Ayurveda's digestive reset part II

The lessons I've learned after my first spring digestive reset experience. What felt good and what can I do differently next time.

The Digestive Reset is a wrap!

It wasn’t the first time I changed my diet. I did it more than 2 years ago, because of my kidney condition. That was more based on fear, the change was instant and the diet more restricted. I was busy with food and preparation pretty much all day.
This time it was a conscious choice with preparation and transitions, with nutritious food.

The biggest lessons were that I have to do it in February/March next year.

To my system it’s been summer here in Spain for a while and in the summer my body needs different things than in the spring. The slow, heavy, dampness of winter has past for a while and it is now more important for me to start paying attention to the pitta (the fire) in my system. Last year it got quite out of balance in August and I was quite ill.

The Spanish eating rhythm is not really optimal for my system. I’ve known that for a while, but it became even clearer now. in Ayurveda, the idea is that you eat when your body asks for it (not the mind that wants to snack, but actually that feeling of ‘hunger’). If I eat my oatmeal at 9 o’clock, I’m really hungry for lunch around 12-13 o’clock, especially when I’m not supposed to snack in between. Here in the community, lunch is at 14.30 and I couldn’t last that long. I even experienced myself ‘hangry’ again, which had been a long time ago and wasn’t very pleasant 😉 Although my ayurveda teacher did say that that’s a sign that the agni is strong, which is the whole idea of the reset. It turned out to be a lot more challenging while in the community, where they prepare delicious meals every day as I sat with my kitchari every day. Certainly tasty, but not always easy. After all, eating is a social thing and not being able to participate, even if it is a choice, occasionally affected me.

In Ayurveda they talk a lot about poop.

In Ayurveda, people always talk about poop, because if you can’t poop easily (almost) every day, then that is something to look at (both literally looking at your poop and figuratively at what is going on when you don’t regularly poop easily). What I noticed was that the reset helped me with that too. I can sometimes have mild constipation, but with the reset it got better. What I have learned is that the herbal teas that I normally drink have a dry quality for the body. I had to pee more often (including at night) and I think that helped the constipation too. With the reset I just drank water with a little bit of salt and maple syrup with sometimes lemon or lime, which is a hydrating drink and I think that helped a lot. I’m continuing to drink that now.

Not snacking was a real mindset thing. Being reminded of hoe thoughts influence how I feel and my state of being. Now that the reset is done, I notice that I snack again with my love, especially in the evening. Especially milk chocolate, which my body actually doesn’t like at all. I’m in a bit of a rebellious f*ck it period. Until I get nauseous from eating it too much which will make it easier to let go again, at least that’s what I assume 🙂

A great experience and I will definitely go on monodiets more often and continue to experiment with what works and what doesn’t work for my system. Every day a new exploration.