The truth is, soreness doesn’t have to be the inevitable side effect of intense exercise. Efficient warm-ups, proper hydration, and natural remedies can have a powerful impact on the human body. Here are eight ways to fight (and prevent) post-workout pain the natural way.

1. Have a dedicated warm-up

Workouts that call for overexertion, like high-intensity interval training (HIIT) and CrossFit, can often leave you aching. But it’s not so much the workout itself that’s to blame. Rather it’s the body you’re bringing to that workout, says Brian Bradley, fitness director of Elev8d Fitness, the new eight-minute home workout program from the experts at Sonima. If you bring a misaligned, stiff body to fitness, you could be unknowingly welcoming increased muscle soreness and strain.

Fortunately, a little prep work pays off. Just a simple eight-minute workout that brings your body through its full range of motion and aligns your major joints can dramatically decrease soreness. Dynamic movements wake up your deep, core muscles and help correct your posture so that you move more efficiently during the rest of your activity. “You’ll get so much more out of your actual workout because you’ll be able to stand more erect, where your lung tissue and diaphragm can function correctly, feeding your body more oxygen,” Bradley says.

Related: How Much Muscle Soreness Is Too Much?

2. Fill up on H20

Soaking yourself in an ice bath can constrict blood vessels and halt inflammation, thus delaying muscle soreness associated with exercise. But simply drinking water can provide relief too. “Many times, people get muscle soreness and a general inflammatory response from being dehydrated,” says Janet Zand, a leading practitioner of natural medicine and Sonima’s naturopathic medical advisor. Research even demonstrates that being dehydrated during a workout can exacerbate DOMS.

If you’re sweating a lot or feel thirsty throughout the day, skip the coffee and sip some pure H20, Zand says. The average person needs about 12 cups a day, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH). But that number is higher if you’re active. Also, it’s best to drink small amounts of water over a period of time, as too much at once can disrupt your stomach.

3. Massage with Ayurvedic oils

In Ayurvedic medicine, muscular pain or discomfort is seen as an aggravation of vata energy, which behaves like the wind, says Jayagopal Parla, M.D., a professor of Ayurvedic medicine at the American University of Complementary Medicine in Beverly Hills. When you move your body to the extent that it’s stressed and depleted, that deficiency can be filled by vata, leaving a dryness in the muscles, manifesting as achiness or soreness, he says. Massaging the body with an oil such as Mahanarayana Thailam before or exercise can prevent inflammation and keep vata from reaching abnormal states, Parla says.

4. Try arnica

This potent flower has been shown to have anti-inflammatory properties that soothe sore muscles. One small study of runners found that people who applied topical arnica to their muscles after a tough workout reported less pain and muscle tenderness 72 hours after exercise. Apply it topically or take the dissolving supplement under the tongue every hour for two to three hours, Zand suggests.

5. Soak in a peppermint and rosemary oil bath

Epsom salts are a well-known sore-muscle solution, but there are other bath rituals worth adopting. Zand favors anti-inflammatory peppermint oil. The National Association for Holistic Aromatherapy agrees that the oil can be beneficial for muscle aches and pains. Add it to your bath water for a rejuvenating (and fragrant) soak.

Related: 8-Minute Sculpted Butt and Hips Workout

6. Experiment with CBD oil

Cannabidiol (CBD)—one of the cannabinoids found in marijuana (but not the chemical that’s responsible for the drug’s high)—is the latest pain reliever du jour. And research, including a review from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, confirms that cannabinoids can indeed be potent pain relievers.

“For many people, CBD oil works very nicely in relieving sore muscles,” Zand says. As for now, the data is still playing catch-up with the array of products on the market, but some preliminary research suggests topical CBD could be beneficial for pain.

7. Find the right herbal concoction

Certain herbs and spices can reduce muscle soreness and tenderness, Parla says. Turmeric, cumin, coriander, ginger, and dill seeds are known to increase blood and lymph flow to the muscles, he says. Add these to a meal or steep with tea to sip throughout the day. Parla also suggests Vidarikanda or Kapikachhu, Ayurvedic plant powders to mix into nut milk for a post-workout drink. This can work to pacify vata and prevent muscle soreness, he says.

8. Take a dip in the ocean

You’ve probably heard someone preach the powers of salt water after a long vacation. There might be something to it. “The ocean is replete with all sorts of minerals such as magnesium and iodine, and it’s also typically cold, which can be anti-inflammatory,” Zand says. Consider it nature’s (cooler) Epsom salts bath.

Transform your body without all the soreness! Try the Move Better, Feel Better, Look Better Home Workout Series. You’ll build strength, boost energy, and have better posture without beating up your body..

The post 8 New Secrets to Ease Muscle Soreness Naturally appeared first on Sonima.

In Ayurveda, the root cause of almost all disease is an imbalance in the doshas, or bio-energies. Whether you’re trying to manage or prevent a chronic disease, here’s how Ayurveda may help.

Joint Diseases

According to Ayurveda, vata regulates the movement aspect of the joints, while kapha regulates the lubrication aspect. If vata increases, it causes dryness, friction, achiness, and weakness in the joints. Vata depletes the tissues, weakening the muscles, tendons, and ligaments, and making them more prone to wear and tear. On the other hand, when kapha increases, it associates with AMA (metabolic toxins) and makes the joints swell, causing extreme pain.

Lifestyle strategies: Dry joint conditions need something externally lubricating, like oil, which can be rubbed into the joints and then absorbed through a hot sauna or bath. Abhyanga, or oil massage, is a common treatment for these types of joint issues. However, inflammation-related joint diseases don’t need oil but, instead, a lot of movement and dry heat like infrared saunas and external herbal treatments applied to the skin.

Dietary strategies: For people with dry-joint symptoms, Ayurveda recommends foods that are lubricating in nature like bone broth, moist grains such as quinoa and amaranth, and seeds with good oils such as hemp and pumpkin seeds. For swelling joints, focus on foods and spices that are warmer, drying, and metabolism-boosting, like ginger, cinnamon, turmeric, and cloves, as well as foods that are easier to digest and absorb excess moisture, like barley and millet.

Herbal strategies: Ashwagandha and guggulu.

Related: The Total Mobility Workout

Cardiovascular Disease

Ayurveda considers the heart the center of several important systems. It pumps lymph, blood, and prana (the life force) throughout the body. It’s also the epicenter of the immune system and the mind, sometimes being referred to as organ of contemplation.

All of these connections mean that the heart can be influenced by a number of factors, including a person’s outlook, diet, and level of activity. Because of this, lifestyle is incredibly important when it comes to maintaining heart health or treating cardiovascular disease.

Lifestyle strategies: Ayurveda says that those who know how to breathe well will seldom have heart diseases, so pranayama is recommended. Ayurveda also says that if you have a positive outlook on life, it’s healthier for your heart, so try meditation to take the emotional burden off the heart.

Because those who are more sedentary are also at greater risk for heart disease, regular activity is recommended. As a bonus, regular yoga practice can help manage blood pressure. (It’s important to note that those with high blood pressure should avoid strong inversions, though, as they temporarily cause fluctuations in blood pressure.) Lastly, reduce alcohol intake, and if you smoke, seek out support to quit.

Dietary strategies: Eating heavy meals late at night burdens the lymphatic system. Since the heart pumps lymph throughout the body, Ayurveda recommends avoiding heavy meals at night to avoid putting stress on the heart and causing it to become heavy. It’s also best to avoid milk products like cheese and yogurt at night, as they are thought to clog the pathways of the heart. Other foods to minimize include spicy and oily foods, which are very acidic in nature.

Moist, warm (not hot), freshly prepared foods are preferable for heart health in Ayurveda, which means reheated foods are not ideal. Especially beneficial foods are brown rice, barley, amalaki fruit, mung beans, pomegranate, Himalayan salt, and lime and lemon juice. Try drinking hot water with lemon or lime juice in the morning and a small quantity of fresh pomegranate juice before dinner.

Herbal strategies: Chyawanprash, a multi-herbal formula that contains amalaki, which is known in Ayurveda for its ability to decrease inflammation.

Related: The Health Benefits of a Heart in Balance

Diabetes

In Ayurveda, diabetes is seen as a result of lacking sufficient metabolism. Diabetes is primarily a kapha disease, wherein the body becomes stagnant and starts overusing the kidneys and bladder to dispose of sugar that’s not being processed and is instead accumulating in the body. If you want to prevent diabetes, Ayurveda says improving both your diet and lifestyle are equally important.

Lifestyle strategies: One of Ayurveda’s primary recommendations for diabetes prevention and management is to exercise on a regular basis, whether that’s yoga or some other kind of activity. Ayurveda especially recommends low-intensity walking and swimming. It is also best to avoid sleeping in or sleeping during the day, as this can disrupt your sleep-wake cycles and thus your metabolism.

Dietary strategies: Eat meals at regular intervals and prioritize low-glycemic grains like barley, millet, kamut, and spelt. These foods allow the body to slowly break down the sugar and increase metabolism. Metabolism-boosting spices like turmeric, fenugreek, and cloves (plus herbal teas made from those spices), and dark, bitter greens like kale, arugula, and Swiss chard are other good additions.

Herbal strategies: Guduchi may help with some diabetes-related symptoms, and Madhunashini is thought to help aid in blood sugar control.

The post Ayurveda’s Approach to 3 Chronic Conditions appeared first on Sonima.

As you can probably guess, this is an ancient practice for clearing the body of toxins. In fact, Panchakarma’s literal translation is “five purification procedures.” But what many people don’t know about Panchakarma is that they’re not all safe for everyone. Luckily, there are many different external body work therapies also included in Panchakarma that more gently detox and rejuvenate the body. Here’s what you need to know.

