Ayurveda & Winter Wellness with Fran
AYURVEDA AND WINTER WELLNESS by Fran Lewis @franlewisyoga
As we move deeper into the winter months it is a great time for self-care, not only taking time for some grounding yoga classes in the cosy studio at Sunshine but looking closer to home, what you can bring in for yourself in terms of winter wellness?
I use the ancient wisdom of Ayurveda for so many great wellness tips!
What is Ayurveda though and where does it come from?
‘Ayur’ means life and ‘veda’ means wisdom, so it is really the science of life and is an amazing tool to support your wellbeing and also makes a lot of sense once you begin to explore it!
Ayurveda can help us create healthy daily rituals. Maybe we have been doing the same routine for a long time? Now is a good time to look at it with fresh eyes, a new beginning as the new moon this week has given us and this winter reset offers us.
All this knowledge spans back over 5000 years. In recent years Ayurveda is slowly beginning to come into the mainstream and we are awakening to this eastern way of treating dis ‘ease’ in the body. Ayurveda tries to connect all the dots when it comes to disease and disharmony and look at health as mind body and soul all connected rather than separated as we sometimes know of western medicine.
What I love about Ayurveda is that you don’t really have to know much – most of the time all it requires is listening to your intuition, following nature’s lead and more often than not you already know what do!
According to Ayurveda a healthy person is a person whose energies are balanced.
Strong digestive fire
Balanced emotions
Clear senses
Well-functioning processes
Calm mind
Nourished Body tissues
Of course, sometimes these can become imbalanced and when this happens in Ayurveda, we can look at this through your “doshas” which is “faults” translated from Sanskrit. I don’t like to think of them as faults thought, more underlying imbalances.
Have you ever done your dosha quiz? Perhaps take a moment to take on the internet, there are a few online if you do a search.
What are the doshas? These are the energies we are all uniquely made up of – Vata, Pitta, Kapha – and they are all related to the elements – earth, fire, air, ether, water.
We are in Vata season at the moment. Vata is the primary leading dosha in the body linked to the air element. So often most things can be treated well by putting Vata back in balance.
Nowadays we often have Vata imbalances due to lots of travelling, busy work-life, family life commitments and our overall pace of life is fast and often not in routine. This all causes our Vata to go off whack!
Now we are in Vata season, air wind cold dry qualities are all around us. These can manifest in the body / mind as imbalances – dry hair, nails, skin, constipation, disturbed sleep, fatigue, anxiety, scattered mind.
We need to try and cultivate practices in our daily lives to keep things a little more calm and grounded.
So here are some ideas below to give you some tips of things you can begin to adopt in your daily to balance your Vata dosha and bring yourself into balance at this time when we are most likely to suffer colds, coughs and winter flu.
Food - as we move into autumn very drying time, thinking of leaves wrinkled and falling from trees, this is what is happening to our skin! So nourishing foods, ghee, unclarified butter can really lubricate the digestive system, warming drinks, milky etc, root veggies, soups, warming spices, lentils and dahl.
By nature vata characterises itself as mobile, dry, irregular, cold rough light……so building a routine – wake up and bedtimes, regular mealtimes, minimise travel, or if you travel a lot incorporate some grounding practice counteract the imbalance! This will all give better digestion as well.
Early to bed – this is key to keeping our vata in check.
Slowing down. Vata people have lively quick minds. So, slowing down is essential to bring this back into balance. Add a yin practice to your weekly routine. Opt for sports such as gentle walks in nature grounding to the earth energy to counter balance all the air! Tai Chi, Pilates, swimming these all ground rather than high energy competitive sports.
Abhyanga – I have always done this practice ever since I knew about Ayurveda – there is something so calming soothing and grounding about smothering yourself in warm oil, like a protective blanket and it’s so good for the skin to counter balance the dryness of Vata. If you haven’t got time for a full abhyanga then a warm bath with essential oils, frankincense, geranium, orange, cinnamon, patchouli, ginger cardamon are all great for balancing vata.
Mind – vata can make for a quick scattered mind so trying to incorporate some mindful creativity into your day, some relaxing cooking, painting or simply reading. At this time of year maybe wreath making, picking holly and creating an arrangement at home, or making an altar space with winter foliage and candles can all be really calming for vata minds and sooth any anxiety. These are all things we may do but slowing down noticing and being more mindful and grateful while we do these things can really make a difference!
Meditation – you may already have a practice. But slowing the mind really is a game changing for mental health taking out any imbalances and really has a physical impact is a massive beneficial way. Why not come along to our free meditation practice on Sundays to help get you started?
Creating some time for your own self-care – this really is something we should all do more of. It is our human nature to constantly be thinking of others caring for others, we need to fill out own cup first, being kind to ourselves is going to help our vata imbalance.
And finally, it is cold at this time of year, opt for warmer environments which doesn’t mean hop on a plane and go on holiday as not all of us can! But simply a warm bath, hot steam room if you have access to one, a massage, or abhyanga with warm oil mentioned before can all help. Try to avoid excess exposure to wind and cold – wrap up warm, hats, scarves, gloves, warm coats, wear warm earthy colours, listen to soothing music and light warm candles, surround yourself by warm kind hearted people!
If crystals are your thing, then rose or clear quartz, citrine, jade, amethyst, green aventurine, aquamarine are all warming, grounding and nurturing, great to have around at this time of year.
I really hope that these little tips and tools may help support your during this winter season. You can find me at Sunshine Café and Yoga in Penryn on Tuesdays and Saturday mornings teaching yoga and I would be so happy to chat about anything Ayurveda or if you have any more questions!
Warm wishes and winter blesssings
Fran
