Ayurveda for the Colder Months
Shorter days, colder weather and less sunlight… Winter is definitely here. The combination can leave your body and mind feeling rundown. Between cold, wet, and damp days, your Vata and Kapha doshas get aggravated. It’s common to get congested, develop a cough, a cold, and in some cases catch the dreaded flu. People with a more Pitta dosha will fare better in the winter, but it’s always helpful to understand ayurvedic tips on staying balanced during this chillier season:
Diet
Enjoy a warm breakfast — porridge or oatmeal with some baked fruit, such as peaches, apples or pears. For lunch and dinner, stick to plenty of rice, barley, and rye. Seek healthy oils such as ghee, sesame, avocado, hemp, and olive oil. Try adding seasonal root vegetables to soups and stews, and to avoid non-seasonal foods (such as salads), which will most likely aggravate vata. Try ending your day with hot milk or herbal tea and warming spices (ginger, cinnamon, cardamom).
If you do get a cold with heavy mucous: Reduce your diet for a few days. Eat light, warm, and simple foods — such as soup — while you rest and recover. Avoid dairy products, sweets, fried foods, and breads with yeast. This will make congestion worse. For coughs and colds, ginger tea is excellent, especially with a little raw honey for a dose of sweetness.
Recommended foods:
Fruits:
- Banana, avocado
- Cooked apples or pears
- Citrus, including oranges and grapefruit
Vegetables:
- Steamed and cooked vegetables
- Spaghetti or acorn squash, sweet potatoes, potatoes, yams, turnips, pumpkin
Grains:
- Wheat, rice, oats
Nuts:
- Most whole nuts
- Nut butters such as peanut or almond butter
Fats/Oils:
- Ghee, olive oil, butter
Spices:
- Warming spices such as cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves
Proteins:
- Fish
- Eggs
- Lentils and mung beans
- Soy — tofu, edamame
Body
There’s an ayurvedic self-massage called abhyanga, which is known to be very grounding. Try this with sesame oil to help heal dry skin and improve circulation. Rub oil on your head to avoid dandruff, headaches, and anxiety that the change in seasons may bring about. Also, warm baths, steams, and saunas are a great way to warm the body up and ward off the cold!
Seasons change, and so should we.
Movement
Exercise is one of the best ways to stimulate a sluggish digestion, regulate the metabolism, and remove toxins from the body. When we’re bombarded by cold weather the body tends to draw heat from where it’s most needed, the vital organs. This means cold hands and feet: That “chilled to the bone” kind of feel. Vigorous exercise is recommended with repetitious movement such as sun salutations. Sun salutations are, in fact, an ideal way to start to the day, as they build up the heat in the body and warm up all the major muscles. Kappalabhati breathing exercise is also excellent for generating internal heat and improving the digestive fire, or Agni.
Lifestyle
Shorter days leave you longing for cozy evenings with loved ones, a quiet night with a book, or catching up with old friends and all things familiar. Attention naturally shifts homebound and inward as the days grow chilly and nights come early. It’s a good time to go inward, plant seeds, and create intentions.
It is a time for grounding and finding stillness, for being more introverted. Take advantage of this by giving the mind and body extra time for meditation, and honor the silence that comes with shorter days and taking in the quiet. Sometimes shorter days are associated with seasonal depression because of the lack of light. To combat this, meditate on the light, chanting OM or any other mantra that resonates with your heart!
To recap: drink tea, keep it spicy, pet your cat and rest up!