Cleansing Panchakarma Detox

The most classic type of Panchakarma detox involves actually removing toxins from the body through one or more of the following methods:

• Virechana or purging: The patient is prepared for several days, then given herbs that will help them purge through the lower orifice.
• Vamana or emesis: The patient is prepared for several days, then given herbs that will cause them vomit.
• Basti or enema with herbs: An enema with herbs is administered to lure toxins from the colon.
• Basti or enema with oil: An oil enema is administered to nourish the colon.
• Nastya or nasal drops: Nasal drops are administered after preparation to detoxify the head and neck region.

The above methods are used by Ayurvedic doctors who specialize in internal medicine. Those who specialize in surgery may also use bloodletting, with leeches for example, as well.

Contrary to what’s commonly thought about Panchakarma detoxing, it’s extremely rare for someone to go through all five treatments. This would require a minimum of 60 days of supervised Ayurvedic care. Each treatment requires several days of preparation, oil massage, steaming, and in many cases, a special diet both before and after the treatment.

Instead, it’s much more common to undergo one or two of these treatments based on the season, doshas, or a specific health problem.

For example, purging treatments are often done to balance the pitta (fire) dosha, which tends to accumulate in the middle part of the gut. If someone has hyperacidity in their gut, which is seen as a pitta imbalance, purging is appropriate.

Emesis is done for kapha (water) dosha, which tends to accumulate in the upper part of the GI tract and chest. If someone comes to an Ayurvedic practitioner with chest congestion, then the practitioner may choose to undergo emesis with the patient because it is thought to remove the phlegm right from the upper chest.

Enemas are done for vata (wind), which tends to accumulate in the colon and pelvic area. Let’s say a patient comes with back pain. An Ayurvedic doctor may choose enema as a treatment because it’s in that area.

These treatments have total body effects, too. If somebody has arthritis, it’s considered a vata-related condition because of the pain and discomfort with movement, so an enema still may be chosen as treatment.

Nasal cleansing is done for conditions related to the head and neck region, so this could include headaches, sinus infections, and more.

Panchakarma cleansing treatments are also done seasonally because the change of the season automatically increases certain doshas. For example, in the fall, pitta energy is very high, so Ayurveda recommends undergoing purging. In early spring, we do emesis to remove mucus and phlegm. When it rains and the temperature comes down significantly, we have people undergo a course of enemas to control vata.

It’s important to note that Panchakarma cleansing treatments are not recommended for women who are pregnant, young children, the elderly who are weak, or those who have not gone through proper preparation. Because of the intense nature of these treatments, it’s highly recommended that you find a qualified Ayurvedic doctor you trust to administer them.

Related: 5 Essential Ayurvedic Herbs that Heal

Rejuvenating Panchakarma Treatments

In modern times, the word “Panchakarma” has actually come to mean something even broader and more complex than just detoxing. Rejuvenative treatments are also included in Panchakarma.

When you hear that people have undergone Panchakarma at an Ayurvedic facility, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they’ve undergone enemas and purging and the more deeply detoxing procedures. Instead, they might have just done a series of rejuvenating therapies.

Anyone can go to an Ayurvedic center and ask for rejuvenating Panchakarma, and they’ll receive treatments like whole body oil massage, steaming, shirodhara (where an oil stream is poured on you), and more. This is what most people think of when they hear about Panchakarma. Rather than treating a specific set of symptoms, these treatments are mainly health promotive for both the mind and the body.

Because of these treatments, everyone can take part in Panchakarma in some manner. Often, we recommend that these rejuvenating treatments are done seasonally as well, so you can start each new season feeling your best.

The post Should You Try a Panchakarma Detox? appeared first on Sonima.

Here, we recount the greatest lessons we’ve learned and how to implement these strategies into day-to-day life. You’ll find that often the most effective approach is also the simplest—and that true wellness is a seamless process that works synergistically with the rest of your life. Pick up these pearls for 2019 to start the year off fresher, healthier, happier, fitter, and more relaxed than ever before.

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1. Eat Whole, One-Ingredient Foods

Healthy eating doesn’t have to be confusing. Clean eating is fairly simple, says best-selling cookbook author, culinary nutritionist, and wellness expert Amie Valpone. It’s all about focusing your diet around one-ingredient whole foods—a full apple, an avocado. Eating foods in their original state helps your body naturally detoxify, manage blood sugar levels, and fill up without overdoing it. Simplicity is key. Focus on recipes such as salads, soups, and bowls that call for whole foods that promote both health, well-being, and longevity.

2. Focus on Your Hips

“Your hips are required in every moment you make,” says postural alignment specialist Brian Bradley, vice president of Egoscue. Your hips are the epicenter of the body, your anchor when you’re walking, sitting, throwing a ball, or swinging a golf club. Yet, too often, the hips are ignored.

Incorporate daily movements to activate and align the psoas, (the strongest muscle of the hip flexor group). Doing so creates a cascade of functionality throughout the body to the spine, the shoulders, the knees and ankles. When your body is connected and functional, your workouts and everyday movements are more efficient and effective. To light up your hip flexors, try these power moves.

3. Adopt a Bedtime Meditation Practice for Deep Sleep

Have you ever slept a full eight hours only to wake up feeling tired? It’s likely because you didn’t spend adequate time in a deep sleep state—the sleep phase that’s crucial for rejuvenation, recovery, says Sanjeev Verma, Sonima’s Vedic astrologer and meditation advisor. Reaching deep sleep states involves entering a complete state of relaxation. Fortunately, it’s something that can be fine-tuned in your waking hours.

This 10-minute meditation from Verma works you through a checklist to ensure you’re relaxed for sleep. You’ll check in on the tension throughout your body, learn to let go of stressful thoughts, and bring positive memories front and center. In time, deep sleep comes easier and you wake up refreshed and energized.

4. Embrace the Power of Repetition

There are times (in life and in yoga) when we’re unsure about how to move forward; when we feel disconnected from our true selves. These times of ambiguity or challenge can be accompanied by a tendency to drift from our regular practices or to switch back and forth between teachers. But receiving conflicting advice can inhibit you from progressing, says Andrew Hillam, Sonima’s yoga advisor. Maintaining a consistent practice with one teacher, however, builds progress over time.

“By staying with a single teacher, practicing a single kind of yoga, and concentrating the mind in only one direction—those kinds of difficulties (sic) are less likely to arise and can be more easily overcome if they do,” he says. Instead of fearing challenges? Face them head-on with consistency.

5. Work Smarter, Not Harder

In our fast-past society, fast-paced workouts, such as high-intensity interval training (HIIT), have gained traction. But Bradley says most people exercise with incorrect form, creating harmful compromises. “Usually, people go through a HIIT movement so fast that they become shoulder and arm dominant, and they’re no longer using their hips to drive the exercise,” he says. It’s something that can further stress the body and have counterproductive results in the long-run.

But when you slow down and focus on form and alignment through low-intensity deliberate movements, you do the opposite. This favors functionality over speed and activates deep, stabilizer muscles that contribute to balance and mobility.

Low-intensity training requires just the minimum effective dose of movement so that you yield results without diminishing returns. “The low-intensity moves teach your body’s parts to work better together. It will clear up imbalances and help re-establish functional movement patterns stemming from your hips and pelvis,” says Bradley.

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6. Commit to Your Community

Seeing others practice will motivate you to also practice. When you build relationships with other students and teachers, and work together with a group of people, you more fully integrate your practice into all aspects of your life. This builds momentum and positive energy in a way that a solitary practice might not be able to.

“It is very important to have a connection to a local yoga shala,” says Sharath Jois, the lineage holder of Ashtanga yoga. “In many respects, a yoga shala is not unlike a temple, or a place of worship where we go to get connected, detach from material things, and dedicate our efforts to a practice.”

7. Teach Your Children to Meditate

“Meditation is a lifelong practice,” says Verma. That means that children are no exception. “By laying the foundation of mindfulness for your kids—or any child in your life—you’re providing them with an invaluable tool that will see them through life’s inevitable ups and downs,” he says.

Instilling mindfulness into children’s routines can help them gather self-knowledge, become aware of their breathing, and relax—all skills that stay with them and help them build healthy lives, Verma explains.

Age is an important consideration in properly introducing your child to meditation. This guide explains how to introduce kids of all ages the fundamental practice.

8. Never Drink Cold Water

“Water has a deep and rich history in Vedic tradition, the basis of both Ayurveda and yoga,” says professor of Ayurvedic medicine Jayagopal Parla. But Ayurveda follows certain rituals for hydration. For one, Ayurveda suggests that you never sip cold water. “Warmer water is thought to have metabolism-boosting benefits in Ayurveda, as well as health-promotive effects on the gut and digestive systems, and may help to prevent gas and bloating,” he says. To maintain good health, keep your water warm or room temperature when you’re feeling thirsty.

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9. Expand Time with Meditation

In a culture of busy-ness, meditation offers a great benefit: more time. “When the mind is more present and focused, you have an enhanced understanding and comprehension of a given topic or task,” says Verma. “When that becomes a regular part of your working style, it profoundly impacts your ability to learn and work at a high level.”

Greater focus helps you to be more efficient with your everyday tasks and responsibilities. What’s more, this higher level of concentration improves the quality of your work and being. With a strong meditation practice, Verma says you might, for example, be able to complete a 30-minute task in just 20 minutes. “Through meditation, you can relax, and you can transfer that aura of calm to your efforts,” he explains. With leftover time, you might find more moments for relaxation or dive into your tasks in a deeper, more focused way.

