7 Steps to an Ayurvedic Lifestyle. Step 3 - The Food You Make.

You are what you eat.

In Ayurveda, food not only nourishes but also maintains and restores doshic balance, which is considered essential for good health.  We are a combination of the three doshas or bodily humors determined at birth and even conception.  A rare person is tridoshic, meaning that the doshas are equally present.  If the doshas are aggravated, this can affect digestion and create toxins (known as ama) from poorly digested food.  Ayurveda believes that the buildup of toxins in the body contributes to ill health.  Proper nutrition is established through food choices and combining, cooking methods and herbal nutrition.  Ayurveda believes that understanding the individual is the key to finding a truly balanced diet.  Lifestyles & Integrated Lab, ASP 1, 2010-2011, p. 61, The Ayurvedic Institutue, 2010.

Food choices depend on an individual’s prakruti (state of doshas at birth) and vikruti (current state of imbalance).  For instance, while some raw food may be appropriate for a person who is a Pitta/Kapha type, it may not be appropriate for someone who is predominantly Vata and is currently experiencing a Vata imbalance.  Insomnia, anxiety, and the inability to focus are all signs of a Vata imbalance.  Such an individual may do better with warm moist foods that are easily digestible.  Eating more cooked foods may be the first step in this individual’s healing journey. 

Foods are classified according to their basic qualities, the impact they have on both mind and consciousness.  Foods that have a satvic quality bring clarity, harmony and balance to our lives.  Fresh fruits and vegetables and freshly cooked food all have a satvic quality.  Satvic food enriches our lives and contributes to elevating our mind.  Foods that have a rajasic quality are provoking and can be agitating.  Both garlic and onions are considered rajasic.  Tamasic food is dull and heavy.  Alchohol and coffee are both tamasic substances.  The ancient principles of Ayurveda are supported by the recent wave of books on food and mood.

While the Ayurvedic approach is individualistic, there are certain basic principles to consider when moving toward an Ayurvedic lifestyle:

·      Don’t eat by the clock.  Eat only when you feel real hunger.

·      Incorporate the six tastes at every meal (sweet, sour, salty, pungent, bitter and astringent).

·      Don’t eat if you are not relaxed.

·      Always sit when you eat.

·      Eat with a sense of gratitude.  Be present and appreciate your food.

·      Minimize cold foods and drinks.

·      Make lunch your largest meal as your appetite is strongest midday.

·      Don’t overeat.  Leave about 25% of your stomach empty as it will aid digestion.

·      Wait at least 4 hours between meals, preferably 5 or 6 when your digestion is complete.

·      Don’t graze.  Minimize snacks as they interfere with appetite.  If you are really hungry, eat some fruit or nuts.

·      Limit leftovers and frozen food; when possible eat freshly cooked food or food cooked that day.  Freshly prepared food contains energy (known as prana), which infuses your cells and eventually your consciousness.

·      Food should be organic and fresh.  Whenever possible, choose locally grown.

·      Study food combining and eliminate foods that are incompatible therefore preventing the buildup of toxins in the body.

·      Try to make dinner a smaller meal and eat before 7:00 PM.

·      Don’t drink too much liquid at meals as it can interfere with appetite and digestion.  Sipping a half-cup of hot water aids digestion.

·      Treat meal preparation as a sadhana, a practice that brings you closer to your Divine Self. 

While Ayurvedic food is traditionally Indian cuisine, it is not by any means so limited.  Also, Indian food is not necessarily Ayurvedic.  In fact, Indian restaurant food may be overly spicy and cooked in poor quality oils.  Many of the spices used in Ayurvedic cooking are also medicinal herbs used in Ayurvedic herbology.  The most common spices used in Ayurvedic cuisine are cumin, coriander (cilantro), ginger, cardamon, hing, ajwan, turmeric, and fenugreek.  Ingesting small amounts on a daily basis helps maintain the health of the digestive fire and entire GI tract. In Ayurveda, foods, drinks and spices are categorized according to their taste, the energetic effect they have on the doshas as well as the post-digestive effect on the tissues.

Before you get overwhelmed, remember that Ayurveda is a strong component of the “go slowly” school of thought. Lifestyles & Integrated Lab, ASP 1, 2010-2011, p. 61.  Remember, what you eat and how you live on a daily basis is your strongest ally in restoring and maintaining health. 

7 Steps to an Ayurvedic Lifestyle. Step 2 - Find your Dharma and Perform it with Love.

It is the dharma of the sun to shine.

In Ayurveda, there are four goals of life.  One of those goals is dharma.  Dharma means service, your contribution to the world, your reason for being.

When you are living your dharma, you are able to express yourself fully and completely.  Your life force or prana is stronger.  You become more energized and you have a greater capacity to enjoy life.  When you are not living your dharma, things seem more difficult.  Your physical health is more likely to suffer and your well-being is diminished.  In other words, when you are aligned with your dharma, everything flourishes.  When you are not, you feel stuck.

There are many translations of the Sanskrit word dharma.  It is translated as religion, path, natural law, righteousness, duty, truth, virtue, correct action, and personal ethics. 

