Healthy fall chocolate cake like this reminds me of special events I planned. These type of individual cakes were always a hit!
The gooey oozing middle gluten-free chocolate cakes were served individually (as in no sharing!) in their own ceramic baking cups. They were called fallen chocolate souffles.
And they were made while guests were enjoying dinner, so there was a timing component. Luckily… for this decadent dessert, you can make them anytime to put smiles on faces whether it’s a wedding or a relaxing weekend. Most likely it’s the latter. 😊
The recipe below is a low-sugar, healthy chocolate cake made with gluten-free flour. 🧡
It’s a simple to make recipe and not complicated considering how satisfying they are.
And to show how relaxed you can be, I was in yoga Corpse pose waiting for the baking to finish… that almost never happens as I’m busy in the kitchen with my hands.
And in catering, we never got off our feet… good shoes were a must as some events, we walked miles within our venue.
So the great cake turn out and mini yoga session in between was a nice surprise… we used to say “kill two birds with one stone.” Not sure who came up with that proverb as it sounds violent when the intent is you’re being productive and multi-tasking. 😊
And Corpse pose (or Shavasana) is a great Hatha yoga way to be productive to reset new intentions for the rest of this year, so you can enter your new year with a bang! 🎉
So while making this healthy fall chocolate cake, I was reminded how often we stand stationary with some kind of tool in front of us, whether it’s a standing desk computer or a kitchen tool like a mixer. Or we’re sitting all day. It’s often all or nothing.
If we measure our standing time vs. our sitting time, one day can be too much of either. And we often forget to add in some calming awake resting time.
So Corpse Pose is a good balancing pose for this that’s relaxing and restorative and you can do on a daytime mat to get calm and peaceful.
Taking a few extra minutes to not rush around can revive your entire day. Those moments are enhanced when there’s no distraction like a computer or a television. Be in calm silence until your cake buzzer goes off.
Laying down, you’re looking at the ceiling or sky above you, or optionally you have your eyes closed.
The Corpse pose benefits are:
You’re almost like a frozen angel in the snow but not moving your arm wings up and down.
You notice any normal body twitches and sensations. You’re sensitized to your being and body.
Rested, your heart is also rested and your blood pressure drops in the seconds and minutes you’re in this pose.
Not being in a hurry, all the tension is left behind at least for the minutes you’re in this calming pose.
You can eliminate temporary headaches as you think calm, positive, and happy thoughts.
And as more minutes go by, you’ll also feel your body temperature drops especially if you’re the Vata or Kapha body type. Or if you’re leaning into Vata season and your Vata-ness!
This Shavasana pose is commonly done as an ending close in an in-person Hatha or more relaxed yoga class.
And maybe even the teacher came around spritzing with a light lavender spray mist to get you in the mood of laying still and quieting the mind. How nice especially for the Pitta mind still running lists in the mind!
The lavender scent calms your mind and the fine mist feels like a refreshing soft touch. It’s a nice way to bring special joy to your day.
Laying stretched out without moving on a mat, you can do this pose anywhere that helps melt the stress away.
It gives you a few moments of peace (that can’t be emphasized enough) to gain your second wind and ground you for the rest of the day.
It’s good to remind yourself to slow it down.
And when your healthy fall chocolate cake baking timer goes off, you’re refreshed and ready!
A few Corpse Pose tips:
🌱Have a folded blanket near near you if you’re using props. Your body temperature drops, so you’ll want the comfort of a blanket or thin yoga top layer you peeled off earlier, especially if it’s typical fall or cooler season weather.
🌱Remember to breathe normally. You can pinpoint if your breath through your nose is naturally shallow or deep and could you use some sinus tips.
Slowing down our tempo gives us advantages so we can keep up in the world with the all the busy chaos.
That’s what Corpse Pose can do as a good reset reminder.
We can make better lifestyle choices to live longer, happy quality lives.
And baking healthy chocolate cake can be one of those changes. 😋
And with that thought, I’ll leave you with two questions to think about:
At this point, what would make your year optimal? Idea: you can make an appointment with yourself in Shavasana Corpse pose to think about this.
And,what would help you to make your next year (or the rest of the year) brighter? Think of what change or improvements in you would make things different and better.
And in between noodling self-thoughts, you can make this healthy fall chocolate cake,
It’s simple to make and the timing will determine an oozy middle or a gooey center where either are good. The center is a good metaphor for centering yourself with new positive perspectives.
And if the first one flops, you can always (no sweat) make this again.
…I was told 🙂 I should show my face more, so here I am checking in on my avocado plants They look good 🥑
…Ok, today I’m sharing about Ayurvedic ways and living, my favorite topic.
This is a longer blog post than I usually write, so grab a beverage and get comfy because today is about getting calm and balanced.
Because getting consistent daily calm and balance is achievable with Ayurveda… and I believe has never been more needed in our world.
