Episode 2: A heartfelt message: What is Ayurvedic medicine?

A conversation with Swati (Heartful Ayurveda) who shares her innovative and creative cooking skills to blend the senses of taste and smell with uplifting one's mental and spiritual states. Her unique tea blends not only boost your mood and is delicious, but she adds thoughtful messages just for you to start your day!

Guest Contact: Website: myheartfeltayurveda.com
Social media handles: Facebook and Instagram: Heartfelt Ayurveda

Etsy website : https://www.etsy.com/shop/HeartfeltAyurveda?ref=simple-shop-header-name&listing_id=1344544985 

This is a podcast for those who love to talk common sense about everyday issues. You will listen to a variety of guests that share common sense ideas through their life experiences by sharing what they learned. For any comments, questions or suggestions for future topics, please contact the show at: stand4commonsense@outlook.com
Song title: Upbeat Indie Folk Music
Music by Lesfm from Pixabay

Transcript

Host: 0:23

Welcome back to Connecticut Common Sense where in this podcast we discuss all topics and issues that just have plain common sense. So in today's episode, you'll be hearing from Swati, otherwise known as Heartful Ayurveda on her Instagram and Facebook pages. She's got a real passion for cooking, especially with a variety of spices. But what she likes to do is to blend her culinary skills to elevate once frame of mind and one spirit. So I hope you enjoy this episode, and thank you for tuning in. Hello, today we're here with Swati um, total disclosure on this. She lives in Georgia with her husband, and we met through our spouses who were classmates in a postgraduate program. So Swati. Um, can you tell a little bit further about yourself to the audience?

Guest: 1:30

Namaste everyone. Namaste

Host: 1:33

Namaste

Guest: 1:34

Namaste. Thank you for giving me this wonderful opportunity to be here. Um, I am, uh, you know, I'm an Ayurvedic Wellness counselor by profession, and uh, I used to.. I come from a field of, uh, accessory design and gemology, so it's a complete 360 degree flip now.

Host: 1:56

Oh, right. And yes. And I remember when you were doing your jewelry designs,

Guest: 2:03

Thank you. Yes. I, uh, you know, the, the, the good thing about what I do is that whenever I pick up something, I pour my heart and soul in it. It's like, like the passion ignites in my work. You can see it. And, uh, I totally am a small business woman. And, uh, I believe in a small local business kind of a model. And, um, yeah. So right now I am in the. wellness field and I am loving every part of it.

Host: 2:34

That's great to hear. Now, I know that you have, um, an Instagram account and a Facebook account, um, called Heartfelt Ayurveda, and would you let us know a little bit about what is Ayurveda.

Guest: 2:52

Absolutely. So Ayurveda can be broken down into two words, Ayur and Veda, Ayur means long life and Veda is the science or the understanding. So Ayurveda is a beautiful ancient science of life that comes from India, which uh, gives principles and tools to how to live a long, healthy life. And the reason we need that long healthy life is because we want to fulfill our karma and our dharma, and to do that, we need to be healthy so that we can live to a highest potential.

Host: 3:33

Okay. Now, how did you get involved with Ayurveda from Jewelry design?

Guest: 3:41

Yeah. What a beautiful journey it has been, but let me tell you, it's, it, it has also has its own challenges and it's, it's been, uh, it's been a rough ride. You know, they say being born and growth is painful, and you can see that in nature. I had adversities and life challenges in terms of my health and emotional wellbeing, and it started with meditation. A friend came along and introduced me to the beautiful concept of meditation. I joined a community and from there I met an Ayurvedic counselor in my area.. Took some, uh, seek some counseling service from her. And I was like, and then I realized that the strength comes from the journey inward and it's a very untapped territory. At least it was in my life. And I, and that's what put me on the path. And I said, I wanna not just seek help, but I want to offer what I can. It just felt right to be in the well field of wellness. And I started studying, Ayurveda it was a journey of a year and a half, and here I am, I graduate fresh graduate

Host: 4:57

Wow, that's great. Um, so what has been your greatest reward and then also an obstacle in starting this small business?

Guest: 5:10

Uh, yes. The, I think the, the greatest reward is when people, just look into my eyes and I can see they can literally see through my heart and soul. They know that she gave her 110% here and they, the connection I make with my clients for my yogis, I can say who are like patients in my practice. And I, when, when they heal, I heal with them. Um, the obstacle for a small business, I would say is that it's a one man army. It's like you handle everything parallelly. It's a lot of juggle from accounting to photography, to creatives, to sourcing, and then you have a family life in the backend.

