The Root & Nourish Book Club:
Presented By
The Alchemist's Kitchen

Establishing a strong, regular digestive system is the first step to bringing your whole system into balance. Drawing on principles from Ayurveda and correlated herbal actions from the Western herbalism paradigm, we’ll dive into how to identify foods and herbs that will help to support a variety of digestive imbalances—from constipation to diarrhea, acid reflux to gas and bloating, and everything in between—as well as mindful eating practices to bring calm and focus to the sacred ritual that is cooking and eating. With good digestion comes the Ayurvedic elixir of life and vitality known as ojas, which supplies us with the radiance and suppleness of true health.

Our bodies have a remarkable hub of intelligence—and it’s not your brain. Our gut has its own nervous system, called the enteric nervous system, that operates independent of, and in conjunction with, our central nervous system. In this module, we’ll explore how what we eat affects our mood, energy levels, and overall mental health thanks to this two-way highway of communication. From the other end of the spectrum, we’ll look at some of the most powerful herbs and foods to bring calm, energy, focus, and clarity to our minds, and the impact of our mental health on the quality of our digestion vis-a-vis the microbiome.

Underscoring it all will be the three strands of mental activity at the heart of Ayurvedic psychology—sattva, rajas, and tamas—which can be used to describe our foods, activities, relationships, and more; by bringing more sattva (calm, ease, clarity) into our whole-life diet, we can move toward a more consistent state of energy and attention, which translates to being able to give more love to ourselves and each other.

Hormones are complicated, confusing and, for a long time, have been a taboo subject even among medical experts. When it comes to female reproductive hormones, many people have conceded to living a life of a monthly roller coaster of emotional and physical discomfort, which only gets more complicated as we age. This module will dispel the myths around what’s “normal” about how our hormones work by simplifying the conversation to two categories: stress hormones versus reproductive hormones.

Regardless of your gender or sex, this dichotomy will help you understand the role of stress and anxiety on your ability to feel grounded and supported in your body, so that its functions of maintenance, repair, and, yes, reproduction can allow you to be a creative force in the world on your terms. And while there’s a wealth of herbs that support female and reproductive health specifically, we’ll dive into how these plants can be used in a way that also supports the digestive system so they’re properly absorbed and transformed.

A holistic “diet” isn’t confined to the kitchen. We can be eating the healthiest foods on the planet, but without a lifestyle that supports digestion, mental clarity, and rest and creativity, those foods won’t be helping us the way we intend. In this final module, we’ll pull together the principles from our first three sessions to offer tools that will help you build routines and rituals to support your wellness goals even when you’re not eating. From yoga and meditation to practical tips on building your own herbal apothecary, we’ll offer a number of ways to incorporate the 5 Pillars of Health (nutrition, sleep, movement, connection, and spirituality) into your life so you feel rooted and nourished in a more comprehensive way.