Glowing health usually requires balance, moderation, and routine. But variety is the spice of life— travel enlivens the spirit and new adventures feed the soul! However, many travelers find it difficult to happily hop around the country (or the world) without feeling some common travel woes, like disturbed sleep, poor digestion , constipation , or mild anxiety . From the perspective of Ayurveda (yoga’s sister science), most travel discomforts are due to increased vata dosha, the energy governing all movement in the body-mind. Despite constitutional differences, everyone has vata dosha, which supports movement in the respiratory, circulatory, nervous, and digestive systems (and elsewhere). When vata is in a healthy state, these systems run smoothly—breath is fluid, elimination easy, thoughts well communicated, etc. But when the momentum of external travel increases the momentum of internal vata, the emotional result is feeling wound up, scattered, forgetful, or anxious, while the p...
According to Ayurveda, one of the keys to maintaining health is to
practice ritucharya—seasonal routines. Adjusting our daily self-care
rituals to seasonal changes helps us maintain balance and reminds us
that we are a part of the natural world.
Spring is ruled by the kapha dosha, whose qualities are heavy, cool,
soft, dense, stable, solid, and cloudy. To adjust for the season,
consider the following practices:
- Wake with the sunrise. One of the best practices to minimize the heavy quality of kapha in the mind and body is to wake with the sun (around 5:30 am this time of year). Dawn is ruled by vata and is light, clear, and subtle.
- Get moving. When kapha is dominant in the day, the muscles are strongest between 6:00 and 10:00 am. Get outside for a brisk walk or do some vigorous yoga to melt away excess kapha. Kapalabhati pranayama is a great way to stoke the fires of digestion.
- Eat lighter foods. In the winter months, we naturally gravitate toward sweet, sour, and salty foods to mitigate the dry, light qualities of the cold season. This can cause kapha accumulation in the physical body. To lighten up, try foods that are pungent, bitter and astringent, including kale, collards, dandelion, spinach, and mustard greens; strawberries, cherries, and blueberries; fresh green peas; and barley, quinoa, and millet.
- Got allergies? Break out the neti pot to irrigate the sinus cavities and clear out the nasal passages. Use ¼ tsp of salt with purified water, and use half a pot for each nostril. Always end your neti pot routine by massaging a little sesame oil or nasya oil into each nostril. (Do not use a neti pot if you have an active sinus infection; it is for prevention, not treatment.)
https://kripalu.org/resources/ayurveda-moving-spring
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