Host: 5:58

Of Course. Okay. So let's get down to the nitty gritty of your business. Um, you had mentioned to me when we had spoken, um, about these pop-up restaurants that you have envisioned and then ended up creating, and they're known as puka rasa. Could you tell us a little bit about this interesting and novel experience? Because you are hosting this in your home.

Guest: 6:28

Yes, that's right. And actually the vision is one day to make it grow, it grow, make it bigger, and host it in a, in some, uh, you know, where it's more accessible to people. But right now puka rasa is basically a rasa in Sanskrit means flavor and puka rasa is like authentic. Uh, flavor from the foundation. It's a plant-based gastronomical experience that I've created because it involves the ambience, the lighting, not just the food, but everything comes together for this beautiful evening that people experience from at when they enter my home, the aromas and the little rituals I do with them. And, uh, you know, then we eat and I talk about ahara..Ahara means input in Sanskrit and in Ayurveda, they see human has, uh, four inputs in life. Food, water, breath, and perception. And I try to cover all of these across the board in puka rasa. And, um, we, I also play with the six tastes that are involved in food. It's the sweet, sour, salty, bitter, pungent, and astringent. puka rasa is like my brainchild where my creativity and passion have come together. And, uh, I cannot wait for my next event that's happening this fall on November 20th at my house.

Host: 7:54

Wow, that sounds delicious actually. Okay, So I know you mentioned that it's a plant based meal. Um, is it vegan? Uh, do you have fish, what, what are your dietary rules for?

Guest: 8:11

Absolutely. So, you know, uh, it's, it's more aligned with Ayurveda and Ayurveda does not encourage meat, but at the same time, it does not discourage meat. It's very neutral. It just lays these guidelines. So the, the restaurant is not vegan, Sorry, The restaurant is not vegan. However, it is, uh, plant based where I do not do meats. I, I'm not very comfortable cooking meats or any kind of, um, you know, fish, et cetera. But, uh, I work with wholesome legumes, organic vegetable and a full grain, uh, you know, uh, products. And, uh, the, I make sure the meal is completely fresh, handmade, made from scratch and homemade, and it has all the qualities that a wholesome meal would deliver, uh, to a person. And it, it, I think you can feel it at your cellular level. So that's the idea of plant based here.

Host: 9:13

Okay. So it's not vegan, but would it be more vegetarian?

Guest: 9:18

Vegetarian? Correct.

Host: 9:19

Okay.

Guest: 9:19

I wanted to say, right, the idea is to deliver a, a delicious vegetarian experience.

Host: 9:26

Okay. So is it strict vegetarian? Because I know, um, in our culture there are strict vegetarians where they don't even take eggs or dairy. Um, are yours of the same line, or do you include some dairy and some eggs?

Guest: 9:44

I do include dairy and eggs very happily. And one of the reasons is I also happily include ghee, which is clarified butter, which I make at home. And it's made from a cultured butter, which has all the probiotics needed for the body. And the process of making ghee is is so, um, divine. I would say it's actually called, uh, God's, uh, food. So, we'll, we'll elaborate more on that later, but. Uh, yeah, it's, it's definitely includes dairy and eggs. Yep.

Host: 10:17

Okay. And you had also mentioned to me before about that you usually, um, focus on certain seasons. For example, the fall season, you notice there's an uptick in, um, people's imbalance of their emotions or, um, their mental health. Um, can you elaborate a little bit more about.

Guest: 10:42

Yes. Uh, so before I dive into that, I'm just gonna throw a little light on Doshas, which are the principle energies in our body from Ayurveda.. Uh, they are called Vata, Kapha, Pitta. These are the three energies that make us individually different. Like it's like a fingerprint and some people can have two combinations, or just an individual, or some people can be all three. So anyways, the thing is that with seasons, uh, there is a certain energy dominant in each season. So like fall is here and we can see it's a vata dominant season. vata is the energy of movement and you will see a lot of anxiety, racing thoughts, dryness, et cetera, you know, happening in your body. So, um, I, my food, it kind of tailors to that so that we can pacify those, uh, upticks like you call them, or those imbalances in the. and we can have you at a summer level. Summer means balanced. So I'll use seasonal vegetables like cabbage, carrot, something grounding, you know, like beets and uh, spices. Like again, turmeric, uh, maybe heavier foods, like let's do, um, whole milk or 2%. And lots of, uh, pungent spices come together in this season.

