EP. 2 - LAURA PLUMB
"Food is the most immediate way that we can reconnect back with nature. You can grow basil on your windowsill, even if you live in a tiny apartment in a big city, and you can take a bite and stop and pause and taste it completely... and you're immediately in a relationship with nature. A meal is a great opportunity, three times a day, to come home to yourself, to pause and really come into that presence, in that present moment—and that's where the healing is."
- Laura Plumb
In this deeply nourishing conversation, I sit down with Laura Plum, founder and director of VEDA Wise and contributing Ayurvedic educator at UCSD Center for Integrative Medicine. Laura takes us on her beautiful journey from childhood on the shores of Lake Michigan to discovering yoga, Ayurveda, and Jyotish as pathways back to nature and our true essence. I'm moved by her wisdom as she shares how food becomes our most immediate bridge to the natural world, offering us three sacred opportunities each day to come home to ourselves through mindful eating. We explore Laura's passionate mission to make ancient Ayurvedic principles accessible to Western audiences, her delightful defense of rice as a deeply nourishing healing food, and the beautiful practice of "dating" herbs to develop intimate relationships with plant allies. Laura opens my understanding of Jyotish (Vedic astrology) as a profound science of psychology that honors both our interconnectedness and individual uniqueness, providing guidance and courage through life's inevitable storms. Together, we envision how these timeless wisdom traditions might heal our modern world—from environmental restoration to honoring indigenous knowledge and using somatic practices for collective trauma recovery. This conversation left me feeling both grounded and inspired about Ayurveda's potential to create deeper connection and compassion in our communities.
Selected by Spirituality & Health as one of 100 Trailblazers of Yoga & Ayurveda, Laura Plumb is the Founder and Director of VedaWise, lead faculty for the Ayurvedic Integrated Nutrition 200 hour Professional Training, author of the best-selling book Ayurveda Cooking For Beginners, creator/ presenter of the online video course The Medicine In Your Kitchen: Introduction to Ayurvedic Cooking hosted by Spirituality & Health, writer and host of the 53-part television show CleanseVeda, and the 12-part series called Divine Yoga.
@lauraplumb
lauraplumb.com