Tips for Creating Winter Wellness with Ayurveda
By Raven Sadhaka Seltzer, MA, RYT

Keeping healthy in the winter months can be particularly challenging, especially if you live in a cold weather climate like New England. Ayurveda, the sister science to yoga, offers some basic daily practices (“dinacharya”) that can easily be incorporated into your regular routine to help keep your body systems in balance:

1. Upon awakening in the morning, lightly SCRAPE YOUR TONGUE at least 5 times (tongue scrapers are available at most health food stores or can be ordered online).  All of us wake up with some sort of coating on our tongue – this is referred to in Ayurveda as “ama” or undigested metabolic waste.  It rises to the surface of the tongue as we sleep and is responsible for “morning breath.”
   
   
2. RINSE OUT YOUR MOUTH a few times after scraping the tongue and then brush your teeth.
   
   
3. BEFORE YOU DRINK OR EAT ANYTHING ELSE, boil some spring or purified water and DRINK AN 8 OZ. CUP OF WARM WATER.  This helps to hydrate and gently cleanse the digestive tract and colon.
   
   
4. CLEAN AND HYDRATE YOUR NASAL PASSAGES. Using some of the boiled water, mix in a ½ teaspoon of sea salt in a Neti Pot (available at health food stores or from the Himalayan Institute) or use a bulb syringe from your local drug store.  The syringe is more intense, but it serves the same purpose.  One of the first places that bacteria congregate is in dry areas that become irritated – in the winter months, we are mostly inside with dry heat all around us.  The sinuses are one of the places it is most difficult to hydrate, but most essential – especially if you are prone to sinus and upper respiratory infections.  Humidifiers are not enough!!
   
5. OIL YOUR BODY with unrefined sesame oil, available from Banyan Botanicals or at your local health food store.  Start with a small amount of oil and test to see how quickly your skin absorbs it.  Apply to your belly area and work your way out in all directions – if you have large pores on your face, you may want to skip that.  Don’t forget elbows, knees, and heels – these are prime areas for drying and cracking!  Typical consumer moisturizers contain some alcohol, which doesn’t make much sense since alcohol dries the skin!!  And oil is simply more natural – no processing and no long label of ingredients to read.  If your hair is dry, you may also massage in some oil to the scalp.
   
   
   
6. Sit for at least 10 minutes in a warm place, letting your skin soak up the oil.  Light a candle. Take some nice deep breaths in and out through the nose (or if you know any yoga pranayam, use one).  Close your eyes and do a short meditation if you like.
   
   
7. Shower and wash hair.  Sesame oil is not very greasy -- you will probably still have a small amount left on your skin after showering, but it shouldn’t cause you any problems with your clothing. 

General everyday tips for health and well-being:

1. Avoid cold drinks as they create more mucus!
2. Likewise, cooked foods are much easier to digest in the winter than raw.
3. Try eating at least one meal in silence; light a candle and make a conscious effort to slow down your eating.
4. Take a short walk 15 minutes after eating, to boost your digestive fire (“agni”).
5. Give thanks before every meal, and before bed.

Raven Sadhaka Seltzer, MA, RYT is a yoga therapist and a certified Kripalu yoga instructor in the Boston area.  She works with private clients, corporations and schools. For more information, please see www.smartbirdyoga.com or email ravensong4@yahoo.com.