Ayurveda Decodes 3 A.M. Insomnia: Vata, Pitta & the Perimenopause Connection

Today on the podcast, I sit down with someone I've admired from afar for years, Katie Silcox, New York Times bestselling author of Healthy, Happy, Sexy and Glow-Worthy and founder of The Shakti School, one of the first and most beloved online Ayurveda certification programs for women. We talk about what first called Katie to Ayurveda in her twenties. We talk about soma, the subtle nectar of the body and how it shifts through perimenopause and menopause. We talk about Panchakarma not as an exotic luxury but as a daily practice of coming home to yourself. And we go deeper still, into matriarchal wisdom, feminine sovereignty and trusting the lineage that already lives in your body. This is a conversation about feminine embodiment in its fullest sense - the ashes of Ayurveda, made into flame again. In this episode, you'll hear: ~ Katie's journey from AI researcher to Ayurvedic teacher and author. ~ What "soma" means and how it changes through perimenopause. ~ Why Panchakarma is Katie's most passionate practice. ~ Matriarchal lineage and reclaiming feminine sovereignty. ~ Self-oiling (abhyanga) as a daily act of love. ~ Grief, mortality and becoming the center of your own universe. Special Offer The Shakti School is offering Actionable Ayurveda listeners an exclusive discount to study with Katie and other teachers in the year-long Ayurveda School program, starting January 2027. Use code POD100 for $100 off any tuition option. Free gift: Women's Wisdom and Ayurveda Mini-Course Connect With Katie Silcox Katie on Instagram Katie on Facebook

Sisters, friends, it's time to slow down and heal. 🌾 In this episode, Salila takes you home to Kerala, where an entire month is set aside each monsoon season for one ancestral ritual: eating congee. Not the Chinese dish most Westerners picture. The original South Indian kanji, the word Portuguese traders carried into English centuries ago. Salila unpacks why your Agni (digestive fire) craves this predigested, cellular-hydrating bowl of comfort especially when you're feeling bloated, sluggish or just burnt out. Plus, she shares her own personal longevity congee recipe, born out of pandemic-era pantry creativity and now a staple for clients healing their guts the ancestral way. In this episode: * The real origin story of congee - Kerala, not China. * How every culture on earth independently discovered slow-cooked rice porridge (juk, okayu, lugaw, canja). * Why low Agni creates AMA and how congee reverses it. * The Ayurvedic science of cellular hydration through rice-to-water ratios. * Salila's personal longevity congee recipe: grains, legumes, nuts and seeds, no rules required. Try this: Swap your heavy evening meal for a warm bowl of congee just 2-3 nights this week. Notice how you sleep. Notice how you wake up. Cook with love. Eat with awareness. Keep living Ayurvedic. (Kerala's Congee Month just wrapped for the year but this ritual works anytime, anywhere!)Instagram → @salila.ayurveda Email → ⁠[email protected]⁠

Day 3 of 4 — Pause for Menopause Your body isn't sabotaging you. It's protecting you. Even the fat it won't let go of, even the fog, even the fatigue. Today Salila breaks down exactly why and hands you the remedies. In Day 1, we mapped what perimenopause actually does to the body. In Day 2, we found the five places we go wrong. Today, Salila brings the medicine. You'll learn: Why your monthly, yearly and lifetime rhythms were never optional and how honoring them (not hustling through them) protects your youth, your beauty and your brain. The real story behind estrogen, progesterone and testosterone dropping and why perimenopause is really your "second PMS". Why your adrenals are quietly stealing estrogen from your fat cells and why that unexplained bump or bulge isn't your fault. The Ayurvedic concept of Sandhi Kala, the sacred, turbulent transition between two states and why "buckle up and stay put" is the wisest thing you can do for yourself right now. Why this decade belongs to Goddess Katyayani, the fierce protector and what she's asking you to finally stop apologizing for.

Day 2: Your Tongue Is Lying... Actually, It's Telling You the Truth Take out your phone. Stick out your tongue. Take a picture. What you see might explain the brain fog, the exhaustion, the "why can't I just figure this out" feeling that's been following you around. In Day 2 of Pause for Menopause, Salila pulls back the curtain on the real reason perimenopause feels like your body declared war on you and it's not your hormones betraying you. It's Agni, your inner fire, running low. This is Ayurveda's most radical idea: your sickness didn't come from one broken part. It came from your mind, your emotions, your habits and your gut all talking to each other and it can heal the same way. Inside this episode:

Day 1 of 4 — Recorded live during Salila's "Pause for Menopause" Challenge. Your labs come back "normal." Your doctor has nothing to offer. And yet you're waking up at 3am, snapping at people you love and wondering if you're losing your mind. You're not, you're being rewired. In this first session, Salila breaks down what's actually happening in perimenopause through the Ayurvedic lens of the five foundations: Ahara (fuel), Vihara (rhythm), Vikara (mindset), Vyavahara (presence) and Samskara(identity). She explains why estrogen's retreat isn't a malfunction but a redirection of your body's energy and why the intermittent fasting and high-intensity workouts you've relied on for years might now be working against you. You'll learn how to recognize your dominant dosha pattern (Vata anxiety, Pitta rage or Kapha depression) in your own symptoms and what AMA is: the hidden buildup quietly aging your body faster than it should. This is the reframe nobody gave you: perimenopause isn't the end of your power. It's the beginning of living entirely for yourself. 🎧 New episode drops every week —subscribe so you don't miss Day 2.