How can Ayurvedic practices restore balance and support overall wellbeing? Functional Nutrition and Lifestyle Practitioner and Ayurveda expert Deepa Keenan joins me on this episode to share more about this powerful ancient system.
My friend and colleague Deepa Keenan joins me again on Vitally You® to share how to apply Ayurvedic principles that support rebalance in the body, especially during the perimenopause and menopause stages of life.
Deepa is a renowned Functional Nutrition and Lifestyle Practitioner, Ayurveda Practitioner, author, and yogini. She recently published her book, How to Sleep Better-The Miraculous 10-Step Protocol to Recharge Your Mind and Body, and although the book focuses on sleep hygiene, it covers how to support overall health and wellness using ancient healing modalities. In our conversation, Deepa provides a summary of Ayurveda and the Ayurvedic perspective on common symptoms of nervous system dysregulation and adrenal dysfunction.
One symptom that I know a lot of women over 40 experience is waking up between 2am and 4am. Deepa shares strategies to sleep deeply through the night, including increasing healthy fat intake and incorporating grounding rituals into your daily routine. She also expands on the Ayurvedic practice of abhyanga, also known as an oil massage, and why it’s such a powerful therapeutic tool for deep healing and optimal sleep.
Join me on this episode as we explore practical tools for improving energy throughout the day and increasing restoration at night, leading to homeostasis in the mind and body.
About Deepa Keenan:
Deepa Keenan is a renowned Functional Nutrition and Lifestyle Practitioner, Ayurveda Practitioner, author, and yogini. She is a leading voice in the realm of sleep optimization and health through ancient and modern practices. As the host of the Sleep Whisperer podcast and the author of "How to Sleep Better," Deepa offers a unique blend of science-backed expertise and ancient wisdom, providing actionable strategies for achieving optimal health. With a deep understanding of the synergies between functional medicine and Ayurveda, her approach resonates with those seeking holistic well-being. Deepa's personal journey of resilience and growth adds an authentic touch to her insights, making her a trusted guide for individuals navigating the path to better sleep and vitality.
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Dana Frost 00:07
Welcome to Vitally You, a podcast created to introduce you to the tools that will be your roadmap for feeling younger while growing older. I'm your host Dana Frost, a wellness expert, life coach and energy medicine practitioner. Here's what you can expect conversations about vitality from the inside out with guest experts in the field of health, culture and spirituality, and solo episodes along the way from me where I do deep dives into the topics of aging, heart intelligence, energy, medicine, and your innate capacity to heal. If you want to feel younger, while growing older, this is the place for you.
Dana Frost 00:52
Hello, everyone. Welcome to the vitally you Podcast. I'm Dana Frost, your host. This week, I'm coming to you with a special guest Deepa Keenan. Deepa was my very first guest interview when I launched the Vitally You podcast. She is my colleague as a functional nutrition and lifestyle practitioner. And she's also the host of the sleep whisperer podcast. Now Deepa recently published a book how to sleep better a miraculous 10 Step protocol to recharge your mind and body by HarperCollins. Now I have to tell you that this book is not just about sleep. That's one of the things that made a huge impression on me. As an allied functional medical practitioner Ayruvedic practitioner, and yogini Deepa has provided us with a guide for optimal health through the lens of her life's work that is science backed, practical and rooted in modern and ancient practices. One of the aspects of her book that I really appreciated is her ability to distill the ancient healing practice of Ayurvedic medicine into actionable steps. Deepa articles have been shared by Dr. Mark Hyman, a 17 Times New York Times best selling author. Now listen to this, Dr. Hyman refers to Deepa as one of the most promising debut voices of the year. She also gave the opening speech on health hacks at Amazon Web Services and your story Health Tech, two heads of healthcare startups in India. She's been featured on Femina scroll meant lounge and the award winning podcast that 15 minute matrix. Also on UK health radio discussing sleep.
Dana Frost 02:37
Deepa's journey as a healer is one of continual evolution that runs in parallel with her life. She has navigated through childhood struggles, a failed marriage and a divorce and remarriage to her soul companion and the birth of a child with a rare genetic disorder. She uses adversity and deep pain as fuel for her growth and transformation. She brings her sole purpose of Holistic Health, living with vitality and manifesting dreams to her practice every single day, helping people achieve and maintain a state of well being that serves their vision for themselves. Now before we get started, I want you to know that Deepa is offering a very special gift to the vital you community. So please stay tuned to learn more. Welcome to the vitally you podcast.