Dharma includes your spiritual purpose, a higher purpose beyond your desires.  This is the purpose that you are assigned by the Universe.  It is the purpose that matches your unique gifts and abilities.  It is a gift to know one’s dharma.  In order to know and live one’s dharma, all that is necessary is that you surrender and serve.  Following one’s dharma takes great courage and faith.  Don’t let self-doubt sabotage you.

Success has many measuring sticks.  Most measure it based on money and power.  Few measure it based on service and accomplishment.  Surrendering to your dharma assures a balanced success based on all parameters.  The Universe supports those who align with its intention. 

Harmonious fulfillment of dharma is a gentle loving process built upon consistent hard work and devotion to higher principles.  As human beings, we easily fall back into the dark shadow of the ego.

Dharma is “the way”.   It is what is naturally right.  It aligns mind, body, and soul in harmony with nature. 

In Ayurveda, dharma is to serve, to give of yourself with love.  Simply, dharma means to be your complete self.  In the ancient Indian scripture, the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna said to Arjuna, “It is better to strive in one’s own dharma imperfectly than to succeed in the dharma of another”.  In other words, it is better to be true to your own self imperfectly than to try to emulate someone else perfectly. 

Ayurveda believes that living one’s dharma is essential for happiness.  Dharma comes from the Sanskrit root meaning “to be established” and has to do with being fully established in the truth of who you are—living each moment in fulfillment of your inherent nature and individual aptitude.

Dharma is the way, the natural law.  It is the dharma of the sun to shine.  To follow your dharma is to follow the cosmic flow.  Following your dharma is following what you ought to be, what you are meant to be.

If you want to find your true purpose, you must first empty your mind of all the false purposes you have been taught.  Surrender your ego and open yourself to the Universe and your Dharma will be revealed to you.  Follow it with love and service. 

7 Steps to an Ayurvedic Lifestyle. Step 1 - Your Daily Routine.

Your daily routine need not be onerous.

Ayurveda believes that practicing a daily Ayurvedic routine encourages good health and helps prevent disease.  “Dinacharya” is the Sanskrit term for daily routine.  “Din” means day and “acharya” means to follow.  By practicing dinacharya, we become attuned to our own internal rhythms as well as the rhythms of the day, for example the sun and moon cycle.

Some of the key components of an Ayurvedic daily routine are:

--Waking up early, preferably before sunrise.  This is the time of day when the oxygen in the atmosphere is plentiful and fresh.  This is also an ideal time to concentrate on meditation, prayer and spiritual studies before the hubbub of the day.  Waking habits differ by dosha.  Vata individuals should generally rise by 6, as they require more sleep than the other doshas, pitta individuals by 5:30, and kapha individuals even earlier. 

--Cleansing and massage.  Drink a room temperature glass of water upon waking. Leave it on the counter overnight so it reaches room temperature.  This will stimulate the kidneys and cleanse the GI tract.  Splash your face with cool water, clean your teeth and scrape your tongue.  Tongue scraping stimulates the internal organs, aids digestion, and removes bacteria.  Washing the eyes with cool water or rose water will refresh eyes that are continually exposed to pollution and the elements.  Ayurveda encourages a gentle self-massage before bathing, either with oil or with a dry brush.  By practicing daily self-massage, Ayurveda believes one’s health and well-being will dramatically improve.  After massage, bathe.  Daily bathing refreshes both body and spirit. 

--Exercise.  Ayurveda believes that daily exercise is necessary for good health.  It is well known that exercise benefits both body and mind.  Unlike the Western approach to exercise, Ayurveda believes we should exercise to 50 percent of our capacity and that our age, physical condition, emotional state and the season should all be considered before selecting an exercise regimen.  Yoga asanas, walking, and swimming are all suitable activities.  A regular yoga practice increases stamina and resistance to disease by facilitating the immune system, cleansing the body’s channels, promoting circulation and elimination, and destroying fat.  Done regularly, yoga will remove stress that will eventually accumulate in the body.  Even a simple yoga practice consisting of Surya Namaskar (sun salutations) will stimulate and condition all bodily systems.  It is important to practice yoga according to your dosha.  Vata dosha should select poses that are grounding.  The poses should be practiced gently and with ease so as not to aggravate Vata.    Pitta dosha can select more moderate postures, but should avoid overheating.  Vigorous and energizing postures will balance Kapha dosha.

--Give thanks.  Open your day by expressing gratitude for all the blessings present in your life today.  A brief meditation (15 minutes) both morning and evening will radically change your life, as the moment-to-moment awareness that you are cultivating in your meditation practice will begin to manifest in your daily life.   Use whatever meditation method seems appropriate, focusing on your breath, an object, or a mantra (sacred sound).  Stay present and instead of zoning out, attend to those moments during your meditation when time stops. 

Ayurveda places great emphasis on one’s pathya or lifestyle (eating habits and daily routine).  Guidance is also provided as to how to adjust our daily routine as the seasons change.  Ayurveda believes that the daily routine is the basis of good health.  Try one or two components of the Ayurvedic lifestyle and see how it feels.  It is important not to get overwhelmed.  By cultivating your own personal lifestyle, you will begin to see significant changes in your health and world-view.  Everything in your life will change.