7 Chakra-Inspired Soups For This Holiday Season

These seven chakra-inspired soups were created to promote balance with each bite. Serve up the one you need for finding harmony this holiday season.

- Sahara Rose Ketabi

Before discovering Ayurveda, the world’s oldest health system and yoga’s sister science, I used to think salads and smoothies were the healthiest foods you could eat. But overdoing them eventually left my body cold, dry, and depleted—telltale signs of a vata imbalance. My digestion suffered, and my mind was always scattered.

Vata, one of the three doshas or mindbody types (the others are pitta and kapha), is related to air energy in the body. An excess can manifest as bloating, gas, constipation, low hormone levels, compromised digestion, anxiety, and insomnia. The moment I learned about this type of doshic imbalance, I felt like I was reading my own autobiography. For the first time, I realized all of my health issues were interconnected— something no doctor had ever suggested.

Thus began my obsession with Ayurveda: I dove in deep, spent two years in India studying to become an Ayurvedic practitioner, and began writing my first book—the Idiot’s Guide to Ayurveda, which helped to modernize Ayurveda for today’s world. Not only did my physical problems dissipate once I embraced an Ayurvedic lifestyle, but I experienced more mental clarity than ever before. My dharma (purpose) was revealed to me, and I’ve since dedicated my life to sharing Ayurveda—so people with health issues like I had can find a holistic cure.

I now get my veggies from warm, soothing soups (especially in the cold winter months) which nourish my body on a cellular level. In Ayurveda, it’s not you are what you eat, but rather, you are what you digest. Warm, blended soups require very little energy for digestion, allowing your body to focus on healing.