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2/1/2017 1 Comment

How to stay well when the weather is challenging

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Have you been able to stay well in the past months? It can be challenging with all the rain and cold, and the flu and colds going around. And it isn't over yet. The season of the flowing waters is upon us, usually bringing colds and spring allergies. 
According to Ayurveda it is kapha season, when the elements of water and earth are dominant. Kapha solidifies in us as mucus and protects and lubricates the delicate tissues in our bodies. And if we eat a lot of rich food and don't move very much, which is typically what we do in winter, we produce too much mucus. Then in the early spring, when the sun starts warming up the earth and the snow in the mountains melts and the water starts to flow everywhere, kapha melts, and this mucus tends to start flowing in us, causing spring sickness. 
​Following are ways to prevent spring sickness from happening...

-  Eat lightly, avoid heavy dairy, meats, cheeses, yogurt, pastries, desserts, and fried foods. This is not the season for these kinds of foods, this is the time for greens, lots of greens and lighter fare like rice or quinoa, noodles, and veggies. Some animal protein is fine, but stay away from the bacon at this time, and eat the lean cuts. A great vegetarian option is mung dal and red lentils. They are both light and easy to digest.
-  Eat cooked, warm food. When the mucus is flowing, keep it flowing, don't stop it by eating cold foods. Have plenty of warming spices like ginger and black pepper. If you are more of a kapha type, you can even use chilies and cayenne.
​- Also dress warm. Even if the climbing sun feels like summer, it still goes down early and immediately the atmosphere cools down. It is easy to get sick when you allow your body to get cold.
-  Exercise
, move... warm up your body and melt the stagnation.
-  Take in the sun when you can. 20 minute sun baths are very supportive for immunity.

​-  Do a spring cleanse  and this is also a good time for panchakarma.
-  Keep your mucus membranes healthy: apply 2 drops of nasya oil to your nostrils daily. Keep your head tilted back when you do this. Apply a drop of oil to your ears a few times a week. Having healthy nourished mucus membranes makes it less likely for viruses and allergens to cause damage, since the local immune system will function better.
-  Use the neti pot when you need to. If you have a lot of mucus, this is a good way to clean it out. If you feel the beginning of a cold, then add a pinch of turmeric to the salt water, to kill the pathogen that is bothering you.
-  Put a drop of triphala tea in each eye every morning. Triphala cleans and clears and nourishes the eyes. Use 1 tsp of triphala powder to 1 cup of boiled water. Steep it like a tea, for 20 minutes. Then filter through very find cloth, so no herb particles are in the liquid. Keep it in a small dropper bottle in the refrigerator. Be careful, because it does spoil. You will see growths in the liquid when that happens. It will be fine in the refrigerator for several weeks.

-  Take immune boosters, like ashwaganda, triphala, tulsi, and of course there are many more preparations available that can help you to stay strong.
-  And when you get sick anyway... rest, stay warm, eat broths and soups, with as much spice as is healthy for who you are... you will know.

1 Comment

7/30/2013 0 Comments

The Path of Practice

Over twenty years ago I started practicing yoga. I followed an inner voice while I was lying on the floor after a workout in the gym. I didn't like the gym. I loved yoga. Soon I was taking up to five classes per week. I loved learning to tune into the subtleties of alignment, to feel separate muscle groups and learn how to move them. I loved using my breath to bring my mind all the way with my body and my movement. I wouldn't notice anybody else in class. I learned a lot about my body and how to use yoga to make it feel better. 

When I did a teacher training the the whole system of yoga opened up to me. I learned about the different philosophies and how they can bring more control of your mind. So I sat my first meditation retreat. It was very revealing of how the body, mind, and emotions feed into each other, and was not easy. I noticed the deep inner freedom I felt after sitting and watching my impulses for days at a time, instead of following my impulses day after day. I remember sitting outside in the sun, and feeling the sun's rays on my body and hearing the insect wings buzz, and it brought such deep satisfaction.

I loved the increasing subtlety of my "yoga" practice, and the emphasis changed from asana/postures to breathing and meditation. 

Then I went to Ayurveda school in 2001, and studied even more ancient Indian science. This time it was the medical side. I learned that anything that we put or allow into our bodies - and that includes any sensorial impression - mental or emotional experience, needs to be digested and properly assimilated, in order to serve us. A healthy digestion makes for good health. I learned that "like increases like", and that "opposites balance". I learned that one man's food and herbal medicine is another's poison. And I learned about the cycles of nature, and that changing your lifestyle in order to flow with those cycles, really makes you feel better.

The ability to tune into subtlety increased again, this time extending to the chemistry of foods in my body, what it feels like to be 'acidic', and how 'vata' feels, and 'pitta' and 'kapha'. And the realization came that everything can be "yoga" practice. That I am not a bad yogi if I don't do any official "practice" during the day, but that if I do what I do with an awareness of how I do it and how it affects me and others, I am always practicing. Ofcourse I can sharpen my intuition, my mind, the tuning into subtlety, of myself and of others, with official practice, so I still do that too, just not as religiously, or maybe dogmatically. And when I practice I'm taking time out of my day to do things, yoga and meditation, to make my body and nervous system feel better. I'm taking good care of myself, I'm practicing preventative medicine. 

Over the years I have found that having these ancient Indian practices in my life is empowering more than anything. It's given me a way to return to a balanced state, no matter what life throws at me. 
I feel deep gratitude when I walk this path...
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    Authors

    Simone de Winter 
    Megan Fleming
    ​Nathan Platt

    Categories

    All Ayurveda Breathing Doshas Food Health Kapha Medicine Meditation Nutrition Panchakarma Pitta Practice Preventative Health Rejuvenation Vata Yoga

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