Warming our bodies, bellies, and hearts this holiday season
Let’s face it.. this holiday season looks and feels a bit different.
As we once again step away from seeing clients and students in the flesh, we’re reminded of the limited human connection and touch that can permeate our lives. Fortunately, Ayurveda wisdom offers us a path to nurturing and connecting with ourselves daily.
Self-care with sesame
Self- massage or abyhyanga is integral to an healthy life style according to Ayurveda. By increasing blood flow, this ancient practice can help lubricate our joints, regulate our body temperature, while also creating a sense of relaxation and connection. During this time of year open our days with this practice.
Sesame oil offers us warmth- like a hug from a loved one. You can make the experience sweeter by mixing in a drop of two of essential oil of cinnamon bark, juniper berry, thyme marjoram (perhaps with a drop of rose or orange) for an inviting scent.
You may gently warm this oil either by rubbing it between your hand briskly or if mixed in a glass bottle, placing the bottle for minute or two in a pot of water that has been heated, but has not yet simmered or boiled
Now massage away, with presence and perhaps love or gratitude for this body, this vehicle that carries us through life paying special care to the scalp and belly (rubbing clockwise when looking to the earth- 12 o’clock faces the floor).
Creating Lust (er)
Luster, vitality, strength, essence. These are just a few of the translations for ‘ojas’- the subtle energy of kapha, that is pervasive this season.
Ojas can be translated as ‘vital essence’ and feeds Kapha’s stability and strength. When times are unstable or our environment is cold and dry, ojas can become depleted, leading to weakness in mind or body which may manifest as low mood or energy and , decreased digestive fire. Incorporating the foods below can help increase our vitality:
Oils: Sesame, olive, almond
Nuts: almonds (soaked and peeled if possible), cashews, walnuts, pumpkin and sesame seeds
Fruits: Bananas, dates, figs
Veggies: Avocado or Warm, lightly cooked vegetables
Touch of sweetness: honey or molasses
Another lovely sweet and nourishing edible is Chyawanprash, an herbal jam made with Ayurvedic spices that build not only mind and body but our immunity as well.
Whatever this season looks like for us may we find moments to nourish our body, bellies and hearts.