Work in Progress with Sophia BushTrained dietitian, entrepreneur, and plant-based cook Radhi Devlukia transformed her relationship with food by consciously cooking and using meals to support her well-being, and she's on a mission to help others take their health back into their hands through good, flavorful food!
Radhi joins Sophia to talk about how her upbringing and personal life led to her career path, how anxiety is wrecking your gut health, and the benefits of Ayurveda, which leads Sophia to reveal how an Ayurvedic cleanse helped with her asthma.
Plus, Radhi talks about her new cookbook, "Joyfull: Cook Effortlessly, Eat Freely, Live Radiantly," and shares the recipe for a drink that will help jump-start digestion and help with bloating and gas.
Hi everyone, it's Sophia. Welcome to Work in Progress. Hello sweet friends. Today we are definitely going to get smarter about what our bodies need and maybe how to treat them a little nicer. I'm a fan of that. Today's guest is none other than Roddy dev Luca. She is a plant based cook, a mission driven entrepreneur, and the co founder of the adaptogenic tea brand Juni. With her background as a dietician and nutritionist and her studies in Araveda, Roddy shares everything from her recipes, health tips, wellness videos, natural skincare and beauty and how to live a conscious lifestyle. I'm lucky enough to know Roddy through her wonderful husband, Jay Shetty, and since the day that I met her, when I first did his podcast, I have just adored her. She is the kind of person whose passion is infectious. She's the kind of person who when you see her in a room, you run to her for a hug. She is just a gatherer and a connector, and I love everything about her energy and I love the way that she shares her wisdom with people. She is so passionate about building a health and wellness community that encourages people to understand themselves, not to live up to some crazy, unattainable standard, but to really go inward to understand themselves, as I said, their environment, everything they put on or in their body, and more. She's been featured everywhere from Women's Health to Forbes, to The Today Show, Access Hollywood, and so many more, and her book Joyful is available for purchase now. It is an abundant and inviting book that has more than one hundred and twenty five plant based recipes and really teaches readers about being kind to themselves. Let's dive in and figure out how the inspiring woman learned how to do what she does. Roddy, I'm so happy to have you on the podcast. In the years that we've known each other and been at things together, I just I'm always so happy when I see you walk into a room. You're such a.
Light you O you sweet soul.
You're just like you really are one of the sweetest people. And I'm I'm so into what you do and the impact you make in the world. And I was like, I want to ask her every question on the show.
I have to sit down like this.
I know this is fine, Okay, so before we get into life as it is now, I actually really like to rewind with everyone who comes on the show, because people follow you and they know your work, and they know you have a book coming out, and you know everything up to now. But I'm always curious when I sit down with someone who's you know, carved out this sort of beautiful space for themselves in the world. If when you look back at your life and you look at, you know, the little Roddy who is ten, let's say, do you see in her pieces of the woman that you are today.
That's such a good question, you know.
Every time I get asked about my childhood, it's such a weird thing. But I feel like I only know my childhood through pictures and videos of myself. I feel like I have really yeah, I really have faint memories of my childhood.
And I probably sound packed that, but I really don't remember.
But I remember being a really happy child, like I was so lucky to grow up in a family where my mom and my dad were just amazing and wonderful, and I felt like a very secure, safe childhood and I'm really grateful for that now. At the time, it just felt like my normality. But you know, now having grown up and seen how you know, life turn out for some people, I was like, wow, that was really special to have had that in my life. All I remember is from all my videos and stuff, I'd be always wanting to be in front of the camera. I was always the person. But that was until age and then I got really shy. But when I was younger, I was the one that was like always making jokes in front of the camera and yeah, really loud and bubbly and very excitable. Definitely growing up, so I wasn't shy. When I was young, I would be the one that It'll be my cousin's birthday. Everyone's like singing happy birthday to them, and I'd be the one blowing out the pandels and maybe making my cousin alway sister cry. So I definitely loved the bit of a tension growing up for sure. But yeah, I think, honestly those are my memories. But then as I grew up, I kind of forgot who that person was because I think I started getting really conscious about certain things, and the way people perceive you starts to penetrate through your vision of yourself, and that person is someone Now that I look back, I remember her, But for a long time I was like, I couldn't have related to ten year old me.
Wow, that's so interesting. Do you do you think do you think that shyness kicked in when the dynamics of girlhood started to change?
Yeah, definitely, when you know, because when I was growing up, regardless of whether I was you know, had chubby cheeks and I was like a little bit more well technically, I guess then overweight is what they would have described.
Me as then.
But I don't think I had a concept of people judging me because I was just a kid and everybody was like, she's so cute, and you know, they'll like squeeze my cheeks and it would be a sweet thing. Whereas we had switch that you go through from being a cute little kid to being someone that then suddenly gets judge for the way that they look. And you know, going to a school where there's boys and girls, and you know, you start noticing. It's such a subtle thing, but you start noticing who people gravitate to, what they start looking looking for, what they start looking at, And without me even realizing, I think it all sort of started shifting because of my externals and I wasn't even aware that I was shifting with it.
Yeah, the way society can kind of press in around us and squeeze us and make us feel small is hard. And you know, we've got all the data and the stats on girlhood and what young girls experience and when they get self conscious and when the sort of bad messaging of the patriarchy gets in, and it's like it. On the one hand, I'm so glad we have proof so we can work on building better systems. And on the other hand, I just am like, no, it's so it's so hard. Is did you start as a young person to find your way into cooking or was that something that came later.
My I think being from an Indian background, I had so much flavor, you know, I experienced so much flavor from such a young age.
And my mom had a.
Full time job, but still every single breakfast, lunch, and dinner was homemade without fail. And so it was just magical because she was like a wonder woman. Everything was just there was nothing was too much for her and it was done with so much love and thought, and you know, it wasn't there was so much thought about the food that was coming onto our plate, the colors, the vibrance of it, the spices she was using, the quality of the food she was giving us, And so I think it really elevated my palette from.
