JANUARY diet guide

There is a chill in the atmosphere in January as the air and ether elements become more predominant. Landscapes become barren and life more still as the cold qualities of winter take over leading plants and animals to hide and hybernate. As microcosms of the macrocosm, we humans start to feel the dead of winter with chills that seep to our bones and a natural urge to contract and go inside.  We do well when we honor our relationship with the natural world and use this month to go inside, take time to rebuild our tissues, and take on other contemplative practices such as journaling, meditating, and slowing down. This is the time to reflect on the year that has past, your karmas, and how you can better serve your spirit moving forward. A time to set intentions for new patterns or habits to help you fulfill your life’s purpose (plant the seeds now for a vibrant spring). (If you’d like help working your habits, schedule a private session with Suzanne.) All of this introspection and downtime serves to balance out the more rajasic (the energy of movement, activity, action, change) qualities of the rest of the year which culminates around the holiday season. Use this time to rest and restore the body mind sense complex.

If you live in the Southern Hemisphere, please see the Ayurvedic Diet for July instead.

In January the vata and kapha doshas are predominant and depending on where you live one may be more dominant than the other. These are the elements of air and ether (Vata) and earth and water (kapha). If you are in an area that has a dryer winter with more rough and mobile qualities such as high winds and a dry barren landscape, vata will be more dominant in the atmosphere and you may find it helpful to follow the Vata Balancing guidelines outlined below in this article and in this vata balancing tip sheet here. If on the other hand you are in an environment where snow is melting and there’s a lot of sludge and moisture in the air you are starting to experience the effects of kapha dosha – the earth and water elements. Read below to learn more and check out the kapha balancing tip sheet here. 

Effects of the Sīta (Cold Qualities) in the Body

Regardless of which dosha is predominant, winter yields a cold quality in the Northern Hemisphere. Due to the cold you may start to feel subtle qualities of the tamas guna taking over. A feeling of lethargy or sleepiness as the days get darker and temperatures plummet. These cold temperatures shift many aspects of your body: your bloodflow restricts and concentrates at the center of your being to support your vital organs. With your blood concentrated in the vital organs your digestion becomes stronger and your ability to digest those denser warmer winter meals becomes easier. The restricted bloodflow also causes your extremities to get cold and it slows down your heart rate.

Vata Dosha (air and ether)

If you are vata dosha and vata is more predominant in the environment (more air and ether), You may feel other vata symptoms starting to seep into your being. The mobile, rough, subtle, and clear qualities of vata can make people feel anxious, fearful, and hyperactive. Your body may experience chills and shivers. Everything may start to feel like it is drying out including the colon which may lead to trouble eliminating and/or constipation. Imbue your diet and lifestyle activity with the qualities of grounding, nourishing, stabilizing, density to create balance. Think warm, moist, heavy, and oily inside and out.

For food, sip warm to tea like hot water throughout the day, enjoy warming and hearty one pot meals that are high in fat and high in protein. These foods will help the air and ether elements ground down and will nourish and insulate the tissues as well as create fat for warmth. Enjoy root veggies, nuts, seeds, and fermented foods that are high quality dairy like sour cream, kefir, and yogurt (you can balance out the cold qualities of the yogurt with a little ginger, turmeric, and honey…yum). Enjoy warming spices like ginger, cinnamon, turmeric, bay leaf, black pepper, hing, fenugreek, cumin. Continue with heavier grains that have soluble fiber. Be sure to make the fiber slimy because when they are not soaked they can add to the dryness in the body; so, soak your flax and chia seeds before consuming, and enjoy gooey grains like oatmeal. Many of these grains have a sweet taste. The sweet taste has a building and nourishing quality that will help balance out the lighter qualities of vata. These soluble fibers also help lubricate and warm the intestines and colon from the coldness of winter, aid in the elimination of toxic bile and production of fresh bile, and give your gut microbiome something to feed on as spring comes around the corner, strengthening your digestion and health overall. 

