APRIL · LATE SPRING

Opening & Flushing

By April, spring fever is in full swing. The bitter cold is behind you, color is returning to your skin, and the world outside is blooming. Your body is still doing the work of flushing — you may wake with a puffy face or swollen hands, and your blood is warming and moving with new energy. This month is about opening circulation, draining excess fluid, and cooling the heat that’s starting to rise.

Morning Ritual:

Rise with the Sun

April mornings are one of the great rewards of getting through winter. The light is returning fast now. Use it — early rising keeps your energy from getting sluggish and helps your body make the most of the cleansing window before summer heat arrives.

• Wake at or just before sunrise — the earlier the better this month

• Scrape your tongue and drink warm lemon water before anything else

• Get outside within the first 30 minutes if you can — even a short walk counts

• Replenish your vitamin D: let the strengthening spring sun reach your skin

• Continue Neti pot daily or every other day to clear lingering congestion and allergens

Body Practice:

Dry Brushing & Sweat

April is the peak month for dry brushing. Your lymph is thick and sluggish from winter, and your body is actively trying to move fluid out. Daily dry brushing is one of the most effective things you can do to support this process.

• Dry brush daily before your shower — long strokes always moving toward the heart

• Follow with a light oil massage: sunflower or almond oil for most; mustard oil if you tend to run cold and heavy

• Work up a real sweat this month — spring is the season for more vigorous movement

• Walking, hiking, biking, gym workouts all wonderful — aim for daily movement

• Ginger baking soda baths are deeply invigorating and help move stagnant blood — try once a week

Breathwork & Yoga:

Move the Stagnation

April is the month to be most physically active. Your body has been in a semi-hibernation since fall and now is the time to shake it all the way loose. Soon the summer heat will ask you to slow down — for now, move.

• Sun salutations: energizing and warming, ideal for April mornings

• Twists and side body stretches to wring out the liver and stimulate digestion

• Belly breathing or breath of fire to fire up your digestive energy and clear brain fog

• More vigorous yoga styles are appropriate this month — vinyasa, power, even hot yoga if your body runs cool and heavy

• If you feel sluggish in the morning, lead with breath~work before movement to kick-start your energy

Food & Diet:

Bitter, Bright & Light

The hearty root vegetables of winter and early spring are behind you now. April calls for lighter, more vibrant foods that open circulation, drain puffiness, and cool the heat beginning to rise in the body.

• Wild greens are your best friend this month: dandelion, chickweed, arugula, watercress

• Diaphoretics open circulation and encourage healthy sweating — favor radishes, mustard greens, chives, raw onion, scallions, fresh mint and rosemary

• Diuretics reduce April puffiness: corn, celery, cabbage, kale, collards, asparagus

• Astringent foods tone puffy tissues: lentils, mung beans, sprouts, millet, barley, buckwheat

• Kapha-friendly fruits that aren’t too sweet: cherries, apricots, pomegranate, lemon, orange — use the zest too

• Avoid heavy proteins, dairy, fried foods and anything gooey or rich

• Keep sweet taste minimal — your blood is naturally sweet this month and doesn’t need more

Herbal Support:

• Dandelion root or leaf tea — a powerful liver and gallbladder cleanser; use root for deeper detox, leaf for gentle diuretic support

• Fresh ginger with lemon — keeps digestion fired up and blood moving; wonderful first thing in the morning

• Cumin, coriander and fennel seed tea — reduces bloating and water retention, supports gentle cleansing throughout the day

• Peppermint or spearmint tea — aromatic and slightly cooling, helps combat sluggishness and freshens digestion

• Tulsi (holy basil) tea — stimulates circulation, lifts mood, and eases congestion

• Turmeric in warm water or golden milk (light, no heavy cream) — thins and invigorates the blood, supports the liver

Allergy note for April: Allergies peak in April as everything blooms and pollen fills the air. If you struggle with seasonal allergies, the best support is liver-focused: eat bitter greens daily, minimize dairy and wheat completely, and use the Neti pot consistently. A congested liver makes the immune system work overtime — lighten its load and your reactions tend to ease.

