Skip to main content

#03 Self Care - Self Abhyanga


#03 Self Care: Self Abhyanga

Winter is here! Snow, ice, warm fireplace, cozy blankets, hot cocoa and dry skin, oh my.

This is winter here in the New England area, dry, wet cold and is a challenge for our skin over the long winter months.

What to do? Well Ayurveda has this under control! 

A few ways Ayurveda helps in the winter:
  • Eating warm grounding foods
                   Do you remember when you where young and your mother or grandmother would make a stew or pot pie and left you feeling full and loved. Relaxing with warm foods in the cold dry weather helps keep you feel comfort, grounded and nourished through food. Nourishing foods keep the body strong,healthy and balanced the immune system.
  • Add ghee to your diet 
                  Ghee is the perfect winter soother. Ghee can be added to your foods to help lubricate the joints and moisten dry skin. Massaging the skin, lips, dry areas to relax, soothe and lubricate the skin and leave you glowing.
  • get outside, but layer properly
                 Getting outside, fresh air, reconnecting to the elements are key to a strong immune system. Layering for the weather properly will protect the areas of delicate skin, such as neck, hands. Bundle up and get out their.
  • take time to meditate or do regular yoga
                 Creating your relaxation routine, doing daily meditation, yoga, walking or stretching will help relax the mind and keep the immune system in balance.
  • and self abhyanga,
                 Self Abhyanga! This is one of my favorite winter tips. Taking a little time every morning to apply oil to the body will help relax and strengthen the immune system. Place an old towel down on your bathroom floor, warm some oil, then apply to the body starting at the head then working slowly down the body, spending extra time at the ears and feet.

Spending a little time with self care in the long winter months will help to create a smoother winter, and softer skin.

Labels

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ayurveda, lets dive deeper

So what is Ayurveda? I get this question a lot, or I hear - Ayurveda is to complicated. Yes, Ayurveda can be complicated, but I don't feel it should be and doesn't have to be. Lets dive into Ayurveda. First, how did I get to Ayurveda, lets go back a little ways. In 2006, I started my training at the Maharishi Ayurveda Center in Lancaster, MA. I had just finished a program at Dana Farber with Energy work and massage for cancer clients, when I started the training at the Ayurvedic center. The similarities between the two made for the perfect transition. Both looked at the importance of balance, digestion, proper sleep and the positive outlook of the emotions. As I dove into Ayurveda it was clear that being in balance with yourself and your environment effected every element of health. This was the beginning of a path in a  holistic lifestyle. Ayurveda, lets dive deeper. Ayurveda is one of the oldest known healing systems dating back thousands of years to India. This sy...
Post a Comment
Read more

Pratice of Prevention

Ayurveda is about the practice of prevention. When we look at the root of the issue, we work to find a balance as we move forward. Ayurveda takes where you are today, what are the areas of your dosha(your body type through your constitution)and looks at creating balance. We can start with prevention today and bring in a balance to help decrease some of the issues now and later. Looking at ways to find a balance through massage, meditation, yoga herbs and daily routine we can focus on prevention. This is what I love about Ayurveda. Looking at what is going on when a client comes in , looking for the root cause and how to create balance for that person.A lung issue or inflammation, its not just an issue, it is directing you to find the root, how you got the inflammation. Ayurveda looks at you, your dosha as an individual and works with you to find the areas that may be out of balance and ways to strengthen before the issue arises, or is fully out of balance. Ayurveda is the practic...
Post a Comment
Read more

#02 Self-Care

Do something nice for yourself. Sounds easy, right. How often have you given a friend, co-worker or partner some good advise, to only not follow it yourself? It just had this happen this week. My client came in, we were talking about self-care, I had suggested that she take some time and do something nice for herself. The next afternoon, I had a client come in for a massage, when I asked her what brought her in, she said," My body was telling me this is what it needed". She took the time to listen to herself. It seems so simple. I do my mediation, and do my herbals, for me its keeping up with my yoga and doing the gentle pampering s of taking time that I forget. So for me, it was a foot scrub! I am either on my feet or using  my feet in my Thai yoga massage, and they sometimes yell for a nice foot scrub. So that's just what I did, a nice eucalyptus sugar scrub followed up with a tea tree lotion bar. My feet have been saying thank you all day. So...
Post a Comment
Read more