This soup made my whole week, I mean it. What does that say about the start of my new year?
Quite a lot, actually.
Last Monday, I flew to Los Angeles for a photoshoot. This Monday, I tested positive for COVID. I’m vaccinated, boosted, introverted, I spend a lot of time outside, and spend very little time with groups of people. I haven’t been sick for over three years (!!) and I didn’t present any symptoms that have caused us all to be cautious during the pandemic. No cough, no sneezing or fever, no aches, pains. Nothing. I was lucky.
I came home + quickly we established a game plan for how I would keep myself quarantined in the upper level of our home, while my partner, Pete stayed in the lower level. His respiratory system is more fragile than mine, and he needs to be out in the world.
No hugs hello. No meals together. Masks worn inside all the time.
We slept in separate beds. It took about a single day for this to become annoying. But it only took a few hours for me to realize that this could be a very productive, if lonely week. One where I could tuck into projects that I had been meaning to tackle for months, and be extra gentle on myself, really listening to my body wisdom, and focusing on boosting my immunity.
To be sure, while I absolutely believe in modern medicine, I do not personally believe in the medicine of band-aiding symptoms. I don’t know when I last took a Tylenol, Ibuprofen, cough medicine, and the like. I would prefer to lean on plants. And lean on plants I did – to boost my immunity, to amplify my comfort, and to guide my system through. Ayurveda has some very specific recommendations for how to fuel, soothe + aid our bodies during the winter, and particularly at times when our immunity is low. I leaned right into this wisdom and, at the end of the week, I had created some really simple, really lovely, comforting recipes – particularly this gorgeous, creamy, dairy-free soup. And, I’d slipped a few new Ayurvedic treatments to boost immunity into my back pocket. It feels wrong to say that contracting COVID was a win-win situation, but kind of….
Eventually, this virus will pass into the wallpaper of our lives, much like common colds + other strains of the flu. We may get it, we may carry it around, we may spread it to others. We may not. Much like other, smaller viruses pre-pandemic, they will be unlikely to slow us down or cause destruction as they have these past three years. Those of us who are vaccinated or have antibodies will *hopefully* find that our experiences with this virus will become more and more benign…similar to my experience. If you get COVID, and you have mild symptoms that don’t send you to the hospital, it means your vaccine and booster shots are doing their jobs. (Not that you broke a law, caused a crime or did something “wrong.”)
In speaking with my general practitioner, I’ve learned that I could continue to test positive for COVID for weeks. But, without exhibiting symptoms + by wearing a KN85 mask in public, I’m unlikely to pass any contagions to others within the next 48 hours. So, we’ll stay masked for now. But I can’t wait to get a burger on Sunday night, to cozy up on the couch + finally watch that last episode of Yellowstone, AND to enjoy the immunity I’ve bolstered for the rest of the winter and this wild season.
Without further ado, a recipe + remedies to help you do the same!
Let me start by stating what I hope is obvious: I am not a doctor and this newsletter is not meant to be medical advice but instead the specific account of one woman who contracted the COVID-19 virus, and who happens to have a reasonable amount of education in alternative medicine + specifically Ayurvedic medicine and a lot of education on holistic nutrition. Consult your doctor and the CDC.gov website for up-to-date information on this virus. Keep reading if you know how I specifically went about managing it in my own house and my house alone.
From an Ayurvedic perspective, the causation behind the pandemic was fascinating to read. In a nutshell, this 5000-year old philosophy states that when the quality of our air, water and general ecology on Earth are diminished, nature at large is disrupted. This impacts the nutritional value of the plants and foods we eat, creates seasonal irregularities that our bodies have not yet adapted to, weakens immunity + eventually causes mass susceptibility to viruses. (Things that make you go hmmm!)
When our bodies are invaded by viruses, specifically through our respiratory system, all of our doshas (or the qualities of earth elements that make up our individual bodies) will be disrupted. Each of us is composed of a unique combination of the three doshas: Vata (air + ether,) Pitta (fire + water,) and Kapha (water + earth.) These same doshas govern every function, action, and outcome in our bodies as well. When the virus invades, Vata dosha – responsible for all bodily actions – will kick our immune system into service double-time. Our digestive system – governed by pitta – will crank up to digest and expel the byproducts from the battle our immune system is enduring. And, Kapha – which governs all lubrication, liquid, fat, and substance in the body – will crank up our mucus production. All hands on deck. There’s a lot going on in the body, then; lots of motion, lots of heat being created, lots of moisture being created. Lots of activity. Even when we can’t see it! Miraculous, right?!