Deepa Keenan 03:26
Thank you, Dana. And I'm so happy to be back. And I think I was the very first guest or the second guest I can't remember now. But it was a long time ago. And that was really special to me to be that person. And to start your podcast, and I'm so happy to be back.
Dana Frost 03:43
Yes, thank you Deepa. It was so lovely as a functional nutrition and lifestyle practitioner colleague of yours to like, hold your hand. For one of those. I don't remember also if it was the first or second episode, and I'm really delighted to have you back at this really important, celebratory moment in your career with the launch of your book. Congratulations.
Deepa Keenan 04:10
Thank you, Dana. And it's such a pleasure. I think what I'm really grateful for on the book journey is just seeing the support and the love and you know, seeing people who are there for you and being here. It's totally testimony to that. So I'm really grateful for all that you've done and just enjoying and celebrating this journey with me.
Dana Frost 04:36
Yes, wonderful, deep. Ah, well, I'm really excited to share I was able to read your book, and I'm excited to share. You have so many pearls of wisdom in your book and yet you come to us from a very unique perspective of either Vedic principles. And I would like for us to talk about how you know the era Vedic principles that impact our sleep because you have unique strategies for us that the listeners may not be familiar with. Tell us the distinction like how was era Vedic medicine when it comes to sleep different than maybe what we're hearing from other modalities? Beautiful
Deepa Keenan 05:20
question, Dana. And I think I'll just start by saying that for me, you know, because I have this one foot in functional medicine 114 Irv than yoga, I really wanted to create synergy versus polarity. So I hope that makes sense. So when you asked me, how is it different? I do want to say that my intention was not to differentiate the two but to see how could I bring them together in synergy? I think there's a lot of overlap, it's just probably we might come across them as different words, but if we could just go into just briefly saying that I read the eyes a lot about understanding these three energies called Vata, Pitta and Kapha. So as a very quick introduction to them, it is said that when nature is created, there are three things that are formed which are called Soma, ogbeni, and Mara. So Soma is the energy of the moon, which is considered cooling and nurturing. Agni is the energy of the sun, which is representative of transformation and heat. And my route represents the wind which allows movement of Sun and Moon. And these three energies in turn create the five elements from subtle to gross, which are space, air, fire, water and earth.
Deepa Keenan 06:49
Now, in our body, these elements come together as the three doshas, Vata, Pitta and Kapha. Water represents space and air in our body with Tara presents fire and water in our body, and Kapha represents earthen water in our body, all of us have different combinations of these three doshas. So, based upon the proportion of one of them or two of them, we are then labeled as having a prakriti, which is perhaps predominantly Bata or pitta, kapha, or a dual prakriti or body constitution where there's Vata, Pitta or Pitama. So, there's a lot of nuances to body constitution. So Prakriti is the body constitution, which doesn't change. So we're born with something it dictates our body structure tendencies or emotional temperaments. But at every point in time, we have something called a B critic, which is that we could be imbalanced or balanced in all three doshas. And this is ever changing. So health is all about understanding what is the body constitution and what is the present state of imbalance so that we can use the appropriate tools to restore balance.
Deepa Keenan 08:17
Now, having laid that foundation sleep, and I realize that it's something that because Vata is represented by space and air, it feels light. So when it's in excess, it is said to create sleep challenges. Now, how do we understand excess water from a perspective of science, it's very similar to sympathetic dominant state fight flight freeze, not able to slip into a parasympathetic state. It's also what we in function medicine could say, adrenal dysfunction, adrenal fatigue, so there's a lot about nervous system dysregulation and adrenal dysfunction, which can highlight what is high beta. Now what is high beta beta, high beta can also cause sleep disruption, so it can give you hot flashes because peptides representative of fire and water so when it's in excess, we become fiery. And so it's very similar to what in a science perspective could be estrogen dominance, heavy bleeding, hot flashes, not able to calm down inflammation, so perpetuating chronic inflammation. So that would represent high pitta, high Kapha could be because it's very odd. So top fives represent water and not so when we say hi Kapha Irv that says hi Kapha causes sleep disruption from The perspective that it leads to Glympse congestion, sinus congestion. So there can be accumulation of mucus in the back of the throat, which can cause somebody to be diagnosed with something like sleep apnea because they're not able to clear a passage for the airway. But Kapha in a science perspective could also be somebody who is prone to water retention, lymphatic congestion, depression, so the brain is unable to detoxify from the glymphatic system, perpetual sinus allergies, breast tenderness, overgrowth of cysts. So from a perspective of I read them in I just wanted to compare the two to show that synergy versus polarity. But to wrap up that question, I will just say that and I read the perspective is that most sleep challenges will have some level of high bar time ball no matter what is the body constitution. And that is, in fact, what we call today as nervous system dysregulation being in fight flight or freeze, which prevents us from having that orderliness which is required for us to feel stable and grounded and being able to fall asleep. I hope that was clear, then I mean, please ask me to clarify me. Yes.
