Itinerary 

Week One: Reclaiming Your Ground

All journeys begin not with take off into the skies above or pulling out on to the open road. They start with ensuring that the vehicle of transportation is ready for what's to come. So too does this journey for you begin. Let's do a little "vehicle inspection." I promise. You'll pass with flying colors! 

Note: If at any time you feel like the trip has left without you and you need to catch up, do the "vehicle inspection" again. If you feel like "real life" or "autopilot" has taken over your soulful journey, do the "vehicle inspection." The "vehicle inspection" never expires!

I'M READY

If you're like me and want to see the big picture, the full itinerary, at the start of a journey, I've got you covered. Please see the handout “Weekly Big Picture.” It outlines all the major components. You’ll notice that some of them change week to week, while others stay the same. 

Feeding Your Body, Mind, and Spirit

The ingredients of a truly great meal go beyond what’s literally on the plate in front of you. Like the rest of life, it encompasses so much more than what meets the eyes. A great meal engages all of the senses and nourishes the layers of your being.

Let’s look at some of Ayurveda’s recommendations for how to nourish the gross and subtle layers of your being. The suggestions are simple and powerful. Their potency builds in you over time.

Each meal is sacred.
Each meal is holy.
Why? 
It's simple.
You are sacred.
You are holy.

The Dining Experience:

• Create an ambiance that communicates there is always more than meets the eye. No need to wait to use the special dishes or anything else that you love. You are the special occasion, always! 
• Don't underestimate the power of setting the table with care and ensuring there are no distractions. Take the few extra moments to be present to this very ordinary act. Intention matters. Open up to the extraordinary surrounding you and holding you every moment of the day.
• Bless your food, honoring your connection to nature, to all those who made the meal possible past and present, and to the Divine. Blessing your food is blessing yourself.
• Savor your dining experience. Meals should take around 20-25 minutes.
• ​Explore eating with your eyes closed to awaken all your senses.
• If life feels topsy turvy, wait to eat until it feels more calm. Avoid eating when upset. 

Hands open, ready to receive.
​Offer yourself and 
​be filled.

Honoring how You are Made:

• The total amount of food for a meal should be approximately the size of your two hands cupped together. This is roughly the size of your stomach.
• Limit beverages to a half cup or less (even omit them) with your meal. This allows more space in your stomach to digest your food. 
• Chew your food until it is really mushy. Most indigestion is caused by not fully chewing food and eating too quickly. Let your meals be main events during the day to connect you more deeply to your inner world. ​
• Stop eating at the first burp. It's your stomach saying that it's reached its limit for now. 

Baptize yourself with fire 
​and bless yourself.

Stoking the Flame within You:

• Your digestive fire mirrors that of the sun. It's weaker in the morning, strongest midday, and slower after sunset.
• For each meal, prepare warm, moist foods that you can digest with ease. This will change with the seasons outside and the seasons of your life. 
• Eat in line with the current quality of your inner fire. Signs of weaker digestion include grumbling and burping during the day.  If this is the case, no need to worry. Ease up for a few meals or a while. Grow your fire.  
• A light, small breakfast gently will stoke your inner flame without dampening it. However, if you are doing a lot of physical activity during the day, a heavier breakfast is what you need.
• When your inner sun is at its peak midday between noon-2:00PM, eat your largest meal. 
• ​To transition into the evening with ease, enjoy a lighter dinner of the same overall quantity as lunch. Close the kitchen consistently by 7:00PM, if not earlier, to give yourself at least three hours before bedtime to digest the meal and the day.
• Allow at least four hours or more between meals to give the body time to digest before adding more food on top of the previous meal.
• Your inner fire loves consistency. Eat around the same time each day and watch your digestion of food and life increase.
• Enjoy a short walk after meals of at least 100 steps. Tend your flame. 

Feed yourself rest.
Return home to yourself.

Soulfood:

• In the "Recipes" handout, you'll find three recipes: a breakfast bowl, kitchari, and serenity bowl. Each recipes gives you broad parameters with which to make them your own. There's no one size fits all. Adapt them as you see fit.
• The Ayurvedic recipes are designed to give your digestion a rest while still loving up on you with lots of nourishment and flavor. 
• Pay attention to how the other layers of your being beyond your digestion and body feel as a result of eating these recipes. You just might feel that more of you is getting rest or a reset. ​​

You are home and on a journey.
Breathe in this truth;
let it move within you.
Now, exhale sending it out
​into the world for others
to remember who they are. 

Swadhyaya:

• When you pause to gaze upon what's going on in your precious life, you engage in the practice of Swadhyaya or self-study. 
• The Sanskrit term may be new to you, but the practice of it is not. How else could you have ended up in this program if it wasn't for insights gleaned from your self-reflection and study?
• When engaging in Swadhyaya, you create distance from the stories swirling inside of you about all that is unfolding in the cosmic drama of Life. This allows you to see more clearly what is anchoring you in the home of your true self and what is pulling you away from there.
• Dive into more reflections in the handout "Soulful Living Swadhyaya" and this week's tip sheet.