10. Practice Yoga to Keep Distractions from Derailing Your Spiritual Path

No matter how well-intentioned, even the most disciplined people can’t control life’s everyday unpredictabilities. “Too often, we let distractions and other situations outside of our control affect us as if we could have done something to create a different outcome,” Jois says. “We think too much about our desires for something better, or become anxious about tragedy or loss.”

Focus your attention on your inward journey with yoga. It’s one way to remove outside stressors and craft a stronger inner peace. “Regardless of the method, when yoga is approached without the chatter, in a silent and humble manner, the more effective yoga will happen within you,” says Jois.

11. Wake Up on the Right Side

In Ayurveda and yoga, a commonly practiced tradition is to fall asleep on the left side and wake up on the right. Why? “Falling asleep on the left side encourages secretions of the liver. It also positions the stomach at the bottom of your body as well as leaves the right nostril open and the left nostril closed,” says Parla. In yoga, the left side of the body is the thinking or creative side, and the right side is the accomplishing or completion side, he says.

Optimize your positioning by turn toward the right when you wake up. This will increase the movement of your bowels, creating an urge to go to the bathroom. “If you do this for 10 to 15 minutes when falling asleep and waking up, that’s enough to reap the benefits,” says Parla.

12. Learn to Tune into Emotions, Needs, and Body Language

To cultivate positive and healthy relationships it is essential to be a conscientious and active listener. Make a daily commitment to pick up on how receptive people are to what you’re saying and how you are behaving. Learn to take in sensory data in your interactions with others, including facial expressions, body language, tone of voice, and choice of words. Be present and consider your own choice of words and demeanor.

This level of attention locks you in the present moment, helping you collect clues for how to respond next in conversation and move gracefully forward through your relationships.

13. Master the Art of Theta Through Meditation

In an increasingly hectic world, it’s all-too-easy for our internal peace can be drowned out. However, tapping into a strong, grounded base helps you meet life’s demands when they come knocking. This 20-minute meditation from holistic health expert Lisa Hedley guides you back—toward a state of mind that helps you free up tensions, stressors, and anxieties. Throughout your time spent in the meditation, brain waves to drop into what’s known as a “theta state,” where deep levels of healing can take place. The result: a stronger, more resilient you.

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14. Get Outside

“Going outside moves you to another level of consciousness—it gets you to think differently,” says Bradley. “Nature gets you out of your head and into your heart. And your heart is your instinct.” Yet, today, children and adults spend less time outside than ever—approximately 13 percent of their time. The result, argues Richard Louy, author of Last Child in the Woods, is something called Nature-Deficit Disorder, a lack of outdoor time that takes a toll on quality of life.

Time in nature has been shown to positively affect symptoms of ADHD, reduce stress, and improve cognition. Getting outside—in a park, forest, or a swim in the ocean—should be an everyday priority.

15. Remember, Progress Requires Patience

Rewarding progress comes only when the body and mind are ready, and no sooner. Even with complete dedication, it can sometimes take years to master new poses or move onto more advanced sequences. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed, embarrassed, or discouraged by that. Unfortunately, your desire might outweigh your abilities.

But there’s nothing wrong with the plateaus. Be patient while you master the basics—this is the foundation of more complicated work. Turning your attention to your body, breathing, and mind will help build the strength and mental capacity that progression calls for.

16. Acupuncture Can Aid Fertility

The 3,000-year-old practice of acupuncture—in which thin needles are inserted into acupoints on the body—has powers when it comes to pregnancy. “Women come in not only because they’re frustrated with Western medicine, but because of the success we’ve seen over the past 20 years in helping women get pregnant and deliver babies,” says licensed acupuncturist and board-certified herbalist Liz Carlson, LAc, co-founder of Common Point, a modern acupuncture clinic in Tribeca, New York.

It’s thought that the practice allows women to decompress, something that can play a role in fertility. “Inserting the needles prompts a release of endorphins and feel-good chemicals, like norepinephrine, serotonin and dopamine, which help move the brain out of stress mode. It essentially stimulates the body to heal itself,” she says. It’s often far more affordable than IVF, too.

17. Chronic Pain Can Be Emotional

It seems all too logical to blame pain on physical injury, a repeated strain or harmful event. Yet, sometimes, pain is coming from a deeper, emotional place—a psychosomatic manifestation of stress or negative feelings. After all, when we experience stress, the body absorbs it. And some researchers believe that the mind can repress emotions, funneling pain to the body, which might show up as back pain.

A dedicated and trusting yoga practice can provide the confidence and calmness needed to hear and heal your body and eliminate stress. When stress is seen for what it truly is, physical symptoms serve no purpose and might very well go away.

18. Add Moringa to Your Plate

“A tree native to India, but also grown in tropical environments around the world, moringa has been used medicinally for centuries, which is why it’s often called the ‘miracle tree,’” says Janet Zand, Sonima’s naturopathic medical advisor. The leaves of the moringa are nutrient-dense and preliminary research suggests that the tree might have anti-diabetes properties and may help protect the brain.

Moringa is most commonly seen as a powder. Incorporate into your daily tea or smoothie for a boost of calcium, potassium, iron, vitamin A, protein, and amino acids!

The post 18 Wellness Tips that We Loved in 2018 appeared first on Sonima.

Nowhere is yoga’s infiltration of contemporary culture more apparent than in Western medicine. Modern medicine has made enormous progress in controlling communicable diseases over the past century, such that it is now the non‐communicable diseases (NCDs) that have reached epidemic proportions and cause the majority of deaths worldwide. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 80 percent of NCD deaths are due to four main diseases: cardiovascular, cancer, diabetes, and respiratory. Throughout, lifestyle has been identified as the major causative factor in NCDs, whether tobacco use, sedentary lifestyle, lack of regular exercise, unhealthy diets and chronic psychosocial stress, almost invariably in combination. Chronic inflammation and stress is a common factor of many of the NCDs, and an area where yoga has been found to be extremely beneficial.

This enthusiastic acceptance of yoga’s practices, among vital components of lifestyle modification and nervous system toning, particularly within medical research and clinical practice, belies a more obvious candidate for a revisioning of modern medicine: Ayurveda. The term Ayurveda means “knowledge (veda) of longevity (āyus),” but it is often translated as “science of longevity” or “science of life,” denoting an entire empirical system of healing.

Ayurveda has antecedents in medicine found in much earlier periods in India, and in texts as far back as the Atharva-Veda of around 1000 BCE. However, systematic medical theory began to be formulated only around the time of the Buddha (ca. 400 BCE). It is in early Buddhist texts that we first find explicit statements that disease arises from an imbalance of humoral substances, an idea that would become a cornerstone in Indian medical theory.

To best understand how the ancient Indian science of healing relates to the practice yoga, we need look no further than the lore relating the origins of these sibling practices. According to traditional Indic sources, the great sage Patañjali, primarily known beyond India as the author of the Yoga Sutras, is also considered a genius of the grammatical science of Sanskrit in addition to having composed authoritative commentaries on the foundational texts of Ayurveda. Whether such claims are historically accurate (or even verifiable), the very widespread belief provides insight into how these knowledge systems are traditionally understood to be related.

The organism is a product of nature, and the optimal health and balance of that organism, generally, expresses itself in terms of a body and speech, the means by which that body interacts with its environment, mind, and spirit. Traditional assessments delegate the optimal functioning of speech to the science of grammar. Yoga controls body and mind in order to harmonize with spirit. Tantra seeks to bring mind into harmony with body and spirit. And Ayurveda is most concerned with life’s physical bases and bringing body into right relationship with mind and spirit.

Related: The Healing Power of Self-Care Through Ayurveda

According to Ayurveda, the central process necessary for health of the body is digestion, understood as a kind of “cooking.” The Sanskrit words for the processes of digestion (e.g., pacana) all imply cooking or burning. And the digestive force itself is simply called the fire or fire in the belly. An individual organism is a unique coming together of the doshas (literally, “defects”), which bear resemblance to the premodern medical notion of humors. All organisms, especially complex ones like humans, are bound by the limits established by their particular complex of doshas, collectively known as one’s constitution (prakriti).

Ayurveda tells us that we lose our digestive power to digest food, for instance, once our innate predispositions, hankerings, addictions for certain tastes and experiences exceed our ability to properly digest. Indigestion inevitably follows, and attendant toxins occur that allow for opportunistic illness to take hold. As the Ayurveda authority and author Robert Svoboda has written, “Either you can willingly limit yourself or nature will limit you. Disease is nature’s way of forcing you to slow down and rest.”

It will come as no surprise, given the enormous emphasis on maintaining robust digestion in conformity to one’s unique constitution that Ayurveda places great emphasis not only on diet, but also on the environment in general. It is vital to be in tune with the special qualities pertaining to each of the seasons. Through all the classical texts the emphasis is on moderation, whether it be in food, sleep, exercise, sex, or the dosage of medicines, it is vital to stay within the limits of reasonable measure and balance. This is, not incidentally, a fundamentally Buddhist ideal, embodied in the Buddha’s Middle Way teaching.

How does the science of longevity and health correspond to yoga as it is commonly known today? Just as Ayurveda emphasizes the empowerment of immunity and prevention over cure, all fundamentally rooted in the ability of the individual to properly digest, yoga’s principal emphasis might also be said to be the development of one’s powers of psychic digestion. The Bhagavad Gita repeatedly declares that the advanced yogin is the one for whom all experience is taken with equanimity. In other words, an experience, regardless of how challenging, is digestible and may, ultimately, become nutrition for the individual’s spiritual growth.

