Introduction to Ayurveda

Ayurveda, translated directly as "knowledge of life", is over 5000 years old sister of yoga. It's a health science from India, with particular emphasis on proper nutrition and respect for nature and its cycles. It's a holistic approach that cultivates awareness and well-being at all levels of life - multidimensionally! I was particularly drawn to it by the fact that it doesn't assume that one size fits all. The rules are never rigid here and are adapted to the sensations of a given person. Its assumptions are based on observing the nature. It does not count calories or micronutrients, but pays attention to the taste and color of the food to create balanced meals. Nature really didn't make lemons yellow for no reason! 😉 (there will be a whole post about the colors in nutrition)

"You are what you eat DIGEST"

Ayurveda encourages us to observe our own body so that we know what we digest well and what causes our digestive ailments. It is not food itself but its proper digestion that is essential to good health. Not everyone will benefit from a 5-day fast or a diet full of kale, green juices or groats. A key role is also played by not combining foods that require completely different digestive processes, e.g. fresh fruit with anything else (!). To aid digestion, we use a wide variety of spices and generally do not drink cold drinks as this extinguishes the digestive "fire."

In Ayurveda we talk about three types, the so-called doshas. Each of us is characterized by all three, most often, however, with a considerable predominance of one, sometimes two doshas. They can change throughout life. The seasons of the day and of the year also have their predominant doshas. The dosha Vata are the elements of air and ether - it is characterized by dryness, lightness, subtlety, coldness and mobility. Pitta is fire and water - heat, mobility, sharpness and lightness. By contrast, Kapha - water and earth - is heavy, steady, cold, wet and dense. Excess of one dosha causes an imbalance, which in turn causes various ailments. Our intention is therefore to harmonize the doshas.

As already mentioned, food is divided into individual flavours. Each flavour enhances or weakens a specific dosha. With their help, we can choose the diet so as to calm the excessive dosha and thus often get rid of the accompanying health symptoms. We also pay attention to eating in accordance with the season, i.e. to alleviate the dosha that reigns in a given season of the year, especially if it is the same as the one that prevails in our body. An extensive base of ingredients and their properties can be found here – but of course this is only a starting point, which we verify with our own experience. Ultimately, choosing food becomes very intuitive.

Ayurveda also promotes daily rituals. One of them, which was the main cause of my interest in this ancient science, is the rinsing of the mouth with oil (called oil pulling). It is a practice done in the morning before eating, using either coconut oil (cooling) or sesame oil (warming). It cleanses the oral cavity, and thus the entire body, of toxins accumulated overnight. It helps with gum problems, brightens teeth and even eliminates grinding of the teeth (a true story!). At the beginning, it is worth starting with 5 minutes a day, but you can easily rinse for 20 or so. It is important not to swallow the oil, but to get rid of it, for example, in the toilet, and then rinse your mouth well with water. It may not be a very nice experience at first, but that's a matter of habit. Avoid oil pulling while suffering from a cold!

That should do for a start! In the next posts on this topic, I will talk in more detail about each of the doshas, ​​the Ayurvedic seasons, and describe more Ayurvedic rituals. If you have any questions, feel free to write in the comments.