Ayurvedic Seasonal Routine For Winter
Ayurveda has always emphasized specific self-care practices for each season called Ritucharya. It consists of a lifestyle and ayurvedic diet routine to cope with the bodily and mental imbalances caused by seasonal changes.
Ayurveda is a system of traditional medicine of India and the oldest system of HealthCare in the world that focuses on taking care of our mental, physical, and spiritual wellbeing together. At the heart of Ayurveda are three doshas or elemental forces – Vata dosha (air + ether), Pitta dosha (fire), and Kapha dosha (earth and water). These doshas are believed to be responsible for a person’s physiological, mental, and emotional health.
In winter, Vata dosha becomes the strongest. As a result, the qualities of roughness, lightness, dryness, mobility, and coolness pervades the atmosphere, and thus, our selves. Its imbalance can lead to insomnia, dry skin, constipation, and a racy mind. Practicing a specific Ayurvedic routine can help in keeping such issues at bay.
Beat the cold with a hot cup of herbal tea between your meals. You can go for a simple ginger tea or try tulsi, cardamom, licorice, and cinnamon.
Diet Routine: Focus on eating warm and moist foods to balance the cold, light, dryness in the atmosphere. An ideal breakfast is an oatmeal or warm stewed apples prepared with cinnamon, nutmeg or clove. For lunch, steamed vegetables with lentils & rice is ideal. For dinner, a bowl of warm hearty soup especially by using the root vegetables of this season. You may use carrots, squashes, pumpkins, beets, and sweet potatoes.
Lifestyle: One of the most important lifestyle tools for maintaining health and for supporting healing in winters is by eating and sleeping at the same times every day.
Meals should be taken regularly throughout the day; as many as five small meals per day taken every three hours would be appropriate. These meals should be taken at the same time each day.
It is best to arise within a half hour of the sun rising and sleep no later than 10 PM. The morning routine should include time for warm self oil massage (Abhyanga), meditation, and yoga asana practice.
Abhyanga, massaging your body daily with oils can reduce skin dryness and help soothe your nerves. You can use sesame or ashwagandha bala oil.
Meditation for a few minutes every day can help reduce anxiety, restlessness, and overthinking. The idea is to slow down a little and have some alone time to self-reflect.
Yoga asanas (poses) that are best for vata are those that compress the pelvis and in doing so flex the lower back, such as forward bends. All asanas should be practiced slowly with emphasis to bring grounding to the light, airiness of vata.
Above all, remember that self-care starts with self-love! Accept and love all aspects of yourself.
If you are looking for guidance for a diet and lifestyle that is specific to your body-mind constitution, you can schedule a free 15-minutes consultation!