I started off the 2015 holidays by completing a 21 Day Meditation Challenge with Oprah and Deepak Chopra and it was a transformative experience for me. So, obviously for the New Year I want to make a resolution to commit myself to regular meditation and replenishing myself from the inside out.

At the turn of the new year I received an email from the Chopra Center about Deepak Chopra’s Personal Goals for the New Year. His resolutions include goals for the spiritual life, mental and psychological life, and physical life. This is the ancient practice of Ayurveda – a science of life (Ayur = life, Veda = science or knowledge). Ayurveda reminds us that health is the balanced and dynamic integration between our environment, body, mind, and spirit. As Deepak Chopra states, the mind-body connection opens the way for radical well-being. Like him, my goal is to reach and maintain a state of well-being this year as a natural way of living with food, meditation, and experiences.

Balancing From the Inside Out

With that in mind, I am embarking on the first step to well-being by balancing myself from the inside out, with three fundamental energies that according to Ayurveda govern our inner and outer environments: movement, transformation, and structure. Known in Sanskrit as Vata (Wind), Pitta (Fire), and Kapha (Earth). You can learn more about these by clicking on the links to the Chopra Center. These primary forces are responsible for the characteristics of our mind and body. Each of us has a unique proportion of these three forces that shapes our nature. To find out which of these dominates in you take this quiz. Aside from meditation, a key to balancing these energies is diet. So, in the upcoming weeks, I’ll be providing yummy recipes for balancing Vata, Pitta, and Kapha. I found out that I’m, dominated by Vata, so you may see a bit more on that.

Sacred Momentum: The Divine Method to Creating Your Best Year Yet

Then on Wednesday, January 13^th, Deepak Chopra will be hosting an online event Sacred Momentum: The Divine Method to Creating Your Best Year Yet. I’ll be summarizing what the hour long event will have to offer on gaining a deeper sense of purpose and clear direction for your life by using divine winds to expertly sail your ship. There should be information on creating a new and natural sense of flow in your life – and out of that flow, watch your dreams be realized with ease. This is for the purpose of helping individuals to stop struggling against the current of life and experience the effortless success that comes from being literally carried to your next best place.

An Invitation To Shift

Just as it is said that “you are what you eat,” every experience in life is metabolized by the body. We literally turn into what we not only eat, but what we think, believe, and feel. From that seed of idea, a total shift in how we view well-being is possible. Join me in this shift in lifestyle for wellness for 2016.

Six Tastes

Today, I’m bringing back my Coconut Beef Curry Recipe. I picked this recipe in order to eat a meal with the following Six Tastes:

Sweet – whole grains, starchy vegetables, dairy, meat, chicken, fish, sugar, honey, molasses

Sour – citrus fruits, berries, plums, tomatoes, pickled foods, vinegar, alcohol, cheese, and yogurt

Salty – soy sauce, seaweed, salted meats, fish, and any food to which table salt has been added

Bitter – bitter greens, endive, chicory, spinach, kale, romaine lettuce, leafy greens, celery, broccoli, sprouts, beets, tonic water

Pungent – peppers, chilies, onions, garlic, cayenne, black pepper, cloves, ginger, mustard, salsa

Astringent – lentils, dried beans, green apples, grape skins, cauliflower, figs, pomegranates, tea

One way to keep the energies balanced is to Including all six tastes in every meal, regardless of which tastes each energy prefers. The six tastes not only ensure that all major food groups and nutrients are represented, but it also provides us with the feeling of satisfaction in eating. If we do not have all flavors available, the brain is not satisfied and continues to send signals to eat more. As a result, we take in too many calories but remain malnourished. If we sample foods that correspond to each of these tastes throughout the day, our meals will provide a wide assortment of health-promoting nutrients. In order to include all six tastes in our meals, we can try to experiment with different food and new spices.

Coconut Beef Curry with Cherry Tomatoes & Cilantro Lime Rice

I know that even if you are not a vegetarian it’s best to eliminate red meat. However, my Coconut Beef Curry with Cherry Tomatoes and Cilantro Lime Rice includes almost all six tastes and is very easy to incorporate variations into it. The Coconut Beef Curry includes meat and brown sugar for “sweet”, cherry tomatoes for “sour”, soy sauce as well as table salt for “salty”, onions, peppers, and ginger for “pungent”. I recommend adding a tonic water or a salad full of leafy greens to this meal for a taste of “bitter.” However, you could also add a bunch of spinach or kale to the curry during the last 30 minutes of cooking. I believe that the cilantro in the rice also counts toward the element of “bitter”. End the meal with a cup of tea or bowl of grapes for “astringent”. Now you know why this meal, which bursts with all kind of flavors is so satisfying!