January is the month to start the new year with a 'clean slate'’ Getting started. The holidays are just behind us and we need both rest and cleansing. Cleaning/tidying up or changing your house (with eg. a different color in our interior) is a good start. It gives room for new things, and it makes you lighter. Rituals have traditionally been linked to the season or to the Christian faith with the aim of making the body and mind aware of the recurring cycles of nourishment and cleansing.
Ayurveda, as a universal science of life, attaches great importance to rhythms. You can find these under ‘Dinacharya‘ (wisdom for daily routines) and ‘ritucharya‘ (wisdom for seasonal rhythm).
What can you pay attention to at the beginning of the new year? Below you will find a number of tips that will help you on your way.
- Create routine in your life. Nothing is as healthy as a 'boring life'. Your body is like a clock. So get up at or around the same time, go to sleep around the same time, Take meals at the same time and build up a daily program in which you have fixed times around work, eat, bowel movement, Leisure and sleep. That gives peace of mind.
- Tailor nutrition to your constitution and lifestyle. Are you more of a vata, or pitta, Or Kapha? Every digestion works differently. Vata has a predominantly weak digestion and especially benefits from warm, soft and cooked food. Are you physically active a lot? Then make sure you burn more and need more!
- Detoxifies regularly in a mild way. We don't have to do much for it because our body already naturally has mechanisms that do this work. The liver is pre-eminently the detoxification organ. But with a mild detox diet, you help both the liver and the whole body.
- Exercise daily. Pay attention to good circulation in the heart- and blood vessels. Exercise gives better digestion. But above all: stay flexible and active so that your hormones also benefit. You also become less depressed. Go outside as much as possible, Day/sunlight is essential!
- Cultivate peace and mindfulness. Rest and relaxation are necessary to recover and recharge your batteries. Sufficient sleep, less strain on your nervous system, provide clarity and positivity.
- Set intentions (sankalpa) instead of goals. Goals are often pitfalls and create a form of mental tension to achieve something. They often end in disappointment. Look inside and ask yourself what you really want to achieve for this year from your feelings. Examples are: ” I take good care of my body” of “I take time for rest and reflection”.
Have a great start to the year!
