Creating Warmth in Winter through Yoga and Ayurveda (part 2)
Copyright (c) 2010 Suzanne WellsCreating Balance:
Winter is a good time to enjoy warm
, cooked, heavy foods. If you listen inwardly you will hear you body's wisdom naturally guiding you to winters creamy soups and the sweet holiday cookies that pacify Vata's cool, dry and light qualities. In fact, natures love is so complete and perfect, she grows the exact foods at the right times of year for our optimal expression of health. You will find her thoughtful care in the wet, heavy squashes and pumpkins she grows in the fall and the warm apple strudel your grandmother makes. Warm, pungent spices like cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and fennel are excellent for balancing Vata this time of year. Cold, raw foods like salad or iced drinks are not ideal fare for the winter months. Astringent leafy greens are grown in the spring to dry Kapha's unctuousness and provide fluidity and brightness that balances her wet, dull, stable nature. Juicy, cooling foods like cucumbers, peas and sweet corn and are grown in summer to alleviate Pitta's sharp, penetrating heat. The cold, lightness of winter can be warmed with the heat of vigorous yoga Sun Salutations or through the light sweat produced while shoveling snow. Stable melodies produced by string instruments and drums can stabilize frazzled winter nerves. In the case of winter blues try firey rock music or sunny Beach Boys tunes. Ayurveda recommends a daily practice called Abhyanga which is the application of warm sesame or mediated oils to the skin, nose and ears to lubricate Vata's dry nature. If you cultivate a keen eye you will see Mother Earth offering you warm colors of red, gold and orange through her leafy autumn display, designed to prepare you for the metamorphosis of winter. Duplicate these colors in clothing and decorating to add heat and light to short winter days. She offers scents to warm and stabilize winter chills through peppermint candy canes and hard woods roasting in the fire. Enthuse your limbic system with aromatherapy essential oils using the warmth of minty wintergreen or peppermint and through the stable, earthy aromas of sandal and cedar woods.
Through the lens of Ayurveda, the 3 doshas dance along with each other and are gracious enough to allow each other to have its turn as star of the dance floor, while the others support the stars performance. Each dosha claims its star performance according to time of day, season, and stage of life.Kapha:
Kapha makes it's grand debut daily between 6-10 in the morning and 6-10 at night. The stable, building qualities of Kapha make its morning hours an ideal time build muscle through exercise. If you choose to dance along with her during her evening hours,her heavy unctuous qualities will help you fall asleep easily.Vata:
Vata on the other hand, if you choose to wake after 6AM, you will be moving against natures flow and Kapha's heavy qualities will make it hard to negotiate the transition from slumber to wakefulness. If you are choosing the dance partners that nature provides at the appropriate time of day, Vata will help you meditate, make transitions easily and allow your creative juices to flow through her her mobile, light and subtle qualities. She makes her stage debut everyday between 2-6 in the morning and evening. You can witness her coaxing the sun over the horizon at sunrise and ushering the moon up at twilight. If you notice Vata becoming aggravated, you may have chosen too many activities that are fluctuating or erratic the times of day she is most prevalent. You can balance Vata aggravation by including scheduled activities and moving in a more stabilized way during your daily dance with her.Pitta:
Pitta preforms her fiery dance between the hours of 10-2 in the afternoon and evening. Her flames will help you digest your food well as her hot, sharp qualities are related to your digestive fire. Consuming your largest meal at noon and partaking in intellectual endeavors at midday will allow her hot, clear and sharp qualities assist in efficient digestion of food, thoughts and emotions. She will illuminate the truth in things for you and allow you to transform food into energy, and knowledge into wisdom swiftly. However, if you wait stay up late and allow her to entice you into her flames in the evening, she will appear as your "second wind" at around 10PM. Her fires are best used at this time for the internal functions of the liver and to illuminate the dream state.Choosing to coordinate one's daily activities to flow with the daily doshic dance allows one to dance right along with Nature herself. She gives us a beautiful performance everyday, in every season and throughout our lives. Failing to notice her benevolent offering produces ignorance and one can even say borders on rude. She is holding her hand out in every moment, offering you an invitation to dance with her, so you may feel full and complete. Say "yes" next time you see her reaching out, you will be pleasantly surprised at how well you know how to dance.Ayurveda as a Way of Life:
I love Ayurveda and its reverence for Nature. I try and live it to the best of my ability. At age 48, I am in a Vata stage of life, in a Vata time of year. Vata easily becomes aggravated for me in winter, particularly because this year included other cold, rough, subtle and windy things like financial insecurity, divorce,a state to state move and the loss of a house and business. I could feel her accumulating in early fall and becoming aggravated by winter. The cynical whisper behind my brain in the fall had morphed into a booming voice by January.Last week, I stomped and grumbled my way out of the house to shovel two feet of cold, slushy snow off my ridiculously long driveway. I did however, remember my roots. To calm my winter angst I turned around, walked back through the door and retrieved Sting's recently released album of winter lullabies. I put the headset into my ears and grabbed the shovel. Soon, warm, swishy strings and ethereal, haunting vocals crept into my muscles and nestled themselves in between my cells. Sweet melodies caressed my skin from the inside, helping me feel safe, like a seed. I lifted the shovel and proceeded as a warm, wet sweat began to glisten on my skin. The warmth of my body radiated under layers of red wool. My face flushed and I felt brighter and clearer as my breath deepened to welcome the cool, clean winter air. I removed the earphones and listened: no incessant voice complaining about the snow. I cocked my head and listened closer: gentle beckoning of stiff tree branches swaying in the wind. It felt nice. My eyes did seem to turn inward slightly and at the same time they turned outward to take in the brilliance and magic of winter. Knee deep in snow, I gave thanks for the fantastic fluidity of nature and her effulgent love for us. Her dance is never boring and each magnificent movement offers us all that we ever need to shine forth brilliantly in perfect health.
Creating Warmth in Winter through Yoga and Ayurveda (part 2)
By: Suzanne Wells
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