A young age.
My mother such is and was such an incredible cook back then too, and so it was kind of part and parcel of our culture and our family dynamic that we were just used to having incredible food, and so I think I got a thirst and.
A taste for it then.
But also watching my mom, like watching the way that she would love through food, it became my love language, I think through watching that and experiencing that, and so I wanted to then share my love in that same way for other people without even realizing how that had impacted me. Now I look back and I'm like, of course, of course I've been in love with food because my mom fed me with so much love and gave me so much to appreciate about food.
That's so beautiful, And it strikes me as such a really special way that in your own house there was pushback on all of the things that are hard for young girls, because instead of it carrying through everywhere in your life, you actually got to go home and feel loved around food and have a healthy relationship with food and have a familial dynamic like it. When I hear you talk about it, it just I can feel the joy way that you had in your kitchen at home.
Yeah, definitely.
We always have meal times together, and I'm sure as a teenager I remember being very averse.
I was like, why can't I just go out and eat with my friends? Why do we go make fud? Why can't we have to take out? And now I'm like, God, the thing.
Is that you really don't value when you're a teenager and then what you start valuing when you're older, they are so different and usually the opposite. And so yeah, in a really amazing journey to unpack that and also find more and more appreciation for my mom and how she raised me to and seeing how that you know, molded who I am now.
So when you sit today and everything in your world really revolves around teaching, Yeah, like, how did it happen? Explain to us how your career now arrived in your life?
Yeah? Good question. Honestly, not by am I doing.
I can honestly say that like it was, you know, when I never had a thought or a dream, like whenever I saw people on TV or if I even saw people in the public eye. It was never something that I envisioned for myself, or maybe because I didn't think I could do it, but it was just not what I wanted.
I wanted to be a dietitian in a hospital.
Well, I wanted to be a pediatric a pediatrician, but I didn't get the grades for that.
Like every Indian, I wanted to be a doctor.
I wanted to be a doctor, didn't get the grades, and then I wanted to be a pediatric dietitian, and so I studied to do that. Like my plans were to work in a hospital and work in you know, pediatric clinics, and that was my dream and that's what.
I had always envisioned myself doing.
And so the platform that I have now, honestly, and I always talk about this, I'm like that came because of people's interest in Jay, Like when people started.
Hearing about him and they were like, oh, I wonder whom.
His wife is, and then somehow they'd end up, you know, coming to my page, which by the way, at the beginning was a private.
Page called Veggie Vegan Vader, and it.
Was just the place I was sharing recipes with my friends and family because I used to cook for them. But then when it started shifting and I saw that dynamic shift where people were coming to me, I was like, well, this is not going to be a fan page for me and j because that's not what I'm here for.
I'm not going to make.
This a place where you know, it's just about him or just about me. And then I had to really think about, like, what is it that I can offer to the world.
And I think I was going through a.
Phase then of figuring myself out and really understanding what it is I want.
I moved to New York.
I couldn't work as a dietician because I was not on a work visa, and so I do all my studies and then moved to New York where I.
Couldn't use any of it, and so I just put myself into study.
And so that's when I was studying Ara Vada, I was doing my yoga teacher training, and I was doing a lot of work on trying to figure out myself, and so all of that combined, I was like, now I feel like I don't have to share about me, but I can share about all the things I'm learning. And I was just so grateful for the teachers I had had, Like I feel like I'm such a grateful student of many great teachers and the fact that I've been even able to have those teachers, which not many people get to have in their life. They may not come in to say, the contact with the same.
People that I have.
I just think that I can be a bridge and share what I learned and pass it on to other people and hope that, you know, it can elevate their life as it did mine.
But yeah, what.
I'm trying to say is it wasn't something that I planned or that came to But I think when people start coming to me, I was like, well, I better give them something good to, you know, to stay for. Even if they're not coming to me for me, at least, let me but try and share something that keeps them here.
Yeah, we'll be back in just a minute. But here's a word from our sponsors. And that's so wise to know that, because you know, you have a life with a person who's a public person, but there would be interest and to figure out a way to give it a purpose. Yes, you know, the sort of side effect of my day job is that interest. And I joined social media, you know, on my way to show up in response to an ecological disaster in the South. I went, oh, this can be a purpose for me to talk about cause, to talk about the environment, to talk about women, and it's sort of changed, you know, everything in my world. It allowed me to really become an advocate in the way that I'm passionate about. And it in a way was because I was really uncomfortable with the attention placed on me as a person, so I needed to figure out how to use that attention for good that went everywhere outside of me into the world totally.
And I think without the concept of service and how am I contributing to other people's lives and the world, So everything ends.
Up feeling so meaningless, and I'm amazed when everything.
Is to do with the surface level, or if it's to do with the externals, you can.
Get bored of it so fast.
Right, Like, everything feels so boring and so meaningless and dull without having a purpose or.
A deeper intention behind it.
And I think I had felt that deeper intention when I started, you know, studying spiritual practices. And when I started learning about Ivada and I was like, there is so much more to life and I and I felt it changing me and so I just saw it as my duty. I remember my one of my teachers said, he was like, knowledge is so useless if it's not shared.
Because it builds up in you and it creates ego in your heart.
Because you think, I have this knowledge, and slowly that knowledge is yours to keep it and.
It defines who I am. But actually, if you see.
Yourself as an instrument or as a vessel for knowledge to pour through you, then you can you know, it really stops ego building up in your body. And so it is something that you learn and you share and that's a big part, whether it's on social media, whether it's to your children, whether it's to your partner. It's like, that is the cycle of receiving knowledge.
Yes, And it reminds me of that phrase once you know you owe Oh. I love that and I love it. It's like when you're given knowledge, you owe it to others to share it and the sort of cyclical nature of that allows for it to grow. And I think that that's so special. When you guys moved. Oh God, and what a crazy thing, I mean, immigrating and then having all those years of study that you just completed essentially be useless to you in a different country. How instead of getting depressed about it, you decided to keep studying? And how did aire veda become core to you? And can you tell listeners who might not know what irvida is? Yeah, what it is, and then tell us how this happened.
