How about utilising your daily rhythm for feeling more balanced both physically and mentally?
Health = balanced Doshas, Agni (digestion, metabolism), Dhatus (tissues), Malas (bodily excretions) and happy soul, senses and mind
This definition shows that according to Ayurveda a body without discomfort and symptoms is only part of your total health. And rightly so. Physical health clearly is worth less if you’re not feeling happy. Furthermore, the well-being of soul, senses and mind also greatly influence the performance of the body. It is not without reason that the Dinacharya (daily routine) and Ritucharya (seasonal routine) are discussed in the first chapters of the classic texts on Ayurveda. Even before nutrition is mentioned..
Where proper eating habits are mainly used to keep your body healthy, the focus in daily routine is more on well-being of soul, senses and mind. Hence, to feel good in your own (healthy) skin!
Dinacharya – daily routine
Dinacharya comprises the Ayurvedic advices for daily routine. This includes regular times to get up and eat your meals, incorporating breaks, nurturing the senses and create some space for yoga, breathing exercises and meditation.
Curious how these daily habits can influence the different aspects of your health? I will briefly illustrate them all..
Your daily habits are a powerful tool to bring regularity and rhythm in your life. Like introducing a fixed time to get up and go to bed, or to have lunch. In this way you help your biological clock to operate optimally. Which allows the body to prepare for the upcoming job and perform its task well. To enable your digestive fire to digest the meals properly and to make sure that waste materials are timely excreted from the body, to name a few advantages. (Read more..)
Regularity also helps your brain and nerve tissue to calm down and relax. Due to daily repetition your body learns to depend on fixed moments of peace and rest. So it can stop being in a constant hyper alert state, as is the case most of the time. Because it never knows when it has to come into action again. Will the alarm set at 7 or at 10 am tomorrow? Will there be breakfast to digest or not? Such an irregular daily schedule is confusing and stress-inducing for your system. (Read more..)
Nose, ears, eyes, tongue and skin also get the attention they deserve. For instance by applying a nourishing oil massage or some oil drops in the nose. All five senses receive their daily portion of suitable maintenance, so they can operate well a life time long. (Read more..)
Yogis among us will be happy to hear: Ayurveda also advices the daily practice of asanas (physical exercises), pranayama (breathing exercises) and meditation (controlling your mind). Creating some stillness daily allows your mind to properly digest and clear all retained old emotions and thoughts. This gives you the chance to start every day new and fresh with an empty mind. Enabling you to fully live in the moment instead of being distracted by a vortex of thoughts. (Read more..)
Ritucharya – seasonal routine
As the Doshas each have their own season in which they are predominant, as well as your digestive fire being influenced by the seasons, it is wise to slightly adjust your daily routine throughout the year. This will prevent your Doshas from going beyond the range in which they function properly (see Kala) and your digestion from being overloaded. Avoiding uncomfortable (seasonal) complaints, or at least keeping them in check..
This is exactly in which Ritucharya, or seasonal routine, can be of service.
Correlation European seasons, Doshas and common discomforts
Adjustments in diet and lifestyle help you to get through the seasons in balance. Mainly by implementing qualities that are opposite of the Dosha that dominates that particular time of the year. Think about summer heat for instance.. what is it that we than do automatically? Exactly! We try to cool down by swimming in the ocean, eating ice cream, turning on the A/C. Likewise it is a smart to choose drier food in spring, when Kapha is at its peak and a lot of mucus is released (manifesting in the form of cold or allergies in this season). Or to nurture your skin with an oil massage in fall, the season in which nature dries out.
As discussed before (see Kala), the strength of your digestion varies during the year. To prevent yourself from experiencing discomfort and illnesses, this is something to bear in mind. Making the right choices in digestibility and quantity of your nutrition helps your fully exploit the capacity of your digestive fire.
Eating meat for instance is best done in winter, when Agni is on its natural high. In summer it is advisable to choose food that is easier to digest, like fruit or meals made up of grains and vegetables. Or you can adjust the quantity by taking smaller portions.
One more thing: when adjusting diet and lifestyle according to the time of the year it is important to take your constitution (Prakriti) and possible imbalance (Vikruti) into consideration. If you are experiencing a lot of Vata-type complaints during winter, it means that this Dosha needs some extra attention. Blindly following the general advices for winter season will not be wise in that case. You can however strictly follow the advices during seasons that your Prakriti or your current imbalance equals the dominant Dosha. In this example that would be in autumn. Together we will discuss what are the best choices in your unique situation!
Pfft, that sounds like way too much of a hassle!
Relax, you don’t have to drastically turn your life upside down overnight. Small adjustments in your current activities can already make a difference. How much result will be achieved mainly depends on the regularity and endurance of your efforts. Therefore a few simple changes that effortlessly become a habit can be more effective than applying everything at once and giving up after two weeks because it is too hard to persevere.
Together we will explore where improvements can be made in an attainable way. Be kind to yourself, it certainly shouldn’t cause any stress.. In fact, that was what we were trying to avoid in the first place!