And yet in America, calm and balance are seen as nice-to-have intentions that aren’t built into our busy lives.
We’re used to running into stress, and at times have grown numb to our underlying stressful ways of living… despite short-lived self-care practices, unwinding on weekends, and happy hour-type fun that aren’t enough for our health and wellness.
Finding daily balance is dismissed in priorities and daily noise. It’s often seen as unobtainable or overmentioned. Plus living sustainably whole and healthy is not excitingly trendy …But when you’re 100, it will be!
And gettingmind-body balance is part of the Ayurvedic ways, and what most people need to be the best version of themselves that would transform the daily stress and busy overwhelm into healthy and happy lives. That’s a mouthful that says it all.
…And with the right insight, a whole and healthy lifestyle is attainable by this or next season. And even better yet, using consistent balance as a predictable strategy springboard for better things ahead in life! (More on this point below.)
…You know you can’t always trust the external world to come through for you, but you can count on your intuitive and intelligent mind-body that has better answers and insight to your health.
Your mind-body follows you along the ride of your life’s journey and its good health is the difference maker to your getting the life you want, that can free you from what’s holding you back.
Like, living with accumulated stress (linked to inflammations and aging) is not doing you and your mind-body any favors… even though that’s baked into the Western world culture, lifestyle, and the air we breathe.
And a common reason why two people at age 45 look like they’re decades apart in age.
In a 2018 study, an international group of researchers led by scientists at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health found that adopting 5 healthy habits could extend life expectancy by 14 years for women and 12 years for men:
eating a diet high in plants and low in fats
exercising at a moderate to vigorous level for several hours a week
maintaining a healthy body weight
not smoking
consuming no more than one alcoholic drink a day for women and two for men
Ayurvedic Ways For a Heatlhy Lifestyle
We know a healthy lifestyle that takes care of the body is necessary for longevity and to prevent debilitating diseases.
And having or starting a stress-free, calm, and happy life optimizes your health in the mind-body connection.
It’s never too late to prioritize your physical and mental health.
One way to improve your life is to pay attention to your daily moods and symptomatic flare-ups. And not just brush them aside. When you’re 20 that’s fine, but as you get closer to mid-life, the accumulated wear and tear shows up.
And moods are subtle beginning signs of your balanced mind-body drifting, and what’s impacting your health inside you.
The Mind-Body Connection and The Past
Ayurvedic ways is all about the mind-body remedies for balanced living. Your mind-body is a part of you, but you are not the mind-body. You aren’t your thoughts, your gut, or arm.
Then there’s the mind-body connection based on the concept that your thoughts can be connected to body symptoms and your physical health. Like acne sprouts due to stress.
But not so quickly obvious are your past thoughts or traumas that show up in signs of aging (wrinkles and aging maladies), and your inflammations. The dots are not so easily connected. But they play havoc on your calm and balance, and mind-body.
…All unbeknownst to you.
And when you carry baggage such as buried childhood wounds (thoughts), they overflow into and affect your daily current health and life, through the mind-body connection. They still show up in the workplace, in your current reactions and attitudes.
It’s invisible trauma you may not know you’re carrying, but your mind recorded and has not forgotten.
And if triggered, can show up when you least expect, and where you don’t recognize the link to past trauma.
And, then there are some past traumas that you are fully aware of, and you may have never felt comfortable sharing with anyone. Or you haven’t purged the feelings enough to get all the wound hurt out of your system yet, so you can scar heal.
TED Talk presenters who share a trauma story rehearse over and over, and in the process, they get the poison out even if their wound was decades ago!
While Shark Tank presenters are asked on the fly about their personal tragedies related to their business, where tears are shed on the spot and healing begins or continues.
And that can be part of what frees them when they’re present, let go, and let their guard down. When trauma is acknowledged, a person can heal back to their natural essence.
Your Natural Mind-Body Now
Now is the present. And the present is a gift. It’s where you can be most aware and find your calm and joy.
And if you add being balanced, then you’re unstoppable!
Being balanced in Ayurvedic ways means leaning into your natural and primary mind-body dosha. That’s the way you’re wired.
“Natural” here also means favorable to the mind-body.
Like your favorite foods that you naturally like. Or your desire to do a certain exercise. Those are natural to you, but not to everyone else.
…And here earlier I was leaning into my Vata for a late afternoon sweet snack (…you know it’s healthy! 😉).
I shared the recipe last week for my healthy, no-bake Samoa bars… and I made a new batch that I’m enjoying for longer than the 5-minute break it took to make 😊
And Vata could be your natural way too, but we all have Vata in us that can throw us off balance.
And same goes for the mind. One way to get off balance can be from what we think of as our natural thoughts. The negative ones are not helpful if you put energy behind them that impact your mind-body. You’re best to ignore or replace those ASAP if they’re not helping you noodle out a productive solution.