Pattabhi Jois once mentioned to me that the initial practice of Ashtanga Yoga was basically an Ayurvedic treatment regime (“yoga therapy”). Only after a sustained period of regular practice, during which the individual’s most egregious overindulgences are overcome, is it possible to address the body’s subtle nervous system. The extraordinary stabilization of the body and mind lead toward the direct experience of the divine everywhere in all things. Seen in this light, the traditional Indian system of medicine is every bit the prerequisite, as well as a core component, of the practice we call yoga.

If Ayurveda places an emphasis on prevention over cures, it needs, like its sister science of yoga, to be understood as primarily a way of life and only secondarily as a medical system. To paraphrase the renowned Ayurvedic master physician, Vasant Lad, now based at the Ayurvedic Institute in Albuquerque, NM, Ayurveda is designed for those who are ready to take responsibility for themselves.

The post The Beautiful Symbiosis Between Ayurveda and Yoga appeared first on Sonima.

That’s because we see the brain in a less concrete way. In Ayurveda, the mind is seen as something that’s spread all over the body. It’s located in two main areas: the head and the heart. In a sense, the head is the epicenter of the logical mind, and the heart is the location of the emotional mind. For optimal brain health to be achieved, these two aspects of the mind need to exist in harmony. The brain and the mind are intertwined.

There are three main ways to achieve this balance between logic and emotion: lifestyle, diet, and herbs. Here’s what you need to know about each.

1. Lifestyle

If you’re familiar with Ayurveda, you probably know that daily routine is an important part of the ancient practice. Tongue scraping and drinking water first thing in the morning are examples of routines Ayurveda recommends. These rituals laid out in the ancient texts are meant to be practiced daily for life. They serve a crucial purpose: To make use of our sense organs (like the ears, eyes, skin, and more) in order to establish a connection with our natural instincts over the forces of our minds.

Practices, like oil massage, are great examples of this. Vata, the wind energy, is considered to be the most harmful dosha when it comes to brain health. The best way to reduce the influence of an energy is to do something with opposite qualities. So since vata is dry, cold, and rough, we can use daily oil massage to keep it under control.

Most of these routines relate to physical hygiene, but there are also recommendations about mental hygiene. Ayurveda says that in order to achieve good brain health, people need to behave in a righteous way. This means telling the truth, respecting others, and being pleasant to those around you. Basically, Ayurveda says people should have a positive approach to their life in order to establish a healthy mental routine and boost brain health.

Science supports this idea. If you look at “blue zone” studies, or evaluations of people who live in areas of the world where the population lives the longest, one of the things they have in common is a positive life outlook.

Sleep is also a crucial part of a lifestyle that promotes brain health. A good night’s rest is essential for strong brain function, so building high quality sleep into your routine should be a priority.

Related: A Meditation to Help You Prepare for Restful Sleep

It’s also vital not to suppress natural urges, like needing to go to the bathroom, for example. Ayurveda says that doing so can cause toxins to accumulate in the deep tissues (FYI: the brain is considered deep tissue) and, simultaneously, increase vata energy in the body. So listening to what your body tells you is a key component in establishing a brain-health-promotive lifestyle.

2. Diet

Ayurveda makes specific diet recommendations for healthy brain function. In Ayurvedic texts, brain tissue is referred to as bone marrow. It may sound like a strange way of looking at it, but Ayurveda refers to anything that is contained in a hard bone cavity (like your brain) as bone marrow.

Why does that matter? It is believed that foods similar in structure to a certain type of tissue—brain tissue, for example, which is soft and oily—are beneficial for that tissue. That means the consumption of marrow is encouraged for meat eaters, either in the form of the marrow itself or in something like bone broth.

The use of healthy fat is also highly encouraged for brain health, since that is also considered to be soft and oily. This could be in the form of ghee, nuts and seeds, avocados. Food extracted from a hard shell, like walnuts and coconut, are also considered beneficial.

We also know that many brain issues, like dementia, affect the fatty tissues of the brain, so it makes sense that eating foods high in healthy fats may be helpful. This may be surprising because we have been told low fat diets were so healthy for so long, but this trend is changing, and Ayurveda has recommended healthy fats in the diet for thousands of years.

Related: Guidelines for Eating the Ayurvedic Way

3. Herbs

Herbs are also used in Ayurveda to keep the brain functioning well. There is a classification of herbs called medhya. Meda means “supports healthy brain function.” This has three aspects: intellect, memory, and willpower. Herbs that physically enhance the overall function of the mind fall into this category. Examples include Brahmi, Tulsi, Jatamansi, and Kapikacchu.

These herbs are often consumed as supplements, cooked in ghee, and are also sometimes added to oil and then used for application to the scalp. There is also a treatment called shirodhara, which involves pouring a stream of hot, herb-infused oil onto the forehead. It’s meant to reduce stress and can help bring the logical and emotional minds into harmony.

Lastly, Ayurveda recommends a seasonal head and neck cleansing (NASYA therapy) to keep the brain healthy. This is done by administering herbal oil nasally once every three to four months. There is a procedure for doing this that involves preparing the head and neck region beforehand with massage and steam. This practice should only be done by a qualified Ayurvedic practitioner, not on your own at home.

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Before we get started, a word of caution: Even the first textbook of Ayurveda, which is from around 800 BC, says that herbs should not be administered or taken without proper knowledge. In other words, even though these herbs are mild and don’t have any major interactions with other medications, it’s better to consult with your healthcare practitioner before trying them out.

1. Amalaki (Emblica officinalis)

Amalaki, also called Indian gooseberry, is a fruit that is deeply connected to Indian culture and has been used for thousands of years for its rejuvenating properties. The Amalaki fruit is a very rich source of vitamin C, so it has the ability to protect the immune system. It’s especially recommended to take Amalaki during the fall season, since in Ayurveda, fall is when the body is most prone to inflammation.

Amalaki and Tulsi, the next herb on this list, are often taken together. Amalaki to calm the body, and Tulsi to calm the mind. Amalaki is also thought to be an anti-aging substance. There is a section in Ayurveda called rasayana, which deals with prevention of disease, promotion of health, and anti-aging. This section of Ayurvedic medicine starts with Amalaki.

It’s wonderful to take Amalaki every day in one form or another, and the most common formula is called chyawanprash, a jam that contains several other herbs as well. It can be taken by people of all ages and is a very mild supplement that can help nourish all seven tissues of the body.

2. Tulsi (Ocimum sanctum)

Tulsi, also known as holy basil, is a very mental and spiritually connected plant, which means that taking it can help calm and uplift the state of mind. In Ayurveda, it’s thought that it can help induce a positive mindset. This is why Tulsi tea is administered to help deal with anxiety. In research, tulsi has shown promising anti-stress and antidepressant properties.

Tulsi has also been shown to have anti-cancer properties and protective properties against autoimmune diseases. While that doesn’t necessarily mean Tulsi will cure or prevent diseases, it may slow the growth of cancer cells and reduce inflammation, which is linked to autoimmune health issues.

Tulsi is also used as a home remedy for cough, sore throat, and sinusitis. By crushing the leaves to make a tea, many people find relief. It can also be taken in capsule form.

3. Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera)

Out of all the herbs on this list, Ashwagandha is perhaps the most famous right now thanks to its status as an adaptogen—a substance that helps the body adapt to stress. It’s not just popular today; the herb is also highly regarded in the ancient texts.

Ashwa means “horse” and ghanda means “like.” So, basically, it makes you horse-like with strength and vitality, especially in males. Studies show that Ashwagandha helps increase testosterone in infertile men. It also helps to nourish and rejuvenate muscles, so it’s especially useful to those who are active. This is also thought to extend to joint health. For those who have pain or achiness in their joints, Ashwagandha is a great choice.

Ashwagandha has also been touted for its mental health benefits. It can be used to help ease anxiety and research suggests it may be helpful for those with depression, too.

Ashwagandha is mostly taken in powder or capsule form, but there’s also a jam with other herbs called Ashwagandha lehyam, which is even better for absorption. It’s also taken in a milk formula, preferably with cow’s milk, but any type of plant-based milk will work, too. The herb gets into the body quickly and efficiently in this form.

Related: The Healing Powers of Herbs and Spices

4. Brahmi (Bacopa monnieri)

Brahmi, or bacopa, is an herb that is primarily taken to enhance the mind and is considered one of the best preventative solutions for age-related memory problems in Ayurveda. For this reason, it’s taken by many people of all ages.

Brahmi is thought to enhance all of the aspects of the intellect, and it’s a good tonic to take for keeping the mind healthy and functioning. It’s also sometimes used for children with ADHD with promising results and can help with proper reasoning.

If you have sleep troubles, you may also consider taking Brahmi to help calm the mind before going to bed. Similarly, those with stress-induced stomach issues may find Brahmi helpful to relax the mind and, thus, the digestive system. This plant is taken in the form of either a tea or fresh herbs in a salad, and can be taken by people of any age.

5. Shatavari (Asparagus racemosus)

Shatavari can be used for both mind and body health. In particular, it has a very special connection to female health and fertility. Shata means “many,” and avari means “surrounded with babies.” So just the name of this herb gives us a clue that it is very good for the female reproductive system, encouraging a healthy, regular reproductive cycle.

It’s also sometimes used to increase breast milk in women who are breastfeeding, as well as in women who are going through menopause. Research has also shown that it may help women with polycystic ovary syndrome.

Shatavari may improve gut health, too, and could be useful for treating ulcers. It may ease acid reflux in both sexes as well.

