Winter season is upon us and routine, exercise, and diet are changing. Even with the active holiday and end-of-the-year rituals looming upon us, let’s pause and evaluate how to navigate best what is upon us.
“Simple and nourishing foods, moderation, and regular exercise go a long way to the attainment of health and longevity.”
– Swami Sivananda
The truth is we do not need to be fancy in order to maximize our health, awareness and simplicity guide the way. This quote cleverly packs wisdom in just a few words that we can live by. And, finding the middle path often requires an awareness of choices and how they impact your sense of well-being.
Ayurveda is often considered to be a science of balance, and moderation in order to establish harmony among the Doshas and Mind. Depending upon where you live, of course, December usually brings clouds, moisture, cool dampness, and heaviness. The plants have risen and offered their final bounty and the animals are scurrying to prepare for the barren cold that may come next. December, marking the end and peak of the darkness of Winter Solstice brings Kapha qualities to perhaps destabilize or challenge us.
To counter, and foster balance Ayurveda advises we pay attention to these qualities and the markings of excess so we can counter and balance. You will find that you are more hungry than let’s say August. A hunger has awakened and you need to be ready to feed the fire that is calling you to eat and not just grab anything in desperation.
KEEP YOUR DIET HEARTY, HEALTHY + NOURISHING
Eat plenty of cooked, roasted, baked, or sauté vegetables
- Enjoy fresh ginger, black pepper, and grazed radish as top garnishes on dinner
- Add soaked yellow, red green lentils to the diet cook with asafoetida or hingvastak spice blend to support digestion
- Favor green leafy vegetables, spinach, kale, spicy peppers, squash, beet, asparagus, broccoli
- Try corn-based grains like Polenta. A wonderful hearty grain that can offer a satisfying option to pasta and heavier grains
- Keep your meat light with chicken, fish, turkey
- Fruits are not ideal and best cooked like a fruit stew try strawberries and pears as a nice winter combo
- For coffee lovers, tis the Season if you are going to drink coffee to enjoy 8-12oz of coffee. Have you tried mixing some chai spices in your coffee? Like cardamom, nutmeg, etc?
- Avoid excess sweet and salty taste as it will only create more heaviness, phlegm, and congestion.
AVOID coconut, watermelon, avocado, yogurt, melon, grape because they are better for warmer weather.
Get a Thermos! Commit to sip 20oz of hot water throughout the day. It will hydrate all of your tissues, maintain balanced metabolism, support tissue lubrication, maintain circulation and keep lymph system from stagnating.
Try dry-brushing! One of the best ways to get circulation moving in the morning is to either use your hands to friction massage your body moving all toward the heart or use a dry brush, scrub gloves or sponge to wake up the periphery and lighten the skin!
Feeling cold, dull and depressed? Shift the colors! Dress brightly, wear your favorite adornments, move the furniture around and freshen up, get some colorful flowers, play your favorite happy jams. Avoid festering in the energy you want to move. Shift it, do the opposite and feel the magic.
Simple actions can lead to great change when we need to restore balance and align. The art of flowing into December is to harness the cool, calm, steady and peaceful qualities of the darker days while at the same time stay balanced with some opposite qualities for complete wellbeing.