Yeah, definitely.
So ire veda iron means life, vada well life for longevity, and veda means knowledge. So essentially it's seen as the science of life, and it's a five thousand year old practice. It's a health science that revolves fully around how we can heal our bodies naturally through what nature provides us with and through understanding deeply what our body needs on an individual level. And so I will start off by saying I quite a lot when I got to New York.
That was part of my life.
I was fine pretty much everything all day for a good few months, because I've felt really lost in you know, where I was and what kind of had to re learn and recreate the narrative that I had already created for myself and how my life was going to be, and that completely because moving away was never in my plan. I told Jay, the only thing that I want when we get married is to have a house that was within three mile radius of my mom, my sister, and my grandma, because they all living in three mile radius of each other. And we got the house and we lived in it for a whole two months, and.
Then we moved.
So it was definitely a shock to my system. And so not to sound like I'm playing a violin, but I was literally walking around the streets of.
New York Crime most of the time.
And then I was like, you know what, it's the first time in my life that I had to sit with myself. Because I'm the youngest child of my family, everybody did everything for me.
I was saved by them all the time.
It was like I was always surrounded by people who, in one sense were an amazing support system, but at the same time were almost a crutch for me.
And I didn't.
Figure out who I was during that time because it was it was completely it was four what everybody else brought around me and I never have to decide that for myself. And so it was the first time I got to somewhere, and I was like, oh my god, I have no idea who I am or what I want.
I don't know what bed sheets to pick.
I don't know what folks and knives to pick, not because I don't know where to get them from, but because I don't know how to make decisions for myself. And so that's when the growth started, and I thought I can't just sit in my sadness forever, like I have to distract myself learn And you know what it was. It's one of those moments where when you feel that way and you know when whether it's God or the universe, or it just so happens, where the right people come into your life at the right time, and all you have to do is say yes.
And so for me, one of my teachers did ya.
She was an amazing iobated chef and teacher in New York. I met her and I was just amazed by what she was doing. I was like, can I just follow you around and intend with you? And I'll do everything for free, and I just want to learn everything that you're teaching. And so it was the first time I'd come into contact with Iravada in terms of study but when I started learning about it, I realized that culturally, my mom and my family had practiced it for years, because whether it was using spices when I have coughs and colds, or whether it was putting a turmeric patch on my cuts when I was you know, when I was unwell, like, there was just so many aspects that were already weaved through my life, but I got to learn it at a deeper level. And so in one way, having changed from being a dietitian in a hospital where I felt some things weren't exactly how I would have wanted to share it, to then in contact with Ivada, where I thought, Wow, this is exactly what I've been looking for.
And I love the individual nature of it.
It's so specific to each person and we also unique that how can it be one size fits all? In my mind, that it doesn't make sense because we're all so different, And so I fell in love with it from you know, the first chapter that I read about it.
That's so cool. And I don't know if we've talked about this or not, but you know, I've had asthma my whole life, and it's such a tough thing to deal with and really you know, it's connected to larger issues of inflammation, and so much of that can be triggered by foods. And when I was twenty seven, I was in a particularly bad asthma flair and a friend of mine recommended that I go see an IERVDIC doctor she was working with, and I did like a full eight day irvdic cleanse and was off my nebulizer. By day four, my eggzema had cleared up, Like it was so immediate that because my body was being given what it needed and also being given the chance to heal, it was like all the levels that were keeping me sick lowered in my body, and it really, it really did change the way that I love things. And I've never been one who's ever like, you know, quote unquote stuck to like a diet or a plan. I can really commit for a while, and then I'm always like, but the pasta But I will say I can really tell when I feel out of range or the travel or the airport food or whatever is getting to me, and it's always something I feel like I can go back to. And I'm just so excited that Joyful is available for purchase now because I'm like I need more of it in my kitchen, Like I can't always have to lean on someone else, you know, to do it for me or to tell me what to eat. How how did you take this world of study and what you began to offer to people as a growth of what you were doing for your friends and family online that then became a bigger public platform. Like how do you get to a point where you realize you have to write a book or is it just that everyone who follows you has been like, please write a book. We need it, we need it, Like what's the process here?
Yeah? I also had asthma growing up.
By the way I did till I was I was taking it inhalo until I was in past college. Yeah, I would have I worked out, And I don't recommend this anybody who's got asthma, that's listening. But I haven't had taken my inhaler for over ten years. And I did it through breath work, through changing my diet. When I turn vegan, that seemed to have been a big you know, daring seem to have been a big trigger for me. Yeah.
Therei's a big trigger for me.
And even when I get because I'm allergic to cats, sometimes and it can bring up asthma.
And I have used.
Breathwork and essential oils to like really to not have to use my inhaler. And again, I just want to say that it's on an individual thing that just worked for me.
But every time I get reasy, even like.
Learning how we can use our breath to expand our lungs and our airways.
It's so powerful. So I just want to share that with you.
And then how did I come to write this book? Honestly I never felt ready. I never even thought I would write a book. Really, I'm start getting approached to write books from different publishers, and I thought, you know, I at that time, I always said I.
Never just want to write a cookbook. I love cookbooks.
But I felt like what I had learned through cooking and the practices and the wellness rituals and the parts of cooking beyond the food, like the consciousness that goes on behind the scenes is such a vital part of how we even interact with food that just doing recipes didn't feel like.
I was doing what I learned justice.
And so whenever I was speaking to people, I was like, I don't I could write a cookbook but I also want to write something that's got a lot of other things weaved into it. And so I went out to write a proposal, and so my you know, agents, were speaking to publishers to find someone to help me write a proposal.
And.
