Everyday Ayurveda with Kate

This week, Kate welcomes Vedic astrologer Kaya Mindlin for a one-of-a-kind episode: a full tour of the Vedic solar year, month by month, through the lens of health and Ayurveda. Kaya has spent 25 years studying the Vedic wisdom traditions — Jyotisha (the “eye of the Vedas”), yoga therapy, Vedic scripture, and Ayurveda — and brings a rare combination of depth and practical accessibility to everything she teaches.

In Jyotisha, the sun rules health and vitality. As it moves through the 12 signs of the zodiac, it illuminates a different region of the body — from the head in Aries all the way down to the feet in Pisces. Each solar month offers specific guidance on what to cultivate, what to protect, and how to live in alignment with the patterns already built into the cosmos.

Kate brings her deep Ayurvedic knowledge to each month, layering in herbs, body care practices, and seasonal wisdom at every turn. This is a conversation that rewards taking notes — and one you will return to throughout the year.

What We Cover

The Vedic New Year and why it begins in mid-April, not January 1st

How the sun’s movement through the zodiac maps the human body from head to feet

Aries season: courage, initiation, and the best time to start new health habits

Taurus season: beauty, food, family, and reverence for the earth

Gemini season: healing hands, communication, ear care, and sexuality

Cancer season: home, heart, emotional health, and gut healing

Leo season: vitality, heart health, creativity, and brain-supporting herbs

Virgo season: digestion, daily habits, simplicity, and fall cleansing

Libra season: balance, hormones, the kidneys, and not too much or too little

Scorpio season: secrets, release, the colon, and deep inner work

Sagittarius season: aiming before leaping, wise counsel, and why January resolutions fail

Capricorn season: structure, strategy, and patiently implementing good habits

Aquarius season: healing innovations, hair and nail care, and community healing

Pisces season: purification, rest, ritual, foot care, and the end of the solar year

Take-Home Practices

Note which solar month you are currently in and focus your self-care accordingly

Use the first half of January for contemplation and vision before acting on your resolutions

Try ear oiling during Gemini season (mid-June to mid-July)

Tend to the chest and emotional health during Cancer season (mid-July to mid-August)

Simplify your diet and daily habits during Virgo season (mid-September to mid-October)

Oil your feet nightly during Pisces season (mid-March to mid-April) and reflect on the year

Guest Links

Website: https://yogawithkaya.com/ 

Nectar of Time Program - monthly Vedic Astrology Forecasts, Rituals and Sacred Stories: https://yogawithkaya.com/nectar-of-time-membership/ 

***10% Off Any Program with Kaya for Listeners with the coupon code: everydayayurveda10***

Private Vedic Astrology Consults: https://www.jyotishresolution.com/ 

Call to Action

If this episode reframes how you move through the year, subscribe to Everyday Ayurveda with Kate and share it with someone who needs a new framework for seasonal health. For deeper support, visit healwithkate.org.

Spring Cleanse: https://ayurvedicliving.institute/kitchari-cleanse-ayurveda-spring

Connect with Kate: https://www.healwithkate.org

Ayurvedic Living Institute Membership: https://ayurvedicliving.institute/membership

Women's Health Collection: https://courses.ayurvedicliving.institute/collections/womens-healthhttps://courses.ayurvedicliving.institute/products/courses/copy-of-fall-community-cleanse-2024

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One of the most common questions Kate hears no matter where she’s teaching in the world: How much food should I eat? Her answer is deeply Ayurvedic — it depends on your body, your season, your activity, and the density of what’s on your plate. In this solo episode, Kate delivers a practical, body-based framework grounded in ancient Ayurvedic nutrition principles.

What You’ll Learn:

The cupped-hands (anjali) portion guide from the ancient texts

How body type, season, and daily activity affect how much you need

Dense vs. light foods — and why the balance determines satisfaction

How the six tastes of Ayurveda create true, lasting fullness

The burp signal: your stomach’s built-in fullness cue

The four-hour meal experiment to calibrate your natural hunger

Why multitasking while eating makes it harder to know when you’re full

How density needs shift during perimenopause and as we age

Take-Home Practices:

Cup your hands together and use that bowl as a rough portion reference

Build each meal around dense foods, then balance with lighter elements

Aim for all six tastes: sweet, sour, salty, pungent, bitter, astringent

After a natural burp during a meal, pause and check in with your body

Run the four-hour experiment — track how long each meal sustains you

RESOURCES

healwithkate.org

HEALTH DISCLAIMER

The information shared on Everyday Ayurveda with Kate is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult a qualified healthcare provider before making changes to your diet or wellness routine.