Dana Frost 11:28
Deeper. That was clarifying. And I really appreciated that you said you wanted to look at the synergies between the two. And I really appreciated how you brought in, what are the symptoms that we have, as women as we age, and how was that looked at from an area Vedic perspective, and the commonalities the way that they overlap? I really, I think that that was really helpful. In your book, I want to bring forward Deepa, this idea you talk about I'd be younger, this self massage, and I have been doing a self massage on my face. And so it would be you know, my torso up and my my neck and my the fascia in my face in my head. For the past 60 days, this program called Beauty fascist. So when I read when you were talking about this idea of self massage in the book, I was because it's been so powerful for me, I thought, wow, everything that we do in the daytime, and the way that we ourselves, care for our bodies, actually does impact our sleep. So let's see what we want to do first, why don't we first address what is it that happens when we sleep? Because it's so important to understand, why is sleep so important? And then we'll talk about, you know, using this idea of self massage to support our sleep.
Deepa Keenan 12:57
Yeah, beautiful Lena and I think I should go into what happens in 3d, both from a science perspective and and I read the perspective that, you know, it's in deep sleep that we I mean, if for somebody who's not aware, there are about five stages of sleep stage one is when stay non REM stage one is where we're still between waking and sleeping, so eyes are still fluttering and we're just slipping into sleep. Non REM stage two is better falling into sleep, but it's still considered light sleep now, or non REM, stage three and four. Actually, when the brainwaves slow down in stage three, we've got some of the slow waves, but a little bit of the quicker ones that swell. Stage four is when we have all our waves as slow wave sleep. So that's where there's deep tissue repair, hormone optimization, growth hormone release, and we really rejuvenate and repair on a cellular level. And then of course, we've got REM stage where, though our eyelids are fluttering, our muscles can Twitch that's also considered deep sleep because a lot of recovery happens in that.
Deepa Keenan 14:14
So when we don't sleep, we can have so many repercussions. We wake up with higher levels of ghrelin, the hunger hormone, so we're reaching for foods all the time and we don't really realize it. We have lower levels of leptin, so we don't feel satiated when we eat. Our liver is not working optimally. And then because the liver doesn't work optimally. It can then dip into inability to break down fats and therefore neither are we supporting our hormones with the fat that we can zoom back. We're also leading to elevated levels of cholesterol. So we our body is not able to utilize the fats and we can't produce sections. On so we're low in effect someones estrogen, progesterone, testosterone all we could be imbalanced with our hormones I immunity drops severely because sleep is when we rarely repair and we just become susceptible to infections, inflammation, more pain. So there's so many things that happen that we could probably talk for an entire episode just on what happens when we don't go through all the stages of sleep. There is an Ayurvedic circadian clock. So there are certain those short times for example, in the morning, six to 10am is Kapha time, it's Paphos, energy is heavy, so that's the time we should move and prevent the lethargy. 10am to 2pm is pitha time, that's the fiery time so when the sun is above our head at 12 noon, that's when we should be eating our main meal. So that we're able to break down digest the meal, have nutrient absorption and not form toxins 2pm to 6pm is worth us time. And you're not denying that the time where we'll find ourselves distracted when we are working and suddenly I tension goes away.