Anyway, it turned out that instead of instead of them saying that they'll help me write the proposal, my publishers were like, no, we want to write the book. We want to be part of the book. And so I didn't even up writing a proposal or know what was going to be in the book before I ended up saying yes to writing it. And then I obviously knew that I was going to be plant based recipes because I've been plant based for over ten years now and I was born vegetarian, so that was always going to be what the recipes were about. But the next day after I signed my contract, I was it sounds a bit cliche, but I was sitting in my meditation and I was really trying to think about what is it that I want this book to give to people, and what is it that I've always wanted through everything that I do, for people to feel.
And honestly, the person that came to.
Mind was Joy and I was like, I think that I have ever wanted to do, even if it's in people's lives that you know that I my personal friends and family.
My goal has always been to bring.
People some sort of joy in their life through food, through entertainment, through being funny and goofy, like whatever it is, it's always in that. And so after I came up with the name, which came before anything else, I was like, now I know what I can talk about.
Like, everything has that threat.
So whether it's the recipes or the rituals that I've included in that everything, of all the things in my life that have brought me so much more joy and helped me maintain joy in my life, that it all just slowly came together. So three years later, the book's out, by the way, because it took me for years, and I created one hundred and ninety recipes, which I had to cut down to one hundred and twenty five, which was a very sore process to try.
Wow, that's okay, they can go in the second book.
Yeah, exactly, That's where I want to keep saying, and I feel really happy about it. It was also a big thing for me to complete something like Honestly, I'm someone who will be really excited about starting something and I'll be like all in and then suddenly I'll like completely forget about it or I.
Wouldn't be able to complete it.
And so this was almost you know, it was something I did for myself also where I wasn't even thinking about the results of Once it came out, it was like, Wow, I actually completed something. So for me, it was like a sense of confidence in myself that I can actually create, go through the process and actually something.
So yeah, there was a lot.
Of reasons behind doing it, but I'm so happy that it's here and that i can share it with as many people as want to read it.
Oh that's so cool. So when you talk about the experience behind cooking, you know, the deeper sort of relationship we have to our food to the way that it enables us to take care of ourselves. How how do you write about that? How is it different than just a cookbook? You know, what will listeners when they order this book after hearing this conversation, Like, what will their journey be going through it with you?
Yeah, So the book starts, it goes through the cycle of the day, and so it.
Goes through from thing to evening, and it.
Follows the rhythm of nature in terms of well linked to ironvada. So whether it's the recipes which go from being a lighter to the largest meals in the afternoon, because our digestion is the strongest when the sun is at its highest, that's what our digestifiers are the strongest. And so you have the bulkier, heavier, more dense recipes in the middle, and then it tails off to having the lighter meals, the soups, the.
Lighter bites that you can have in the evening. And so along with that, I've.
Done morning rituals, evening rituals, afternoon rituals, breath works that help you help help the carry you through your day. So I'd use breathwork to really help navigate my emotions throughout the day.
I can get quite nervous and anxious, and.
So whether it's a breath work in the morning to relieve your anxiety, to a breathwork to energize you midday, or a breathwork to relax and calm you in the evening, I've gone through those breathworks in there. There's also conscious eating and mindful cooking. In the practice from picking what vegetables you're going to have to being more intuitive with your.
Body to understand not what is this person.
Telling me what to eat or what recipes did this person post online? Or you know, this person saying this meal change their whole body and their whole life. No, what does my body need? And how do I tune into that? How do I understand that when I'm eating something, I don't just have to think about how it's making me feel in the moment, but how is my digestion after? Is it making me feel sluggish? Is it making me feel energized, How is it affecting my skin?
How is it affecting my body? And so really tuning back into our body.
We've you know, completely give away the power of our health to other people, when actually there's so much that we can harness in ourselves just by taking a moment to observe and identify things within ourselves.
And so I talk about that, and then also.
The practice of when you're cooking, it's not just about throwing things in a dish, which sometimes we have to because of time, But how can I put intention and deep prayer and create food which just doesn't nourish my body, but that I can pour prayer and love and care into the food to be able to nourish me deeper than just my physical body. And you know, people sometimes say, oh, that's so woo woo, and I'm like, no, because when you eat food from someone that loves you, you feel it.
Like when I eat food.
My mom or my grandma make me, I will copy the recipe exactly and it will never turn out the same because there is something about the energy that we pour into the food that we're creating, and so I cook about that, and then there's prayers and meditations you can do just before taking the food in because the gratitude is such an important.
Part to our digestion.
To actually eat in a relaxed state, and with deep gratitude changes the way the food even absorbs and assimilates into our body. And so, you know, consciousness to me is about how can I be more present in every moment, includ being the moments that I'm eating, drinking, living, and being around other people and so essentially just everything that I know.
About that into.
That's beautiful. And now a word from our sponsors who make this show possible. You know, when you talk about how the energy that we cook with and eat with can actually change how we feel in our bodies, how we absorb food. Is it true that to your point, like gratitude changes absorption, does that actually lead to having better gut health? What are some of those sort of cool facts in that regard that you can share with.
Us you need if you think about it. And let's say a lot of people when they come when I used to have gut clinics or when I used to see people for IBS problems, one of the main things that you're asking them is where do you have stress in your life right now?
Like where is the stress? Like where where are you stressed out?
And are you noticing any patterns between where you're stressed and how your gut is? Like I remember even simple things that when I used to go into exams and I used to be so nervous, my thought would start playing up straight away.
And so there's.
Such a there's been so many studies to show the link between anxiety and our gut and that's that's that's been proven. But then if we if we reverse that and thing, well, what's the opposite of feeling anxious? They say that when you're in a you know, grateful mindset, you can't be anywhere else, like you will be present in the moment and you'll be absorbed in what.
You're doing at the time.