Since Shatavari is a root vegetable, and it’s rich with antioxidants and anti inflammatory substances. So when taken, studies show it can enhance immune function, reduce oxidative stress, and help with lymphatic fluid and blood circulation. People usually take about half a teaspoon of Shatavari powder mixed with some kind of warm liquid. It can also be taken as a pill or in a ghee, the latter of which can improve absorption.

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What had transpired was a Category 4 hurricane, super-sized from man-made overbuilding and poor environmental protections, making landfall deep in the heart of Texas. For almost three weeks, non-stop, I along with my partner, friends, and volunteers from local churches, stripped the house to its bare minimum: roof, struts, slab floor. I had a general sense of ache and fatigue, partly due to the lack of sleep and any real nourishment. This, along with an incomprehensible amount of worry and grief, were petty complaints and luxuries that I could not afford—not with my 81-year-old father walking around in a daze through the eight-foot-tall trash pile looking at the remnants of his life. Everything he had known for the past 30 years, upended by four-feet of flood waters.

On the daily 40-mile drive from the flood zone to our hotel, we cut through war-like scenes of destruction, rubble piled high, trees ripped and torn, homes tattooed with high water marks, and the stench of swamp. To tune out the bad commercial radio, I entered a post-apocalyptic game with myself. I told myself that after the storm I could choose from two fantasy gifts. One was impractical for my budget and mostly fear-based: a brand new Range Rover, which I’d never considered buying before the hurricane, but I was looking for armor, something that was strong and, as I tried to convince myself, impervious to destructive weather forces. The other was more in line with my lifestyle: 10 days at an Ayurvedic clinic in India to re-balance my body after all this stress. I’d been practicing yoga on a fairly deep level for the past 15 years, so I knew to park the Range Rover option, and book India.

Four months later, I checked into Vaidyagrama, a “true healing village,” a tag line plainly stated on their website, and, as I came to learn, a fitting description, indeed. For it does take a village to recuperate—it might take even a whole city, nation, or world—but I’m getting far ahead of myself.

Day one, I was met by one of the vaidyas, or Ayurvedic physicians, who share a common vision to healing. He was a gentle, middle-aged man who approached me with a warm smile. In his average English, from the start, he told me about one simple concept: the spiritual heart. We have a material heart and we care for this, but we also have a spiritual heart and we must care for it, he said. Mind you, if I’d heard it from anyone else, at any other time, it would not have been felt so viscerally, but I understood instinctively that this healer was sincere and that I had entered an authentic place. He believed what he was speaking and it came from an incontrovertible place in his soul. In a weird way, it felt similar to the feeling of care a parent gives when treating a sick child.

Ayurvedic medicine is not simply an Eastern medical profession, it is a way of life. Many people who take its teachings inside of India oftentimes do so from a family elder who passes the knowledge down like his or her elder before. It continues this way naturally from generation-to-generation. This has been curious to me because that chain doesn’t exist in the modern world of higher education or in many professions. Most Western doctors and nurses handle complex obstacles, such as disease and trauma as well as perform surgical operations that require a far different set of skills. Ayurveda, in contrast, seeks to care for the individual by employing preventative measures of self-care so that the body and mind stay in harmony with the environment, thus cultivating stronger and longer health.

It takes energy to deconstruct care, how we are to be cared for, and how we are to accept care. This felt impossible to do when I arrived in India so depleted. I’d voluntarily checked myself into an Ayurvedic hospital to recuperate, but after the doctor left my room, I found myself questioning my decision to come to a hospital at all. I was perfectly fine, right? Nothing was actually wrong with me, I reminded myself. I suffered from no disease or life-threatening ailment. I had taken a harrowing highway drive from the Coimbature airport to outside of town through dry and dusty India and had arrived at a modest and mellow place of healing, yet somehow it was all making me self-conscious. Had I been at a Western spa, or at a resort, the structure of my material self would have been firmly in place, if not feeling ever more special for the luxe stay; yet, I knew being pampered was somehow anathema to what I needed.

Related: Ayurveda’s Approach to Mental Health

My spirit was still dampened by thoughts of things of which I had no control, like the overdevelopment around Houston and building on marshes that should have been protected natural areas, and flooded with unimaginable responsibilities, like relocating my dad’s life. I thought about my spiritual heart and concluded that if I didn’t care for it, the body would bend to that course of bad health that I did not want.

The doctor put me on a regime of rest, a strict diet and medicinal massages, and I was told to slow down and not think about anything stressful. I quickly came to terms with the natural path to unwinding, and stuck to my instincts of choosing this Ayurvedic hospital in an effort to eradicate the trauma, and deconstruct so that I could move on.

For the first five days, each morning an hour after breakfast, I had a treatment called abhyangam, or oil massage, and dhanyamla dhara, which is pouring a fermented medicinal oil preparation onto the skin. Two young women in matching green colored bibs and billowy pants smoothed and rubbed medicinal oil into my skin while I laid on a hand-carved, thick wood table, or droni, made from a single piece of neem tree, used for its medicinal qualities. The oil was thick and smelled fragrant, like the moist soil of a forest mixed with sweet smelling blooming vines.

Speaking very little English, the girls rubbed oil into my scalp in a frenetic motion akin to scrubbing a stain out of cloth, and the same way I had seen women in India do with their children after bathing in the river. They then applied the oil to my body, lifting my arms, repositioning and scooting me along the droni, side-to-side, as needed. At first, the jostling made me feel like a rag doll, but the young women seemed to handle me the only way they knew how. It was the same way their moms handled them, and this went back generations. It’s peculiar to have a complete stranger, half your age, “mother” you in any way, but Mother India is a cultural phenomenon that has many teachings—and this was one. For most of our lives, unless or until we become an enlightened being, and regardless of how independent and successful we are as an adult, to be deeply cared for and healed takes another human being, an independent energy apart from ourselves, whether someone closely related, or someone we just met, like these young women and doctors.

After I showered off the residual oil, on the way back to my room, the girls pointed to the garden around the corner where the center grew its own herbs. In fact, each plant and tree on the premises was intentionally grown for a healing purpose. Knowing that the environment had been purposefully conceived rested peacefully on my conscious. The food they provided had also been harvested from their gardens as well as the tinctures I drank before the simple meals of rice, vegetables, sometimes a rasam, always a chapatti.

For the hour in between treatments and before lunch, I retreated to the built-in bed outside of my room on the patio draped in swaying bamboo chick blinds and closed my eyes. Under the cool wind of the ceiling fan, powered through energy conservation techniques, I was in a complete state of relaxation listening to the birds chirping, and the soft singsong of Tamil and Malayalam, the local languages spoken by the people walking to and fro down the thatched bamboo covered hallways. Each day that I returned to the patio, I felt more in equilibrium with myself and my environment.

In the mornings, I also attended the powerful and lovely pujas, and chanting. Finding time to show gratefulness to a higher power helped me feel connected to something other than the self. However, by the second week, I had become so lazy that striving beyond eating and sleeping was pointless. In the mornings and evenings, I stuck to my meditation schedule, which was easy under the circumstances, and because I’m not as disciplined as I’d like to be, in the afternoons, I lumbered over to the community space for some legal wifi, 30 minutes. As much as possible, I didn’t cruise through emails, social media sites, or memories of the flooded house, because it was irrelevant for this stay. Also, not conducting regular life like planning outfits and social occasions, doing errands, or paying bills created the time needed to indulge in a whole lot of nothingness. My job was to eat, receive treatments, bathe, become supine, watch birds flitter by, monitor mosquitos, and listen to the leaves rattled by a welcomed breeze.

Related: My Life As an Ashtanga Student in Mysore: The Essence of Seeking Consciousness

For the remaining five days, the doctor prescribed elakizhi, which is the lightly pounding of hot boluses stuffed with a poultice of inflammation reducing leaves, grated coconut, lemon, turmeric, rock salt and other herbs. This treatment dates back thousands of years, and was originally used for treating warriors home from battle. Trust me, after elakizhi, you don’t need more than the underbelly of a ceiling fan to entertain. Though the treatment may be referred to as a massage, it is far different from let’s say a Swedish or Thai massage. Mostly, Ayurvedic massage is to rub or, when doing elakizhi, pound natural herbs into the skin; it is not primarily for relaxation during the treatment. Although zoning out could be a natural byproduct of the treatment, along with any other hosts of occurrences that results from releasing toxins, it is mostly to rebalance the internal elements of our system that have become out of whack. In Ayurveda, these elements are defined by the five earth elements—fire (agni), water (jala), air (vayu), earth (prithvi), and ether (akash)—and, in turn, are represented by three groups, or doshas—vata, pitta and kapha—that connect the language of Ayurveda to symptoms of illness or pain as well as to our physical state of being for diagnosis.

Maybe I wasn’t suppose to use my brain too much, but I found, as my body and mind relaxed, surrounded in a supporting, environmentally conscious space, a sense of energy from an interior point so far inside my body that it could have been the back of, the beginning, or the base of my spiritual heart—which is what for me discovery feels like—and I knew something serious was transpiring.

Looking back over my life, I realized, my deep healing needs had always come from those experiences that fall on the furthest point of the spectrum, the hottest fire, the darkest night, the coldest heart, but it really shouldn’t be that way and Ayurveda told me so: It’s the moderation, the prevention, the care and love that we give to ourselves, daily, moment-by-moment, from where health’s true balance is found. One doesn’t need a natural disaster to happen to learn how to deeply care for ourselves, but, apparently, I did. It was critical to understand this lesson because our culture teaches us independence and fortitude. It says, if and when we find ourselves in need of help, we can’t accept it, because you don’t really need anyone. Warning: This is a trap. The more you buy into this lie, the harder it is to break down your own resistance to true self-care, which, actually, involves others (sometimes strangers).