Deepa Keenan 16:18
That's because vata imbalances the nervous system, and that's a great time to take a little break and do yoga nidra or a little meditation so that we calm ourselves down and we don't allow our nervous system to get dysregulated it's very important in that 2pm to 6pm that we don't overdo. So we should not be aggressively multitasking and ticking off the to do list in that window because we're gonna set ourselves up for nervous system dysregulation. 6pm to 10pm is again Kfar time puffers heavy, but in that window 6pm to 10pm, it is said that we should use the letter g of Kapha. To help us fall asleep. This is a very key point to note that around 9pm When kuffaar starts to make us lethargy, we should give in to that so that it can help us to fall asleep 10pm to 2am becomes pitha time so it is said that in that window picta is programmed to do deep repair in the liver. So if we are not in deep sleep in that window, we miss out on the ability to rejuvenate the liver. And then again 2am to 6am is what that time where everything gets light. So if we have high water, we'll find ourselves waking up after to somewhere between two and 4am. So we'll wake up and we won't be able to fall asleep. And if we wake up in that window and we're prone to feeling anxious, all the little problems that we had in the day will seem like they magnified so we can have flatter palpitations, stay up with worry feel fearful of what's coming in our lives. So it's very important to utilize the calendar of the day and practice appropriately so that we are able to utilize the energy of nature in a way that supports us. And of course, from an Ayurvedic perspective, if we are not sleeping through the night, it is said that will imbalance vata. So that means we can wake up and will feel that we don't have the resources to be resilient when stress is thrown at us. So basically, we're all going to have stress all the time. But if we lose our resilience, then its impact can be quite threatening in every way to the body and the mind.
Dana Frost 19:01
Yeah, and I just want to recall what you said earlier that I think is an important synchronicity is the connection with the nervous system. And I know for myself and many of my clients who have been through perimenopause and menopause that 2am wakeup time where the day times problems seem to be eliminated, and we have a hard time falling back to sleep. I want to pause on that and talk about what are some of the strategies because that is so common at this stage in life.
Deepa Keenan 19:38
I think that also Danai us made a very valid point about this stage in life and I just want to say that you know, when we say Vata, Pitta tophi spoke about the times in the D, but we also have our age in our life. So when we're born till the time we get our first period As women we are in a tougher stage of lives. So Kafka is building assets creating tissue we are growing so Kafka is responsible for growth. From the time we get our first period till the time the menopause is a big time, Age of life. So the energy of heat is being utilized to create hormones to create a life inside of us. So it's the energy of fertility, the fertile years and post menopause where go is slipping into a vata age of life. So we are going from what is a plum to a dried up prune, so we're shriveling were drying up and losing a juiciness or moistness or this called anxious in either VEDA I read that says that as we slip into a vata age of life, which is from menopause till the time we are no more that everything in us is becoming dry, just like bottles and Nagi of dryness. So we want to do the opposite, where we bring in anxious things. So we eat more fats, we bring fats from outside. So I just wanted to highlight that the reason we have these challenges is that we're slipping into a vata age of life. And if we understand that, and if we give whatever is necessary, we avoid that vata disruption that is otherwise quite normal when we go into that age. So we really want to bring in this oil inside oil outside wherever in the body, we can get oil, we want to bring in oil. That's why you will find the right way that's practices for every facet in our body with the use of facts
Dana Frost 21:50
that is so interesting, deeper, I didn't, I've never had it explained in that way. So it helps me really appreciate. What I also want to ask you about is the IB younga, which is getting oil on the body. If we just go back to that wakefulness that happens at this stage in our life. And I liked that you said, point out that it's a stage. And I think as women, if we can have our heart and our minds open to this is the stage that we're in how can we embrace it and welcome and not fight against it? The temptation is to fight against the stage that we're in. Can you just speak to that wakefulness at that time? And maybe Is this the time we want to start talking about Abby younger? Or what are the strategies that you recommend to your clients at that stage?
Deepa Keenan 22:44
Beautiful Lina and I think your questionnaire about that specific time is really pertinent to this age as well, as I said that 2am to 6am is what does time so everything in the body becomes light and airy. So we need to think about we're slipping into this vata age of life. So, first of all, as a broad perspective, even without knowing whether we are a particular body constitution, or we predominantly vata, we need to keep in mind that all of us, especially as women are going to have some level of batta aggravation of vata imbalance in menopause, because we're entering the vata age of life. So that's very important to remember. So we must overall tried to come down vata and I can share a few things which can overall come but then like, what shouldn't we be doing? One thing we shouldn't be doing is multitasking and overdoing things. So we really need to respect that Botha will when Vata is in excess, it will prompt us to keep ticking things off the to do list so we won't feel like we can just let go and relax and it's really important that we do that. It's also very important, Dana that Bata synergy is dry and cold. So we don't want to eat foods that are dry and cold. So we absolutely don't want the dry toast or dry vegetables like we want everything that is soft, anxious and moist. So we need to look it up plate and every food so let me give you an example instead of a huge bowl of bright green leaves the cook the leaves with some fats, so that changes the dryness of that spinach into something that's anxious and fatty.
