Spring has sprung in Chester – see my pink azalea in bloom? It was completely flowerless three weeks ago. With the bright sunshine and crisp air typical of spring days in the UK, my body is craving lighter, more colourful nourishment, both inside and out.
Here are some treats that I indulged in recently. I thought it a funny coincidence that the common theme between these photos is the colour pink, hence the pink-self care recommendation. As I’ve mentioned before, my personal dominant dosha at the moment is Pitta – the powerful, energetic, volatile mix of the water and fire elements. With the advance of warm weather, I will be looking to calm myself and cool off my rajastic (active, stimulating) energy, and to encourage a more peaceful and balanced sattvic guna (happy energy).
You can achieve this by immersing yourself in elements of your environment that have the intrinsic properties of the guna you wish to promote within. This can be through consuming dosha-specific foods, wearing clothes in dosha-suitable colours and surrounding yourself with people of a similar energy.
Chromotherapy, or “Colour therapy,” is a real phenomenon, long proven to influence our moods and decisions. According to the teachings of Yoga and Ayurveda, the fluctuations of the mind and emotions are guided by a domination of one of the three energies known as the gunas:
Sattvic, associated with white, gold, violets and blue colours; Rajasic – corresponding to the yellow, orange, purple and red colours; and Tamasic – the dull, heavy energy symbolised by dark browns, blacks and greys. People respond differently to spaces painted in different colours and exhibit different behaviours, depending on the colour palette in their environment. We know this from shopping spaces, as well as from the spaces where we live, work and practice yoga. Some colours are harmonious for one person, while others are disturbing – and this can be completely reversed for another. As we know that colours can promote healing and directly affect well-being, it’s important to know how to choose the colours in our daily environments, including the colours of the foods we eat.
Sattvic colours create calmness and balance, while rajasic colors can create imbalance, especially for Vata and Pitta. Dark colors are tamasic and create heavy and dark emotions, increasing Kapha. Pink is said to balance out Vata tendencies, and pastel pink neutralises Pitta. According to Ayurveda, pink represents self-love, affection and relationships. Pink energy opens our heart chakra to give and receive love.
And did you know that since March 1, 2025, Venus, the planet of love, beauty, harmony, and pleasure, has been in retrograde? This just means that it’s moving backward in its orbit, which is a fairly regular event (every 18 months or so), but when Venus gets thrown out of order, our relationships become the focus of astrological chaos, according to this article. So here’s what I’ve been doing to counteract my Pitta doshic tendencies and planetary influences:
Lunch with a vegan friend at Pink Lettuce, Chester. Yes, that is a pink burger bun in the photo above, and yes, it was absolutely delicious. So was the Pink Lettuce Special Latte, which was warm and packed with vitamins and iron from beetroot and spices.
My husband and I had dinner with friends at Artezzan, which is under new ownership and doing better than ever. My Smoked Red Berry Margarita (pictured under the pink cream tin) tasted divine and had a stunning presentation, arriving under glass and enveloped in smoke.
Artezzan has a vegan menu, but plenty of vegan and vegetarian dishes can be found in its A La Carte menu as well, such as the Summer Vegetables Primavera tagliatelle, Mediterranean Orzo Salad and the Vegano Funghi Pizza. Even if dining with meat-eaters, all can share a starter of their fabulously salty Padron Peppers as a starter.
And finally, as a “Thank you” for reading thus far, here is a link to a pink self-care freebie, courtesy of Neal’s Yard’s Remedies: The Wild Rose Beauty Balm Tin, which is your when you spend £50 on their website. I personally love their entire Wild Rose Collection, made from certified-organic ingredients and boosting skin moisture and radiation just in time for the Spring and Summer months.
