Wholesome Spring Ayurvedic ‘Green + Gold Soup’ Recipe!

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The chill of winter is starting to fade as the sun begins to rise a little earlier each morning; set a little later each evening and transition back to summer.

Spring is the beautiful in-between season that allows us to slowly say goodbye to winters woolly-weeks and hello to the sprouting fresh blossoms of spring.

In Ayurvedic medicine spring is a very important time of the year for paying attention to the body and practicing mindfulness towards our food and daily activities. With the start of warmer weather, our bodies know that it is time to ‘lighten-up’, cleanse, purify and clear the decks of one season to make room for the next. We go from hibernation mode to being engaged and more easily outward in the world.

In summary: having the awareness and capacity for being able to adapt to the changing environment around you is key factor in maintaining a balances, healthy strong body and mind.

Health is a state of inner-balance!

One of the best ‘foodie’ ways to specifically nourish, balance and gently cleanse your body during Spring is to eat warm, light, easy to digest foods such as Soup!

In the spirit of spring I have prepared a special soup recipe for you to get you on your soupy way!

Stay in tune with your body, spring-clean, dance in the sun and eat soup!

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Ingredients:

  • 1 tbsp ghee
  • spices: 1 tsp of each; cumin, coriander & ¼ tsp fennel seeds
  • 1 tbsp fresh ginger finely chopped
  • 1 tsp fresh turmeric finely chopped & ½ tsp of turmeric powder
  • 1 leak chopped
  • 1 zucchini chopped into small pieces
  • 1 small head of broccoli chopped into pieces
  • 1 stick of celery chopped small
  • 1 cup of pumpkin chopped into cubes
  • 1 cup of green beans chopped small
  • 1 handful of chopped fresh coriander
  • 4 cups of boiling water
  • 1 tsp of sea salt
  •  ¼ tsp black pepper

Creating your soup:

  1. Place a spoon of ghee into your pot on a medium heat and stir in cumin, coriander and fennel seeds.
  2. Stir in fresh ginger, turmeric, turmeric powder and chopped leek; toasting for 2-3 minutes to coat your ingredients in the ghee and spices.
  3. Add your vegetables: zucchini, celery, pumpkin, green beans, broccoli and stir them into the spices.
  4. Add 4 cups of boiling water, sea salt, black pepper and fresh coriander.
  5. Place the lid on and let simmer on medium heat for 15 minutes or until your vegies are soft and cooked.
  6. Serve in your favourite bowl with a garnish of fresh coriander and a few extra cracks of pepper & sea salt to taste.

I hope you enjoy this delicious simple soupy recipe as much as I enjoyed shopping for these seasonal fresh organic ingredients and making it!

Wishing you and your family a beautiful spring!

Wholesome Love & Yumminess!

x Lorien

Yoga: Iyengar Inspiration

‘The yogi realises that his life and all its activities are part of the divine action in nature, manifesting and operating in the form of man. In the beating of his pulse and the rhythm of his respiration, he recognises the flow of the seasons and the throbbing of universal life.’

~BKS Iyengar, pg 41, Light On Yoga.

{original ‘gold om’ artwork + typography by lorien waldron.} 

x Om Shanti 

Some Juicy Wholesome Goodness = Is On. Its. Way!

Hello Beautiful Soul, (yes, I’m talking to you – the beautiful being reading this!) :)

Wholesome Loving Goodness, (my mission)  is going through a magnificent transformation. More than ever I wish to share with YOU inspiration, tools, tips, info ~ holistic living that is nourishing, chemical-free and good for the soul!

  • My Holistic Ayurvedic Lifestyle + Recipe book is coming this year, 2015 – release date to be announced soon!
  • Women’s 1 day and weekend getaway retreats in Byron Bay (and perhaps some other exotic destinations) co-faciliated with my very own Wholesome Mother, Alora Waldron – expert teacher on all things chemical-free, organic and transformational are coming this year, 2015 – dates to be announced soon!
  • Ayurveda+Cooking+Yoga 1 day immersion workshops coming this year, 2015 – dates announced soon!
I’m feeling moved beyond moved to serve communities of families, youth and children in bringing love into food, cooking and life this year. Projects and collaborations to make this dream a reality are underway. This will be the big focus of 2015! 

It’s time to DREAM big friends – it’s time to make the difference you are here to make – starting with the basics, proper nourishment and wholesomeness pure chemical free living so that you and your family, society and the planet, can thrive!

It’s been a while since I’ve shared ‘What Is Up’ – in Wholesome Loving Goodness land. So here you go. I’m so excited and look forward to sharing with you in this magical year of 2015!

++JOIN ME++  If you would like to work with me, retreat with me, cook with me or transform your lifestyle with me in 2015 – if this year is THE year for YOU! …Look to the sidebar on the right of this page and join my Cardamom Pod Newsletter List!

Join me, I’d love to work with you in this powerful year of possibility, 2015! 

“Miracles occur naturally as expressions of love. The real miracle is the love that inspires them. In this sense everything that comes from love is a miracle.”

~Marianne Williamson

x Om Shanti x

Warm, nourish, soften, mmm – Let’s talk ‘Ayurvedic Daily Routine’

Let’s cut straight to the chase, to the juicy business of our day to day living.

Your body is a temple. It is sacred.

For your body, mind and spirit to function optimally, it must be cared for, loved, nourished nurtured and respected with consistency and regularity. Your body is relying on you to look after it. It will even talk to you when it is out of balance, to get your attention and make you stop, slow down, rest, have a cry of release and realise where you are really at.