INNER WORK · APRIL

What Has Been Stewing All Winter

April can bring a real edge to the surface. The liver is active and hot, and what you’ve been quietly holding — frustration, resentment, things left unsaid — tends to rise now. This isn’t a flaw; it’s the season doing its job. Spring is asking you to let it move through and out, not to push it back down.

What frustrations have I been quietly carrying? Can I name them without acting on them?

Where in my life do I feel stuck or stagnant — and what would it take to get things moving?

What am I ready to leave behind before summer arrives?

YUM LIFE SANCTUARY · SACRED FIRE PROGRAM · yumlifesanctuary.com

MAY · LATE SPRING

The Last Cleanse

May is the hinge between spring and summer. Your body has been doing the quiet, heavy work of releasing winter’s insulation — and now the fire is ready to rise. This is the last window to cleanse before the heat of summer arrives. Move gently, eat lightly, and let what has been loosened finally leave.

Morning Ritual: Wake with the Light

Rise near or just before sunrise. May mornings are one of nature’s great invitations — use them. Even ten minutes outside before checking your phone shifts your nervous system into a healthier rhythm for the day.

• Splash cool water on your face upon waking

• Scrape your tongue before eating or drinking

• Drink a warm mug of water with fresh lemon or lime

• Spend at least 5 minutes outside before breakfast

Body Practice: Dry Brushing & Light Oil

May is ideal for dry brushing — it keeps lymph moving as the weather warms and helps the skin release toxins through sweat. Use long strokes toward your heart before your shower.

• Dry brush 3–5x per week before showering

• Follow with a very light self-massage using sunflower or almond oil

• Skip heavy oils — your skin is warming up and doesn’t need them

• For sensitive or dry skin types: brush more gently, just 1–2x per week

Breathwork & Yoga: Cool the Rising Fire

Shift your movement from intense and invigorating (that was your job in March and April) to steady and opening. May asks for flow, not force.

• Gentle sun salutations in the morning — slow and easeful

• Side body stretches and heart openers to release chest heaviness

• Begin practicing sitali breath: inhale through a curled tongue, exhale through the nose — this cools excess heat building in the body

• Avoid hot yoga in late May as temperatures climb

Food & Diet: Welcome Salad Season

May is when farmer’s markets come alive — and your body is ready for it. Favor light, fresh, bitter and slightly sour foods. Minimize rich, heavy, or oily meals.

• Load up on dark leafy greens: arugula, dandelion, spinach, chard

• Enjoy asparagus, cucumber, cauliflower — all natural diuretics

• Add cilantro, fresh mint, fennel and lime to meals

• Swap black pepper and basil (heating) for cardamom and cilantro (cooling)

• Favor mung beans, lentils, tofu and light fish over red meat

• Minimize dairy, wheat, fried food and sweeteners

• Barley, quinoa and millet are your grains this month

Herbal Support: Teas & Simples for May

• Cumin, coriander and fennel seed tea — sip warm throughout the day to ease bloating, reduce puffiness, and support gentle detox

• Dandelion root tea — deeply supportive for the liver as it continues its spring housecleaning

• Fresh ginger with lime — keeps digestion fired up without overheating the body

• Tulsi (holy basil) tea — stimulates circulation and eases any residual congestion

• Aloe vera juice (plain, unsweetened) — cools the digestive tract and soothes inflammation as heat builds

Hydration note for May: If you’ve been keeping water intake moderate to manage puffiness, mid-May is the time to begin increasing it again. Add a small pinch of mineral salt to your water if you’re sweating more, feeling fatigued, or experiencing dry mouth. Perimenopausal women especially may need more consistent hydration as heat increases.

INNER WORK · MAY

What Has Been Released — and What Remains

Spring is an emotional cleanse, not just a physical one. As your body releases its winter layer, buried feelings often surface — grief, restlessness, things you’ve been “stewing on.” May is the last invitation to let them go before summer’s brightness asks something different of you.

What did I carry through winter that I’m ready to set down now?

Where in my body am I still holding tension or heaviness?

