The Shakti School

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nutrition

Ep. 172 Embodied Nutrition with Claire Ragozzino

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This week Katie chats with certified Ayurveda Counselor and yoga teacher Claire Ragozzino about all things embodied nutrition. They go beyond the typical Ayurvedic food rules and Dosha food lists into the deeper realm of our senses and intuition. Learn why “intuitive eating” isn’t best for everyone all the time and a simple practice that you can do to become more embodied as you prepare your next meal!

We eat about 1,095 meals a year! After this conversation, you’ll be able to use each of those meals as an opportunity to reconnect with your body and cultivate self-love!

In this episode you’ll hear:

~ Level 1 Ayurveda School is still open for registration! Join us to learn more from Claire and our other amazing Ayurvedic cooking and nutrition teachers. Doors are closing soon and won't reopen until 2025, don't miss out this year!

~ What is embodied nutrition?

~ Can Ayurveda exacerbate eating disorders?

~ Why you should trust your intuition over the “food rules”

~ How to tune into your intuition when choosing foods and eating

~ Why doesn’t intuitive eating work for everyone?

~ Why being more rigid and disciplined is often not the answer

~ The importance of compassion and curiosity when approaching food

~ How stress affects your digestion

~ How is Ayurveda “individual medicine”?

~ Katie’s new book, Glow-Worthy: Practices for Awakening Your Inner Light and Loving Yourself as You Are—Broken, Beautiful, and Sacred is available now!

Other links mentioned in this episode:

~ Connect with Claire on her website and Instagram

~ Claire’s book: Living Ayurveda: Nourishing Body and Mind through Seasonal Recipes, Rituals, and Yoga

~ Claire’s Living Ayurveda Immersion program

~ Other books Claire mentioned: Bhavaprakasa of Bhavamisra, Bhojankutuhalam, Charaka Samhita

Or Subscribe on iTunes

Learn more:

Ayurveda Certification

The Shakti School Subscription

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This show is a passion project that I produce for the love of sharing. If you enjoy this show and want a free and easy way to help it grow, the most effective way you can help is to:

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  2. Write us a review in iTunes
  3. Share this show with one friend right now!

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From my heart to your screen,

Katie

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Ep. 165 Ayurveda for Pets With Amanda Ree of Sama Dog

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We’ve all felt the healing power of Ayurveda in our own lives, but what about our beloved pets? In this episode, Katie interviews canine wellness practitioner, certified educator, and Animal Chaplain Amanda Ree. Amanda founded her company, Sama Dog, to help create a world where wellness and compassion flourish for every living being. She invites us to “think outside the bag” when feeding our pets and describes how to apply our Ayurvedic self-care practices to our furry companions.

Learn how to strengthen the bond between you and your pet, and discover Amanda’s top tips to help your pooch thrive this winter!

In this episode you’ll hear: 

~ Level 1 Ayurveda School is open for registration! Join us to learn more from Amanda and our other amazing teachers!

~ How to identify your pet’s Dosha

~ Ayurvedic tips to support your pets through the winter

~ What a Vata imbalance looks like in your pet

~ How to create healthy boundaries with your pets

~ The root cause of most dog behavior issues

~ Ways to connect more deeply with your animal

~ How to easily level up your pet’s food

~ Why feeding your dog human food isn’t bad!

~ Exactly what Amanda feeds her pets

~ Katie’s new book, Glow-Worthy: Practices for Awakening Your Inner Light and Loving Yourself as You Are—Broken, Beautiful, and Sacred is available now!

Other links mentioned in this episode:

~ Connect with Amanda on her website, Sama Dog

~ Amanda’s Quiz - Discover Your Dog’s Dosha

~ Amanda and Katie’s dogs eat The Farmer’s Dog. Use this link to receive a free box to try it out!

Or Subscribe on iTunes

Learn more:

Ayurveda Certification

The Shakti School Subscription

HELP US SPREAD OUR POD WINGS

This show is a passion project that I produce for the love of sharing. If you enjoy this show and want a free and easy way to help it grow, the most effective way you can help is to:

  1. Subscribe to the show by clicking “subscribe” in iTunes
  2. Write us a review in iTunes
  3. Share this show with one friend right now!

It’s seems simple, but you’d be AMAZED to know how much it helps my little love project reach more people. iTunes’ algorithm uses ratings and reviews to know who to show our show to in their app.

Here’s the link to leave us reviews in iTunes.

From my heart to your screen,

Katie

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Ep. 164 All Things Holy, Taboo, Primal, and Sacred with Cate Stillman

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Learn more with Katie and The Shakti School:

Ayurveda Certification

Free Divine Feminine Ayurveda Mini Course

The Shakti School Subscription

The two Kates of Ayurveda are back! Cate Stillman and Katie talk about their book babies and dive into three of the biggest taboos in our modern culture: feces, urine, and psychedelics. Learn how taboos have been developed over time to disempower us, and how to reclaim your primal nature through practices even older than Ayurveda!

Join Cate and Katie for a candid chat about the relationship between the taboo, our gut microbiome, ancient Vedic myths, and cow dung!

