Social connection with loved ones is what I am yearning for and wonder if you are feeling refreshed or renewed by seeing dear ones for the first time in months and months? As Stephen Porges, author and researcher of The Polyvagal Theory, states: “connection is a biological imperative”. We are wired to be in relationship with others and these past 15+ months of isolation has taken a toll on our collective nervous systems.

Ayurveda refers to digestion as the key to health and longevity and we need to tend to our digestive fire, or agni, everyday. When our digestive fire gets too cold, our digestion becomes sluggish and can lead to constipation, gas, and toxicity. When our digestive fire gets too hot, our digestion is too fast and can lead to diarrhea, acid reflux and poor nutrient absorption.

When you think about all the stress in your life - does it feel like a good thing or a bad thing? We tend to have negative feelings about “stress/stressors” in general - and honestly, it makes sense.

But we have to recognize that our body is built to handle certain kinds of stress. Our endocrine system is set up to quickly respond to a crisis and then bounce back.

If you have found yourself in the cycle of trauma, indigestion and eventual microbiome imbalance, you can reverse this cycle. A big part of rebuilding our microbial health lies with food. Our food choices choices can relieve our symptoms as they also reshape our gut microbiome and trauma response.