2023: Peace, Joy, Prosperity & Lemons
Welcome to the New Year. I wish that 2023 is filled with peace, joy, prosperity, and insight for all of us.
It is the citrus season here in the Valley of the Sun and in this month's newsletter, we will celebrate the amazing lemon. We have all heard the adage, “ when life gives you lemons, make lemonade,” but according to Ayurveda, lemons are so much more than lemonade. They are wonderful medicine and offer a wealth of benefits for our minds and body. When you think of licking a lemon, you may feel your mouth pucker. This is the result of the sour taste. Ayurveda teaches us that the sour taste has a balancing or calming effect on the nervous system. Along with sweet and salty tastes, sour balances Vata and is specifically beneficial during exhaustive and stressful times, or during cold and dry winter months, when Vata can become aggravated.
Let’s take a moment and dive into the six tastes. Ayurveda teaches that there are six tastes. Sweet, sour, salty, and pungent, which means spicy, astringent, and bitter. Over the next five months we will explore the other tastes but this month I want to help you understand the sour taste and how beneficial it is to our well-being.
Ayurveda teaches that each of the six tastes is a blending of two of the five elements, earth, water, fire, air, and ether aka space. All of the elements have specific qualities, such as hot or cold, heavy or light. Some are wet, and some are dry. The qualities in the elements translate into qualities in the tastes which then transfer into our mental, physical and emotional state. For example, the elements that make up the sour taste are earth and fire. If we conjure in our minds the attributes of these two elements, we will understand that fire is hot and earth is grounding. So when we consume foods that have a sour taste they will have this effect on our, minds, emotions, and bodies.
Are you ready to take a deeper dive?
Here is a fun little experiment for you to do right now. Say aloud five times the word lime…….I know it sounds weird but try it.
Did you notice that your mouth created a bit more saliva? One of the benefits of the sour taste is that it helps us create the saliva needed to digest our food. In fact, in the digestive process, saliva, is the first part. Having the proper ph in our saliva begins the process of digesting our food. So you may ask, where can it be found besides lemons and limes? Fermented products, like sauerkraut, kombucha, kimchi, pickles, sour cream, yogurt, cheese, and soy sauce.
This is the crucial thing to remember. We never want to super-size the sour taste. When used in moderation and what is appropriate for our constitution, the sour taste can be hugely beneficial.
One of the main texts of Ayurveda is called the Charaka Samhita. This text teaches us that when we use lemons in our food or in our drinks, this wonderful yellow gem works as a digestive aid, which means that it will help to stimulate Agni. This is our digestive fire. Lemons also help us absorb the medicinal benefits of the spices we cook with. Drinking some lemon with warm water in the morning will start the day off right as it helps to cleanse the blood, the lymph, it is fantastic for the kidneys and is can help clear the digestive tract of the build-up of toxins, which can accumulate overnight as our liver detoxifies. Lemon water in the morning is also cleansing for the mouth. Just make sure you rinse your mouth out after drinking water with lemon to save the enamel on your teeth.
If you are experiencing cold hands and feet, adding some more of the sour taste to your diet can help circulation and also assist in proper elimination. The sour taste will energize the body, strengthen the heart, relieve thirst, balance proper acidity, sharpen sense organs, and extract certain minerals such as iron from our food.
Mentally and emotionally, when we are ingesting the proper amount of the sour taste for our constitution, we will experience feelings of appreciation, we will have the sharpness of mind to understand new teachings, and we will be able to understand and comprehend new information. This will help us to become more discerning. Ayurveda teaches us that balance looks a little or a lot different for all of us. This means that depending on our constitution we all need different amounts of each taste. So, if you are a fire type, then you will need less of the sour taste. This will also be true if you have a lot of the earth element. Too much will impact both a fiery and an earthy person physically, mentally, and emotionally. When we have the “ideal” for us, the amount of sour taste, then the effect will be to promote discernment. The taste will awaken the mind, and it will help to sharpen the senses. It will help us with the ability to analyze and evaluate various situations.
If we ingest too much of the sour taste, then we can begin to feel heavy and hot, which will present as envy, jealousy, and anger.
So the moral to this story is to notice for you and your mind and body what the proper amount of the sour taste works for you. Find that sweet spot and enjoy the benefits.