Host: 12:09

Okay, so basically you had mentioned that it's the whole environment. It's the total ambiance that's basically going hand in hand with the food tasting that you offer in your home. Have you considered this type of, um, innovative and creative tablescape where you have the food, you have the lighting and the plating, and expanding this concept for people who may want to do it in their home um, for themselves and for guests.

Guest: 12:42

You know, this, this, this sounds amazing and, uh, I am exploring the rims of this, uh, this concept, but I would, uh, love to offer a consult on um, you know, put helping people put together something like this in their house. Definitely.

Host: 13:00

Oh, that's really great. Um, so you can let me know about any sort of link to that and I'll let the audience know. Yeah. Now you also were letting me know of, um, the other thing that you're doing was the intuitive cooking workshop. You show how meals can be done very quickly and it can be fun and it can be very uplifting to one state of mind or elevate their mood. Um, can you talk more about that?

Guest: 13:32

Absolutely, yes. So it's, it's very interesting. I am a self-taught cook in my kitchen, and uh, about 10 years ago, if you asked me how to make dal which is basically a simple lentil curry or soup in India, it's supposedly a simple dish. I did not know anything, what to do with the pot and the lentils, et cetera. So here I am, uh, you know, storming out gourmet meals and feeding a party of eight or 10, uh, completely based on my shoulders. Uh, I, I think it's, it's, it's a gift that I have that I discovered and intuitive cooking kind of derives from my journey over the 10 years. I noticed that following a recipe was, actually a lot of waste of time and energy, and I could see that I was more in my head than in my body. And that's the concept of meditation. So you know, you wanna be more grounded in your body. And intuitive cooking is a way to just get in tune with the food you're making. And you don't measure, like, I'm gonna put apo of turmeric, you just. So much because that's what you need today, and it's kind of listening to the spices and the needs of your body because A, you can, once you're in tune with the ingredients around you, you'll see how your ingredients will talk to you.

Host: 14:52

Oh wow. That, that's so fascinating. Um, and you've also mentioned to me about this, Ayurvedic counseling that you also do. I know you're not a medical doctor so you're not giving out medical advice to people. However, what you're I think from what I understand is that you're giving alternatives to just the regular run of the mill pharmaceutical drugs and um, what you're trying to do is target, um, the food intake, uh, the drink intake with yoga, meditation, and, um, this is all to, um, basically bring about a calm and a peace of mind. Absolutely. Is that accurate?

Guest: 15:36

Yes, it's, it's, it's pretty accurate and I can, I can fill in some more, uh, it's, I can call them as suggestions, lifestyle and diet suggestions. And it's totally up to the, the client how far they wanna take it. Um, uh, you know, uh, the good thing about my consult is I, I need to know where you are. So if, if I suggest you something, First of all tell you, there is no obligation for you to follow it if it doesn't work in your routine. It's, it's a waste of a suggestion. So we come up with, with the ideas and suggestions that actually work for. For you and, uh, I, I am happy to give diet and lifestyle suggestions, yoga and meditation as you, as you said, I also love to give out recipes for the season so that I can get you warmed up and creative in your kitchen, And you can have some nice family time together. and yeah, so the first consult is, is, is elaborate. It involves about 90 to 120 minute consult because we have to have to take all your background, history, et cetera. And then there's a suggestion session, and then I obviously encourage a follow up in a month or two to see how everything's going.

Host: 16:47

Oh, that's really wonderful that you do that. Um, now you also do the concept of gift baskets. Yes. And, um, you blend your own teas, which I think is fascinating by hand. Um, so do you wanna sort of talk about both of those things?

Guest: 17:06

Yes, absolutely. So, you know, the tea blending again, is a very intuitive process and kind of probably a derivative of the intuitive cooking workshop. Um, I love to work with herbs and spices and. You know, just, just stuff in the kitchen and uh, things that are offbeat always fascinate me, just putting them together and seeing what comes out. So I do blend my teas by, uh, intuition a lot, and I put a lot of good energy in them. I usually do the blending in the morning time and it's from Kapha, which is the spiritual, uh, early morning hour so that we absorb all the right energies in the tea. And I right now offer two blends the Do Not Worry Blend and the Rose Breakfast Blend on my website. The Do Not Worry, Worry Blend is actually perfect for this fall winter season, the vata season like I was talking about because it has a grounding, calming sense of energy. The rose breakfast tea blend is an all around season or all around year kind of a tea because you can start your day with that or you can start your afternoon tea with that. It's very light. It is a black tea and it has rose peals in it, and it, uh, creates a sense of, uh, love and care.