In this episode you’ll hear: 

~ Level 1 Ayurveda School is open for registration! Join us as we reclaim all the parts of ourselves… even the taboo!

~ How to market your work without losing its soul

~ What does it mean to go primal?

~ Practices to reclaim the taboo

~ The three most taboo habits of primal reawaking

~ What is the mYcobiome and why is it so important?

~ The spiritual benefits of urine therapy and how to start

~ What is the Realm of Hungry Ghosts

~ Why is cow dung so healing?

~ Learnings from the Myth of the Seven Gates of Inanna

~ Katie’s new book, Glow-Worthy: Practices for Awakening Your Inner Light and Loving Yourself as You Are—Broken, Beautiful, and Sacred is available now!

Other links mentioned in this episode:

~ Connect with Cate on her website and Instagram

~ Cate’s book, Uninflamed: 21 Anti-Inflammatory PRIMAL HABITS to heal, sleep better, intermittent fast, detox, lose weight, feel great, & crush your life goals with a kickass microbiome

 - Cate’s book, Primal Habits: Revivify Body and Soul with the 22 Habits That Drive Human Evolution

~ Club Thrive with Cate Stillman

~ Embodied meditations from Glow-Worthy

~ Your Dog Is Your Mirror by Kevin Behan

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Ep. 163 The Deepest Meaning of Ayurveda with Sandhiya Ramaswamy

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According to Katie, this is her favorite episode ever! This week, Katie chats with Ayurvedic Practitioner and beloved Shakti Ayurveda School teacher, Sandhiya Ramaswamy. Their conversation goes way beyond the typical nutrition and lifestyle tips into deeper spiritual concepts of Ayurveda and Tantra such as Sadhana and Swastha. Did you know the way you eat your food is the way you make love? 

Join Sandhiya and Katie for a love-filled conversation about duality, ego, joy, ancestral medicine and how to stay mindful and present in a world of social media and breaking news.

In this episode you’ll hear: 

~ Level 1 Ayurveda School is open for registration! Join now and begin a deep soul-journey in January with incredible teachers like Katie and Sandhiya

~ How Sandhiya went from stressed-out corporate life to Ayurvedic healer

~ Sandhiya’s #1 Ayurvedic lifestyle tip

~ What does reclaiming our root healing traditions look like?

~ Why food is the primary medicine in Ayurveda

~ What are Sadhana and Swastha?

~ How to be established and centered in your divine self

~ Why Ayurveda is community healing

~ How to banish Ayurveda guilt

~ Katie’s new book, Glow-Worthy: Practices for Awakening Your Inner Light and Loving Yourself as You Are—Broken, Beautiful, and Sacred is available now!

Other links mentioned in this episode:

~ Connect with Sandhiya on her website, Instagram and Facebook

~ To Bless the Space Between Us: A Book of Blessings by John O'Donohue

~ When Things Fall Apart book by Pema Chödrön

Or Subscribe on iTunes

Learn more:

Ayurveda Certification

The Shakti School Subscription

HELP US SPREAD OUR POD WINGS

This show is a passion project that I produce for the love of sharing. If you enjoy this show and want a free and easy way to help it grow, the most effective way you can help is to:

  1. Subscribe to the show by clicking “subscribe” in iTunes
  2. Write us a review in iTunes
  3. Share this show with one friend right now!

It’s seems simple, but you’d be AMAZED to know how much it helps my little love project reach more people. iTunes’ algorithm uses ratings and reviews to know who to show our show to in their app.

Here’s the link to leave us reviews in iTunes.

From my heart to your screen,

Katie

Continue Reading

The Brain, Gut, and Heart

The Brain, Gut, and Heart

Our Gateways into Resetting for the New Year

Every year around all parts of the globe there are celebrations of a new year. In America, it falls on the first of January with the common expectation to set some sort of a resolution for the new calendar year ahead. As I’ve mentioned in my monthly Shakti Letter every January, I don’t really love the idea of New Year’s resolutions. Instead of setting resolutions, I like to think about setting goals that will support any idea of a resolution. For example, if you don’t want to binge eat ice cream every night, rather than restricting ice cream all together, why not integrate a mindfulness practice to cultivate more presence with your behavioral patterns?

Do you know what you are?
You are a manuscript oƒ a divine letter.
You are a mirror reflecting a noble face.
This universe is not outside of you.
Look inside yourself;
everything that you want,
you are already that.
Rumi

You are your biggest resource when it comes to getting more of what you want. The key is being connected to your higher self, the part of you that intuitively knows what is best for you and your success. One of the best ways to reconnect to your higher self, is to do a full body reset. The reset is intended to stoke your internal fire (your metabolic processes) and the fire of your soul. These tips and practices will activate your spirit while also allowing the body to find more space for restfulness, ease, and clarity. This kind of reset can be done at any time of the year (and multiple times throughout the year).

Reset Your Gut 

This will look differently for each person, but a very simple way to reset the gut and break bad habits around food, is to commit to eating real and whole foods. Ditch the sugar all together and focus on foods that are as closest to their natural form as possible. Cook your own food and eat in a way that works for you. Try for Ayurveda-focused eating: eat with the season, eat for what’s going on in your life, and eat for your body type (not your best friend’s body type, your sister’s or your husbands).

