So I went on a retreat last month to Wolfe Island near Kingston.  It was a women’s retreat in honour of Mother’s Day and the topic for the weekend was Ayurveda.

Ayurveda is a Sanskrit word and it has two roots: ayur, meaning life, and veda, meaning knowledge.  Ayurveda is about balance, relatedness, lifelong learning and daily self care.

I am always up for learning new things, especially about living a more fun, healthy, and connected life, so I was excited for my three days of rejuvenation, rest, learning and spending time with an awesome group of people.

According to Ayurveda practices, there are three pillars of health:

1. Nourishment (Ahara) – Food, Air, Company, Essence/ Spirit
2. Sleep (Nidra)
3. Management of Vital energy.

The foundation is that when we feel good, we look good (no matter what our age).  Feeling good requires a commitment to what we take in (in the form of food, company, sounds, sites, and self care).

The Dinacharya is a compilation of daily rituals that promote balance and vitality.

Here are some of the rituals I learned about and wanted to share:

Morning Routine:

• Wake up at 6AM (with or before the sun)
• Drink a glass of warm water (with lemon) upon waking – it hydrates the system, turns on the digestive system and is cleansing before you start filling your body with the day’s food.
• Gentle exercise – Go for a walk, stretch, do some yoga to get the blood flowing and joints moving.
• Breakfast
• Gargle warm water + sea salt – at the back of your throat
• Brush your teeth
• Eyes – pool water to rinse the eyes (open and close your eyes in the water)
• Shower
• Massage – with a natural based oil (i.e. coconut oil, raw sesame oil (not toasted), or almond oil) give your hands, arms, face and feet a gentle massage.  Long strokes for the long bones and circles for the joints.
• Sweat – do some more vigourous exercise or take a sauna (just a little bit of sweat is healthy daily (especially in your arm pits and low back).
• Ears – put a little pit of the natural oils in your ears.

Mid-day Routine

• Make lunch the largest meal
  • Try a romantic meal with yourself now and then – relate to the food (what it looks like, where it came from, the texture)
  • Calm environment
  • Company is enjoyable
• Rest a little bit after lunch
  • Lie on your left side for a few minutes to promote digestion

Evening Routine

• Supper – Light and early
• Rest on Left Side after eating for a few minutes
• Go for an evening walk
• Sleep “hygiene”/ pre-bed routine
  • build in some rituals that you do before bed to prepare you for sleep.
  • Some ideas are: light some candles, sip a cup of herbal tea for a few minutes alone, give yourself a foot massage, take a shower.  What ever works for you.
• Be in bed by 10pm.

I am sure you are thinking, I do not have time to do all of these things.  Things move fast and I have a million things I want to do.  It is harder now with how fast things move.  The instructor reminded us that we did not need to do everything, but just to pick a few rituals that we can do and carve out a little time for such self-care.  It is also helpful to know them in the back of your head – maybe they will un-expectantly influence a decision or guide you on which “way” to lie on the couch (i.e. left after a meal).