What Does it Mean to Live an Ayurvedic Lifestyle?

Living an Ayurvedic lifestyle is not complicated or difficult. There are no dogmatic or religious beliefs associated with the practice. However, Ayurveda does stress the importance of practicing certain ethical values like truthfulness, humility, and non-violence as well as meditation and yoga since it does consider our entire being as body, mind and spirit. Practicing Ayurveda means that we take responsibility for our own health and well-being and make healthy choices in daily life that support us in our growth and evolution. When we have the awareness that the body is just a tool, or our vehicle for the expression of consciousness, we tend to treat is like a plant in the garden and give it what it requires for health and well-being.

Ayurveda cures not by treating the symptoms but by removing the cause of disease by teaching one how to live in balance with their nature and environment. It does this though everyday practices that develop our awareness and capacity for living in harmony with Self and Nature. The logic of Ayurveda says that only when we are centered in ourselves can we have a truly meaningful relationship with the world.

To live in harmony with yourself and nature it’s important to know your body-mind type (dosha/s) so that you can pay attention to what your needs are, and know the things that benefit you most on a daily basis. Most of us become imbalanced as a result of factors in our lifestyle. Everything from diet, exercise, breath and environmental factors can create imbalance. Nutrition plays an important role in our health, so understanding and becoming aware of the types of foods, spices and herbs that are most beneficial to our body types is one of the first steps in Ayurvedic teachings.

Ayurveda’s daily routines are called dincharya (din: “day”, charya: “to follow”), or daily routine. Here are some simple routines to help you reinvent your day.

Morning

Here comes the sun!  Aim to wake up and get out of bed with the sunrise.  This is the most peaceful time of day, so why not align yourself with it?  Also, the body functions best on an early start to the day.  Before you put your feet on the floor spend a few minutes thinking about your day and being grateful for your life as it is given. Say yes to the day ahead!

Drink a big glass of room temperature water to flush the kidneys and intestines.  If you have a lemon, go ahead and squeeze one into your water.  Lemons help create an alkaline environment in the body which is beneficial in fighting many diseases including cancer.  Try to eliminate at the same time every morning.

Splash your face and eyes with water.

Brush your teeth and scrape your tongue using a copper tongue scrapper.   (Any coating on your tongue will indicate that you did not digest yesterday's food well.)

Massage the body (abhyanga) with a good sesame oil or abhyanga oil.  Start with the head and scalp, work down the neck to the arms and torso (even strokes on the long bones and circular strokes at the joints.)  This massage need not be long and cumbersome.  5 minutes is sufficient.  

Shower or bath using a mild soap.

Exercise a little doing some Yoga and breathing exercises.  

Spend some time connecting to something that gives you Strength.  Meditation, prayer, journaling, etc.,  

Eat breakfast  

Noon

Make lunch the main meal of the day.  Why?  Because good digestion is the key to good health and just as the sun is highest and hottest at mid-day, so is our internal fire and our ability to digest food.  Literally, you are what you digest and assimilate and likewise we become diseased by the foods our body does not fully digest.

Only fill your stomach 1/3 full.  The correct ratio in the gut is 1/3 food, 1/3 liquid and 1/3 space.  If you eat to much, it becomes difficult for the muscles in the stomach to properly contract and expand to digest.  The ideal portion is what you can hold in your two cupped hands joined together.

Eat peacefully and mindfully and try to avoid distractions like television, eating at your desk or in front of your computer, or while driving your car.  Multi-tasking while eating is a habit that causes incomplete digestion and incomplete digestion is the causes of many illnesses.

Chew your food well.  That's what our mother's tell us right?  Digestion begins in the mouth and chewing creates more surface area which is vital to good digestion.

Avoid cold water or iced drinks.  Cold water will solidity any oil you have consumed and will slow digestion.  Sipping room temperature or warm water is best.

Take a short stroll if you can.  Even 100 steps is good to assist digestion.

Be grateful for the food and all the people who made it possible for you to have the food.

Sundown

As the sun sets so does our ability to digest well, so eat a lighter meal in the evening.  Soups and stews are perfect for colder months and fruit and salads are nice in warmer months.  A good time to eat is between 6:30 - 7 pm.  This gives the body ample time to digest the food.  Sleeping just after the dinner with a heavy stomach is not conducive to a sound sleep.  Again, a short walk is good to aid digestion for about 10-15 minutes.

Bedtime Early to bed, early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.  Remember that saying?  It's true.  Go to sleep around 10pm so that you can get get enough sleep to wake with the sun.  A good practice is to massage the soles of your feet with sesame oil before going to bed.  This calms your nervous system and helps you sleep really well.

If all this is new to you, pick one or two suggestions that seem easy and incorporate them until it feels natural.  After they become natural, come back and choose a few more until you are more closely aligned with nature's rhythms and cycles.  Developing a lifesyle in sync with daily and seasonal rhythms will ensure a higher quality of life.