real desire to eat grass (!), the beautiful green buttery blades of grass that have been growing noticeably longer with each passing day. The murmur of the river has awakened a higher reasoning power within this heavy winter body. I crave the fruits of nature and a lighter vehicle for play.

There may be no better time than spring to heed the maxim of eating seasonally. Did you know that spring is the perfect season to experiment with a RAW vegan diet? It just makes so much sense. The first thing that nature provides us with, the first shoots of life, light leafy greens and herbs, bitters and tart flowers; it's all masterfully designed so that we can begin reducing that winter burden, detoxifying the tissues, re-calibrating our digestive systems, and doing a little "spring cleaning". While high-fashion magazines and the culture of consumption would have us believe that our body weight should remain steady, most women will notice that their bodies change, at least a bit, from season to season. And some may notice that when they keep eating the same dense wintertime foods such as sweets, dairy, heavy carbohydrates and proteins, spring can become a time of pure misery as allergies begin to flare and winter weight becomes less than cozy. We want to fly in spring but our winter bodies keep us tied to earth.

In this Kapha (water+earth) season of heavy wetness we want to purify as much as we can. In fact, many Ayurvedic practioners recommend a specific cleansing routine and re-calibration at the junction of every season.

Even those who are already eating a vegan diet should begin to cut back on winter staples such as faux meats, root vegetables, fried foods, and other hearty fare. Increasing lettuces, watery vegetables, light grains such as quinoa and millet and favoring seeds such as pumpkin, sesame, and sunflower over heavier nuts is wise. Whole grain noodles are also great. And don't forget to devour whatever local early season fruits you can get your hands on. Whole vegetable juices will also hasten your spring cleaning.

The lightness of body that comes from this transition into spring is about more than regaining bikini weight. Toxins are notoriously good at hiding in the lipid (read:fatty)tissues of the body, so using this time to clean the tissues of the body is wonderful even if you aren't interested in losing weight. The wetness and increased oiliness that has been created in the body will actually HELP to facilitate proper detoxification of tissues (have you ever heard of ringing out a DRY sponge?). In Ayurvedic teachings it is said that Oil is Love, and the classic detoxification program Pancha Karma is in-part devoted to the use of oil to facilitate removal of toxins. So a little bit of high quality oil (cold pressed, unrefined) is necessary for our health even in this period of detoxification.