Spring Cleanse: https://ayurvedicliving.institute/kitchari-cleanse-ayurveda-spring

Connect with Kate: https://www.healwithkate.org

Ayurvedic Living Institute Membership: https://ayurvedicliving.institute/membership

Women's Health Collection: https://courses.ayurvedicliving.institute/collections/womens-healthhttps://courses.ayurvedicliving.institute/products/courses/copy-of-fall-community-cleanse-2024

Thanks to our Sponsor: Banyan Botanicals
Banyan Botanicals: https://glnk.io/kovw3/kate
Bitter and Bold: https://glnk.io/kovw3/kate1x5
Chyavanprash Herbal Jam: https://glnk.io/kovw3/kate5xi
Save 15% with code WINTERWITHKATE

What happens when yoga becomes more than postures? In this conversation, Kate O'Donnell is joined by Amy Landry, Australian yoga teacher, classical Odissi dancer, Ayurveda practitioner, and author of the forthcoming book The Ocean of Yoga. Together they explore what it means to walk yoga as a full spiritual path rather than a fitness practice.

 

Amy shares her rare journey through India's sacred arts, studying Odissi classical dance in Orissa, deepening in Ayurveda, and eventually channeling years of study and teaching into a book designed to give practitioners the broad, cohesive foundation most yoga trainings don't provide.

 

What We Cover

How Odissi classical dance and yoga are expressions of the same liberatory practice

Why Amy believes the yoga industry leaves practitioners craving more depth

The dissolution of self as the highest aim in both dance and yoga

How to find spiritual depth without a formal teacher

Why your yoga practice should change with the seasons of your life

Reading traditional yoga texts alongside multiple translations

Setting sunrise, midday, and sunset alarms as a simple spiritual practice

How Amy wrote her book while breastfeeding and adapting to motherhood

Ayurvedic morning and evening rhythms Amy weaves into daily life

What the Ocean of Yoga offers practitioners and teachers beyond asana

 

About Amy Landry
Amy Landry is an Australian yoga teacher, classical Odissi dancer, Ayurveda practitioner, and the author of The Ocean of Yoga, published by Shambhala Publications (March 31). She has spent decades studying in India across multiple traditions, including Odissi dance at a traditional school in Orissa, and holds a diploma in Ayurveda. She currently teaches yoga and leads an online 300-hour teacher training in Melbourne.

 

Website: https://amyelandry.com/oceanofyoga/

Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/00uecEGOZwCLAs9V9q6Gfp?si=d26499131bc74b1f

Book: The Ocean of Yoga — available March 31

 

Take-Home Practices

Set alarms for sunrise, midday, and sunset — use each moment to pause and return to presence

Begin reading a traditional yoga text alongside two or three different translations

Lie on your left side for one to two minutes before rising to stimulate digestion

Allow your yoga practice to shift with your season of life rather than forcing consistency

Weave ritual into daily life rather than keeping spiritual practice confined to the mat

 

Relevant Links

The Ocean of Yoga by Amy Landry — Shambhala Publications, March 31

Pre-order bonus: Free mini course with all pre-orders before March 31

Kate O'Donnell: healwithkate.org

Everyday Ayurveda with Kate: available on all major podcast platforms

 

Call to Action
If this conversation sparked something in your practice, subscribe to Everyday Ayurveda with Kate and share it with a yoga teacher or student in your life. To explore Ayurveda support, visit healwithkate.org.

 

Health Disclaimer
The information shared on Everyday Ayurveda with Kate is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult a qualified healthcare provider before making changes to your diet, supplements, or wellness routine.

Spring Cleanse: https://ayurvedicliving.institute/kitchari-cleanse-ayurveda-spring

Connect with Kate: https://www.healwithkate.org

Ayurvedic Living Institute Membership: https://ayurvedicliving.institute/membership

Women's Health Collection: https://courses.ayurvedicliving.institute/collections/womens-healthhttps://courses.ayurvedicliving.institute/products/courses/copy-of-fall-community-cleanse-2024

Thanks to our Sponsor: Banyan Botanicals
Banyan Botanicals: https://glnk.io/kovw3/kate
Bitter and Bold: https://glnk.io/kovw3/kate1x5
Chyavanprash Herbal Jam: https://glnk.io/kovw3/kate5xi
Save 15% with code WINTERWITHKATE

Every week, a new wellness trend goes viral. Every month, someone tells you what to eat, when to exercise, and which supplements you're missing. And somehow, after all that information, you feel less certain about your health than ever.