Like… a negative thought pops up in your head and you want to blurt out what you’re thinking, but in a professional environment or amongst strangers, you don’t do it when you’re unsure as you don’t know how it will be perceived.
And later on in reflection, you’re glad you didn’t say anything. Or else you wish you had said something and now have slight regret that you missed the moment.
…Which can then turn into a negative thought that turns into negative energy.
Holding onto negative energy no matter how it sticks, spills into the mind-body and can cost you time and energy. That can turn into an attitude, mood, and imbalances that show up in the mind-body.
So it’s best to just nip it in the bud.🌹
Restoring Our Mind-Body Imbalances, Moods, and Ayurvedic Ways
If we’re lifelong learners, we’re constantly wanting to grow and improve, and recalibrating our balance makes good sense.
With those intentions, you can ask yourself:
Do I have… repeated anxiety, anger, burnout, tiredness, lazy mind or body tendencies, irritation, or excessive worry? …holding onto these types of moods and feelings can cause stress.
As a habit, we can check in with ourselves often and daily to see what’s off, just like checking the daily weather in our own part of the world keeps us on our toes …it was actually hailing small ice chunks in my neck of the woods over the weekend (in May!). 🌨
…And if we zoom out of our world, we see a bigger global world in organized chaos and crisis that affects us.
Gradual shift is omni-present happening everywhere and all the time, even when we can’t see. And that grows into stressors on earth, and to us and our mind-body.
For example, take a framed wall photo that you’re constantly straightening. Over time, it naturally shifts and becomes crooked. And in a new house especially, when the living earth below is still shifting.
But you know how to easily straighten the photo frame with a light touch tilt to bring it back to alignment the way it should be.
Or, you could “permanently” iron-clad anchor the photo to the wall, so the framed photo doesn’t shift again. But then one day, you decide to take down the photo to paint the wall behind it or to change the picture… or you completely move to a new house.
The framed wall picture is just one change away from its original “permanent” state. And like life, we don’t know what will happen next that can be stress-causing, or when our life could use some healthy adjustments even when we don’t have awareness.
Stress comes in all shapes and sizes, from earth-shattering situations to slight tilts, like slowly growing bored.
And change can help spice it up. But we also need some permanence for balance and alignment. Even if it’s temporary.
Balance is the natural desired order of this world and of your body, and mind-body.
And adopting Ayurvedic ways (the science of life) as a healthy way back works to bring back the order in us.
It works in the modern Western world to restore, prevent, and bring back natural balance. And it works for those who live in noisy cities as well as slower-paced towns, as all roads can lead to a desired healthy life taking different paths.
And that’s what I did and do. And you can too!
It doesn’t have to be just yoga or meditation… those are just a couple daily common practical household practices. 🧘🏻♀️…and maybe you didn’t know those were Ayurvedic ways 😉
Ayurvedic ways could be new or foreign to you, as it may sound like an ancient mystical or woo-woo set of Eastern healing practices. And it was to me too in the beginning.
But how I powerfully use it today, is as a West meets East approach to healthy living, with the West running the show in our busy American lives.
And that’s just scratching the surface on the description for all the benefits it adds.
One simple health benefit that’s achievable, is to change the course of our annoying mind-body symptoms daily through our lifestyle choices. That could be our higher standard goal and preventative norm so long-term stressors and symptoms don’t settle in.
And doing so helps your health and teaches your mind-body you’re on the same team 😊. That’s integrating Ayurvedic ways into daily balance.
Always Invest In Yourself (You and Your Mind-Body)
Another way you can help yourself is not accepting “just getting through the season.” That’s not effective ayurvedic ways in practice. You can do something today to start restoring or help along your natural healthy self as best as it can shine.
Only when we’re not conscious, do we not have a say in our lives.
Instead, adopt the norm of living each season blissfully, and enjoy daily!
Remember the old saying about your life isn’t a dress rehearsal. 🎬
You can be joyful and find joy every day (and not just some days!) even amongst the chaos. And while you’re going through difficult times.
Each year can have its challenges, but that’s part of growth and change. As you become more resilient (feeling less stressed about situations) that will help your health, balance, and calm.
When you get daily balanced health, you get the opportunity to show up as your best self, and unleash creativity every day that you may not even know you have today.
…And, find your purpose and true calling, that will give you your greatest life satisfaction and lead to your best foot-forward life.
And that can also lead to your leaving a miserable day job for a better-chosen life that fits you uniquely where work doesn’t feel like work, if that’s what your heart desires. You don’t end up where you started or in an unhappy middle.
…So, that’s what I have for you today to hopefully inspire and encourage you this season and the upcoming ones that will be your best ones yet (in your belief).
Next week I will share part 2 about how you can learn more about Ayurvedic ways (and even if you’re not sure exactly what it is today), and how you can start uniquely implementing mind-body restoring techniques into practice if it suits you. Talk then! 🧡
