Ayurveda

Evening routine

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Evening routine

How to detox from your long and exhausting day? Maybe some stress or just a great day but without a lot of time for the most important person, YOU! 

First of all a lot of you are still spending a lot of time on their phones before sleeping, right? You don’t want to hear this but maybe you knew, it’s better to quit the screen time, yes also the TV at least one hour before sleeping. 

Why? Your brain is your control center. It's always busy even when you are sleeping. So sitting and watching Tv is actually not relaxing because your brains are still thinking. Sports are not relaxing because you're still moving your body. It’s just producing happy hormones that give you energy or a good feeling for a bit. Some scientific researches explained sleeping is sometimes also not resting, you have to come into this brainwave which will give you the rest you need. Yoga nidra is a very good tool to use, it can help you to go easier into sleeping. It is also helping you to rest. Some say yoga nidra is similar to 4 hours of sleep. 

So what other things can help me to set up this steady routine to have a better sleep. The first thing is very simple, your body needs regularity. So going to bed at 10 PM is seen as the best time to sleep. Why? Between 10-2 it’s pitta time, so your mind gets active and you can’t sleep anymore. Maybe you get hungry because it’s pitta time, that’s why we eat the biggest meal in the middle of the day. Pitta is the digestive power, we call it the agni. In pitta time we digest food, emotions and everything we’ve been through on the day. 

What if you have these sleeping problems, it’s hard to fall asleep, you keep on thinking and you can’t stop the mind. I will list a few easy tips:

  1. Eat light to digest foods during dinner, so not the biggest meal
  2. Prepare yourself before going to bed by making your own routine for example: having a bath (relaxing your nervous system), reading a book (no screens), lighting a candle (try to avoid other lights), and drinking some teas with less energizing herbs in it like chai tea. Chai latté is one of my favorite drinks. (drink it with almond milk, it’s calming down vata) 
  3. Do a foot massage, we mostly forget that our feets are carrying us all day. It’s also the point with a lot of connections with the bodily tissues and the nerves. Give them a little oil massage before sleeping, it will warm them and calm them down. 
  4. Breathing exercises to calm down, like the nadi shodana or some other techniques. 
  5. Yoga asanas like viparati karani (simple: feet against the wall up), happy baby pose.
  6. A heavier blanket, it feels supported for the body to have some extra weight. That’s why a lot of people in summer still want this little blanket over their body.
  7. If it’s still not working, look into your diët and contact a practitioner for more personal advice.

Just before going to bed you can use this wonderful tool for your self reflection and development. JOURNALLING. I came across this tool a few years ago, (same as with a vision board) and I was mind blown how powerful it was. It really helps to write down what you feel to process it and heal from things that are stuck in your mind. You can just buy a simple journal and write in it everyday in the morning and/or evening. I know it’s personal, but I know a lot of successful people use it. You don’t need to keep it, I know someone who burns it at the end so nobody will get to know your secrets. It’s also beautiful to keep them to see your own process, although you might not read them again in the end.

So in general create your own evening routine, be mindful when to go to bed and when to eat. It’s logical thinking not to eat before sleeping, your body will need all the energy to digest the food and doesn’t have time for sleeping and when you will sleep, it might result in undigested food that will be stuck in your system.Another great thing is sound healing, there are some nice recordings about it on the internet as well. I use my own Tibetan bowl which helps me to ground and relax.

I hope this will help you a bit, for more questions you can always reach out to me! 

Much love,

Melanie

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Morning routine

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Dinacharya Morning routine. 

 

From the ancient texts the morning routine is one of the most important things to do according to ayurveda. I learned it from the Ashtanga Hridyam (Vagbhata). There are also some different texts to follow and I will also share my own view. 

The ideal time for waking up is around 4:30/ 5:30. (1 or ½ hour before sunrise). In Sanskrit they call this the Brahmi Muhurtha. 