Today, my dad is in pretty good physical health, he has a great sense of humor and lives in the present, but mostly he doesn’t remember the hurricane and I have to remind him why he’s not able to live at home. As a family member, I did my duty. I think anyone in my position would do the same, but when some karma comes knocking on your door, and it doesn’t look pretty, brace yourself, and do what you’re called upon to do, like Krishna points out to Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita. Arjuna is a warrior whether he likes it or not, Krishna says. So we must do our dharma, whatever that my be, but if I could be so bold as to suggest, consider tacking on a trip to an Ayurvedic clinic for as long as you can after the war.

Photography by Leslie Hendry

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Skin, according to Ayurveda, plays a crucial role for two main reasons. It’s very important that we experience the world through all five senses, and skin is the largest sense organ in the body. Even though it is not used as extensively as the eyes or the tongue, it is still the largest. If the skin isn’t properly cared for, then your understanding of your surroundings you will not be complete.

Skin is also an organ that excretes waste material, i.e., sweat. Perspiration happens when toxins need to be eliminated in a timely fashion from the body, and the skin is responsible for that. For both of these reasons it’s crucial to place special attention into caring for your skin.

How Your Dosha Impacts Your Skin

You may already be familiar with the idea that there are three forces in the body, vata (wind), pitta (fire), and kapha (water). You may also remember that each person has a dominant dosha, or body type, that can be seen in a person’s skin appearance. Of course, this can vary, but when someone is at their healthiest, this is, generally, what their skin will be like depending on their body type.

Vatas tend to have dry, rough skin.
Pittas tend to have redder, delicate, and oily skin.
Kaphas tend to have normal skin that’s well-nourished and moist.

Vata regulates the gut on the inside, and is also seen in the skin on the outside. Because of this, skin is used as one of the organs that indicates how vata is working in the body. If the skin is dry, cracked, or discolored, then vata is increased and health can be compromised. This is important because vata controls every part of the body, including the other doshas, pitta and kapha. If vata can be controlled, then the rest of the body can automatically reach homeostasis.

Skin sensation is made possible by vata, but pitta is responsible for generating and secreting sweat. Pitta is also responsible for healthy color and complexion. In order to control vata and pitta in the body, Ayurveda uses the skin, so treatments meant to influence vata and pitta may be applied directly to the skin.

The Best Foods for Clear Skin

Diet, undoubtedly, plays a role in skin health. The word twak means “skin” in Sanskrit, and is the derivative of a specific action called twachya. Twachya is anything that you do or ingest that’s beneficial for the skin. Following general Ayurvedic diet principles is a good method of boosting skin health. Also, here are some specific foods and herbs that your outer layer will love:

• Astringent and bitter foods, like mung beans and amalaki (Indian gooseberries), turmeric, and cumin seeds are thought to firm and tighten the skin.
• Anything that’s moist, either with water or oil, is considered to be great for the skin because of its lubricating qualities. Examples include ghee, grapes, almonds, flax, and hemp seeds.
• Shatavari is a rejuvenative Ayurvedic herb is commonly used to boost skin health.
• Sprinkling food with Himalayan salt can be beneficial for the skin.
• Drinking licorice tea is recommended from time to time to promote skin health.

Related: Guidelines for Eating the Ayurvedic Way

Try these All-Natural Topical Treatments

These days, face masks are a common cosmetic treatment. It might surprise you to know that Ayurveda has been using them for thousands of years. All those years ago, people knew that the skin is a surface for absorption. It’s only recently that this has been accepted into Western medicine.

Thirty years ago, when I would tell people that the skin absorbs everything, they would laugh at me because it was considered to be just a barrier. But now we know that it’s a living organ that absorbs and processes everything. In Ayurveda, we use all kinds of pastes and oils to reduce pain, redness, numbness, and more.

When it comes to beauty purposes, there is a completely dedicated category of treatments for healthy skin. Oils, pastes, and scrubs are used to smooth, clarify, lighten, and darken skin. That’s right, Ayurveda introduced the world to self-tanning.

If you’re interested in getting started with Ayurvedic skincare, one of the best things you can do is incorporate an oil into your daily beauty routine. Some of the most popular oils are:

• Almond oil is recommended for all skin types.
• Saffron oil, also known as kumkumadi, is recommended for all skin types.
• Sesame oil is recommended for vata types.
• Coconut oil is recommended for pitta types.

The next step would be to introduce a face mask. Here’s a homemade Ayurvedic skin treatment that you can try on your own, using everyday household ingredients.

A Homemade Ayurvedic Face Mask

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon rice flour
• ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
• A pinch of turmeric
• A pinch of cloves
• 1 ½ teaspoon honey
• Enough water or rosewater (for aroma) to make the mixture into a thick paste
• ½ inch of lemon or orange peel, grated (optional)

Directions

1. Mix the following together, then apply as a mask on the face and allow to dry for 30 to 60 minutes.
2. Rinse with water. This gentle nourishing mask rejuvenates the skin and helps to neutralize the irritants that harm the skin.

The post Ayurveda’s Skincare Secrets that Will Change Your Beauty Routine appeared first on Sonima.

In the sequence of the daily routine, exercise comes after anointing one’s body with oil. One place where we see this practice is a traditional Indian martial arts form called Kalaripayattu, which is practiced in Kerala. The reasoning behind this is that when you anoint your body with oil, there’s more flexibility, which results in fewer injuries.

Even if you’re not willing to oil up before each workout, there are some key takeaways from Ayurveda’s approach to exercise that all active people can learn from.

The Myriad Benefits of Exercise

The first thing Ayurveda says is that exercise makes the body feel light, and can help a person be enthusiastic about the day’s activities. Though exercise is a physical pursuit, Ayurveda acknowledges that it has an impact on the mind and aids in psychological balance. Secondly, the classical texts say that exercise helps muscle tissue in the body become more toned, which, these days, is one of the main motivators to hit the gym for some people.

Exercise also helps people achieve a compact body, so that muscle mass is proportionate to body fat. Ayurveda says this allows people to experience some physical strain without fatigue. So for example, carrying something heavy—such as laundry, groceries or a toddler—or doing some physical labor during the day won’t tucker you out if you’re fit. Exercise also helps burn fat. Ayurveda considers sweat to be the waste product of fat tissue, so the idea is that when you sweat, excess fat gets metabolized and is excreted from the body in the form of sweat.

Regular exercising also aids in efficient digestion of food, absorption of nutrients, and excretion of wastes. Plus, it boosts metabolism in all the tissues of the body. Lastly, and most importantly, exercise allows the body energies, called doshas, to work in their physiological states in a way that does not aggravate or cause imbalances in the body. As a result, people who exercise tend to feel more balanced.

Related: The Unique Release of an Emotionally Cathartic Workout

The Importance of Not Overdoing It

Even thousands of years of ago, Ayurvedic practitioners recognized that people could become addicted to—or at least over-enthusiastic about—exercise. Here’s how they explained it: A person’s strength can be compared to a roaring lion, and exercise is like an elephant. If the two confront each other, the lion will kill the elephant with great difficulty, but the lion will also probably die because of exhaustion.

What they’re saying here is that people can exert themselves to an extremely high degree, but it’s not always worth it to push yourself past your limits. If you do too much, instead of just being toned and having a good bodily enthusiasm, you may become exhausted, and exhaustion can result in disease. In Western medicine, this is called Overtraining Syndrome, which can lead to a weakened immune system, among other ailments. In other words, just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should.

So how much exercise is ideal? If you have an idea of what your maximum output for exercise is, your regular daily exercise should be at half of that amount. For example, if you know you can run continuously for one hour, you should run for a half hour only. If you go beyond that point, you are dipping into the body’s vitality rather than helping the body to become active and strong.

If you’re not sure what your maximum is for your chosen form of exercise, there’s a physical way that you can measure this, too. If you’re sweating on your chest, back, forehead, and nose, then you’ve reached the threshold point where you should slow down and stop exercising. Also, a constant need to breathe through the mouth instead of the nose indicates that you need to slow down or stop.

Exercise According to Season and Energy

Like eating, exercise is also done with consideration for the season in Ayurveda. Colder seasons and climates allow for more exercise. In hotter weather, the intensity of exercise should be moderated because the external environment is causing the body to lose fluids. Doing vigorous exercise can further dehydrate you and cause tissue depletion, so it’s especially crucial not to overdo it when it’s hot outside.

When it comes to body type, there are also some guidelines. Kapha (water) types have the most endurance. They are best-suited to intense exercise, and Ayurveda encourages them to do it because even though they have great athletic capability, they are often less motivated to move. Vata (wind) types should do the least amount of exercise because they have less lubrication in their joints and their muscles aren’t naturally as strong. It’s better for them to not overstrain themselves. Pitta (fire) types fall somewhere in the middle. For example, let’s say a kapha should do 40 push-ups for optimal health, a pitta would do 30, and a vata would do 20. (Related: Learn more about body types here!)

Similarly, there’s a reason why exercise is recommended in the morning. The day is divided into three phases. The first phase of the day is the kapha phase, the second is pitta, and the third is vata. You want to exercise when you have the most strength and endurance, and that’s in the beginning or kapha part of the day. Of course, it’s not wrong to exercise in the evening and you’ll certainly still see some benefits, but according to Ayurveda, a daily morning workout of moderate intensity is one of the best things you can do to achieve optimal health.

