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Ayurveda is a system of ageless wisdom and timeless healing for the body, mind, and consciousness of every individual. In this book, Claire clearly explains a most practical application of Ayurvedic wisdom regarding seasonal regimen, diet, and lifestyle. I think this book will serve many people, including Ayurvedic practitioners and students.
Dr. Vasant Lad, BAMS, MASc, Ayurvedic physician, and author of Ayurveda: The Science of Self-Healing, the Textbook of Ayurveda series, and more
Ill admit, I was a bit intimidated and skeptical of Ayurveda before meeting Claire. But her modern approach, practical wisdom, and unwavering passion made me a believer. This book is the ultimate guide to understanding and applying this powerful ancient medicine to the world we live in today.
Jessica Murnane, author of One Part Plant and host of One Part Podcast
The art and wisdom of Ayurveda is in restoring us to the deep nourishment of nature and a life that honors the ebb and flow of our own breath, our own heart, our own personal tides. Luminously told, this book invites you into that life, where tuning in to nature blossoms deep wisdom and gentle self-care weaves you back into the fabric of belonging. More than an informational book on Ayurveda, this is a guide to living grace and to loving yourself beautiful.
Laura Plumb, author of Ayurveda Cooking for Beginners
Claire presents the power of Ayurvedic wisdom in a stunning collection of doable recipes, rituals, and methods that youll want to practice every day. She has a gift for empowering you to practice self-observation without judgment, and youll be inspired to nourish yourself inside and out with her simple methods and delicious, seasonal, balancing recipes. The answers to vibrant health and greater presence in your life can be found within these gorgeous pages, and as theyll help you to understand, theyre all around us in nature as well!
Heather Crosby, nutritionist and author of Yum Universe and Pantry to Plate
In this stunning book, Claire distills the complexity of Ayurveda and delivers it to you on the level of intuition. She shows you the language of this mind-body-soul system, and then provides accessible advice on using it in your everyday life. Seeking that balance of our inner and outer worlds is much less intimidating with her prompts for self-inquiry, recipes for true nourishment, and seasonal guidance for injecting sacred practices into the normal rhythms of our everyday lives.
Laura Wright, author of The First Mess Cookbook
This book is dedicated to the curious explorer within us all, may we know our true nature
Roost Books
An imprint of Shambhala Publications, Inc.
4720 Walnut Street
Boulder, Colorado 80301
roostbooks.com
2020 by Claire Ragozzino
Cover photo design by Lora Villanueva
Book design by Kara Plikaitis, adapted for ebook
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.
information please visit www.shambhala.com.
Roost Books is distributed worldwide by Penguin Random House, Inc., and its subsidiaries.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Ragozzino, Claire, author.
Title: Living ayurveda: nourishing body and mind through seasonal recipes, rituals, and yoga / Claire Ragozzino.
Description: First edition. | Boulder, Colorado: Roost Books, an imprint of Shambhala Publications, Inc., [2020] | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2019048058 | ISBN 9781611807493 (trade paperback)
eISBN9780834843189
Subjects: LCSH: Medicine, AyurvedicFormulae, receipts, prescriptions. | Yoga. | Vegetarian cooking. | Seasonal cooking. | LCGFT: Cookbooks.
Classification: LCC RM236 .R334 2020 | DDC 641.5/636dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019048058
a_prh_5.6.0_c0_r0
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
I first discovered Ayurveda during my own healing crisis. I was struggling with a chronic digestive disorder that doctors couldnt figure out. Searching for answers, I tried every diet, cleanse, supplement, and superfood under the sun. I saw all kinds of specialists and healers. I read and researched everything I could find, spending my days absorbed in the pages of every holistic health book I could get my hands on. Each nugget of knowledge felt like a bread crumb trail leading more closer to what I was seeking. Then, I came across Dr. Vasant Lads primer, Ayurveda: The Science of Self-Healing, and a spark ignited within me. The concept of viewing the body-mind-soul as an intelligent whole couldnt have felt more right. And in a sea of information on trendy diets and health hacks, this wisdom felt timeless and true for me in a way nothing else had before.
Ill admit, at first I found the Sanskrit words and the concepts foreign. The more I studied, the more complicated it all felt. As I approached learning Ayurveda from my head, the lists of what I should and shouldnt eat for my body type grew even more confusing. I turned to an Ayurvedic practitioner for guidance, and the best advice I received was to stop studying and take a year to discover this wisdom for myself, at my own pace. So thats just what I did, and it changed my life.
I took the year to first explore food and create more mindfulness around how I was eating, not just what I was eating. This simple shift alone had a huge impact on my digestion. Then I turned to yoga, looking to experience why different sequences were more supportive for me at different times of the year and cycles in my life. I established a regular routine, something I hadnt previously had, and gave myself space to be a curious observer of how these shifts in my daily lifestyle impacted my body and influenced my mind. I discovered that nourishment comes in many formsthe food we eat, the company we keep, the way we move our bodies and breathe, and how we create space each day for greater presence in our lives. Real nourishment, real self-care, is about taking time to pause for rituals that honor the ebb and flow of lifes cycles. By learning to live by these cycles and rhythms, a deeper wisdom blossomed within me and my struggles with eating fell away as this new way of living emerged.
At the heart of it, this wisdom taught me how to have a different, more meaningful, relationship to time. In this hyper-stimulated culture we live in, theres always a sense of urgency and a pervasive notion of busyness. We fill our time with long lists of tasks and work late into the night to get them done, only to get up the next morning and do it all again. This unsustainable pace of modern life can create further disconnection from ourselves and nature, and this is where disease emerges. When our attention is pushed and pulled in a thousand directions at any given moment, how can we expect to know ourselves or understand our role in the natural world?