Basics: 7 Keys to Winter Health & Happiness (+ Happy Diwali!!)

Just finished writing these 7 Keys for Winter Health & Happiness for The Mindful Body's November newsletter, and I'm pleased with how it turned out. There's a lot to be gained if you integrate even a few of these recommendations. Please share this knowledge with your friends, family and coworkers; it can really change the course of your wintertime health towards one of immunity and joy. 

And on a festive note, Happy Diwali! The "festival of lights"is the perfect time to invite your inner light of intelligence and wisdom to shine brightly and illuminate a healthy easeful path before you. Traditionally, Diwali is a time of offering to Ganesh, the obstacle remover, and Lakshmi, the bestower of wealth. Here are two mantras you might enjoy trying out: 

For Ganesh: Aum Gan Ganapatye Namah

great when starting something new, to invite an easy path to success

For Lakshmi: Om Shrim Maha Lakshmiyei Swaha

invites abundance of all kinds into our lives

I hope these mantras and healthy tips bring you an winter season abundant with love, health & happiness. 

7 KEYS TO WINTER HEALTH & HAPPINESS: 

Understanding Vata Dosha

The dryness of winter in the Bay Area has set in and the cold will soon be on its way. Vata, the wintertime dosha, has come to stay for a while, and nature is responding accordingly. Hibernation and eating fat and protein rich foods are the tools used by the majority of nature’s beings to balance the cold dark and dry qualities of the winter. While we won’t be going into caves to hide from the elements, there are steps we can take to protect our health and sanity during the winter.

Cues that tell you Vata is already giving you the run around (is out of balance): Severe abdominal bloating, any moderate to severe pain of recent onset, loss of sensation, recent loss of strength and lack of enthusiasm, shaking & tremors, muscle spasm, bad back, severe constipation, persistent insomnia, emaciation, stricken with fear, grief or worry. If you find yourself already experiencing any of the above, speak with me and we can create a plan to bring you back to balance.

1. Routine! Daily routine is the structure that contains the wild winds of Vata. It soothes the nervous system and balances our digestive fires. Create a mini-morning routine and a mini-evening routine to follow daily to promote grounded energy.


2. Oil Everywhere: Inside & Outside. Coat the insides of your nose and ears with warm sesame oil to prevent your sinuses from growing dry. Coat your body with warm sesame oil before showering to nourish your nervous system, keep you warm and give you luscious skin. Integrate lots of healthy oils into your diet on a daily basis: soaked nuts, seeds, ghee, olive oil, flax oil, sesame oil and small amounts of coconut oil.


3. Multi-task less. Multi-tasking naturally puts our minds in many places at once, fragmenting our energies and leaving us spun out and depleted. Plus, studies have shown that it’s less productive! Do one thing at a time whether it’s eating your meal or surfing the Internet. Your mind will thank you and you’ll sleep better too.


4. Eat warm & wet foods. Bypass the salad bar and head for the soups and stews. Skip the scone and go for the oatmeal. These little changes will help your body stay warm, lubricated and nourished and will help you avoid bloating, constipation and dry skin that are so common this time of year.


5. Hibernate each night. Turn your home into your little cozy refuge. Turn off electronics and take time for you: a warm bath with lavender essential oils, light reading, some easy yoga and/or pranayama, rub oil on your feet then early to bed for a night of rejuvenating sleep.


6. Practice Alternate Nostril Breathing Daily. In the morning, evening or as an afternoon mindfulness break. To do: Use your right hand’s thumb for your right nostril and the ring finger for your left nostril. Close the right nostril and exhale, then inhale through the same side. Switch sides at the top of each inhale (when you’re full of breath). Breathe smoothly and slowly like this for 5-10 minutes or longer. Watch your mind slooooooowwww dowwwwwn.


7. Practice Yoga that makes your legs burn to turn up your inner furnace & ground your mind. Focus primarily on standing poses where you hold the poses long enough for the legs to feel a deep burning but not to exhaustion. Focus on relaxing the muscle layer and resting in the support of the bones and you’ll feel your inner thermostat go up without unsettling the mind.

And a little lesson for the yogis:

Many of you are familiar with Prana, as in Pranayama. Prana is “the energy that drives life, the power that animates the body, enlivens the mind, spurs the soul” (Robert Svoboda) and comes from what we take into the body: breath, food and experience. When our lives are balanced we live in the flow of Prana and our energies are grounded, centered and vivacious. Prana is the natural byproduct of healthy Vata. So when Vata is balanced, we find ourselves basking in the stable centering life energy of Prana, and when Vata is unbalanced we find ourselves riddled with the fragmented and depleting energy of Vata. In this season, Vata naturally wants to carry our energies away with the wind and so to cultivate balanced Prana, we must learn to balance Vata. What Vata wants most is something to orient itself around. By integrating a steady health promoting routine into your day, you’ll find Vata calms and that you’re happily moving with the current of life rather than lost within it.