Ayurvedic routines for Autumn
Ayurveda teaches that in order to optimise your health you must clear the accumulation of the doshas from your system. Any increase in the doshas can cause illness. They can be cleared through the bowel, bladder, stomach, lungs, uterus and skin. The classic herbal laxatives (encouraging bowel motions), diuretics (encouraging urination), emetics (encouraging vomiting), expectorants (encouraging clearing of mucus), emmenagogues (encouraging menstrual flow) and diaphoretics (encouraging sweating) do this.
To facilitate the clearing, Ayurveda recommends adherence to a routine of daily activities (dinacarya) that helps to optimise health. It is also called svasthavrtta, referring to healthy lifestyle habits.
The start of Autumn is a time when the air element (vayu) is predominant, and there is the tendency for erratic changes, windiness and movement. This has a tendency to aggravate ‘vata’ within us, that may have accumulated through summer.
Vata can build up in the lungs, nervous system, brain, large intestine, hair, nails, bones, skin, and hands. This can cause dry skin, constipation and increased anxiety, which may cause nervousness and insomnia. The areas it impacts in particular is our breathing, speech, nervous impulse, touch, muscular movement, thought movement, cellular communication, burps, hiccups, and flatulence. In terms of diet, the vata within us is aggravated by pungent, astringent, bitter flavours that are found in very hot spices, strong black tea and raw salads.
In adopting a routine for Autumn, you might consider:
Kicking off with a short seasonal cleanse for 3 consecutive days with a detoxifying diet, and then you can slowly follow the specific season-pacifying foods and lifestyle guidelines. There is a guide to cleansing here.
A diet that consists of warm foods that are sweet, mildly spicy, sour and salty as these are all flavours that increase moisture and encourage feeling nourished and grounded. Foods to favour and avoid are here.
Take a teaspoon of organic cyavanaprasha in the morning to keep your energy and immunity intact at this time of change. Contact us to order, here.
Avoid raw salads, cold drinks, ice, beans, fermented foods and yeast as they impact the digestive fire (agni)
Do some oil pulling with warm sesame oil for at-least three minutes. It has a wonderfully nourishing effect on the mouth, strengthens the teeth and stops bleeding and receding gums.
Do a daily self-abhyangha with warm sesame or mahanarayan oil. This can offset the seasonal tendency to dryness, joint cracking, and stiff muscle pain. Wash off in a warm shower. This oil can be purchased here, or by contacting us.
To balance the erratic quality of the season, practice alternate nostril breathing (nadishodhana). This balances the nadis, and the right and left hemispheres of the brain. The Hathayogapradipika says, Nadishodhana purifies the channels of toxins, and especially vata-toxins that accumulate from tension and constriction of the channels. We all know that breathing helps us to relax, but it also relaxes the subtle channels that can easily become constricted and tight.
We can also use our yoga asana practice to try to decrease an excess of vata by practicing grounding, relaxed, opening and slow movements using slow and steady breathing practices. I will share some asana in another post soon.