“Nourishing yourself in a way that helps you blossom in the direction you want to go is attainable, and you are worth the effort.”
Deborah Day
Meditrinalia was the Roman Festival honoring Meditrina, the Goddess of the knowledge of healing, longevity, and wine! The festival fell on October 11th when new wines were released and used for the making and taking of medicines. This wine had a low alcohol content and was available in very small quantities—use in medicine was their first priority. A tablet from 2200 BCE holds the first prescriptions for herbal/wine infusions to heal internal and external ailments. Here, wine was mixed with herbs and flowers to create proactive tonics that bolstered immunity and preserved medicines for use throughout the winter. In the 1800s (4000 years later) physicians “proved” wine tonics were proactive ways to stave off cholera and typhoid.
The change of seasons created circumstances (with people crowding indoors, stagnant water, and the lack of fresh food) that compromised immunity. Ideally, today we have access to fresh food and water, preservatives, and antibiotics—yet each fall comes with its colds, flu, and pandemic variants. We can be inspired by the wisdom of our ancestors and shore up with an immunity-boosting cleanse ritual.
I’ve created a ritual of doing an immunity-boosting cleanse each fall. My diet consists mostly of kitchari–an easy-to-digest and delicious porridge from the Ayurvedic tradition—made fresh daily with lentils, rice, vegetables, and spices. We are looking to remove anything that may cause inflammation or disrupt our sleep. Alcohol-free, gluten-free, sugar-free, caffeine-free, soy-free, dairy-free, nut-free, and vegan. I find it helps me reset and stick closer to my ideals for self-care.
Yesterday, I made a green kitchari with green lentils, asparagus, peas, and spinach. Today, I’m thinking golden kitchari with red lentils, butternut squash, golden beets, and carrots. Switching it up keeps it from becoming tiresome. If you need breakfast, you can add oatmeal or a room-temperature mango spinach coconut milk smoothie.
See the table below to create your own immunity-boosting cleanse ritual–you can do it for a day or two or a full week.
And you can come back to Kitchari anytime you feel less than your best.