Deepa Keenan 24:50
So we definitely need to add fats we need to see that our food is warm and moist. It's definitely not age to be doing low fat. diets, even if somebody is philosophically wanting to embrace a plant based diet, they think it's really important to meet sure it's a plant based diet with fats with healthy fats. And a lot of times that could be missing. And I think I want to highlight something, Dana, that because the plant based diet is quite popular today, that is absolutely fine. I'm not talking against it at all, if someone wants to do that full respect to that, but I've heard some practitioners talking about how you can just get your fats from coconut. Now I really want to say in menopause, this is not the ideal thing, because coconut is cooling, and Vata is cold. So we want to get our fats from easily absorbable. So even if you're plant based, making sure you include extra virgin olive oil, sesame oil, so we really want to have fats. That's really important. The second is to have some practices that ground the nervous system, I think I'm a huge fan of yoga nidra just being able to lie down on the ground at maybe two in the afternoon, three in the afternoon. There's so many guided yoga nidra 's out there, just practicing yoga nidra even once a week makes a world of difference. Tina, there's so much talk about estrogen drying up the vagina and vaginal atrophy and menopause, we really may not need the estrogen creams and the patches, but we can just use oil. So when we do a Bianca we can use oil internally into the vaginal tract, warm sesame oil and it is so nourishing.
Deepa Keenan 26:51
And I read I knew that they had certain words for what is today described as the microbiome. So they understood that even the vaginal microbiome is fed by healthy oil. So when we give oil to those tissue, we allow for beneficial bacteria to proliferate. So in on that note, we can talk about the most powerful bathtub coming practice, which is Bianca. So Bianca is the practice of using oil for massage. And I just want to differentiate that if you had to go to an Ayurvedic center for an Ambien, that's quite different because it's a one hour massage. And what we're talking about as Bianca is that it's a tool for you to do in the comfort of your own home, you don't need to go to a therapy center, you can absolutely learn to do it the right way at home and it is very, very powerful. I think there's nothing is as powerful as calming the nervous system as being that but it's really important you might come across somebody saying that the best soil for belongia is warm sesame, that's not the case because all of us are nuanced. And you know if we are at present with some high beta and a bit more fiery prone to hot flashes, sesame is heating and it will aggravate that. So understanding which oil to use, and there's also energy meridians in the body.
Deepa Keenan 28:28
So Bata has five categories so it's got prana vata prana Vayu, apana Vayu, some and a value beyond value and Madana value now, upon value is the energy that flows downward in the pelvis, which is responsible for healthy menstruation urination elimination, salmonella value is circular in the abdomen, so it helps us to digest prana values in the chest going up and down. When it's imbalanced, we can have breathing issues palpitation, Viana value is the energy that goes to the limbs, the arms and the legs. And udana value is in the throat and the head. So sometimes if it's imbalanced, we'll have stuttering or we'll find it difficult to say our words to somebody. So doing the energy meridians the right way and having the right oil can take a simple path in our practice into a very powerful therapeutic tool for deep healing and optimal sleep. And that's what I've done in my ancient dabanga master class where you know guided how to go through these energy meridians how to choose the oil also, even if you go to go to a practitioner and you're told that this is your body constitution, I don't think there's a perfect oil for you forever because they are influenced by By the seasonal shift if we go somewhere else, our age so learning to choose the oil at every moment in time, in a way that is healing versus disrupting in any way is what makes our Bianca so effective.
Dana Frost 30:18
Deepa, thank you so much for that description. And you know why I wanted to bring this forward to the listeners is because when it comes to sleep, we tend to and I know, because this was me many years ago, before I had my health crisis, we just want something to fix the problem. And if we can soften, and this is what I hear you saying, for those of us who are preparing menopause, and then a puzzle, it is the time in our life where we soften, you even said, It's not the time to be checking off to be multitasking. So we want to soften and we want to look at these patterns that are showing up with our sleep at this stage in our life, and look at ways what are the things that we can do for ourselves? What are the practices, so you bring up yoga nidra, which is just beautiful. And as you said, there are just go to YouTube. And you've got many recordings. I know on your sleep podcast, the sleep whisperer, you have beautiful recordings as well, that people can access and the idea of putting our own hands on our body. It's really remarkable how that can begin to shift our physiology and the way that we experience our sleep patterns.
