If you’ve been following along on Instagram, you know that I just returned home from cooking up a storm for the ladies at Sister Summit; an inspiring week of connecting and collaborating, to push women’s snowsport forward. The role of my small team and I was to keep these incredible professional freeride athletes fueled and feeling good, and to help arm them with the holistic wisdom that all humans – but specifically all professional athletes need – to continue to progress and push the boundaries of their bodies, and of sport. And so, we stocked the kitchen and hunkered down in a remote lodge outside of Revelstoke, and cooked up a storm for breakfast, lunch and dinner. We had the luxury of working with some of the best local ingredients around, making seasonal cooking (and therefore, Ayurvedic meals) easy to prepare. But with snowstorms falling through the week, my attention was first and foremost on keeping these athletes warm…and that meant homemade whole-spice chai when they came back in from big powder missions.
The colder the weather outside, the harder our bodies are working on the inside to keep our systems warm. The easier we make this task for them, the more completely and exceptionally our systems function; meaning our immunity is higher, nutrient absorption is better, emotions are more bubbly, and performance is dialed. And, the more we move, the more wind and chill we create in our lives and in our bodies. This means that keeping these athletes energetically warm (after they spent a day literally doing flips off of rocky cliffs and landing in belly-button height powder) was a true mission! Cold mountains, cold air, cold snow, cold motion, and lots of it! But one that’s much easier with a hot cup of chai, made with spices designed to warm and heal the body from the inside out. With a pinch of salt and a little whole A2 milk, this was the recovery drink the girls enjoyed each day – no protein powders necessary.
The answer is in the spices. Cinnamon, ginger, turmeric, black pepper – all of these spices serve to warm the body with their sweet and pungent flavors. Cardamom, star anice, clove all keep circulation high (and inflammation low,) which helps to move slow, sluggish Kapha through the body, preventing colds, flu, and winter sluggishness.
Sports science would have us all believe that a “recovery drink” is one that contains protein powder and “all the things we need to recover” from our workout. And when you’re a professional snow athlete, or any athlete training or racing in the winter, what is that exactly?
The answer is that we need calories, we need a bit of protein and fat, and a we need WARMTH. And so this chai was what we served the ladies at Sister Summit. When combined with milk and a little raw honey, this energetically warming drink was the perfect way for them to mainline protein and fat (specifically when they drank A2 cows milk,) and with spices that stoke the digestive fire and warm the subtle channels of the system. Boom – no weird, suspect protein powder needed.
There are lots of chai mixes out there you can brew easily by adding a scoop of powder to your mug and adding the hot liquid of your liking. These mixes are typically whole spices ground into a powder for convenience. But there’s something supremely special about making your own from whole spices on the stovetop. Not only do the spices fill your home with fragrance and comfort, but you have the luxury of dialing in the flavor to suit you, adding caffeinate if you wish, or making a big batch for a crowd.
As I’m settling back in at home, (and healing from a little head cold that I brought back from Canada,) I’ve had a pot of chai on the stove each day. Like the loveliest winter ritual, it’s there when I come back in from the chill. I store extra concentrate in the fridge, for quick cups as well.
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