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The three main aspects, or working parts, of the mind from the Ayurvedic viewpoint are:

• Dhi or Buddhi: Intellect, or the ability to analyze information
• Druti: Willpower, or the ability to make decisions
• Smruti: Memory

Before thoughts effortlessly pop up into your head, they are first processed through these three “livers” of the mind―intellect, willpower, or memory―and then they take expressions in the psyche in whatever relevance they might have. Thoughts may trigger a memory, pique your intellectual interest, or manifest themselves as desires or decisions through your free will.

The most important of these three is the intellect. If your ability to analyze information is in good shape, then you’ll make good decisions, practice a mindful way of living, and have the potential to advance spiritually. This translates into both a healthy mind and a healthy body.

One of the reasons looking after your mental health is so important in Ayurveda is that diseases and imbalances often start from the mind. The term we always use to describe this phenomenon is prajna aparadha, which means ignoring your consciousness or mindful ability. This is seen as the cause of all diseases, both physical and mental. When we overrule our mindfulness or consciousness, we will make erroneous choices. As a result, our sensory organs are motivated toward less-than-ideal objects, and the choices made trick the body into accumulating disease-causative factors. It’s no surprise that modern science has linked stress and anxiety to conditions like heart disease, gastrointestinal issues, and type 2 diabetes.

While the body is controlled by the doshas (vata, pitta, and kapha), the mind is characterized by two main forces: rajas and tamas. Rajas is the aspect of the mind that activates and intrigues it. It’s all about action, movement, and change. Conditions, like anxiety, can come about as a result of too much rajas. Tamas is the opposite; it slows the mind down, making it more ignorant and inert. When these two aspects are balanced, a person can achieve sattva, which is characterized by intelligence and harmony. This state promotes wellbeing and keeps us on the spiritual path. So, one who is in the sattvic state of mind seldom errs in physical aspects or mental, and thus, is less likely to develop physical or mental health issues.

How Ayurveda Manages Stress

Working toward sattva is one of the best things you can do for your health, and there are several avenues Ayurveda suggests for dealing with stress and achieving optimal mental health.

Routine

Ayurveda always supports routine for a good reason: When each day has a set pattern, there is less distraction for the mind, and the mind can elevate itself toward spirituality or a spiritual state. That’s why we have both daily and seasonal routines. When you know what to expect, it can be a good, stress-relieving factor. Even if you can’t have a set routine for your entire day, try creating a morning, afternoon, or evening routine for yourself to allow your mind to have some time to rest.

Related: 5 Morning Rituals to Help You Rise and Really Shine

Yoga

Exercise, in general, is good for the mind, but from a historical point of view, yoga is the main physical activity for Ayurvedic practitioners. There were also other modes of exercise, but yoga is one that they always promoted. Practicing yoga on a daily basis opens the channels of prana (life force), and encourages a deeper relationship between mind and body. I’m certain some Sonima readers may have already experienced this phenomenon. (If you’re new to yoga, however, check out our yoga pose tutorials as demonstrated by Ashtanga lineage-holder, Sharath Jois.)

Food

What you eat plays a very important role in balancing out the whole body and mind. The main aspects of food nourish the body, but the more subtle aspects of food affect the mind. The quality of food—whether it’s dry, oily, light, heavy—can have an impact on our mental state. For example, if a food is light, it promotes a rajas state; if it’s heavy, it encourages tamas. So when you eat in accordance with the Ayurvedic diet, your food is balanced in terms of these qualities, and it’s healthier for your mind.

Foods that are known to enhance the mind in Ayurveda include: ghee, honey, brown rice, mung beans, Himalayan salt, and barley. These should be incorporated into the diet in one way or another due to their qualities and their impact on the gut. There is a very low chance of these foods creating metabolic toxins, which can in turn affect the mind.

Intellect-promoting herbs are also a great option for everybody. The most commonly available ones are gotu kola, also called brahmi, licorice, and amalaki fruit. By incorporating these and the other methods discussed above into your lifestyle, you’ll be well on your way to a healthy mind and, ultimately, a healthy body, too.

The post Ayurveda’s Approach to Mental Health appeared first on Sonima.

To put it simplistically, the well-being of the universe has a direct impact on the well-being of humans, and vice versa, according to Ayurveda, but that’s just one of the many ways our bodies and nature are intertwined.

Wind, Water, and Fire

If you know a little about Ayurveda already, you are probably familiar with the three body types: pitta (fire), vata (wind), and kapha (water.) Obviously, these types come directly from nature and demonstrate how deeply linked humans are to the earth itself. The Charaka Saṃhitā, the first Ayurvedic textbook, says that the body is made functional by three essential entities: soma (water), surya (fire), and anila (wind). It further explains that nature and the human body are so closely related that the fire, water, and wind control the body. For humans, food is the carrier, or channel, that brings these three natural elements into the body, which is one of the reasons the Ayurvedic diet is so specific.

A Symbiotic Relationship

What is perhaps most fascinating about the our relationship with nature is that even the ancient texts acknowledged that it’s a two-way street. We have a profound impact on nature, just as it does on us.

Food is the sustainer of life in Ayurveda, and the six tastes actually come from the six seasons in nature. Each season brings about one taste as an expression in food. So for example, sweet is the taste of spring. What’s more, the hot and cold states of nature (also known as seasons), which are due to movement of the sun, are reflected in food. This means that foods are either considered hot or cold in potency with relationship to the human metabolism, either speeding things up or slowing them down based on their inherent properties.

Beyond that, the Ayurvedic advice about which foods to eat is highly in tune with nature: Whatever is grown, or available, in your area will be best for your body. So for example, if you live in California, whatever can grow in this climate is what you should be eating. By eating seasonally and locally, you not only nourish your body and prevent disease, but also promote the cultivation of the land around you.

Related: Guidelines for Eating the Ayurvedic Way

Medicines are also collected directly from nature in Ayurveda. There are three types of sources: herbal, animal, and mineral. And while humans can cultivate herbs and substances from the earth that can heal, this is a prime example of how the relationship definitely goes both ways. With reference to epidemics or viral contagious disease, the Charaka says that they are caused due to imbalance of the collective consciousness of the people living in that region. An overall negative collective consciousness impacts all things in the vicinity. The Charaka says that a wise practitioner of Ayurveda should collect the herbs and other medicinal substances used to treat these diseases from other regions.

Our impact on the environment also comes in more concrete forms, such as pollution and reduction of green spaces. Our surroundings are still undoubtedly influenced by our collective consciousness, so working toward a positive state of mind is very beneficial for the physical world at large.

The Power of Rejuvenation

The last topic I want to touch on is perhaps the most important. Ayurveda has an established tradition of investing in the rejuvenative powers of nature, and has long acknowledged what happens when we lose our connection to it.

The Charaka tells a story about rejuvenation that involves two groups of sages: One group lived in their huts in the forest, and the other ventured into society. Eventually, those sages who lived in society got all kinds of diseases. The text explains that the civilized way of living caused these diseases, which could be characterized as “lifestyle diseases”—certainly something we see frequently today.

To address those lifestyle diseases, the sages, who were living in cities and towns, went back to their original lives in huts in the forest. They realized that the pollution of thought, food, and water innate in civilized life caused them to become ill.

The moral of the story? Of course, it’s not that we should stop living in cities and towns—that would be impractical. But when when it comes to the civilized way of living, we should recognize that there’s an inevitable stress factor. That stress factor plays a significant role in producing these unique diseases that didn’t occur when people were living in their natural surroundings.

In order to combat this, spending more time in nature can provide some level of rejuvenation. Modern science has shown time and again that there are real, tangible benefits to being outside and connecting with your natural environment, from reducing cortisol levels to reducing inflammation and even lowering blood pressure. With this in mind, it seems logical that we begin to see the environment as a part of the solution to the health problems that come along with modern life—one that’s worth protecting.

The post How Nature Impacts Our Health appeared first on Sonima.

When bears hibernate, their metabolisms slow to about 25 percent of their normal, active rates for some, reports one study, which may explain why they wake up so rested and ready for spring. We, humans, can’t quiet our metabolisms the same way, nor do we want to, but we can nourish every aspect of ourselves (mentally, emotionally, and physically) so that we, too, can feel incredibly relaxed, present, and rejuvenated without hitting snooze all winter-long.

Cold weather can be exhilarating, but the lack of strong, consistent natural light and warmth can easily get you down, making you feel as grey as the clouds, uninspired, and vulnerable to illness. Wintertime invites a pace that is slower than the other seasons, reminding us that it is the best time to rest, recover, reflect, and plan for spring and beyond.

In the science of life, known as Ayurveda, we think of mid- to late- winter as a kapha (earth and water) season characterized by cold, damp and heavy qualities. When balanced, kapha qualities offer stability, lubrication, vigor, immunity, and strength. When out of whack, however, these same qualities can turn negative, contributing to sluggishness both physically and emotionally. A build-up of mucus can result in bronchial issues, colds, weight gain, and, overall, negativity and depression.

Ayurvedic principles say it is important to take advantage of the natural instinct to hunker down while keeping positive and bright and the immune system fired up. Here are three ways to make the most of winter and set a healthy, vibrant tone for a lush and fruitful spring, and rest of the year.

1. Exercise and self-massage daily to maintain all systems go.

Start with a short, yet invigorating, morning practice to lubricate cold joints and keep all systems—from circulatory to lymphatic to nervous—clear and flowing. Focus on grounding and centering even as you get your blood pumping. If you’re into yoga, begin with sun salutations and warrior poses to open the chest, throat, and sinuses. If you’re not a yogi, then go for any simple series of movements that get the blood flowing, such as jumping jacks, pushups, leg lifts, and sit-ups (check out this Essential Bodyweight Workout video!).