After waking up you should pass your stools and urine, then clean the teeth with some specific herbs. There are also some contra-indications when you should not brush your teeth, some examples are: indigestion, vomiting, cough, fever, excessive thirst. Also weekly collyrium of the eyes to keep the agni healthy of the eyes. The nasya is one of the procedures, pulling oil/medicine in the nasal area. 

After this you start doing the abhyanga, this is something I love about ayurveda. The benefits are anti-aging, relieves tiredness, relieves excess vata (stiffness), nourishing the body tissues, helps for good sleeping, improves skin tone. The contra indications are: too much kapha in body (heaviness, fever etc), during indigestion and soon after shodhana (this is a panchakarma procedure)  After this you do Vyayama this is exercising, so like yoga! There are some contraindications too like people with vata/pitta diseases, children and  indigestion.

After this according to the text you take a bath to open the skin and let the oil go deep into the tissues. At the end of this routine you start with taking breakfast. 

Now I will tell you a bit about my view on this. It's interesting to live according to the sunrise and the seasons. For me it’s important to listen to my body, if I sleep late I take some extra sleep so I will get enough rest. 

If I would advise you for a morning routine I would say:

  • Wake up, according to your daily life rhythm (can’t tell exactly because I didn’t speak with you in person) 
  • Pass your stools and urine, clean your mouth (tongue scraper, brushing the teeth)
  • Start doing the abhyanga, do this with fun (listen to some music and dance maybe while doing it) 
  • Shower after 15/20 minutes so the oil has some time to nourish. The water needs to be warm to open the pores, if you have a bath that’s also alright.
  • Start with some meditation with a candle, do some pranayama and after a few sun salutations. (if you are experienced with yoga you can do more of course) Maybe set an intention for your day and write it down.
  • After this you start with your breakfast

This is like a little routine. I like to do this one because it feels like my day is starting better and more nourished when I do this! For every person is different, you can always reach out to me and we can talk about some yoga asanas according to your dosha. Maybe which oil to use, sesame oil is mostly safe but there are some other options too. (not the one from the store, buy it at a ecological store like ekoplaza has a good one) 

For me it was interesting to learn more about the skin and how to nourish it. Your skin is your largest organ and we mostly don’t take good care of it. The funny thing is it’s the most important one and we need to protect it and take care of it. Abhyanga is this beautiful way of loving yourself and giving yourself a supportive feeling. It’s really good for those vata people who are everywhere and need some stability. If you don’t know how to do abhyanga, banyan botanicals has a beautiful video about it on youtube. 

This morning routine gives you some rest before starting with your busy day. Oh and try to skip coffee (if possible, maybe less is also a good thing) and see if you can get your energy from a more natural way. Be in nature and take some more time for yourself, because you are the one living in your body, feeling your emotions and feeling the frustrations or pain. You can always try right? You can always reach out to me for questions or extra support if you need to!

Much love,

Melanie

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Kitcheri cleanse

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Ayurvedic detox + kitcheri recipe

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Ayurvedic Detox 

On the 5th of February I started my ayurvedic detox. So what is an ayurvedic detox? You have a lot of different ways to detox, I’m just gonna show you one. It’s also not suitable for everyone. If you are feeling weak, or too much vata going on, do it another time. I was talking with a friend who did this and was enthusiastic about it, so I wanted to try too. It’s from the book Ayurvedic home remedies from Dr. Vasant Lad. 

On day 1 till 3 you start drinking warm ghee in the morning, I did it with some salt because I’m very vata but it depends on your dosha. In the night time you drink some Triphala tea, a tea mixture of herbs that's slightly laxative but very good for your immune system. They are also helpful in reducing high blood sugars, in cases of diabetes. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26593435/ .(don’t take herbs or remedies without seeing a physician. So I had to take this for 9 days in a row. I started having nightmares, I’m not sure why but I think it was because of the toxins who were leaving my body. I decided to take this tea in the daytime instead of the nighttime, because I had some constipation on the last days. 