And so even having those moments of gratitude kind of pushes away, even for those moments, the anxieties that we're feeling, the feeling we're feeling, all the other things that are, you know, going through our mind. When you are able to give something full focus, like our digestion, you kind of have to remind your body what's happening in the moment. And so when you are eating your food, looking at it like it says that when you first see food, that is the time that your digested burst starts, Like you start salvating the enzymes on your tongue, they start to become a life because you've started signaling to your body that food is coming. Your digestive juices start flowing. And so if we distracted and we're all over the place, only doesn't even get the signals it needs to start thinking about digesting. We literally are looking around doing everything else, shoving things in our mouth, and then suddenly maybe ten fifteen, twenty whenutes, maybe even hour later, our body's like, oh, you've just eaten, okay, now let me start producing those digestive juices. Getting our body prepared like you would go for a run and you put your shoes on and you put your coat on, and.
In the same way, we have to prepare my body for what's coming.
Because usually we're shoving it down and am ready for it.
So is this why people say that it's so important to sit down when you eat instead of stand.
Yeah, yes, definitely.
And also gravity, Like if you think about it, everything travels so much faster.
When you're standing.
Even if you're water water will just flow through you if you are not sitting and sipping on it slowly. And that's why you'll notice that if you stand and gulp a lot of water down, you'll need to go to the bathroom way faster than if you're sitting and sipping it. And so yeah, some of it is you know, scientific and factual, and there are studies behind it, and other parts of just noticing your body and really yeah, and I think I had I was spoke speaking to someone yesterday about how important things are to be science backed and how we really need clinical studies for things and I said, you know, the actual fact is a lot of these things that have been passed down, they've been passed down from generations to generations to generations, but they've had no financial.
Benefit for passing it down.
They've had no ulterior motive to pass it down except to heal their children, their family and the people. And so with a lot of clinical studies, like you know, back in the day, we would tell cigarettes were good for us.
And now they're not. And then we're told waves are good for us, and now they're not. And so I'm not saying clinical studies don't.
Have a place, but I think there is a big part in just let me see what feels good for me le and listen to what other people are telling me to do.
And so there is science, but there's also the.
Magic of intuition and understanding and connecting back to our body to actually get the evidence.
That we need well.
And one of the things that's so cool to me is, as you mentioned, you know, iraveda is a five thousand year old practice looked at culturally as medicine, and I think it's so cool now that there are so many studies being done and the lore of this is how this system works for you, This is how you can take care of your body, is also being scientifically proven. Like for me, I think there's nothing cooler than when you're intuition and science meet because I'm like, I love it, Like that's what I crave and it's exciting to know. You know, as we said, like I've never been able to cure my asthma, but my asthma is so much better now that I have not only the medicinal tools that I need, but the dietary knowledge, the breath work, the exercises, all of it has added up to me being so much healthier now than I was ten years ago. And I think there's something really beautiful about what you're talking about, how the science of ayr Veda really is. It's universal, but it's individually applied so specifically. I think. For I'm wondering if there's folks at home that are like this sounds really cool, but I don't know much about it. I'm really pressed for time. This sounds expensive, Like how complex a re programming are we talking? Because like I don't necessarily have an hour at lunchtime to practice gratitude while I eat, So can you give us like the Inside Baseball on the sort of small changes that make the big difference.
Qually, And that's honestly what I based my book on. I'm like, no one's got time to you can you can choose different rituals throughout the book and different practices that you find you're attracted to the most. And so you may not have time to do an hour of gratitude, but you may have a moment to just say thank you so much for this food and I I am so grateful that my body's going to receive it.
And that's it, like you can say it quick. Yeah.
And by the way, that was like thirty that was like thirty.
Seconds exactly exactly.
I love a thirty second life changer.
Do we too?
And then you know, the other thing, which I was going to say when you brought up what we were just talking about, is there are so many studies now done on the benefits of spices like commit you know, there are actual studies that have been done on this. Now I just based on my experience of it, but when I've started seeing people actually doing study and showing the benefits and our bodies are a big part of the book and my intention with it is. I want people spice covers to be filled by the end of this book. Spices have such incredible, subtle preventative mechanisms to to help build your immunity, boost your digestion, you know, boost your boost your mindset.
Like there's so much that spices can do.
And so another quick tip is go to your supermarket or sorry, your grocery store the next time you are you're going shopping, and pick three spices pix spices that you want to incorporate into your into your food this week.
Okay, are there's three you would recommend people start.
There are the.
Queen spice blend in irata is, coriander seeds, cuman seeds, and fennel seeds of my favorites.
Oh good, I love this knowledge.
And as I start my morning and if you don't even want to add them.
Into your food, I start my morning with hot water with those three seeds in equal parts.
In hot water, boil.
Just make a tea.
Oh yeah ccft, it is amazing.
Pari under seeds, cuman seeds, fennel seeds, all in equal parts a teaspoon of each.
Boil it in some water and drink that tea. It is.
I mean, all three of those have been found to improve digestion. Just stoke your digestion because when you wake up in the morning, your gut has been resting for almost eight hours and so it kind of needs to be again a reminder of hey, like food's going.
To be coming in shortly.
But it also helps the detox because when we end up sleeping overnight, that's when our body does all of that cleaning up.
Like it's done.
We don't need this here anymore. I don't need this here anymore. Let me start taking it out of the body. And so this helps to one clear out and remove toxins from the digestive system. Parianderine cuman are incredible blood purifiers too, because we could you know, so many free radicals and everything get built up in our body through our environment, through our we need and so it's really subtle but amazing and I recommended it to so many friends and they're like, my digestion is so much better. And in India, fennel seeds are eaten after every meal, So when you go to an Indian house or you go to India, after you eat your meal. The practices in restaurants everywhere they'll have fenel seeds for you to chew on after. And fennel seeds are and as soon as you eat them, whether you've got discomfort in your belly, bloating or gas, I guarantee you you will be releasing it because fennel seeds are almost like an immediate effect on that.
So try in a team.