Deepa Keenan 31:44
Oh, absolutely. I think there's so powerfully healing. Nina that you know, even in India, it is said that a mother feeding her child when they are sick, just the hands carry the energy to heal the child. And there is I'm so proud to see that there is research today validating that Bianca and using oil and massaging ourselves increases oxytocin and lowers cortisol. So exciting. It brings these ancient practices to the forefront in a way where more people will embrace them because they just feel this valid evidence that it's going to be beneficial
Dana Frost 32:28
and love that deep house. So I want to make sure the listeners know that for this course of years I'll be on what is it it's specifically called can you say that ancient
Deepa Keenan 32:39
bionda masterclass on ohiohealth.com. And there's a discount code of 15% so they can enter the code. It has frameworks and beautiful charts about how to choose the oil at any point in time how to do a head massage, what are the oils to use for a head massage how to massage the body how to create your own bath powder by understanding what is your nano bath powders are stimulating to the lymph movement DANA So you know there's a way you take these healing herbs and you powder them coarsely and you mix them with water and you use them versus crab and oil massage in the bath powder together I feel are extremely calming to all three doshas in contrast to some of the popular practices today. Dry brushing, for example, from an Ayurvedic perspective is considered wartime balancing. Because somebody who is predominantly vata was already dry, they're drying up the surface of the skin even more, it's very good for somebody who's got a lot of Kapha water retention and holding on to wait. But somebody who's having severe nervous system dysregulation and anxiety dry brushing can be quite harmful. So using the bath powder after an oil massage is the way you can come down all the doshas without upsetting any one of them in that process.
Dana Frost 34:17
I love that deeper. I cannot wait to order this course I'm really excited to have just because when I read about this practice in the book, I was immediately drawn to it, but I'm like, Oh, well, how do I do it? And I know that I'm new to this. So I'm really excited to try it and the listeners when you purchase it. I would love to hear from you to let us know, how are you experiencing it? Do you notice anything? So we'll have that in the show notes. And I feel like there's just so much that we could talk about deep Ah, you're such a deep well of wisdom and insight and true like knowledge. I want to thank you I feel like we could just continue to go On and when I say or is there any parting words? Is there anything that you would like the listeners to say in light of the conversation we've had so far?
Deepa Keenan 35:10
Yes, I think they know that. One of the things to really understand and wrap up this conversation is that there is an antagonistic relationship between Agni and vata, okay, so, in either way, Dagny is considered the force that helps us to digest food. If our knee is imbalanced, we don't digest our food we don't nourish the body and in the process, we also create what is called armor or toxins and then this can lead to autoimmune challenges and so many other problems. Now, I read the ad said that when Agni is weak water will become high or when Vata is high Agni will become weak. That is what is today being spoken about that when we are in high fight or flight, our digestion takes a backseat. So we've actually validated what was written in the text those 1000s of years ago. So it's very important to keep in mind that when we are entering menopause and we are slipping into vata sage, that there will be a natural dip in digestive balance or strength, because vata brings with the force of weakening digestion. So, we must nurture ourselves in a way that we should not ignore nice, even the simplest of digestive challenges, because, if we do so, then what we do is we further aggravate vata, and what does water bring with it is that it dries up everything.