In essence, you are a miracle and your body is the magical vessel that you have to express, shine, dance, sing, play, connect and experience the world and inter-react with.

In honour of your divine body, of all bodies, your incredible organs and wondrous nervous system that communicates and allows all actions, thoughts, movement, digestion, creativity, love and magic to take place within you ~ Ayurveda has some tips for us!

The ‘Daily Routine’ is a key ingredient in creating harmony, balance and wellness internally and externally.

I love these simple practices that slow the mind down, soothe the soul, nourish the body, mind and spirit on the deepest levels and provide an opportunity to connect within on a daily basis.

If you can only start with adding 1 of these 5 practices into you day to begin with, that will make a big difference in itself!

Without further ado… Let’s get to it:

  1. Wake up, spit in the sink any gunk in your mouth, gently brush your teeth, scrape your tongue with a copper tongue scraper (copper conducts the toxins the best, or silver or gold). See here for Tongue Scraping Tutorial 
  2. Drink warm water with fresh ginger, lemon and honey (do not add honey if water is boiling, only when temp is warm). Or simply drink warm water to flush toxins, warm your digestive fire and hydrate your brain to start the day.
  3. Self massage with organic black sesame oil. Warm the oil and apply to your body before you shower in the morning. Focus on the joints, massage in a circular motion and move from your feet to your head. A great practice for improving circulation, boosting the immune system, cleansing the lymphatic system, soothing and grounding the nervous system, nourishing the bones and muscle tissue and loving your body first thing in the morning or before bed at night. Have a warm shower afterwards, the heat will open your pores and allow the oil to penetrate deeper into the tissues offering greater nourishment and goodness to your cells! Yum! So good in autumn and winter particularly! 
  4. Eat something warm for brekky! Warm, smooth, light and soupy… A rule in Ayurveda is to eat your biggest meal in the middle of the day when the sun is the highest- and to eat light and easy to digest foods for breakfast and dinner to assist your body and allow for optimum digestion.
  5. Massage your feet before bed with warm sesame oil to ground the nervous system and promote a very very deep and delicious sleep! …Also putting your legs up the wall, a yoga pose called the fountatin of youth or virparita karani that will nourish your adrenals and kidneys, restoring natural energy and allowing your body to balance and melt into a deep yummy sleep! 
Incase your wondering about the ‘tongue scraping’… Here’s a little ‘tongue scraping’ video tutorial.

Have fun incorporating these beauties into your awareness and self-care, self-love regime! Your body will love you for it!

x Love, Lorien

Summer Fresh Salad!

Fresh organic crispy cos lettuce (hydrating & rich in chlorophyll for the blood), Organic home sprouted Moong bean sprouts (protein source, enzymes), fresh organic Coriander (cooling/balances the fire element ‘pitta’ in the body, great for the skin), organic red capsicum (yummy!), Avocado (healthy oils, fats & deliciousness!) and love!

x Yummm!!!

Creating with Love

Love really is the secret ingredient to whatever it is we do in this world.

Whether you are baking a cake, making the bed, talking with another, with the people closest to you in life, with an animal or at work interacting ~ whatever and with whoever the interaction or creation is happening with ~ if you add love to the equation, magic happens!

I am overwhelmed with gratitude and appreciation for the love and beauty experienced during my recent travels to India and the amazing new and exciting directions that are opening up for spreading the message and vision of Wholesome Loving Goodness with the world.

While cooking on a recent Yoga Retreat in the beautiful Byron Bay region of Australia, I found some opportunities to ‘create love’ visually with the food I was preparing for the participants. The experience of cooking for a group of Yogi’s 7 days in a row was heart-opening and inspiring! It was a challenge and so rewarding through the feedback and love that was exchanged within the sharing of the meals as a community.

One bowl of porridge at a time, one wholesome vegetable soup at a time, one lovingly made hot drink at a time… we can start to spread warmth, and wholesome loving home-made goodness that each and everyone of us has the abilitiy to generate in our own kitchens, with who we are and what we love, transformation of our own body, mind’s and spirit’s can begin to take place and have ripple effects that spread into our relationships, family, work and communities. I’m inspired and excited for this journey to continue.

There is so much to share, there are 1,000’s of images from India ranging from food to friendly warm faces. There are stories and experiences that words cannot do justice to. India was a very Wholesome Love Filled adventure! So much gratitude for the journey and so much inspiration for the vision of Wholesome Loving Goodness and service in the world continuing to blossom and flourish in new and exciting ways as we enter into Spring of 2013!

It’s great to be back. I am grateful for all the support, enouragment, love and beauty that I have received since beginning this journey just over one year ago.

With wholesome, loving, goodness and joy!

x Namaste

Lorien

The first day of Spring!

There is so much beauty within each season and cycle.

Spring in Ayurveda is about melting away the coolness and potential ‘heaviness’ of winter, (Kapha Dosha) in preparation for the intensity of Summer’s warmth!

During this time it can be very balancing to:

  • Eat slightly lighter foods such as warm Vegie Soups and Ayurvedic Kitchari (Rice & Dhal cooked together).
  • Give yourself a little extra rest.
  • Rub warm Sesame or Almond oil into the soles of your feet before bed.
  • Give yourself extra time and space to nourish and ground your body through activities such as Yoga and Chi-Gong/Tai Chi which assist in purifying the bodies energy centres ~ assisting in a smooth seasonal transition!

Spring is beautiful, warmth is in the air!

Happy Spring everyone!

Below is a photo of the first sunrise of Spring that I captured this morning as a momento!

x Love Lorien