Why I Teach Seasonal Cooking: Bringing Ayurvedic Food Wisdom into Community Kitchens

Bhanu Patel
Jun 14
2 min read

There’s something special that happens when I stand in front of a warm stove, with fresh herbs in hand, and the scent of toasted cumin in the air. It takes me back — to kitchens filled with laughter, to the quiet comfort of my family’s cooking, to the rituals that shaped the way I now live and share Ayurveda.

For me, food has never just been food. In Ayurveda, it’s understood as daily medicine — a sacred offering, a way back to balance. And teaching others how to cook with the seasons is one of the deepest joys of my work.

Each class is more than a recipe demo. It’s a space to slow down, listen inward, and rediscover what it feels like to care for yourself with intention. Ayurveda invites us to live in rhythm with the world around us — and one of the gentlest ways to do that is through seasonal food.

Seasonal Ayurvedic Cooking

Each season brings its own qualities—some warming, some drying, some heavy and damp—and Ayurveda teaches us to respond with foods that gently counterbalance these shifts.

In the summer, that might look like fresh herbs, lightly cooked vegetables, yogurt drinks, and cooling spices like coriander and fennel. In the fall, more grounding soups, ghee, and roasted root vegetables. It’s a dance between the outer world and our inner landscape, and I love showing people how to navigate that dance with ease and delight.

Cooking seasonally can be simple, joyful, and intuitive — but many of us were never taught how. That’s why I started offering these classes. I saw people yearning for ease in the kitchen, for clarity around what to eat and when, and for deeper connection to their own bodies.

And I saw something else too — a need for community.

Community kitchens offer something so unique: a place where strangers become friends, where food becomes conversation, and where people remember that cooking can be creative, healing, and deeply satisfying. When we gather to cook together—chopping, stirring, laughing—we’re not just preparing a meal. We’re reviving an old, beautiful tradition: food as connection.

I started teaching these classes because I saw a need—for more simplicity, more presence, more joy in how we nourish ourselves. I keep teaching them because each time, I witness a spark: someone realizing that food doesn’t have to be complicated to be deeply supportive. That eating with the seasons can feel intuitive and grounding. That their own kitchen can become a space of healing.

Seasonal ayurvedic cooking is a powerful act of self-care, but it's also a collective act of resilience. When we learn how to tend to ourselves with what nature offers—at the right time, in the right way—we become steadier, softer, more attuned. And in a world that can feel overwhelming, that’s a gift we can share with those around us. Love,

Bhanu