We're heading into peak Pitta season
(hello, summer heat and intensity)
In Ayurveda we call the summer months the Pitta season. As a fellow pitta myself I have to work hard to remain in balance. Solo parenting, working, running from activity to activity, managing meltdowns, making lunch, bedtimes, trying to get my oldest to do his "homework" in between errands.
This is all very pitta and vata provoking. To manage the go, go, go energy I have put into place a few practices that are both grounding and nourishing to myself and both doshas.
And I want to be honest with you this summer has asked a lot of me. When you're the only adult in the house, there's no one to tap in when your nervous system is fried. There's no "I'll take the kids for an hour so you can decompress." The decompression has to be woven in by you, chosen by you, protected by you. And that, honestly, is the most Pitta thing of all that extra layer of self-reliance that can tip quickly into overdrive if you're not paying attention.
I've felt the pull toward that overdrive. The urge to push through instead of pause. To add one more thing, respond to one more message, finish one more task before I rest. Pitta energy is ambitious, focused, fiery and those are gifts. But in the height of summer, without tending, that fire becomes too much. For me, for the kids, for everything I'm trying to build and hold.
So this summer, I've gotten intentional. Not in a rigid, rule-following way more like a quiet returning. A choosing, again and again, of the thing that cools me down instead of the thing that turns up the heat.
Pitta Practices I'm doing this Summer
Here's what's actually in my days right now. Nothing aspirational. Just what's real.
Yoga Nidra in the Afternoon This has been the single most stabilizing thing I've added. Pitta peaks in the midday hours, and for me, that's when I feel it most — the irritability, the mental sharpness that starts to tip into edge. Ten or fifteen minutes of yoga nidra in the afternoon resets everything. I come out slower, softer, more able to show up for the rest of the day.
Morning Meditation and Yoga Sutra Contemplation Before the kids are up, before the day has its grip on me, I sit. I've been moving through the Yoga Sutras slowly — not studying them, more like letting them land. Some mornings it's five minutes. Some mornings more. The quality matters more than the length.
Sitting in the Grass This sounds so simple that it almost feels embarrassing to include. But there is something genuinely grounding about bare feet on cool grass, sitting still, not doing anything. Pitta lives in the mind. The grass pulls you back into the body. I've been doing this with my kids sometimes — just going outside and sitting — and it settles all of us.
Not Overstuffing My Days — and Saying No This is a practice as much as any posture or breathing technique. Pitta thrives on a full calendar. It feels productive. It feels in control. But a packed schedule is just another form of heat. This summer I've been asking myself before I add something: does this actually need to be here? And I've been saying no more than I ever have. It's uncomfortable. It's also essential.
Reading Pure pleasure. No self-improvement agenda. Just a good book at the end of the day. For Pitta types, unstructured enjoyment is medicine — and I don't mean that metaphorically.
Rosewater Spritz to the Face Keep a little bottle in the fridge. Spritz it on mid-afternoon, especially if you've been in the heat. It's cooling, calming, and takes about four seconds. I love this one.
My Love of Sparkling Water Mid-Day Hydration matters in Pitta season, and for me sparkling water mid-day genuinely helps me slow down and actually drink something. It feels like a treat. Pitta responds well to things that feel like treats.
A Recipe That Cools From the Inside Out
Food is medicine in Ayurveda, and in the height of Pitta season, what we eat matters enormously. Heavy, spicy, sour, or overly heating foods will aggravate an already activated nervous system. What we want instead is sweet, cooling, and light.
This recipe is from AyurPrana, and it's become a summer staple in my kitchen. It's nourishing without being heavy, beautiful without being complicated, and genuinely cooling — not just in theory but in practice.
Coconut Rose Rice with Mint and Cucumber
In the height of Pitta season, food is medicine for the nervous system. Coconut is one of Ayurveda's most beloved Pitta-pacifying foods — cooling, sweet, and deeply nourishing to the tissues. Rose water adds a floral subtlety that calms both the mind and the heart. Together with fresh mint and cucumber, this is a dish that cools from the inside out.
Ingredients (serves 4)
- 1.5 cups basmati rice, rinsed
- 1 cup coconut milk
- 1.5 cups water
- 1 tsp coconut oil
- 1 tsp rose water
- 1 small cucumber, finely diced
- Small handful fresh mint leaves, torn
- Pinch of cardamom
- Pinch of salt
Method
Warm the coconut oil in a medium saucepan over low heat. Add the rinsed rice and stir gently for one minute. Pour in the coconut milk, water, and salt. Bring to a soft simmer, cover, and cook on the lowest flame for 15 minutes until the liquid is absorbed and the rice is tender. Remove from heat, stir in the rose water and cardamom, and let it rest uncovered for five minutes. Fold in the cucumber and fresh mint just before serving.
Eat at room temperature or slightly cooled not straight from a hot pot. The body absorbs it more gently this way.
The Honest Truth About Tending Yourself This Summer
None of what I've shared above is complicated. That's actually the point.
Pitta's trap is the belief that more effort produces more results more intensity, more discipline, more doing. But cooling Pitta requires the opposite. It requires gentleness. Ease. Trust that the simple thing is enough.
This summer, I keep coming back to that. The grass under my feet is enough. The ten minutes of rest in the afternoon is enough. The no I said instead of yes is enough.
You don't need an elaborate wellness protocol to get through a hot, full, demanding summer. You need a few things that genuinely work for you, practiced with consistency and without pressure.
Want Support Getting Started?
If you've been feeling the heat — in your body, your schedule, your nervous system — and you're not quite sure where to begin, I made something for you.
My free 3-Day Pitta Cool-Down Challenge walks you through three gentle, doable days of Pitta-pacifying practices: morning, midday, and evening. It's designed for real life — not a retreat, not a complete overhaul. Just a few days of intentional cooling that you can carry with you into the rest of the season.
👉 Join the free 3-Day Pitta Cool-Down Challenge here
I'd love to see you in there.
Nourished & Rooted
I have opened up a new 1:1 eight-week Yoga and Ayurveda program. We can meet in-person or virtual. I crafted this for those "it depends" questions — so you can have those answers for yourself. Learning Ayurveda can be like learning a new language and seeing the world through a different lens. If you want to go deeper with your yoga or Ayurveda framework, you can read more about this new program above.