So I'd save tea, add spices, a thirty second or like five second gratitude prayer before you eat, and then just noticing, notice the things in your life that, like ivader, isn't something you have to be one hundred percent in on. Actually everything is iravading because everything is just about is this beneficial for my body or is it not? And it's it's the observance of that. And so take time to observe yourself. That's a part of aravader. Take time to notice this makes me happy. This is what I'm allowing into my senses. When I look at the person, it makes me happy. When I look at this book, it makes me happy. Like, increase the things in your life that bring joy to you and start decreasing the things that feel like they don't add value. And that's through lifestyle, through the people that we're.
Around, and for folks listening who might want to incorporate, you know, more of a plant based diet but maybe aren't ready to do a whole switch. Me included what are good ways for people to eat enough protein when they're trying to go more and more plant based?
Good question. I've been focusing on that a lot this year, Like I'm trying to take.
One hundred grams of protein minimum every single day, And yeah, it takes planning and it takes an adjustment, but I also say try to go towards things that are already naturally plant based if you are making switches, because it's the things which are made to be substitutes that can end up actually harming our health a little bit more than doing it good.
And I understand the substitutes once in.
A while, but trying to baste all your meals around it well might actually not make you feel great.
And so whether it is a cup of.
Lentils, whether it is soyer beans, whether it's you know, tofu, has been given a really bad rap back in the day, but there's been so many studies now to show that it takes such a large amount to affect your health in a negative way. And that's with everything anything too much quantity.
And so yeah, your.
Beans, your lentils, the tofu creating, like, oh what else do these hemp seeds, nuts? It's really about the little things because I think when you eat meat, you're used to getting a bulk of your protein in one go, whereas also the animals that are getting that protein are eating plants, and so there is ways for us to get protein from plants we just have.
And so I have a whole area of this.
There's literally a section that says, will I get enough protein being plant based? There are plenty of ways to do it. It just takes a little bit more meal planning and getting yourself adjusted to it.
But I also say I'll go all in at once.
I took a I took I just I turned plant based, and I was only.
Going from being vegetarian to vegan.
And I did that over a six month to a year period, and I let the last because I loved cheese. And you don't have to do you don't have to do everything all at once, like a few days a week. You want to make some plant based meals and start enjoying them, you know, it takes a lot for our body to start adjusting, especially if you've been eating meat for thirty forty fifty years of your life, Like, yeah, expect a body to just completely adjust, and so give yourself some greace, like do what feels best for you and slowly but surely make make progress, you know, towards plant based lifestyle.
I think that's really important advice. I mean, particularly in America. I think we get really obsessed with like hashtag goals like I'm going to change my life this week and institute forty new habits and give up these things, and you know it's the reason all of our nears revolutions always fail. So I think giving yourself permission to make changes slowly feels nice.
It does, and more sustainable.
Yeah, what are things you would recommend people eat every day? Or is there anything we should be eating every day? And I know the tea is one thing, but I know you said too much of anything is a bad thing. So do you find it's more about variations or are there like a couple of core things that should be in our daily eating practice.
I think the macros can be on a daily basis, so you make sure you get your comma, your proteins, your fats, your healthy fats. But in terms of the same thing every day, I really do believe in seasonal eating, but also having variety in your diet because our gut microbiome, which is the you know, the healthy bacteria that end up digesting the food in our.
Gut, it thrives off variety.
It actually is fed by different vegetables and fruits and different ingredients.
And so if we limit.
Ourselves to having certain things every day, it may serve us in the summer, and it may be amazing for us in the summer, like having lots of smoothies and salads, but actually in winter, our digestion might not be able to handle that, you know, our just through the seasons, and so I actually don't recommend having anything throughout the year.
You'll notice your body actually.
Rejecting certain things at certain times of year and craving them at other times. So i'd say making sure that you're getting an abundance of colors on your plate, That's something I would say, without a doubt is.
What you should be aiming for.
So different colors on your plate coming from different parts of the food group, so your calves, your proteins, your healthy fats and your fruits and your vegetables. An abundance of different colors on your plate, for that will make sure you're getting all the different vitamins and minerals you need, because all the colors represent fogusman's and minerals that.
They have in them. Yeah.
Yeah, I don't like giving recommendations of life it's every day because but.
That's helpful to know that we shouldn't box ourselves in that way. I mean, one of the things that's been really illuminating for me. I feel so lucky to live in California is you know, I really do try to make it to the farmer's market on the weekends. And when you start learning what's in season, it does, it does really, at least it did for me. It really changed my understanding of, to your point, what I should be eating, because we do have these wild grocery stores where everything's available all the time, but what does that mean? And so I love being able to shop a little more locally, whether it's at the farmer's market or signing up for you know, a CSA if you have that in your area, because then you start buying and receiving what's in season, and it is nice to eat more, you know, with the growing patterns of the things we're ingesting.
Okay, and that's why you know when people have local honey and it helps with their hay fever or it helps with the energy. Well, if you think about it, our body tunes into the nature around us. Like I keep saying this in interviews, but I really mean it. We are part of nature. We don't live in nature, and so actually we are so when we create disease in our body when we lose sync to nature. And so when we start eating out of season, when we start eating things that aren't grown on the soil that we are living in and that living on, and that we are the nature that we are around and the environment that we're around, it affects our body in that same way. So actually eating the foods and the fruits, the vegetables, the helbs that are grown on the land that we are living on, it really does make a difference because that's what our body is wanting and craving.
And so, by the way, it doesn't mean you have to eat seasoning all the.
Time, like a cherry where you feel like eat cherry pie when it's not cherry season, eat your cherry pie.
But trying. It's always about a balance.
So if you right now of sixty percent eating not seasonally and forty percent eating seasonally, try and tip that to fifty to fifty. See how you can do that.
So you progress not perfection, Yeah, definitely. Yeah, And now a word from our sponsors. So when you think about eating seasonally, does that mean that your morning routine also changes through the seasons or do you have a pretty set way that you like to wake up and start your day?
Right? So my morning routine is pretty much the same.