Deepa Keenan 36:48
So if vata increases, it will start drying up. And because there's also a vata zone in our body, Dina, that the hip is considered a zone of water. So in menopause, we start drying from inside our hips, and then it starts spreading everywhere, which is what is the advantage in a lateral fee and we become dry and depleted. So think of that plum becoming the prune, we've just shriveled up. So we really want to preserve the moisture, and support our digestion. So whatever we eat and drink, try to keep it warm and moist, and see that don't drink cold water, because it might nourish you that moment in time, but it's going to imbalance vata. And you know, when we put cold water into our gut, think about it cold constricts all the blood vessels, so we can't really digest anything. So if there was one thing, I would say that the simplest thing anybody can do to stay balanced is to look at all food and drink and ensure that it remains warm and moist. I
Dana Frost 38:00
love that d-pa. There are so many practical tools and strategies in your book, and your book isn't just for sleep, you know, the way that I was, as I was reading your book, I'm like, This is so much bigger than sleep. So I'm just appreciating all the different tools and also this connection. I've studied the nervous system and how that impacts women. And I really love how you brought it in, or Vedic and made that comparison. So we're really, I feel like we're in this time in history, d-pa with health, where we're recognizing that this diagnostic model from conventional medicine and a pill for every pain has not is not serving us. And we're going back to what the ancient texts have told us about health and realizing that there are all these practices that we've lost along the way. And they're very nourishing. Oh, absolutely, yeah, they can be that path backwards to your own ability to heal yourself. And the body wants to heal, it wants to come to homeostasis. And that pill for an ill or a pill for a pain. It's just masking. It's not really bringing the body into homeostasis. So I just I'm really appreciating the perspective in your book. And I want to thank you for that thing
Deepa Keenan 39:28
to deny in fact, and so so glad you said that because I've been wanting to scream out loud for the last few weeks that this book is more than sleep and it's really to rebalance the whole body. And I'm so appreciated the fact that you not only noticed it, but you're highlighting it as well. But
Dana Frost 39:51
Deepa, we could talk on forever and I will probably have you back for a third conversation because there's just so love that But, but thank you so much for joining us this week. And I do want to ask you Deepa, you might remember the question I asked all my guests, what does feeling younger while growing older mean to you?
Deepa Keenan 40:15
I don't remember what I said in the last episode. But I think, having come to a stage where today I'm in the midst of menopause and experiencing the erotic cycles, a little bit of anxiousness. When I overdo things myself, and being prone to injury, I will just say that what it means to me to feel younger, while I'm growing older is to retain the purity and innocence that I would have had in a blissful childhood. And I'm having a lot of the conversations to my inner child these days, and I'm really connecting back to a space where I can see some of the injuries I had as a child, and I'm trying to talk and I feel I'm actually visualizing myself as a little girl, and I'm allowing that little girl to heal by just holding her hand and walking forward. And I think it's as if I've come full circle and menopause. And it's almost as if I can see all ages of the power to gather holding hands and coming back to a state of to balance.
Dana Frost 41:38
I love that that was your answer. And I will point the listeners to a prior podcast, it's probably been more than a year ago that I did about the invitation of menopause. I don't even remember the name of the episode, but I talk about the midnight or the after 2am wakefulness and how the gift of menopause. And the gift of that wakefulness after 2am is the invitation to go back and see what aspect of you from your past is asking to come forward to be seen, to be heard to be made peace with because we all have these little hurts from our past at some point. And in menopause, I believe this is the gift of menopause to make peace with every aspect of yourself from the past. And then the ability as you make peace to move forward softer. That as we talked about just softening and really being grounded and melting into the earth and feeling that power that comes when we are really how old we allow ourselves to be held by Mother Earth as well. It's a full circle of our human experience as women so your answer was just beautiful, especially based on the conversation that we've had. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
Deepa Keenan 43:05
Thank you Dina such a pleasure to be here. So
Dana Frost 43:10
everybody don't forget to check out Deepa's podcast the sleep whisperer, her new book, I will put a link to the show notes and I will also put a link in the show notes to the ancient ritual class.
Deepa Keenan 43:22
Ancient bionda master class perfect
Dana Frost 43:27
Okay, thank you Deepa. Thank you for joining us this week on the Vitally You podcast. Deepa's gift to our community as a 15% discount offered digital course ancient or the younger master class. Now after learning about this practice while reading the book and my interview a deep ha I have to tell you I've already purchased mine and I'm so looking forward to learning more and I want to thank Deepa for her generous gift. You are going to be able to find Deepa on her podcast the sleep whisperer you can join her substack For more in depth health wisdom, you will find her website it's OHA health that's O H A health. You can find her book there will be a link in the show notes and she's on Facebook under OHA Health and on Instagram under OHA Health. All these links can easily be clicked from the show notes. Now if you are enjoying this podcast please subscribe hit download. And if you haven't left a review yet please make my heart sing and help me get to 100 reviews and honor of my 100th episode. As always, I am streaming love from my heart to yours