Fall is a delight. Surrounded by warm, rich colors and crisp air it’s truly a joy to get outside and experience nature’s glow. It is a time when we feel compelled to ‘get down to business’ and put in effort to create the change we wish to see in our lives. Fall is also vata season when the wind dominates and bringing with it with it the energy of movement and change. However we can get carried away with this energy and take on too much. We may find ourselves spending excessive time in front of screens or splitting our attention between multiple activities at once, all in an effort to accomplish our goals. Excessive mental activity, coupled with the momentum of change we see in nature will tend to aggravate vata dosha and cause a state of imbalance. When we experience anxiety, sleeplessness and forgetfulness, we know that we need to take care of vata dosha.
A wonderful way to bring vata dosha back into a healthy balance is to counterbalance vata’s light and dry qualities with warm, cooked food.
So we recommend pulling on a warm sweater and heading to the local farmer’s market for some nourishing, grounding produce. Pick up some fresh pumpkins and carrots, both of which have the sweet taste, or rasa. Sweet-tasting vegetables are augmenting, which means that they will nourish and build your tissues, and leave you feeling steady and grounded during this time of change.
For contentment and a calm mind, here’s our recipe for a lovely pumpkin and carrot soup.
Serves: 4
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Augmenting
You'll need
1 cup chopped pumpkin
1 cup chopped carrot
3 tbsp. ghee 1/2 tsp. Mineral salt
¼ - ½ tsp. Cinnamon powder (less if pitta is high)
½ tsp. Cardamom powder
½ tsp. Ground coriander seed or powder
4 - 5 cups warm water
1/4 cup fresh mint
Here's how
Warm the ghee in a stock pot over medium heat. Add the cinnamon, cardamom, coriander seed, and salt. Simmer until the you smell the pleasant aroma of the seeds. Stir in the carrot and pumpkin, coating evenly. Add the water and bring to a simmer. Bring the heat to medium-low, cover and gently cook for 10 minutes until veggies are tender but not mushy (look for a slight resistance when you cut it with a knife). Remove the pot from the heat and let cool a few minutes. Blend until smooth. Serve topped with chopped mint.
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