Are you tired of being tired? 

I can't believe how often I hear this.  I get it. I'm 48 and may women (and men) in my age bracket just don't sleep as well as they used to. 

This post is for you if..

1. You just don't sleep as well as you used to when you were younger. 
2. Sleep issues have been an issue for you on and off throughout your life. 
3. You tend to be a night owl and you know you aren't getting as much sleep as you need.
4. You have a hard time falling asleep.
5. You fall asleep fine but tend to wake up at 3 AM and can't get back to sleep.
6. You want natural solutions (not drugs) for great sleep.

Do you fancy yourself a cook? A foodie? A health enthusiast? A locovore? According to habit change expert, James Clear, every action you take casts a vote for the person you believe you are. Do you go for burgers or go for beets? Do you opt for pop tarts or for parnsips? Do you meal plan or do you default to frozen entrees? When you change your habits, you change your identity. The actions you take daily, weekly, and seasonally in your kitchen cast big votes for the type of body you have now and the kind of body you are going to have in 3 months and in 3 years.

I call myself a cook, a foodie, a health enthusiast and a locovore. It probably started in my teens when I would turn my mom's kitchen upside down experimenting with recipes and food ideas. This identity was solidified in my college years when I worked at the vegetarian collective restaurant name the Che Cafe on the campus of UC San Diego. I made the weekly Indian lunch special, I worked the early AM sandwich shift, and I served food for the Wednesday night All You Can Eat special. People who know me know I love to cook and prepare healthy, local food.

If you want to be a healthy person, start to ask yourself, what would a healthy person do in the kitchen? ​

Kitchen Sadhana
In this post, I share with you a lot of habits and ideas about how to make the most out of your time in the kitchen each day, each week and each season. I call this Kitchen Sadhana. Sadhana is a word from the yoga tradition that translates as a practice aimed at evolution. The habits I do in my kitchen cast votes for my future health and well-being. What I put into my body eventually becomes my tissues, my thoughts and my actions.

I define Kitchen Sadhana as:

• Consciousness in action in my kitchen. 
• The practice of food preparation and nourishment.  
• Daily, weekly and seasonal taks that up-level my kitchen environment and vibration. 
• Clear intentions around my food preparation.  
• Investment in my future body and consciousness.

A weekly Kitchen Sadhana will help you:

• Save time during the week.
• Eat better.
• Save money.
• Be seasonal.
• Be more relaxed.
• Have a healthier, more vibrant body.

Seasonal Kitchen Tasks
These are tasks to do about every three months.

• Purge your fridge and cupboards of anything that is old and devoid of life force (prana).
• Arrange your refrigerator and cupboards like you would rooms in your house! Arrange them neatly and nicely for your satisfaction, pleasure and ease. Design your refrigerator and cabinets to emphasize what you want to put into your body.
• Organize your bins and jars.
• Organize your compost container and system.
• Organize your spices.
• Stock your kitchen for the current season.
• Assess your kitchen tools. Upgrade if necessary.
• Blend spice mixes for the season.
• Freeze or can food to eat later in the year.
• Prepare herbal tea blends, superfood blends, etc.
• Plant a garden or get a CSA subscription.
• Install a compost bin.

Weekly Kitchen Tasks
These are weekly tasks to prepare for good nourishment for the week ahead. These can be customized depending on the season and what you like to eat.

• Explore new recipes for the coming week.
• Fill out your weekly meal planner. (Download this PDF)
• Take a shopping trip.
• Restock your kitchen staples.
• Harvest your garden.
• Gather your edible weeds for the week.
• Arrange fresh produce where you will be enticed to use it.
• Clean greens and veggies for easy meal prep.
• Make mason jar salads for lunches away from home.
• Prepare vegetarian soup stock or bone broth.
• Sprout seeds.
• Make granola.
• Make salad dressings and sauces
• Make almond milk or coconut milk from scratch.
• Start a batch of sauerkraut.
• Make hummus or other bean dips.

Kitchen Tasks for the Evening

• Check your meal plan. Adjust if necessary.
• Soak any legumes or grains for the next day (chia sees, rice, beans, etc).
• Chop and prep ingredients for tomorrow's meal.
• Get out lunch containers that you'll need for tomorrow's work lunch.
• Get your family involved in planning and prepping tomorrow's food

​More suggestions for Kitchen Sadhana Success:

• Invest in you consciousness. Invest in your body.
• Follow the prana (life force). Trust your desire! 
• Enjoy your time in the kitchen! 
• Make Kitchen Sadhana something you can relax into!  

Want to learn more about healthy habits and how to get implement them? Check out the Vibrant Living Habits course.