But what I may adjust are the types of breathworks that I do, or have the spices I'm using in the morning or throughout my day, or the grain I might be using. If you know, I need something that feels a bit lighter during winter season during summer season, but I want something a bit more heavy and hearty doing winter season. But generally my practices stay the same, and so I'll wake up, I do my breath work in meditation, or before that, I'll break my teeth and do my tongue, which I recommend. If there's one irradio practice you do, it's using a ton of scraper it.
Will to change your life.
And then I'll do my editation, my breath work, and then I'll have my tea, and then I'll go for my workout, and then I'll have my breakfast afterwards. And so I'd say I've had that routine for a good eight to ten years.
Now, Wow, that's incredible. And obviously you know you're married. You're not just exercising this routine solo on your own time. You have a partner in the house. So does Jay have a morning routine like yours? Have you led him down that path or did he have his own and you just sort of do them in tandem.
So I wake up a little bit earlier. I've always been an early riser, so I wake up a bit early, and then he'll join me for meditation near the tail end of my meditation hall way through, and then honestly, the rest of our day, except for on weekends where you know we might read together at the same time, we actually have quite a separate morning routine.
I go to a different place to.
Work out, He goes to a different places to work out. And so yeah, I'd say we've learned what works best for us. Because he was trying to force himself to wake up at the same time as me, and you know, do all the same things I was doing, serving his body because he needs a lot more sleep than I do.
And the way that he likes to practice meditation.
You know, he might meditate quite loudly because we both do montral meditation and I prefer having softer pies and meditations in the morning.
There will be times that we overlap, but generally.
We we've found what works best for both of us separately.
And quite like it as a meantime in the morning.
That's so cool. You know. Obviously you talk about how your relationship shifted your work, and you know, you guys moved to the States together. But if you take us back, how did you two first meet?
Okay, so we first met. So I met him before he became a monk. Briefly, I was, you know, volunteering at the No was I volunteering at the time. My mom was volunteering at the temple that he was training to be a monk.
At in London. And then my mom met.
Him because he was showing her how to do some services at the temple. How to you know, do the different activities she.
Was doing that, and the next time my mom went there, she introduced me to him.
At this point, he was a trainee monk and he was training there. We wanted to get my daughter involved in some of the youth stuff here, but I don't know where to start. And he said, oh, well, i'll give her details to my sister.
She's involved in the youth group. He's going to be a monk, and you can.
Wasn't talking to women, and so he was like, I'll give I'll give her her number to my sister and she can, you know, start coming to some of the things. So I spoke to his sister and I started coming to a lot of the different classes and the spiritual retreats that they were doing, and I.
Just loved it.
And I really felt like I'd found a place that felt like home for me, and so I started going there. But then we lost We didn't like talk to each other. He went off did his monk training. I was going to some of the classes he was doing. He was doing a lot of courses at the temple. But then he was in India and the UK, and so I knew of him, and I knew him as almost like a teacher versus being someone that I was thinking about in that way because he was going to be among like he was in full robes and stuff.
So I was in that way.
And then fast forward a couple of years when he ends up leaving the Ashram, I had already become best friends with his sister, and at that point when I heard, I kind of told her that I liked him a little bit, and she was like, well, no, I don't think he's thinking about that right now, and I was like, okay, fine, And then she told him and he was like, oh, she's the only person that I would have thought about wanting to get to know, you know, after coming out. And so nice story short, we end up talking and yeah, we ended up just really getting along and we both just had.
The same values. And I think that was it for us, that our foundation.
We both wanted the foundation to be a spiritual relationship and where we could grow together in that way and where we both can connect to each other and God together, and I think that's always been the foundation for us.
It started that way, and we keep, you know, using.
That as our north star, totantly keep re connecting with that purpose.
Yeah, and then I mean, what a wild shift you know, you got married in twenty sixteen. You guys both have these big public jobs. You know, his podcast is so successful and your business is so successful wells As everything evolves and grows, is it really that that core of you know, commitment to growth and a desire to always stay centered that you think allows you both to stay centered in your relationship as well as individually.
Yeah, I think so. I feel like we're both both committed. Him he's taught me to be more committed to growing myself, and I really appreciate so much of what he I say, a lot of what he learned through his monk training.
Is what he had to allow me to learn once we were you know, once we were.
Married, in the sense of he had to allow space for me to do a lot of growth that he had already done. And he very patiently, lovingly was like, he's never been someone to be like I've done this, and so you have to be like this. Everything has always just been such a gentle, loving patient like observer and whenever you need help, I'll take part. And if you don't, stand back and you do it yourself, if that's how you want to. And so it's been wonderful being able to have someone in my life that leads by example versus force or like, you know, I have to do things in a certain way, and usually having someone that practices so beautifully kind of makes you want to be a better version of yourself too, and so really practices what he speaks about. And so for me, even if I am wanting to get really leo and so I'm really fiery, and even if I'm like that, I want to do it this way and I'm stubborn, and they'll just be like, Okay, well I'm not against you right now, like I'm not trying to be against it.
We need to figure this out together, And I'm like, no, just fight with me right now, just.
Like I want to roar.
Yeah exactly.
But I'd say that, yeah, our opposite Nature's help. We're both actually really different to each other.
But at the same time, even if.
Our personalities are different, our four values and what we both want to constantly keep at the center of our life has always maintained the same. So even if our externals have changed, whether we're in a different country, whether we have more or less, whatever, it is the purpose behind how we want to live our life has always maintained and stayed the same, And yeah, I think that's it's been a it's a blessing to have that with someone, to have the same Yeah, to have the same values, because sometimes that can really differ as time goes on. Yeah, you speak up till now, up till this point, who knows. I mean, like we may not for people later on, but for now, Yeah, it seems to have stayed the same.
But I think that's really beautiful. You know that you continue to grow together. I think to your point, you never know you know what's what's going to happen. I mean, I've certainly dealt with thinking I know where something's going and then realizing you can't cross a bridge till you come to it. And sometimes you get to the bridge and you just can't walk over it with someone. And I think there's a real importance in always being willing to check in with what you're capable of and what someone else is capable of. And there's such a beauty when you know couples like you two continue to figure out how to grow together. It's it's really inspiring.
