Kate ODonnell - Everyday Ayurveda Cooking for a Calm, Clear Mind: 100 Simple Sattvic Recipes

Shambhala Publications, Inc.

4720 Walnut Street

Boulder, Colorado 80301

www.shambhala.com

2018 by Kate ODonnell

Photographs 2018 by Cara Brostrom

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

eBook design adapted from printed book design by Allison Meierding

Cover photos by Cara Brostrom

Cover design by Allison Meierding

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: ODonnell, Kate (Ayurvedic practitioner) author.

Title: Everyday Ayurveda cooking for a calm, clear mind: 100 simple sattvic recipes/Kate ODonnell; photography by Cara Brostrom.

Description: First edition. | Boulder: Shambhala, [2018] | Includes index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2017011440 | ISBN 9781611804478 (pbk.: alk. paper)

eISBN9780834841321

Subjects: LCSH: Medicine, Ayurvedic. | Mind and body. | LCGFT: Cookbooks.

Classification: LCC R605 .O32 2018 | DDC 615.5/38dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017011440

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This book is dedicated to the Ayur Vidya, the spirit of Ayurveda, and to all the gurus and vaidyas of past, present, and future.

Also by Kate ODonnell

The Everyday Ayurveda Cookbook: A Seasonal Guide to Eating and Living Well

H ALFWAY THROUGH WRITING the Everyday Ayurveda Cookbook, I knew I had to write a cookbook about the sattvic diet, the aspect of Ayurveda that focuses on life-giving, pure foods to promote harmony in the mind. While writing about the Ayurvedic diet and lifestyle, I kept coming back to how important mental balance is in becoming aware of our bodies, our food choices, and how we care for ourselves. Understanding our bodies natural rhythms and how to listen to the signs our bodies give us are the key to self-empowered health. Yet what has intrigued me most in my Ayurvedic practice is the role that the mind plays in our ability to listen, heal, and maintain a healthy lifestyle. I started to think how wonderful it would be to write another cookbookone that could help readers access the benefits of food for their moods and overall mental balance.

The connection between stress and modern ailments is becoming clearer through scientific researchreinforcing the importance of a body/mind connection that has always been at the heart of Ayurveda. The more people I work withobserving this science as it applies to the matrix of household living and the balance of work, family, self-care, and self-evolutionthe more I see the importance of mental balance in maintaining health and happiness.

Have you noticed that certain foods can settle you down or pick you up? Ayurveda helps us understand how foods affect our mental wellness by balancing certain energiesspecifically, satisfaction, passion, or lassitude. The sattvic diet is a way of eating to keep a simple, contented mental energy alive, and it involves eating more fresh, local foods; being thoughtful about how we prepare them; and sitting down to enjoy them. For me, this way of eating has come naturally as a companion to my yoga practice, and I believe it was this synergy of yoga and Ayurveda that drew me to the diet in the first place. Paying attention to how food makes me feel, not just in my gut, but in both my mood and my heart, has led to a healthy body and a happy head. A former extremist, Ive learned about balance by experimenting with all manner of fad diets over the years. Ive tried it all, which may make me the ideal guide. Its been a process and not always an easy one. Throughout this book, I will share my story with you and give you some practical tips to help you make the sattvic diet part of your life.

Cara Brostrom, the photographer and recipe developer, had her second baby while we were creating this book together. I asked her for her first impressions as I was writing, and she said, Sure, I want to do all these things youre talking about, but can you write to those of us who are being pulled in many directions? I started to think about the fact that many of us do not have a lot of free time and brain space in the day to learn new routines. We are pulled in so many directions in our livesby the media, family, the beliefs we have about work and play. How do we attend to our mental state in the middle of it all? In this book, I draw from my own experiences of trial and error, share my pitfalls and successes with you, and help to translate an ancient roadmap for balanced living. This book is for you, the busy, heartfelt, and sometimes overwhelmed reader. Eating a sattvic diet helps me notice how my choices are affecting me and offers delicious alternatives that help me with energy and calm. I am inspired to share this knowledge and some of the easy recipes Ive invented along the way because, as I teach others, I keep seeing that Ayurveda really works.

While Ayurveda is an epic, sophisticated, time-honored system of medicine, Im pointing out some of the sattvic diet and lifestyle practices that fit our modern lifestyle. Everything you see in this book, from the food to the photo shoots, is grassroots and a product of my supportive community. If we can do it, you can do it too. Sattva, the clear essence of mind, boils down to simplicity and beauty. Through these simple recipes and Caras beautiful photographs of real food and real people in real places, I hope to inspire you to cultivate satisfaction and peace of mind every day.

about everyday ayurveda cooking for a calm, clear mind

The sattvic diet fosters balance, whether you completely understand the system or not. But Ive noticed people are more likely to practice it if they feel they understand it. It is not a quick fix, but the lifestyle changes will happen gradually if you are patient.

Slowly and slowly, as my yoga teacher always said. So, while you dont have to read and digest all the information in Part One of this book to benefit from the recipes and practice tips, a little background may inspire action. In my first book, The Everyday Ayurveda Cookbook, I explored the foundations of Ayurveda and gave a thorough overview of this ancient health system and how it works. For those of you who read my first book, some of the information in will be familiar, but it is worth re-reading to refresh your understanding of Ayurvedic basics. After the introductory chapter, you will be in new territoryunderstanding the mental energetics of food and how they affect your mood.

We will journey into the mind from the Ayurvedic point of view. To find balance, we have to know the mind as an instrument of the intuitive self rather than letting it run the show. Well be taking a step back to observe mental processes and how the mind works. Once you have this new awareness of your mind and how it can better serve you, it will be easier to choose healthy food and navigate the day with clarity.