Golden Milk Porridge

With the cooling weather comes more warming food, and one of my favorite warming dishes to make is porridge. I won’t go on too much about this here – there are a ton of porridge recipes on here which detail various ways to make it – including a step-by-step guide on how to make creamy, nutritious wholegrain porridge.

But what makes this different to all the other porridge recipes on here is that it is served with Golden Milk, a traditional Ayurvedic drink.

Ayurveda is an ancient Hindu system of wellbeing based around balance. While I don’t personally follow an Ayuvedic diet or lifestyle, I love the idea of this holistic approach to health and wellbeing, and the idea of using natural elements to create balance and harmony in life.  For me, being healthy isn’t just about how much we exercise or how healthy we eat, it is about how we live our lives overall. Taking time to rest when we are busy, getting enough sleep, choosing to be happy (or working towards that) are all ways in which we can achieve overall good health and happiness.

Lately, I have been doing a lot of yoga – I have been trying to practice at least four times a week – and the results have been that I feel a lot more centred, balanced and stronger. In my class last night, my teacher spoke of how in a class earlier that day, one of her students commented that after practising yoga, she always felt both heavy and light. The yogi went on to explain that this balance was what yoga was about – it energises you, yet grounds you at the same time. 

In day-to-day life, we often feel the need to be busy, and assume that stress as a by product of this is acceptable. But for most of us, there are always ways in which we can reduce business, reduce stress, and find balance. Easier said than done though, right? I think that we as humans are somewhat of an ongoing ‘project’, for want of a better word – we constantly grow and get better as we learn new pieces of information, experience new things and meet new people.  And in that ongoing change, we have the choice to choose how we want to grow and progress – we can choose to find balance, or continue on as we are (which for some of you, may be the perfect balance in itself!).

One of the things that I love about having a blog is that it makes me consider my actions a little more, and be more accountable. In writing posts like this I am reminded of what’s important to me, and what I want to be and live by. And for me, I think that’s a pretty cool thing!

The inspiration behind today’s recipe is related not only to the cooling temperatures, but also the change in season normally going hand in hand with sickness. Turmeric has high anti-inflammatory properties and can help to strengthen the immune system, particularly important as the seasons change. Turmeric has many other benefits too. It can be used on skin to help alleviate the effects of eczema and to reduce pigmentation, and it can also be used as a natural teeth whitener. It’s also antiparasitic and antibacterial, and can be used on minor cuts and burns to assist with the healing process. It can also help to alleviate joint pain, working for some as a beneficial treatment for arthritis. There are many benefits to this powerful little root that make it a great inclusion to a healthy diet.