I usually talk about how to famine. Here is my chance to balance it out with a few tips on how to feast ayurvedically.

Ayurveda 101: How to Feast 

Thanksgiving is obviously all about the feast, but the timing of your feast is crucial. 2-3 pm is about as late as we can start and have time to comfortably digest the food we’ve eaten. The later towards sundown you eat, the easier it is to overeat, and the harder it is to eat lightly until the feast. I can’t recommend any kind of feasting after 4 pm. You’ll suffer. Encourage your feasting-mates to schedule earlier, or get used to inviting your guests earlier. It works, and over time your peeps will get that when they start early enough, they can overeat a little and still feel just fine the next day.

If you can plan a midday feast, here is a good plan for the morning:

1. Start your day with a thermos of hot water with lemon.
2. See how long you can enjoyably last just on hot water and lemon. Get in touch with the empty, clarifying effect. Let your deeper hunger awaken.
3. When you feel true hunger, make a quart of green smoothie in a blender, a green juice, or stewed apples. Then, return to hot water with lemon.
4. Go for a walk with your people. Breathe. Be in nature. Move your body.
5. When the feast is ready, pause.

Pause. Rest in presence. Be grateful for bounty.
Absorb the bounty with all 5 senses.

• Drink in the aromas.
• Hear the chatter and excitement.
• Feel the we-space between you all.
• Receive the vibrant colors and textures on the table with your eyes.
• Savor. Delight. Taste the love and the effort.
• Eat with gratitude for the abundance. Eat the Earth’s abundance and celebrate the connection.

Enjoy the nourishment. Taste all 6 rasas, or flavors.

Contribute to the conversation with enhancing connectivity. Bring people together. Be grounded and inspiring.

Relax.

Then walk.

Then back to hot water and lemon.

Ayurveda 201: How to Feast + Party

Traditionally in Ayurveda, there is a sequence of steps to preparing for feasting and drinking alcohol. The ancient texts describe some serious prep work: self-massage, bathing, anointing with pleasant fragrances, draping yourself in gorgeous and easily fitting clothes.

Then, you need to find great company. This is a requirement for appropriate celebration. Eat in a natural setting to enjoy the sunlight and nature’s beauty. Drink enough to spark interesting, relaxed conversation, but stop there. Drink too much and you numb your awareness and are no longer an asset to the party. Mindfully taste the flavors, stopping when your stomach is 2/3 full (1/3 liquid and 1/3 food), to incorporate the elements of space and air into digestion. Be in a pleasant mood and be only with other pleasant people.

Enjoy your mindful feast!