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Jan 2, 2026

Navigating Winter Sweets & Seeds

AKA - do the best we can with what we got!

"The wise person eats when calm, not when disturbed." — Ayurvedic Principle

Hi Love,

We're in the heart of winter now, a time when the world asks us to turn inward, to tend to the most important thing: the seed that will grow our forest.

Spring will come. We will bloom, initiate, expand. But right now? Right now is for rooting down.

And the way we nourish ourselves in these winter months sets the foundation for everything that unfolds.

The Alchemy of Balancing

In Ayurveda, early winter accumulates Vata, and winter accumulates Kapha, the qualities, regulations, and disregulations of earth and water. Kapha gives us strength, stability, and sweetness. But in excess, it brings heaviness, sluggishness, congestion, and that familiar winter lethargy.

The goal isn't to avoid Kapha. It's balancing with its growth, to move with strength, with it is time to be strong, and soft, sweet, and stable when it's time to be too.

😵‍💫 Too little Loss of structure, lubrication, and stability. Looks like dryness, anxiety, restlessness, weakness, and depletion.

💪 Balancing Grounded, nourished, steady, harmonizing as best as we can with what life brings.

🫩 Too much Heavy, sticky, dense. Looks like physical and mental sluggishness, slow digestion, lethargy, attachment, and congestion.

Sugar creates stress and feeds Kapha imbalance.

This includes breads, pastas, and all the comfort foods we reach for when winter feels heavy.

The Simple Truth About Sugar & Stress

Sugar creates stress.

Here's why:

Sugar needs insulin →

Insulin drops glucose fast →

Our adrenals release adrenaline (fight/flight hormone) →

Glucose rises again →

We feel stressed!

The solution?

Fiber + Fat -- BEFORE sugar and starch.

Winter Survival Kit

In Ayurveda, agni, our inner fire, transforms food, thoughts, and emotions, and naturally dims as the day progresses. Western science confirms this wisdom: studies show our metabolism is most active in the morning and slows by evening, while research on decision fatigue reveals that willpower depletes with each choice we make throughout the day.

• Metabolism being most active in the morning - circadian rhythm research shows our bodies burn calories more efficiently earlier in the day
• Decision fatigue - the well-documented phenomenon where our willpower and self-control deplete with each decision we make as the day goes on.

We can use this knowledge to guide your choices, instead of judging them.

To prevent an overload of Kapha Dosha and what can come from it, try this:

Tip #1: Choose Your Portable Green

• Carrot sticks or radishes
• Steamed broccoli, kale, or Brussels sprouts
• Winter greens (arugula, endive, radicchio)

Keep these with you. Eat them first.

Tip #2: Add Your Favorite Plant Fat

• Olive oil or hummus (with extra olive oil)
• Mashed avocado or olives
• Nuts, seeds, or their butters

My go-to: Almond butter with celery. Works every time.

Tip #3: End Meals with Bitter or Pungent

• Sips on ginger tea or fennel seeds
• Arugula or radicchio salad
• Whatever is most spicy/ spiced on your plate
• Dark chocolate (85%+ cacao)

Why: In Ayurveda, bitter and pungent tastes counter Kapha's heaviness and signal to your body that digestion is complete. Western science confirms that bitter compounds stimulate digestive enzymes and help regulate blood sugar, naturally reducing cravings!

What This Does for Us:

✓ Less insulin = less fat storage​
✓ Stable glucose = less stress, more peace​
✓ Balanced Kapha = grounded strength without heaviness ✓ More presence, steadier energy

This Is Seeding Work

When you balance your blood sugar and honor Kapha's wisdom, you're not just "being healthy." You're tending to the seed of who you're becoming.

You're choosing to be strong and soft. To have the stability to root down and the vitality to eventually rise.

Spring will ask you to bloom. More on what happens when we transition from heavy to light in this video.

Winter asks you to become someone who can sustain that bloom, someone whose roots run deep, whose sweetness doesn't spike and crash, whose strength is steady.

Before eating, pause. Notice what you're feeling. We reach for comfort foods when winter feels heavy or when the people around us create stress.

That's human. Be kind to yourself.

And remember: this season is not about restriction.

It's about becoming the harmony; it is balancing, being an active participant in stability. When spring arrives, you will be ready to grow your forest.

With love and warmth,
Veronica

P.S. - It is time to plan our next gathering.

August / September 2026 will be our Panchakarma retreat/ cleanse in the US.

So if you do overdo the sweets here and there like a normal human and want to get into those hard-to-cleanse places, send me a message if you want to stay in the loop.