Leah Fried
About the Teacher
Why study with them?
A woman of nature, I am passionate about rekindling our relationship to the natural world, healing through food and slow-living rhythms, and reawakening the heart.
8 years ago, I was riding a much faster wave as a corporate business consultant working across 3 continents with very little connection to the soil beneath my feet, my body, or the holistic interconnectivity of our world. By the grace of what many call hitting rock bottom (or as I like to think of it: the first knock from Mother nature I was finally ready to hear), the inspiration to consider another way of living finally dawned. Fast forward a few cycles of the sun and the markers of a successful day have become: how fully have you lived, loved, and laughed today? Were you present for your experience? Does your heart feel nourished?
A weaver of many threads, I love to play with the earth, her bounty, and various artisanal forms that work with her elements – the more raw the better. Growing food, preparing food, pottery, natural fiber weaving, and natural home building are all alive for me these days... especially as spring begins to bloom and we find ourselves inspired and flirting with creativity again. What a fertile time, both inside and out!
Food to nourish and harmonize
Preparing food, for me, is a divine act of love. To nourish, delight, and support the healing of others through delicious, wholesome, balance-promoting food is a profound and deeply humbling opportunity.
As a chef, I am deeply influenced and inspired by the principles of Ayurveda, and a back-to-our-roots approach to nourishing the temple of our bodies with simple, wholesome, balanced food. Ayurveda’s foundation rests on the understanding that our most natural, unafflicted state of being – our true nature – is that of equanimity, peace, and harmony, and that our bodies are a self-healing system that is always trying to re-establish these qualities. Dis-harmony is created primarily through our dietary and lifestyle choices and influenced by environmental factors. Some of this is out of our control, but most is attributable to the dietary and lifestyle choices we make moment to moment, including how we respond to environmental factors that may be out of our control.
“When prepared and eaten in a way that is wholesome, balanced in nature, and supports healthy digestive fire or ‘agni’, food becomes our greatest medicine.”
In my experience healing decades of digestive issues and a myriad of consequential imbalances, paying attention to what and how we feed our bodies to support optimal digestion is the most important factor in establishing and maintaining balance of being (body, mind, and spirit).
To this end, I like to focus on wholesome ingredients that are fresh, organic and seasonal, and prepare them in a way that is light and easy to digest while being well-balanced in taste and temperament and satisfying to all the senses.
Whether the goal is to heal, promote balance, or simply enjoy a delicious meal, it is my aim to offer a food experience that leaves folks feeling pleasantly satisfied, nourished, and clear in body, mind and spirit.
8 years ago, I was riding a much faster wave as a corporate business consultant working across 3 continents with very little connection to the soil beneath my feet, my body, or the holistic interconnectivity of our world. By the grace of what many call hitting rock bottom (or as I like to think of it: the first knock from Mother nature I was finally ready to hear), the inspiration to consider another way of living finally dawned. Fast forward a few cycles of the sun and the markers of a successful day have become: how fully have you lived, loved, and laughed today? Were you present for your experience? Does your heart feel nourished?
A weaver of many threads, I love to play with the earth, her bounty, and various artisanal forms that work with her elements – the more raw the better. Growing food, preparing food, pottery, natural fiber weaving, and natural home building are all alive for me these days... especially as spring begins to bloom and we find ourselves inspired and flirting with creativity again. What a fertile time, both inside and out!
Food to nourish and harmonize
Preparing food, for me, is a divine act of love. To nourish, delight, and support the healing of others through delicious, wholesome, balance-promoting food is a profound and deeply humbling opportunity.
As a chef, I am deeply influenced and inspired by the principles of Ayurveda, and a back-to-our-roots approach to nourishing the temple of our bodies with simple, wholesome, balanced food. Ayurveda’s foundation rests on the understanding that our most natural, unafflicted state of being – our true nature – is that of equanimity, peace, and harmony, and that our bodies are a self-healing system that is always trying to re-establish these qualities. Dis-harmony is created primarily through our dietary and lifestyle choices and influenced by environmental factors. Some of this is out of our control, but most is attributable to the dietary and lifestyle choices we make moment to moment, including how we respond to environmental factors that may be out of our control.
“When prepared and eaten in a way that is wholesome, balanced in nature, and supports healthy digestive fire or ‘agni’, food becomes our greatest medicine.”
In my experience healing decades of digestive issues and a myriad of consequential imbalances, paying attention to what and how we feed our bodies to support optimal digestion is the most important factor in establishing and maintaining balance of being (body, mind, and spirit).
To this end, I like to focus on wholesome ingredients that are fresh, organic and seasonal, and prepare them in a way that is light and easy to digest while being well-balanced in taste and temperament and satisfying to all the senses.
Whether the goal is to heal, promote balance, or simply enjoy a delicious meal, it is my aim to offer a food experience that leaves folks feeling pleasantly satisfied, nourished, and clear in body, mind and spirit.