What would it feel like to move into summer feeling genuinely light?

JUNE · EARLY SUMMER

Tending the Heat

June marks the real arrival of summer, and with it a shift in the body’s needs. The heavy work of cleansing is complete. Now your goal is to stay cool from the inside out — to protect your digestion, your skin, and your nervous system from the mounting heat. Perimenopausal women may feel this season’s intensity more acutely: honor that, and lean into the cooling practices below.

Morning Ritual: Cool Mornings, Warm Start

June mornings are still cool and sweet before the day heats up. Protect this window. Your best movement, clearest thinking, and most settled digestion will all happen before 10am.

• Continue rising near sunrise — light is your anchor

• Tongue scraping and warm lemon water remain

• Try rose water as a face mist to cool and calm skin

• Eat your largest meal at lunch, not dinner

• Avoid vigorous exercise after 10am when possible

Body Practice: Cooling & Hydrating the Skin

June is when skin starts to heat up, pores open wide, and the body works hard to regulate temperature. Support it.

• Continue dry brushing 2–3x per week

• Swap heavy oils for coconut oil or sunflower oil in massage

• Cool showers are welcome — especially after exercise

• Apply aloe vera gel directly to skin for heat rash, redness or irritation

• For perimenopausal women: a cool damp cloth on the back of the neck during hot flashes offers quick relief

Breathwork & Yoga: Slow Down to Stay Strong

Summer is not the season to push harder — it’s the season to move with intention. Think of it as tending a fire: too much air and it burns out of control.

• Slow, floor-based yoga over fast-paced flow

• Forward folds and twists support the liver and digestion

• Sitali breath (cooling breath) daily — especially mid-afternoon or before bed

• Moon salutations are a beautiful June practice — cooling, fluid, feminine

• Avoid hot yoga entirely once summer heat has arrived

• Walking in early morning or evening — never midday

Food & Diet: Fresh, Cool, and Colorful

Summer eating is joyful when done right. Eat fresh, seasonal, and light. The farmer’s market is your best guide — what’s ripe is what’s right for your body.

• Favor cucumber, zucchini, mint, cilantro, lime, avocado and coconut water

• Enjoy sweet fruits: peaches, cherries, watermelon, blueberries

• Salads are wonderful — add a light olive oil and lemon dressing

• Mung bean soups and lentil dishes are your go-to proteins

• Minimize spicy, sour, salty and fried foods — they heat the body from inside

• Reduce alcohol, coffee and red meat — all intensify internal heat

• Keep meals simple: fewer ingredients, easier to digest

Herbal Support: Teas & Simples for June

• Mint and lime iced tea — brew mint tea, cool it, add a squeeze of fresh lime; sip throughout the day

• Rose petal tea or rose water — deeply cooling for the heart and skin; particularly supportive for women experiencing hot flashes or heat sensitivity

• Fennel seed tea — eases bloating and cools digestive heat; great after meals

• Cumin, coriander and fennel seed tea — continue from May as a digestive staple, served at room temp or cool in June

• Coconut water — a gentle electrolyte replenisher that won’t overheat the system

• Aloe vera juice — continue from May; excellent for women navigating perimenopausal heat

Sleep note for June: Longer, brighter evenings make it tempting to stay up late — but your liver does its deepest repair work between 10pm and 2am. Being in bed by 10pm is one of the highest-impact things you can do for your hormonal health, skin, digestion, and mood in summer. Swap your winter comforter for light linen, keep a window cracked, and consider a few drops of lavender oil on your pillow.

INNER WORK · JUNE

Stepping Into Your Summer Self

Summer in the body is a time of full expression — warmth, visibility, vitality. After the quiet and heaviness of winter and the slow thaw of spring, June asks: who are you now that you’ve done the releasing? What wants to grow in you this season?

What does feeling truly alive in my body look and feel like for me?

What am I ready to let be seen — in myself, in my life, in my work?

Where can I bring more ease and less effort this summer?

YUM LIFE SANCTUARY · SACRED FIRE PROGRAM · yumlifesanctuary.com