Yeah, And honestly, it takes so many there's so many ups and downs to it. Right, Like, there's never a moment in relationships where everything is just constant up. There's so many ebbs and flows to it, and so there'll be you know, months on end where maybe we're not matching in the way that we want to do things and the way that we connect with each other, and you know, it will go through periods where we feel disconnected, but then we get to connected back again, and I think, you know, it's it's a false narrative if we constantly tell ourselves that life should just be easy and relationship should just be a walk in the.
Park, because we all change so much.
There are weeks on anywhere I just don't feel like I'm sadder than usual and I don't know why, and I just have And so then that reflects in our relationship.
And there are times where I am.
So exhausted, I don't feel like I can give beyond myself because I'm still trying to figure out things that you know, I'm so focused on what I want to do. Maybe I don't have the capacity to go beyond myself and do that. And so there are so many different dynamics to relationships. Sometimes one person is going to have to hold a larger space than the other, and sometimes you know that doesn't happen, and so you can disconnect and connect back again and get stronger and then get weaker.
And I think that is what a relationship is.
And so it's wonderful that we both have the same values and the same principles and what we want to do. But there's obviously always been this ebb and flow of how we've got back there.
Yeah, that's so amazing. When you think about your aspirations, do you set them for yourself as an individual and also together as a couple, or or do you try Like I guess my question is how do you figure out what to collaborate on and what to keep separate.
Yeah, that's a good question, m.
I'd say when it comes to work aspirations, I honestly like I feel like a lot of things have come to me rather than me having a goal or a journey in mind for myself.
And so I think I've I've.
Always been on the journey of trying to figure out what it is I want to do, and so I've never really felt certain in that.
So for me, it's always been a I don't know what I'm doing and should I even be doing this? And I sing.
And you know, that's that's what's what I'm like. And Jay's like has a clear as like there is no no, there's no question.
Of what he wants to do.
He knows what he wants to do, how he wants to do it, he knows what aligns with it, what doesn't, and he's extremely clear about that.
And so.
I say, I'm still figuring out and trying to figure out what even my aspirations are and how I want to live my life and the things I want to do even in the next year. And he's someone who has a five year, ten year plan of not even a plan, but a destination and like a direction of where he's going.
So a lot of that.
You know, if if that's the case, I'm like, whatever you want to do, I fully support, and if it doesn't align with.
What I want to do, I will let you know. So if there may be a lot of events I don't want to go to.
And there may be a lot of things because of my personality and what I don't find joy in that I don't want to do, But at the same time, you're not going to catch him watching a cooking show with me, you know, like it's such a we have such different ideas of even what like our successes look like or what I'm I'm not a numbers person at all, and he's like, he's so good at figuring things out. He has all these numbers in his head all the time, like he's really.
Good at that.
And so yeah, I'd say we've both always tried to stick to well. When I was lost, I tried to jump on his bandwagon and kind of be like, oh, I want to do everything you're.
Doing, and I want to, you know, be that.
But then I realized, if it's not your aspiration that runs out fast, like you don't get joy out of it because you're just following someone else's path and it's not yours.
And so when I.
Started realizing that, it was you should be happy doing what you're doing, and I should be happy doing what I'm doing. And hopefully if and when those two collide and they become one aspiration, then great. Otherwise, there's plenty of time in the day for us to be able to do our own things that we want to do that make us happy and then and then connect in during the day about things that we both enjoyed talking about or discussing or being part of, and so we have one company together. We have our tea company together, and that's something that we really enjoy doing.
But again, he's.
Part of different cause to the cause that I'm on because I do the creator and I love creating the recipes for it, and he's so good with the managing of teams and the finance cause, which I honestly I'm not, and so I.
Don't want to be on those.
You're kind of doing different things on it.
Yeah, that's really cool. It just sounds like a really healthy dynamic where you each get to maintain your individuality and you have a space where your relationship and your partnership really flourishes.
Yeah exactly. We try to do that again and sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.
Well, but that's also being a human yeah exactly. But with all of this, you know, and we're so close to the start of the year and you've got the tea company, and you've got the book, and your business is thriving and your relationship is thriving. Like as you look out at the year ahead with so many, so many goals that now have the checkmark next to them, you know, especially three years to write a book and now here it is what as you look forward right now feels like your work in progress? Is it something professional or personal or maybe a little bit of both.
Honestly, I've been having a deep craving to go back to study again.
Hm.
The thing I feel.
I've had a first for since the end of last year where I felt a bit depleted in knowledge, and I think, yeah, I'd say one of my biggest goals this year is like I'm reading six books at a time.
At the moment and I am loving it.
Like I just have such a deep desire to study and learn and to just throw myself back into being a student. And so I'd say that the only part I know about what's coming up is the fact that I want to study. Apart from that, I honestly just don't know what's going to come And after my book, I was like, what are you working on after your book?
And I'm like, oh, I don't know. You don't know what. I know that I want to.
Learn more and I feel like the more I learn, the more I'll be able to share. And so I definitely am going back into a phase of being a deeper student, and apart from that, when it comes, I will tell.
You I love it, Sorr, I heard a good at a halt.
I just yeah, I love it. I also think it's really important to celebrate where we are and not necessarily constantly. It's like, you've got this major achievement. People are like, what's next, and I feel like you. I want to look around and go, well, can I just enjoy this for a maybe?
You know?
So that's great? Enjoy it and yeah, we can nerd out and read books together. It's all I want to do.
I love that reading right now?
Well, yes, please, I want the full list. Thank you so much for coming today. I just I love spending time with you.
You do, Okay, we have to do a day. We have to set a time to spend time together.
Yes, I'm ready. Okay, great, And when I come over, I'll bring you honey.
Local honey, and I will pick you.
Okay, deal, this is my This is a perfect, perfect hag.
Thank you again, Thank you honey,