For the diët you start with 3 days of a tridoshic diët what’s mostly very tasty and nourishing for the soul. On day 4 & 5 I started the kitcheri mono diët with herbs and vegetables. On days 6-8 it was a mono diët with kitcheri only and some herbs, but on day 9 you can eat the kitcheri with vegetables again. From day 6 till 8 you had to do a basti, this is a enema. But from some other sources I found out it’s also possible to do it in another way. I didn’t feel comfortable doing a enema yet. So I did add castor oil to hot water, to release the eliminated dosha in the GI tract. This is also ok to use, but you need to be careful with this. Never use it in high quantities or longer than 3 days or so. It’s an interesting oil because it’s also good for arthritis because of its inflammatory effects (externally). Day 9 and 10 felt really releasing to eat some more tridoshic foods again. Also to get some other tastes in the mouth. It’s also advised to do rasayana afterwards like taking ashwagandha for 3 months or so. I did take ashwagandha before so I decided to not do it, but just slowly build up my strength to still eat healthy.

This cleanse is advised to do in the changing of seasons especially from late winter to spring, to feel more healthy again and release some toxins from the body. I felt heavy and not very balanced before I started, while I was doing it I started feeling better. Although I had a lot of nightmares, what might have had to do with some mental things I needed to let go. 

So, what is kitcheri?

Kitcheri is a good meal for detoxing the body. Why? It’s nourishing and giving the body all it needs without having too much hunger. Although It’s nourishing and building when you eat it just in normal diët. It can have a more scraping effect when you eat it a few days in a row in a mono diët. (so more a reducing effect for toxins in the body. 

Mostly we build toxins by overeating, so that’s why detoxing is a good way to feel better once a year or so. But you need to find out what’s the best one for your body. 

So kitcheri, is also a very good meal to eat in your daily life! Especially when you need some balance or a nourishing tasty meal. It consists of all of the 6 tastes in ayurveda. Sweet, sour, salty, pungent, bitter, astringent. 

Ingrediënts 

  • ½ cup mungdahl (yellow) (not lentils) . I did some with yellow lentils, but it did not have the same effect.
  • ½ cup Basmati rice
  • 3 cups of water → water 2 cm above the rice (just check how you like the rice)
  • Lemon juice
  • Fresh coriander
  • 1 tsp Himalayan salt
  • 1 tsp fennel seeds
  • 1 tsp ground ginger
  • 1 tsp mustard seeds
  • 2 tbsp ghee
  • 2 tsp cumin seeds
  • 1 tsp coriander seeds
  • 1 tsp turmeric powder
  • Pinch asafoetida 
  • Optional 1 tsp cardamom powder  
  • Vegetables according to your dosha, I added carrots and white cabbage(can increase vata a bit)(anti inflammatory and contains a lot of vitamin C)
  • Carrots can cleanse the blood by it’s alkalizing effect and is also a very good immune booster (high antioxidant) (calms vata & kapha). 

Examples of the tastes in the meal:

Sweet: basmati rice

Sour: Lemon juice

Salty: himalayan salt

Pungent: Mustard seeds

Bitter: ginger powder

Astringent = Mung Dahl

Preparations:

  1. Soak the Mungdahl 4 hours or overnight(better) 
  2. Wash the rice
  3. Put the stove on and warm the ghee till medium heat
  4. Add the seeds, and wait until they are ready. They are gonna make some funny popping sound
  5. Add some water to extinguish when the seeds are burning 
  6. Add the powders and the rice + dahl + water + salt.
  7. Make it cook for a bit without the cover, after adding the cover and let it simmer for a bit on a lower temperature. 
  8. In between you cut the fresh coriander and prepare the lemon juice. 
  9. After the rice is well cooked for 7-10 minutes. 
  10. Turn it off and wait  for 5-10 minutes with the cover still on.
  11. Serve with some fresh coriander and lemon, and enjoy!
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