Related: Yoga Tutorial: Sūryanamaskāra A

Follow-up your practice or workout with a warm oil self-massage. Use sesame oil, which you can heat up by running hot water over the bottle. Sesame oil has natural warming properties, too. Shower, then trap the warmth by wrapping yourself up in cozy clothes and a blanket. Don’t forget to keep your head warm, too, especially when you go outside!

2. Stock up on these three nourishing nutrients.

Vitamin D
When you don’t have enough daylight hours to absorb the sun’s benefits, which include relaxing the muscles, soothing Seasonal Affective Disorder, and helping the body maintain healthy sleep rhythms, you must turn to vitamin D supplements for extra help. Take these vitamins either alone or in combination with calcium and magnesium.

Ginger Tea
A staple in my winter arsenal, this herbal tea tastes delicious, acts as an anti-inflammatory, aids with digestion, and eases cold symptoms.

Turmeric
This immune-boosting spice can be taken in capsules or as added seasoning in food. A teacher showed me this recipe to keep my kids healthy years ago, and I’ve relied on it ever since.

Recipe for Turmeric Paste

Ingredients
Turmeric powder (organic)
Honey, raw or Manuka
Black pepper

Directions
Combine equal parts of turmeric with honey and a pinch of black pepper (not cayenne). Store the paste in a glass jar. At the first sign of a cold, lick a teaspoonful every couple of hours.

3. Meditate as a tool for introspection.

Tap into an underlying sense of peace that is always present within, but gets drowned out by the busy life and the overactive mind with this easy, deep meditation called Yoga Nidra, or Yogic Sleep. Plant seeds for the future in a calm, rested, less stressed mind. Start by developing an intention for your life and for the practice. Learn to focus your awareness on your breath, bodily sensations, emotions, and thoughts. This is an ideal way to learn to welcome whatever is present without getting caught up in it.

This is the art of conscious relaxation and it is a completely guided restorative practice that you do lying down. It will guide you toward a state of mind that naturally allows you to liberate the tensions, stresses, and anxieties we all hold deep within. In this peaceful, guided relaxation process, the brain waves drop into the theta state, where deep levels of healing take place on the emotional, mental, and physical planes.

Listen to the Just Sit meditation (check out the video above) and feel the benefits that will give you a healthy grounded base from which to greet the demands of spring when it comes around.

The post A 20-Minute Meditation for Yogic Sleep appeared first on Sonima.

Within para-ojus, there are exactly eight drops, which are located in the heart and the great vessels surrounding the heart. These eight drops are with you for your whole life, and their purpose is to keep the the body free from diseases. The textbooks say that if this ojus is reduced, the person’s life is threatened, so it cannot be replaced or refilled. Once lost, it’s gone for good.

The second kind, apara-ojus, is present at the time of birth, but also keeps accumulating as you grow. This quantity is said to be about one palmful of your own hand, depending on the health of your tissues. In Ayurveda, we have seven classifications of tissues: plasma, blood, muscle, fat, bone, bone marrow, and reproductive. Each of these tissues—when functionally, quantitatively, and qualitatively healthy—contributes to the formation and maintenance of this second type of ojus. Ideally, if you’re healthy, you’re collecting apara-ojus just by living, and it’s always working because you are fighting diseases throughout your entire life.

How Modern Science Factors In

There are some interesting parallels between what modern science and Ayurveda say about the immune system. The thymus gland, located right in front of the heart between the lungs, is very large when we are in the womb. The cells that are important to immunity are produced in the liver and the spleen. These cells, called lymphocytes, migrate to the thymus gland, get “schooled” into knowing what is the body and what is not, and become T lymphocytes, also known as T cells. That means these cells are able to recognize anything in the body that is abnormal, like foreign bacteria or viruses. There are a limited number of these cells because after the first year of life, the thymus gland becomes completely rudimentary. This makes sense, because in Ayurveda, we also know that there are a finite number of para-ojus cells and once they’re gone, we die.

The other types of immune cells are distributed all over the body and are made up of several different subtypes, such as B cells and natural killer cells. They’re not quite as intelligent or trained as the T cells, but once the body recognizes something as a foreign material, these types of cells attack and destroy it. They are much higher in quantity, so in a sense, they parallel the apara-ojus.

Enhance Your Immune System Naturally

In Ayurveda, there are three main ways to strengthen the ojus for optimal health.

1. Lifestyle Choices

Since you can only improve the functionality of the para-ojus, not replenish it, lifestyle choices seem to be the most critical for keeping it well-functioning. What depletes the para-ojus is either physical or mental overexertion. So how you physically behave and your mindset are vital. The more integrated and self-controlled you are, the more vibrant and strong your ojus will be. Additionally, exercising regularly (but not overdoing it) is very important for immunity, because the more vibrant and active your tissues are, the more vibrant and active your ojus.

2. Herbal Options

Amalaki, also known as Indian gooseberry, is one the most important herbs that keeps the ojus in tune. It’s one of the world’s richest sources of vitamin C, which is very important for immunity. Research indicates that amalaki reduces oxidative stress on the body. It is often put into a preparation called chyavanaprash for daily consumption. This poly-herbal formula includes more than 35 other ingredients and is meant to increase the metabolism of all the tissues in the body. One herb cannot address all the immune requirements of the body. So they have made it into this jam, which has the primary herb as well as some secondary herbs to enhance its actions.

You can buy chyavanaprash many places, but you want to make sure that it is from a good source. Amalaki is expensive, so sometimes it’s substituted with other ingredients. So it’s always a good idea to check and confirm that it actually contains amalaki. Some companies claim it’s organic, but that might just indicate it’s missing key ingredients because not all of them can be sourced organically.

Related: 4 Ways to Stay Healthy Through the Season

Another major immunity herb is ashwagandha, which is very popular right now. Traditionally, this is used for males in a poly-herbal formula called ashwagandha lehyam, which is another product Ayurveda recommends to take daily. Many Ashtanga yoga practitioners will take chyavanaprash before their yoga practice, and ashwagandha lehyam after their practice.

For women, shatavari is the main female ojus-building herb. It’s usually administered in the form of a ghee because it’s better absorbed with fat.

3. Food

Fresh fruits and vegetables, especially ones that are in season, are considered to be the best source of ojus-enhancing nutrients. Other foods that are highly praised for immunity include almonds, dates, pistachios, raisins, ghee, raw unpasteurized honey, mung beans, barley, rice, raw cow’s milk, and lean meat. Eat one or more of these on a daily basis for an immune system boost.

The post Ayurveda’s Answer to How to Improve Your Immune System appeared first on Sonima.

All too often, the joys of the season are overshadowed by the nasty rebound effects of hectic schedules and all-around overload, including over-indulgences in rich foods, social and family pressures, more parties and late nights, etc. When combined, it’s a recipe for stress, which we all know to be the enemy of well-being with its hallmarks of depleted energy, undernourished nervous system, sleep disturbance, crankiness, and a weakened immune system.

In Ayurveda, we understand that the mind is very strong and can have good and bad effects over well-being. During this stress-inducing holiday season, mastering the mind is more important than ever to overcome the aforementioned debilitating effects. When faced with these known obstacles, try this fundamental reset tool and four basic tips from the world of Ayurveda to ensure a more vibrant and joyful season.

1. Initiate a mind-body reset.

The primary tool for grace under pressure is breathing. It’s guaranteed to change the mind, nourish the system with oxygen, and switch it all up. It’s quick, simple, and effective. Thirty seconds of fast, deep breathing followed by thirty seconds of slow, deep breathing. Use the video below for a quick and easy tutorial.

A note on breath-work in general: We all do it naturally, but when you learn to control and use it, you have a powerful weapon that can easily help you generate and maintain calm positive feelings, sleep better, and soothe the nervous system for optimal organ function. Your mind will thank you, your skin will glow, and you will think more clearly and move through the day—and all its obstacles—more effectively.

2. Make a plan.

Anticipate the issues that may arise from family tensions to menus, travel plans and gifts, and remove the doubts and anxieties by making a plan. Make a master calendar of dates, gifts to buy, things to get done. Just having a list can bring clarity as to what might not be necessary as well as organizing yourself for better pacing.

3. Stick to your routine.

As much as possible, maintain your regular schedule, planning around events that will disrupt them both physically and mentally. You may have to do less, but make sure that you keep the general exercise, breathing, meditation routines, which are often the first to go, but the most essential for your sanity.

RELATED: Don’t Let Others Push Your Buttons

4. Know your demons and how to neutralize them.

Say “no” to perfection, unrealistic expectations of family and friends, over-scheduling, day-after-day of over-indulgence. And when you do indulge, know that this is part of the fun, and embrace it, but then compensate the next day by, for example, eating super clean and getting extra rest whether by napping, a soothing 20-minute of meditation, or just a walk around the block to clear the head. A simple practice while taking that walk is to remind yourself to be content with whatever comes your way. Gratitude is an amazing elixir.

5. Try this pressure point self-massage.

Squeeze the fleshy part of your hand below the thumb to release stress. Hold for 30 seconds and deliberately think about the one thing causing you the most stress. Take a few deep breaths and, with every exhalation, actively think about letting go of that pesky thought or feeling. Dissolve it and let it leave your mind and body.

The post A 3-Minute Meditation to Melt Holiday Stress appeared first on Sonima.