In this solo episode, Kate O'Donnell names what's happening — and she calls it the hive mind. It's the way social media algorithms, trending health content, and urgency-driven information push us away from our own bodies rather than toward them.

Drawing on 25 years of Ayurvedic practice, Kate offers a grounding alternative: the ancient, individualized framework that asks not "what does everyone say?" but "what does this body need, right now, in this season of life?"

 

What We Cover:

How social media algorithms build a wellness hive mind — and why it's designed to make you anxious

Why trending health advice (cold plunges, protein loading, perimenopause supplements) may not be right for your specific body

The Ayurvedic framework of four lenses: time of life, time of day, time of year, and habituation

Why "shoulding" yourself is the enemy of real, lasting wellness

The 15-minute morning awareness practice that costs nothing and changes everything

How Ayurveda's 20 qualities give you a personal language for understanding your own body

A preview of an upcoming episode on blood work: do we actually need it?

 

Health Disclaimer: The information shared on Everyday Ayurveda with Kate is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult a qualified healthcare provider before making changes to your diet, supplements, or wellness routine.

Spring Cleanse: https://ayurvedicliving.institute/kitchari-cleanse-ayurveda-spring

Connect with Kate: https://www.healwithkate.org

Ayurvedic Living Institute Membership: https://ayurvedicliving.institute/membership

Women's Health Collection: https://courses.ayurvedicliving.institute/collections/womens-healthhttps://courses.ayurvedicliving.institute/products/courses/copy-of-fall-community-cleanse-2024

Thanks to our Sponsor: Banyan Botanicals
Banyan Botanicals: https://glnk.io/kovw3/kate
Bitter and Bold: https://glnk.io/kovw3/kate1x5
Chyavanprash Herbal Jam: https://glnk.io/kovw3/kate5xi
Save 15% with code WINTERWITHKATE

Is your makeup toxic? Beauty industry insider Laura Olson—who spent decades writing product labels for major luxury brands—reveals what clean beauty actually means, why "fragrance" is the biggest red flag, and how to navigate greenwashing and health-washing. Learn which apps help you shop safer (Yuka, EWG Skin Deep), which stores you can trust (Credo), and which ingredients to avoid (parabens, sulfates, nano zinc). Laura shares her honest approach: she still uses conventional hair gel because no clean version works, but prioritizes clean products for eyes, lips, and daily use. Discover how to balance effectiveness with safety, why beauty regulations are stuck in 1938, and how to enjoy products for fun without falling for industry manipulation.

Key Timestamps
[00:00] - Introduction: Questions about clean beauty

[03:00] - Laura's background as beauty editor and copywriter

[06:00] - How yoga changed everything

[09:00] - What "clean beauty" actually means (unregulated)

[12:00] - Major ingredient offenders: sulfates, parabens, fragrance

[18:00] - Why "fragrance" is the biggest red flag

[21:00] - Apps and resources: Yuka, EWG Skin Deep

[27:00] - Trusted stores and brands: Credo, Beautycounter

[33:00] - The effectiveness problem: when clean products don't work

[38:00] - Beauty regulations stuck in 1938

[42:00] - How copywriters use language to mislead

[45:00] - Nail polish and acetone

[48:00] - Where products touch your body matters

[50:00] - Treats versus daily rituals

[53:00] - Industry manipulation and women's insecurities

[55:00] - Rapid fire questions

 

Find Laura on IG: https://www.instagram.com/lauraannolson/

 

Spring Cleanse: https://ayurvedicliving.institute/kitchari-cleanse-ayurveda-spring

Connect with Kate: https://www.healwithkate.org

Ayurvedic Living Institute Membership: https://ayurvedicliving.institute/membership

Women's Health Collection: https://courses.ayurvedicliving.institute/collections/womens-healthhttps://courses.ayurvedicliving.institute/products/courses/copy-of-fall-community-cleanse-2024

Thanks to our Sponsor: Banyan Botanicals
Banyan Botanicals: https://glnk.io/kovw3/kate
Bitter and Bold: https://glnk.io/kovw3/kate1x5
Chyavanprash Herbal Jam: https://glnk.io/kovw3/kate5xi
Save 15% with code WINTERWITHKATE