If you are feeling dry be sure to oil everything inside and out. Oil your food with high quality oils and ghee, sip your tea with a tsp of ghee in it (so long as your cholesterol is not high), hydrate with everything from sipping hot water throughout the day to using a humidifier for hydration, and continue to practice abhyanga (oil massage) before you bathe/shower with warming sesame oil or a vata balancing massage oil. For dry nasal passages, try nasya oil. Enjoy grounding activities like walking, gentle, restorative yoga, chi gong, warm baths and cozy things to help support the deep rest that your body needs to rejuvenate before the spring months. (Want to learn more about how to find balance and feel good during the winter, take Suzanne’s e-course Self Care: Winter.)

Kapha dosha (earth and water)

If you are kapha dosha or in an environment that is more kapha predominant (starting to get damper rather than dry) from melting snow you may start to feel the tamasic qualities of your being exacerbated, a sense of wanting to give in to couch-potatoism. You may feel very sluggish mimicking melting snow and mud – the qualities of this are wet, heavy, dense, slow, static, and cold. You can balance out the cold dense and heavy qualities by being more mobile, light, clear, and stimulated with what you eat and engage in as far as lifestyle and activity. 

Like those with vata, you can start with sipping warm to tea like hot water throughout the day. This will help you keep your lymph moving. You may even spice the water with a warming, stimulating spice like ginger or cinnamon to get your blood circulating. Similar stimulating spices can be used in your chai tea or cooking. Spices like turmeric, bay leaf, black pepper, hing, fenugreek, cumin. All of these work to help keep you warm and get your fluids moving too.

Kaphas can also start to experiment with different ways to shed winter’s insulating fat so that their bodies’ feel lighter and the blood gets purified by spring. If kaphas start burning their winter fat/insulation now, they will have less congestion and stagnation, bloating from water weight, and puffiness in their bodies in spring. Less allergies and mucus! Kaphas can light up with food by experimenting with lighter, rougher grains like amaranth, millet, brown rice, quinoa and buckwheat, and avoiding wheat and heavy bread. They can reduce dairy and enjoy bitter root veggies like turnips, rutabagas and parsnips in clear broth soups. Grapefruits are a good fruit for January, they tend to be ripe this time of year providing a sour, bitter flavor. The sour taste helps to warm the body and the bitter taste supports cleansing and purifying the blood. Kaphas are better off with lighter ferments like sauerkraut, pickled garlic, and kimchi, instead of ferments like yogurt, kefir, and sour cream. 

Other ways to lighten up include intermittent fasting (check out Suzanne’s intermittent fasting e-course here) and getting more mobile with exercise. Kaphas do well with more mobile workouts that include cardio/aerobics – these will balance out the tamas guna (qualities of inertia, darkness, and dullness) and get their stagnant blood circulating and keep their energy going. Yoga practices for kapha dosha include dynamic movement, sun salutations, backbends, standing poses that build brahmana energy (expansive, increasing), and breathing practices like kapalbhati (skull cleansing breath). Kaphas need to move. (Looking to uplevel your yoga practice and get moving? Try Yoga Circle, Suzanne’s online library of livestream and pre-recorded yoga classes.) 

Avoid oversleeping and taking those midday naps to keep your energy up, do some jumping jacks or go for a brisk walk outside instead. If you notice the nasal passages swelling from the cold and a lot of congestion building, use the neti pot to irrigate the sinus cavities and follow the practice with some nasya oil. 

Dry brush to increase lymphatic flow, practice abhyanga (oil massage) with a kapha balancing oil. Overall, kaphas find balance when they try to keep things moving. 

Pitta (fire and water)

Generally, those with pitta dosha enjoy the cool weather as it serves to balance out the fire element in their body. Pittas are to maintain nourishing, hearty meals that have healthy fats, oils, and protein to help them stay well and energized in the month of January.

So this is what it’s about folks, take time to reflect/contemplate, balance the qualities of your experience with the opposite, nourish to flourish, and stay warm as you continue to heed your inner wisdom. Om shanti, shanti, shanti! Peace, peace, great peace!