Host: 18:20

Oh, great. So I. Now for people who are interested in doing any of these things, um, from, uh, um, intuitive cooking to the gift baskets, if they would like to have a gift basket sent or maybe to someone else, um, or maybe try your tea blends, how would they go ahead and do that? Um, would they have to go on the heartfelt ayurveda, on Facebook or your Instagram page to contact you?? Yes. So,

Guest: 18:52

uh, you can do that. I am very, very, um, avail, I mean available socially, uh, on the social media. So yes, uh, or you can go on myheartfeltayurveda.com and there's a place there where it says, Contact me and there's a little form. You just fill in those three little blanks and it'll send me an email directly and then we can connect through email. Um, I, for the gift baskets, uh, I do offer. I do come up with a certain like, uh, preset once in a while, uh, for seasonally, like I came up with a Valentine's food basket or there's always a Do Not Worry basket that's always available on my website. It comes with a worry doll, a tea, uh, some writeups. I do, I also love to do creative writing, so I'll, I'll write a beautiful note to your friend or to you, something uplifting and um, I am always happy to give out my ideas and put together something that will fit in your. budget..any occasion.

Host: 19:57

Right. Oh, okay. Great. Um, so as far as sort of winding down towards the end of the program, um, what do you think is the biggest misconception that people have about, um, mental health and how diet could be able to help with?

Guest: 20:19

Yes. Uh, that's a great question. I think the biggest misconception about mental health is, uh, I feel like people always say, But you have everything. Why are you depressed? So I hear that a lot and um, it just throws me off because it's not about things it's actually something internal that has happened and it's the mind is a very complex area to tap and it's, it's, it's hard to pinpoint, you know, one area that this, this is affected or this is what happened. But I know that the mind body system is. Very well connected in I weather and Ira weather looks at it holistically and completely, and it, we always look at it together when we provide, uh, treatment protocols or I, I would say suggestions and, um, uh, I'm sorry what was the second question you asked me?

Host: 21:13

Oh. About how, uh, the food relates to the mental health.

Guest: 21:19

So the food is, is is an energy in Aveda, the food is considered prasad an offering of the God. So if, if you, if that, that's why cooking it, it just starts from actually plucking, like when you put bringing your vegetables at home and when you cook, you have to be present with your food and also, The energy you put in the cooking, that affects what you are absorbing in your body. So if, if you are distracted while you're eating or if the person who's cooking your food is not in the right mood, you will feel that energy. And not only that, if you eat a seasonally balanced meal and um, you know, you don't cut out groups like, I won't eat carbs, I won't eat sugar. Don't do that. Uh, there is no blanket statement in Ayurveda every, every food is good and every food can be unsuitable for you, we call it. So we just have to find through an Ayurvedic consultation, what works for our body, what works for our imbalances, and what works for the season we are in.

Host: 22:31

Okay. Yeah, that's really very interesting about that. Um, so one of my last questions to you would be, since this show is known as connecticut common sense. Um, mm-hmm. what is your one piece of common sense that you would like to share with the listeners?

Guest: 22:53

Oh yeah. Um, I think, you know me, I'm the food lady, so it has to be around food uh, it, uh, I think I love this phrase, and this again comes to my rather let food be that medicine. And then medicine, be food, which translates to, um, the food. Your food is your medicine. So if you eat a good diet, you don't need medicine. And if you need medicine, then you're, you're basically, your diet is not right. So kind of, you know, blending that in that, uh, you know, food is medicine, food is everything, food is, uh, food is sacred. Yes.

Host: 23:36

Okay. Well that's pretty much common sense,

Guest: 23:39

Yes. Yes.

Host: 23:40

Well, thank you so much Swee for this conversation today. It was really very, very enlightening and um, I hope it did help a lot of people. Hope you enjoy today's conversation with Swati. If you would like to contact her, please do so on her website, my heartfeltayurveda.com. That is myheartfeltayurveda.com you can also catch her on her Instagram and Facebook under the name heartfelt ayurveda. Till next time bye