Do you have a morning routine for keeping your body in good condition? I know the cat wakes me up around the same time every day wanting to be fed. My Yoga Ayurveda daily routine changes with the seasons and with me as I change. Ayurveda is about being in tune with the seasons, times of day and your stage of life. This way my practice has changed throughout my body strengths and vulnerabilities, digestive system, strength and clarity of my mind, responsibilities and for my deeper spiritual growth. Our Good Morning Yoga Therapy “live-online” class is a great way to start the day.
Sleep is best between 10pm and sunrise
The best quality of sleep is between 10pm and sunrise and it is at this time the restoration occurs. When I don’t get enough sleep my body gets stressed as I am traveling on my nervous system which is a vulnerable area for Vata. When I miss my sleep window and fall asleep when naturally tired, by over stimulating my brain looking at a digital screen my sleep quality weakens. Poor sleep quality has a flow on effect to staying in bed. This then affects the bodies natural urges. Resulting in missing out on the peristalsis brings attention to need to evacuate the body.
Ayurveda tells – do not withhold the bodies natural urges. According to Ayurveda we recognise the 14 natural urges of the body should always be respected. They are as follows:-
flatulence,
defecation,
urination,
belching,
sneezing,
thirst,
hunger,
sleep,
cough,
breathing rapidly with exertion,
yawning,
tears,
vomiting
and ejaculation.
Laughter and hiccups are classified as secondary urges that should also be respected. To suppress these is called prajnyaparadha, or crimes against wisdom. This “crime” is a suppression of your body’s innate wisdom about what it needs to do to function well. To deny that wisdom is a direct offence to your physical, mental, energetic and spiritual body.
Feed the cat before he bites
Our Yoga Works for Over 40s live-online yogi Sexy Rexy is a Pita. That means he lets me know when he is hungry and if he doesn’t get fed when he wants to his Pita will rise. The bile will secrete from the gall bladder into his stomach and he will burn with rage. When this happens I have learnt I will get a bite on the arm just to get me out of bed! The Pita energy is vexatious to a Vata. A Vata person instead of going to anger as the Pita type can tend to do, they go into fear. Once the fear is triggered the vibration starts in the body that then moves to an over working of the mind.
Morning is a good time for me, to look after me and show gratitude I have a cat!.
Rexy Sexy cat
Ayurveda morning routine drink recipe and fruit snack
Ingredients
1 lemon
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon of freshly grated ginger or
1 teaspoon of ginger powder
Sprinkle of black pepper
3 cardamon pods
Method
Boil the jug, squeeze the lemon, add the ingredients and drink while still warm
Four pieces of fruit away satiate my taste buds for sweet. I will choose orange to sweeten my palate, pawpaw (papua) to increase my digestion for pineappe
Being of Vata constitution the tastes that suit my body are sweet, sour and salty.
Lemons effect on Vata, Pita and Kapha doshas
Lemons have a strong sour flavour, a vivid zing that puckers the lips. The potent lemon flavour has an equally strong effect on the body. Consuming the juice encourages saliva in your mouth which makes your mouth watery. It also encourages secretions in stomach and digestive tract organs, improving taste and digestion while freshening the breath. Lemon Juice softens stools as well, aiding regular elimination. The juice in hot water is a mild morning laxative choice for many, helping to keep your gut clean. It has been found that lemons nourish deficient blood plasma and help rebuild fluids.
Lemons are a way to calm down Vata, detoxify balance Pitta, but may stimulate aggravated Pitta, and Kapha dosha. The sour, and heating effects of lemons have sour after digestion effect which is of particular benefit to Vata dosha.
Kapha Pita and the effects of Lemons
The heavy, moist quality of the Earth element is what can aggravate Kaphas, though it is less aggravating to Kaphas than to Pitta. Kaphas need to avoid sour in the case of an acute Kapha imbalance, like a head cold, but otherwise, Kapha’s can actually benefit from the sour tastes stimulating qualities in small amounts. The ginger and pepper is warming as it good however they may find the cardamon a little too grounding, as they are challenged to move their energies away from the earth.
For a Kapha they need to stay away from the sweet tastes but Pita can also consume sweet but it is not good for the Kapha. Pita will possibly not like the hot lemon drink as they are already heated and they could substitute with lime and go easy on the black pepper and ginger. It is important to be aware of how the body reacts to what ever you put into it and this is where a Yoga therapy practice provides this connection.
Note: Lime should not be used when one has a cold, congestion and/or cough.
Practices to sooth the soul, cleanse and strengthen the body
Yoga and Ayurveda morning routine aims to fit into your life and making time to schedule your daily routine will set your day up the right way. Each morning unless I have an early appointment or it is the weekend I will do 12 rounds of Surya Namaskar. Surya Namaskar (Sanskrit: सूर्यनमस्कार IAST: Sūrya Namaskār), Salute to the Sun or Sun Salutation, is a practice in yoga as exercise incorporating a sequence of some twelve gracefully linked asanas.[2][3] The asana sequence originated in the Hatha Yoga tradition on 9th century in India. The basic sequence involves moving from a standing position into Downward and Upward Dog poses and then back to the standing position, but many variations are possible. The set of 12 asanas is dedicated to the vedic-hindu solar deity Surya. In some Indian traditions, the positions are each associated with a different mantra.
For each round I have a prayer, mantra or affirmation. This helps me know where I am up to and really set the tone for my day. The prayers and mantras are very grounding and where I can really set the tone of my heart for the day. If I don’t have enough time for a longer practice here is a snippet below of what I do.
Find out more about how we combine Yoga and Ayurveda as a therapy and join our ‘live-online’ Yoga Ayurveda Therapy and our Yoga Therapy for Pain relief here.
