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| What is Ayurveda |
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| Ayurvedic Lifestyle and Routines |
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 Ayurveda is a truly holistic system that embraces the healing of all aspects of our being (body, mind, and consciousness) through diet, lifestyle (including exercise, yoga and meditation), Ayurvedic herbs and herbal preparations, as well as cleansing and rejuvenating programs and therapies.
Ayurveda states that good digestion is the key to optimal health. Therefore, diet can make a vital contribution to continuous good health.
An Ayurvedic health program will help you to slowly implement routines and dietary guidelines specific to your constitution and/or doshic imbalance. The use of Ayurvedic herbs and herbal preparations will promote balance and harmony of the doshas, strengthening the immune system and promote general vitality.
A balanced lifestyle that takes into consideration regularity in food, sleeping habits, and bowel movements, as well as following daily routines and practices such as yoga (or exercise) and meditation, will bring discipline and help maintain the harmony of the doshas, thus promoting overall health.
Throughout your consultations, you will learn and understand various theoretical and practical aspects of Ayurveda, and be able to progressively integrate them into your lifestyle. Slow change is permanent change.
Also, specific Ayurvedic therapies may be suggested to help you in the healing process, depending on your individual needs and state of health.
Some aspects of an Ayurvedic lifestyle:
- Learning how to choose a suitable diet to bring balance, harmony, and health into your life, based on Ayurvedic principles.
- Cooking foods properly and avoiding combinations that will create toxins in the body, while learning some of the basic concepts behind Ayurvedic cooking:
- The importance of agni (digestive fire) and taste in digestion
- The qualities or attributes of food
- Six taste theory (Shad rasa)
- The importance of cooking with respect and love.
- Learning about the fundamental spices of an Ayurvedic kitchen, how to use them to make your food more digestible, as well as how to prepare digestive teas, and cook ghee, kitchari, dal and other dishes according to your constitution.
- Understanding why certain eating habits can disturb your health (by deranging the doshas), when to eat what type of food, and how else to improve your digestion.
 Learning how the seasons can affect your digestion and health and how to adjust your habits accordingly.- Understanding why the change from one season to another may require shifting your diet for a period of time to restore balance, and how you can benefit from specific therapies and a cleansing program such as Panchakarma at the beginning of each season.
- Learning healthy routines, called Dinacharya, and how to slowly integrate them into your life.
- Understanding why exercise should also be suited to your specific constitution, and which kind and how much exercise you should perform to stimulate the digestive fire (agni), improve digestion, relieve constipation, and induce relaxation, as well as how to avoid dehydration, breathlessness, muscle aches, chest pain, and other problems such as arthritis, sciatica, or heart conditions, caused by over exercising.
- Understanding why both the relationships you develop with others and the one you have with yourself play a major role in your state of health and well-being, and how suppressed or unresolved emotions can poison your body just as much as bad food combining.
- Learning about the benefits of yoga, yoga therapy, and meditation and how to adjust them according to your constitution and needs.
Routines (Dinacharya)
True freedom can only be achieved through discipline and awareness. This is why in India yogis (seers) go through so many austerities to attain liberation. Health is freedom from disease, but also freedom from unrestrained desires and drives. An Ayurvedic lifestyle requires discipline and awareness, which can be developed in the individual by slowly integrating daily routines, or dinacharya, into their lifestyle. Following are some of the main dinacharya practices.
Wastes should be eliminated from the body first thing in the morning. This helps to revitalise and prepare the body to receive more nutrients. According to Ayurveda, one should have at least one bowel movement a day. If not, the toxins can be reabsorbed into the tissues. To avoid this, it is important to eat enough fibre-rich food and good quality oils, such as flax, olive or sesame oil, and avoid excessive amounts of raw foods and chilled drinks. There are traditional herbal compounds that help restore and maintain the tone of the colon while gently cleansing it on a daily basis.
Another early morning Ayurvedic practice is to gently brush the teeth and scrape the tongue. A thick coating on the tongue indicates that there is ama (toxins) from improperly digested food in the gastro-intestinal tract. One should scrape off this coating with a metallic tongue scraper several times prior to brushing the teeth.
 Early morning bathing is another basic dinacharya practice. In yogic traditions, bathing symbolizes the purification of the soul. From an Ayurvedic perspective, it also washes the sweat residue from the pores of the skin, leaving a healthy radiant glow. Gentle herbal soaps or powders can be used. The daily practice of rubbing the body with oil (abhyanga) can further nourish the skin and deeper tissues. Vata constitutions should use sesame oil, Pitta should use coconut oil and Kapha are best with corn oil.
As much as possible, one should wake with or before the sun for meditation. In the Vedic tradition, the pre dawn hours are known as Brahma murta. This quiet, calm time, when the Earth and its inhabitants are still asleep, is most conducive to a meditation practice. Even if it cannot be done before dawn, regular meditation is essential for the maintenance of health. It helps rejuvenate and purify the entire nervous system, as well as to calm the mind so one can experience deeper awareness, peace and joy.
 Yoga and exercise are also important aspects of good health. The type of exercise should be suitable for one’s specific constitution. Walking is probably the best exercise for all constitutions, as is traditional hatha yoga. Ayurveda suggests a workout at half the body’s capacity, just until one breaks a sweat. This will stimulate the digestive fire (agni) and relieve constipation. Relaxation and sound sleep will also result. Over-exercising can cause dehydration, breathlessness, muscle aches, chest pain, and it may eventually lead to arthritis, sciatica, or heart conditions. Kapha individuals can perform the most strenuous type of exercise. Pitta people should do a medium amount of exercise and only during the coolest time of day. Those with a Vata constitution should do the gentlest type of exercise; even though they love to jump and jog, better choices are yoga, stretching and T’ai Chi.
Finally, the cultivation of clear, compassionate and loving relationships is another important aspect of a healthy lifestyle. Suppressed or unresolved emotions can poison the body just as much as bad food combining. Regular meditation (or a meditative type of practice) can enhance awareness of relationships and promote discrimination as well |
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| In a Nutshell |
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| The Doshas |
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| Ayurveda in the 21st Century |
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Opening hours : Monday – Friday 9.00am – 8.00pm | Saturday 9.00am – 6.00pm | Sunday 10.30am – 4.30pm.
32 Friar Street, Reading, RG1 1DX, England. Email: info@ayurveda-retreat.co.uk |
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