• Women's Health

    What I learned from keeping a food journal for two weeks

    One of our recent assignments in my Ayurvedic Health Counseling program was to keep a journal for two weeks tracking the state of our agni (digestion) and ama (toxins in the body). If you ever work with an Ayurvedic coach or practitioner, you may be asked to do something similar to help the practitioner understand what is causing your imbalances. I found the process helpful and it allowed me to make some changes in my eating habits that quickly had me feeling better. I want to share some tips for how you could keep your own food journal, some things to watch for, and some ways it might help you.…

  • Creativity

    Recovering from perfectionism

    “Perfectionism is not a quest for the best. It is a pursuit of the worst in ourselves, the part that tells us that nothing we do will ever be good enough.” – Julia Cameron, The Artist’s Way On long summer days, is it easy for you to find time to relax and let the worries of the world melt away? Or do you find yourself working even longer hours at your computer, driving yourself to accomplish as much as possible? As the hot, sharp qualities of pitta rise in the summer, we may find ourselves getting more intense, judgmental, or critical of our own work. I’ve previously written about ways…

  • Seasonal Living

    Rethink your summer vacation

    This summer feels a little different than most. For me, there are no outdoor concerts, no plane trips to visit family, no beachside brunches. So how can we still get that “summer feeling”? Ayurveda tells us that connecting with the seasons is important to our health and well-being. We are not supposed to have the same routine, diet and practices all year long. Part of bringing summer into your life is switching up your routine, and that is something we can all do no matter what our summer plans look like.  In fact, I would argue that this summer might present the perfect opportunity to enjoy the relaxation that summer…

  • Interviews

    A letter from my Father: musings on “light and death”

    This week, in honor of Father’s Day, I asked my dad if I could interview him for my blog. My father, Todd Pinney, is, I think, a writer first and foremost. He is a poet and a songwriter, holds a PhD in American Literature, and had a long career teaching composition, poetry and literature at the University level. Growing up in Boulder, Colorado, I saw my dad read his poetry and even shared the stage with him at the iconic Penny Lane coffee-shop on Pearl Street when I was a kid. Later, as a teenager, I performed songs I had written on that same stage. My dad and I have…

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  • Sacred Ritual and Routine

    How to create a Summer Solstice ritual

    The Summer Solstice marks the longest day of sunlight, and the official beginning of summer. Traditionally, this day is celebrated in many cultures with fire ceremonies, dance, and rituals of fertility and abundance. Personally, I like to use the Summer Solstice as a time to both honor nature, and to turn inward and spend time with myself. For several years I’ve been setting my “New Year’s” intentions on the day of the Winter Solstice, and the Summer Solstice is a good mid-year check-in point to reassess and reconnect.  From an Ayurvedic perspective, we always want to look at the qualities that we see showing up in nature, and try to…

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  • Seasonal Living

    Five easy remedies to calm and cool Pitta this summer

    Pitta is the energy that creates change. It is the force of transformation. In our bodies, it is our digestion, absorption and assimilation. It is the digestion of our food, but also the digestion of our emotions. In balance, pitta gives us bravery and ambition. It gives us the courage to fight for what we believe in. When out of balance, pitta leads to anger, hatred and cruel self-talk. I can easily tell when I have too much pitta in my system because I get irritable and self-critical, and I’m not able to properly digest my emotions and transform them into useful action.  There are many things that can cause…

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  • Sacred Ritual and Routine,  Women's Health

    Align with the moon to find your most productive monthly routine

    Something that’s come up for me a lot lately during the past few months of “home quarantine,” is figuring out how much rest I need, how much to push myself, and when to let it all go. With less external obligations, it’s actually been a beautiful opportunity for me to connect with the cycles of nature and live more in line with my own body’s energy. In last week’s post I wrote about how the energies of the doshas cycle through a 24-hour day. This week we’re taking a slightly broader view and looking at how the doshas cycle throughout the month, or through one lunar cycle.   This post…

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  • Creativity,  Sacred Ritual and Routine

    How tuning into the natural rhythms of the day can support creativity

    This week I want to give you another tool to support your workflow and creative process. Just as the doshas are present in different ways in each of us, the energies of the different doshas “rule” different times of the day. If we can work with this natural cycle of energy on a daily basis, rather than against it, we can start to feel like our work is unfolding naturally, rather than something we always feel like we’re pushing against.  Before getting into this, I have to make a confession. I am one of those people who is obsessed with scheduling, and I always have it in the back of…

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  • Creativity

    What’s your creativity type? How the doshas can help you understand your creative process

    What is a dosha anyway? If you know a little about Ayurveda, you might have heard of the doshas: vata, pitta, and kapha. Doesn’t ring a bell? Don’t worry, I’m going to dive into a little Ayurveda 101 here. Some people might think of the doshas as different body types, or body/mind types, but this is not exactly the best way to approach it. The doshas are a combination of elements that form energy patterns. These patterns are present in nature and in our own bodies. The doshas can cause things to go out of balance within us, clouding our true nature. But they are not inherently negative — understanding…

  • Creativity,  Interviews

    Special Mother’s Day interview: a life in pursuit of creative connection

    In my exploration of the relationship between health and creativity, I couldn’t think of anyone better to turn to for insight than my mom: actor, writer and teacher, Ethelyn Friend. I’ve watched her path as an artist and performer unfold throughout my life, and also seen her face addiction and other health issues as I was growing up. This interview gave me a chance to talk about some of this in a new light and hear how those challenges affected her creative work.  When I was a young child, my mother created a one-woman theater piece, Songs My Grandmothers Taught Me, in which she explored the lives of her two…

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