In general, aim to boost Agni (digestive fire). Add digestive spices to all your dishes (fennel, coriander, cumin, and ginger). Eat light. Eating light does not mean fasting. It’s fully possible to eat grounding and nourishing foods while also eating light. Give your digestion a break. Create longer gaps between meals. Consider eating your largest meal earlier in the day and go lighter in the evening (simple soup or broth).

Carrot and Soup

Take Triphala (use code KATIES15 for 15% off). Triphala is the sacred trio in Ayurveda composed of the dried fruits amalaki, bibhitaki, and haritaki, and can be super helpful in getting your digestion in check and the whole body operating more functionally.

Move your body in the morning. Dry brushing, stretching, and oil massage will help to get the lymph circulating and the internal organs stimulated which will help with digestion and energy production.

Reset Your Brain

One of my favorite teachers, Tara Brach, said,

 “In moments of presence is when we reconnect with goodness” 

Goodness is a positive brain state. It’s when we can be in a flow state, when we are productive, and most energetically alive. How can you best find your connection to goodness? You may already know what activities bring you into your own innate goodness (and if you do, do more of those). But, for most people, these are some practices that are bound to help.

Reset Your Brain

Explore meditation. Even just five minutes a day can drastically improve the quality of your day. In life we are in a continuous flow of remembering and forgetting (our higher self). When we take time to slow down we often come back to remembering.

Immerse yourself in nature. Take a long walk, go to a park, or find a mountain and get to the top!

Try a week-long digital detox. This is such a great way to get more centered in your True Self. Unfortunately, as a society we’ve become far too addicted to devices and distraction. It’s essential that you find your own healthy limit with how much energy you invest in mindless scrolling. Exercise for you. Again, stick to what works for you. What makes you feel the most alive and full of energy afterwards when it comes to movement practices? Maybe it’s daily stretching, taking a walk, or maybe you have a lot of Kapha energy and need a morning run. Whatever it is, do some sort of movement that elevates your energy.

Reset Your Heart

Matters of the heart can be difficult to heal. And more often than not it takes a lot of time. By resetting the gut and the brain first, you will have better luck when it comes to healing the heart. If you are experiencing any trauma related emotions, it is best to work with a professional in somatic experience who can help you navigate that space.

Manage your stress levels. This is something you can start doing now. Stress plays a huge role in emotional well being (which also leads to a lot of physiological effects as well). When we are stressed, we are disconnected. Become more familiar with the ways you disconnect so that you can best prepare yourself for when it comes up.

Take time for prayer. Praying doesn’t have to be a religious act. Prayer can be mantra reciting, it can be through repetition of a positive affirmation, or it can look totally different.

Keep a journal and write in it. Getting your thoughts on paper will help you to sort through your emotional hang ups or will simply help to process the day. It is in journaling when I gain some of my best inspiration.

Manage your time + make the time to unwind and relax. In our go, go, go society there can often be pressure associated with non-stop doing. Push against this societal norm and make space for doing nothing. It is in that space where you will be able to find stillness, your body can decompress, and your heart will have the time to heal and make peace. Check out this Inner Bliss Meditation to start finding ease and more aliveness in the heart.

Reset Your Heart

And, Sleep! 

High quality sleep is vital for optimal brain function, heart health, mood, hormones, and the list can go on and on. It’s crucial for resetting your whole nervous system into a state of balance and resiliency. And it’s not just about the amount of sleeping hours you get in a night, but the quality of your sleep too. The largest sleep study ever conducted (on 1.1 million people) showed that it’s quality, not quantity, that matters most. (1) And, at least half of all Americans say they suffer from insomnia, and nearly 9 million are using prescription sleep medication. (2)

To jumpstart your sleep, start by limiting the use of blue light at night. These are my favorite Blue Light Blockers. Turn off the screens three hours before bedtime.

Up your healthy fats. Make sure you are getting enough healthy sources of fat throughout the day: avocado, olive oil, ghee, and fish oils are all great sources.

Ditch the caffeine and alcohol + add in the magnesium. I know this can be hard, but higher amounts of coffee and alcohol really disrupt the quality of sleep. Try it out for a month and see how you feel. Replace your evening nightcap with a warm Ojas Nightly Tonic from Lifespa.

Finding ways to reset your system will be super helpful year round (sometimes even mini resets throughout each day). We are learning to lean into these times of uncertainty and uncertainty can be a really difficult realm to navigate. The key is to be present. When we are present in each moment it’s easier to make decisions in our day to day life. As human beings it is our habit and condition to want life to be different when life isn’t easy. The truth is life will always be uncertain, so it’s all about how you set yourself up for success and respond to it.

By finding ways to focus and connect to presence, love, and your inner spirit you will be guided with much more awareness and acceptance of what’s to come.

 

Resources:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3010336/

https://aasm.org/cdc-analysis-finds-low-rate-of-prescription...

https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db127.pdf

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