So when we’re talking about immunity, boosting it, and caring for the body through sickness, we’re talking about not exacerbating any of these functions. Engaging in too much exercise will inflame vata and prevent our bodies from adequately fighting the virus. Eating super spicy foods, or foods that aggravate the digestive system will only distract it from digesting and eliminating the virus. And, if we lay stagnant + consume only foods that also promote mucus and moisture production, we’ll exacerbate Kapha, creating more “stuff” that will need to be expelled from the body.
We need to keep the body comfortable, the mind relaxed, and the digestive system at ease. We need to keep things moving, but not too much, and we need to consume foods and nutrients that help all of those doshas to do their jobs.
So, this sounds easy enough, right?
Well, our modern lives don’t really make it that easy.
If we’re still working, or exercising, or thinking that we have to work or exercise, the notion of really taking it easy + prioritizing VERY gentle movement can be pretty tricky. Even I found myself starving for a nice long run on the 5th day of my quarantine. (I went for one and it was amazing.)
So listening to our bodies is the right call. They always know the answer.
But what other little supports can help during this time?
I found my system to be highly supported by the following dietary supplements during this time:
So I would wake every morning, make 1 quart of warm water with lime, aloe + salt. And settle in to do my morning practice of breathwork + a little yoga. Some simple breathing, just to settle my mind and check on the status of my nostrils. At one point during the week, I had the tiniest amount of congestion that I could feel clearing as I flipped upside down during yoga, so I focused on doing a little extra breathwork. To keep my body warm + keep things moving on cold mornings, I took a hot bath with Epsom salt and did a few extra sun salutations, and when I thought my throat was scratchy, I made myself some turmeric-salt throat remedy. Small things, all practically free, all probably within your house right now:
This soup will envelope your home with luxurious scents, uplift your spirit with golden glow, and soothe and nourish your body, no matter how you’re feeling this winter. Whether COVID finds us or not, the dry, cold and rough qualities of winter can contribute to anxiety, dry skin, and a frazzled nervous system (and an overworked body) when they aren’t kept in check with warm, smooth, easy-going meals. This soup is the counterbalance to winter, and all of its challenges; soft, warm, and grounding. The black pepper, garlic and onion used here are a pungent kick that supports the immune system directly and promotes circulation (which helps keep fingers and toes warm on a chilly run or ride too!) The butternut squash and fennel are easy on the digestive system, which allows our bodies to keep on doing all of their winter jobs while nourishing deeply.
I like to bolster this soup by adding a scoop of warm rice or quinoa, topping with toasted crunchy seeds and pine nuts, and finishing it all off with a drizzle of my favorite CBD olive oil. The buzz this week was that consuming CBD products actually can help your body from contracting COVID altogether. Who knows if this argument has merit. All I know is that I love the grassy, bright flavor and relaxing vibe it brings to my lunch (or dinner!)
I can’t wait to serve this soup to friends through the winter – maximum benefit for minimum effort – a winter warmer to smooth our bodies + souls till spring.
A provocative study came out this week that indicates that ingestion of cannabinoids can block cells from being infected with COVID-19. And there were a lot of people that had a lot of things to say about it. Some of them probably credible, many memes that probably were not, and all the rest.
I’m not a consistent consumer of CBD products, but I did find a couple of them to be very helpful this week to relax my body and mind, elevate the flavors of my food, and more.
Ayurveda is a medicinal philosophy that places a good amount of stock in using opposite qualities in our lives, diets and mental states, to achieve balance. And so, as a practitioner, it makes sense to me that CBD would be beneficial if it, too, could balance out the qualities of a life circumstance in some way. Everything EVERYTHING can be a medicine, if used properly.
CBD typically is credited for having a “tamasic,” or soothing/slowing effect on the mind. CBD oil, in this case, an olive oil infused with CBD, has a bitter and pungent taste, and in general it feels to have a warming, or pungent effect on the body.
Winter, as we’ve discussed, is ruled by cold, rough, aggravated energy as the wind whips, the storms swirl, and the moisture blankets the Earth. With this in mind, CBD and its warming, soothing properties would make sense to add a little balance here. This is certainly case by case, but as I was creating this soup I took a peek in my pantry and felt that this flavor and impact would balance out the flavors of my lunch. I was right, and the CBD didn’t hurt either.
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