A healthy body and mind are the ultimate luxury. Ayurveda always encourages taking your health in your own hands. It believes in caring for your body as well as mind – not only to cure or prevent disease, but to be able to enjoy the gift of life to the fullest. And isn’t nearly as hard as it might seem! A few tweaks to your everyday life can go miles in boosting your wellness quotient. Here are some tips on how to stay fit and healthy from an Ayurvedic perspective.
How to Stay Fit and Healthy Everyday: Tips from Ayurveda
1. Know Yourself.
Ayurveda is a holistic healthcare system that recognises individuality. This system has a unique principle of the three ‘doshas’ or mind-body constitutions. The three mind-body types are Vata, Pitta, and Kapha. Everyone has all three doshas – but in each of us, a certain dosha is dominant. Your dosha (which can sometimes also be a combination like Vata-Pitta) determines your physical structure, mental attitudes, likes and dislikes, likelihood to develop certain kinds of illnesses, and even sleeping habits. The goal is to bring a balance of the three doshas. From this balance comes a state of complete wellbeing. So, the question of how to stay fit and healthy begins with understanding whether your dosha is Vata, Pitta and/or Kapha.
2. Practise ‘Abhyanga’.
How to keep fit and healthy while pampering yourself at the same time? Try ‘Abhyanga’. It means self-massage. It’s a fantastic practice of self love that and rejuvenates the body. It improves the quality of sleep, calms the nervous system, lubricates joints and muscles, nourishes the tissues, refreshes the mind, improves the texture of skin, helps you feel energised, and promotes detoxification too. Depending on your dosha (mind-body constitution), you can choose your oil. Those with Vata can use sesame oil. Pitta types can use coconut oil. And Kapha types can use sunflower oil. Two oils great for all doshas are triphala oil and jojoba oil.
3. Follow a Natural Sleep Cycle.
One of the most important and commonly shared tips to stay healthy and fit. Your body has a rhythm, called a circadian rhythm, which influences how energised, alert, drowsy, and hungry you feel through the day. Stay in tune with your natural circadian rhythm – which means waking up with the Sun and sleeping early enough the previous night to get 7-8 hours of sleep. In just a matter of weeks, you will begin to notice that you have more energy, focus, physical strength, and emotional balance.
4. Eat Sattvic Food
Ask any Ayurvedic doctor how to keep fit and healthy, and they’ll tell you to follow a ‘Sattvic’ diet. The Ayurvedic concept of ‘Sattva, Rajas and Tamas’ recognises that all food has qualities that either purify, agitate, or weaken your body and mind. Sattvic food is the best kind of food that has a nourishing, strengthening, purifying, and calming effect. Some examples of Sattvic food are fresh organic fruits and vegetables, nuts and seeds, dairy from happy cows and other naturally sources like almonds and soy, whole grains, ghee, natural sweeteners, and ground vegetables. You can read more about it here.
5. Sip on Warm Water.
Ayurvedic experts swear by this practice. Warm water has wonderful benefits for the digestive system and the rest of your body. It clears toxins off your digestive tract, keeps your digestive fire (called ‘agni’ in Ayurveda) strong, and improves the absorption of nutrients in the body. Before eating anything in the morning, pour yourself a glass of warm water and squeeze the juice of half a lemon into it. And throughout the day, keep sipping on glasses of warm water.
6. Move!
Most of us already know that being active is essential for good health. But we sometimes need a reminder of just how effective as little as 30 minutes of it be. There are so many things to choose from – yoga, walking, swimming, cycling…the list goes on. Yoga is particularly helpful since it works on both the body and mind, and takes a holistic approach to health. Commit to doing it everyday and you will definitely experience a heightened state of physical as well as mental wellbeing.
Do you have any interesting tips on how to stay fit and healthy? Let us know!
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