When winter is at your window, it is time to remember a few ayurvedic tips that will allow your energy to enjoy a balanced and energetic few months. Winter is a Vatta season, meaning your air element will increase causing dryness, cold and ungrounding internal atmosphere.
- Follow a Vata-balancing diet and routine throughout the winter, See Vatta recommendations here.
- Do not purify in this season. Meaning no extra diets and hard restrictions.
- Favour sweet, sour, and salty tastes, as these help balance Vatta. It is best to reduce or avoid cold, damp foods, excessively sweet foods, overly heavy or oily foods, and frozen foods. You may also find that your body responds well to an occasional one-day water or juice fast. In fact, if you are prone to kapha imbalances like colds, coughs, and sinus congestion.
- Drink room temperature, warm, or hot beverages and avoid iced or chilled drinks, if possible.
- You can increase heat and circulation while encouraging clean and clear respiratory passages by drinking a tea boiled for five minutes with ½ teaspoon each of dried ginger, cinnamon, and clove. Teas made with combinations of ginger, cinnamon and black pepper or coriander seeds, cumin seeds and fennel seeds encourage strong digestion and can be taken after meals. It is important to keep the agni ( digestive fire) strong.
- The diet should include plenty of fresh, warm, well cooked, and unctuous (oily) food as Vatta is cold and dry. Hearty, heating vegetables like radishes, cooked spinach, onions, carrots, and other root vegetables are generally well received this time of year, as are hot spices like garlic, ginger, black pepper, cayenne, and chilli peppers. Cooked grains like oatmeal, cornmeal, barley, tapioca, rice, or kitchari make a terrific breakfast, and lunches and dinners of steamed vegetables, whole wheat bread, and mushy soups are ideal.
- And while dairy is best reduced in the winter months, a cup of hot, spiced milk with a pinch of turmeric or dry ginger and nutmeg before bed can help to encourage sound sleep and should not be overly congesting.
- Be sure to start the day with a daily self-oil massage Use sesame oil or a special Vatta massage oil.
- Follow a regular routine of being in bed by 10:00 p.m. (and earlier is even better), as the sun sets much earlier in the winter in most parts of North America; and rise by 6:00 a.m. The regularity with all aspects of the routine, including meals and bedtime, is important, as Vata’s quality is irregular.
- Eat the largest main meal of the day at lunchtime when the sun is highest in the sky and therefore the internal digestive fire is strongest.
- Be sure to bundle up and protect the body from cold wind which increases Vata: wear a warm hat and scarf on cold days.
- Avoid excessive stress and worry as these aggravate Vatta. Be regular in your daily practice.
- Vatta is the king of the doshas and leads the other two in creating imbalance, so it’s good to follow these tips to maintain it in a state of balance throughout the winter months.