Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Foreign hello my friend, and welcome back to another episode of Deepen your yoga practice. I am Lauren Leduc, the founder and owner of True Love Yoga in Kansas City, Missouri and I'm so happy you're here. So cozy up. Today we are going to be talking about winter Ayurveda, so lifestyle practices that complement your yoga and help support you through this particular season.
[00:00:44] So I love working with Ayurveda, the sister science of yoga, to help align my energy with the season and to kind of balance out the different qualities of the season as well.
[00:01:02] Ayurveda is the science of life and it is a thousands of year old tradition developed over time to help create a state of optimal health. And we can use the principles of Ayurveda to enhance our lives and health, of course, and also to inform our yoga practice. So I'll talk a little bit about that today. So in Ayurveda, the season we're in right now is still considered vata, which is categorized by air and ether. And we are beginning to transition into this late winter, early spring season, which is predominantly categorized by kapha, which is earth and water. It's this heavy kind of cold quality. So we'll get into what that means for our daily lives and how to work with these qualities of vata and kapha. And also pitta, which is the other dosha or category or state of matter in Ayurveda, which is which is all about fire. So let's talk about the Ayurvedic perspective on winter a little bit.
[00:02:23] So in winter we are inviting in stillness and introspection and grounding. So think about the bear hibernating, think about the trees who've lost their leaves.
[00:02:40] All of these signs of life are essentially hiding away or going underground for nourishment and rest. And as humans as part of nature, we're invited to do the same. And that's especially true in the earlier winter season that is categorized by vata or air and movement. We balance that out by grounding. And I talk about this quite a bit actually in the previous episode on Ayurveda which talked talks about autumn Ayurveda. So many of those principles still hold true right now. And then we're looking at this kapha energy in the later winter, early spring season, which I talked about. It's really stable, it's heavy. And that can manifest in our beings with lethargy and congestion. You might hear the congestion in my voice right now. I have this excess of kapha within me that's manifesting through of congestion and gross nasally stuff. So we have that energy mixed with vata's lingering effects. So this dryness, coldness and kind of erratic energy. So that sounds fun, right? A mix of lethargy and erratic, anxious energy.
[00:04:07] Those are things we might feel if our beings are out of balance with the help of nature. So as we're looking at these different qualities that nature is embodying and that we might be embodying right now, potentially in an out of balance way, what our goal would be is to balance these out by cultivating inner warmth, by finding plenty of hydration and by balancing stillness and movement. So yes, winter is asking us to go inward and find stillness and rest. But as we creep into this kapha period, it's actually asking for more movement, more warmth, more balance in that way. So we'll talk about how to hold both of these at the same time, the rest and the movement. So some Ayurvedic routines to promote winter wellness that have been around for a long time.
[00:05:10] First are oil pulling. So that is first thing in the morning, swishing oil in your mouth. Particularly, particularly this time of year, it might be a warm sesame oil and then you don't swallow, you spit it out.
[00:05:27] Also abhyanga, which is self massage, so you can massage your whole body from feet to hair with warm sesame oil. Again, really paying special attention to the joints to bring warmth into them. If your joints are feeling a little bit creaky this time of year or a little bit painful, this practice is really known to help with that.
[00:05:51] Also tongue scraping again, first thing, I like a copper tongue scraper personally. That's what you would use in Ayurvedic practices, literally scraping all the dukkha. The yuckiness off of the tongue in the provides the body with with a nice cleansing or detoxification. Other things you can add to your daily routine is the prioritization of warming practices in general. So think of delicious baths, think of warm showers, think of hot teas, think of covering yourself with a blanket, getting cozy by the fire. All of the stuff that just feels so, so good this season. Other ways in your daily life that you can balance out kapha are through your morning and evening routines and wake and sleep times.
[00:06:46] So kapha really asks for balance to have an early morning wake up. And that might mean different things to different people. This time of year though, it's typically going to be before the sun rises because the sun does rise a bit late and it also suggests getting up and moving. So I personally do need A moment to sit. In the mornings I might sit and have my coffee, which isn't necessarily part of Ayurveda, but it's part of my routine after water and after a few other self care practices.
[00:07:25] And then I want to move.
[00:07:27] Whether that means going to a workout class or doing a few things around the house, or playing with my daughter. It feels better to move this time of year, even if that's not mentally what I'm wishing for at the moment. But I do find that physically it does pay off.
[00:07:45] So early morning, wake up and maybe an invigorating morning routine. That might mean getting up and doing a few sun salutations to get your body moving and warm up for your day. You might also want to go to bed early. So really in the evening start to honor the stillness, the quiet.
[00:08:07] Maybe that's when you take your nice hot bath, have your hot cup of tea, turn off the blue light and really give yourself space to wind down, maybe legs up the wall before getting a really good night's rest so that you can get up nice and early and get at it in the morning. Ayurveda has a diet and nutrition tips or guidelines for the winter. And it really emphasizes eating and drinking, warm nourishing foods and drinks obviously to help warm up the body. So think soups, stews, cooked foods, any seasonal vegetables. Once we get into early spring too, there's some really lovely vegetables that start start coming up before everything else.
[00:08:55] So you can think onions, garlic, et cetera. There are different spices that help promote agni or digestive fire.
[00:09:05] So ginger, cinnamon, black pepper, turmeric, all really great for this time of year. And really for food and drinks, what you might want to avoid is anything that's really cold, you might not want to put ice in your water, heavy foods that might aggravate kapha. So we, we definitely tend to do heavier foods in the late fall, early winter, and then they can lighten up a little bit in the late winter, early spring to help promote this movement, this fire, this changing energy of the season. So as we move into this kapha dominance, there are a few things you might want to keep in mind for your yoga practice for the winter. And one is moving a little bit more. So I try to teach pretty seasonally and in the fall we've done mostly a little bit slower practices, not slow, slow like restorative because I teach vinyasa, but we've emphasized like grounding through the feet and structure and stillness. And as we move more into this kapha season, this later winter season, we're going to see more movement, more emphasis on inner heat.
[00:10:22] So we do this through dynamic sequences. I mentioned sun salutations. You could get up out of bed and do a few of those in the morning. They're a great way to warm up the body.
[00:10:32] That might mean incorporating different breath work or pranayama practices that create fire and heat, such as Kapalabhati or Breath of Fire. I'll try to demo it right now. Sound wise? Although again, I'm really congested. But it sounds like this.
[00:10:50] It's quick exhales out of your nose and then the inhales come naturally.
[00:10:55] Or Bestrika, which is an equal inhale and exhale. Very similar.
[00:11:01] I can't do it right now. I just tried but I'm way too congested to do the inhale. However, I like to incorporate these during my Vinyasa classes. So if you'd like to come take a couple classes with me, if you're in Kansas City or join in online, you can experience these different heat inducing pranayama practices with me.
[00:11:21] And then on the flip side, like I said, we're balancing movement and stillness. You might want to explore some restorative yoga or even yin yoga postures to honor introspection and stillness. So definitely don't get moving to the point where you're burning out. You want to move and get your energy moving and then also carve in that time to relax, to find stillness, to honor this more slow season. Other movement practices I really love for winter are nice walks outside. I mean, walking is great really for any season, but it's a great way to experience nature and to warm yourself up a little bit. I really love strength training. And you might start in the late winter, early spring. Also getting into more cardio practices as well. Well, to really get the body and the circulation moving and to honor your heart. But it's not an all or nothing approach, right? On one hand we're holding this movement, we're inducing heat, and then on the other it's like we have created this fire and we get to sit by it and enjoy it, right? And that's how we find the balance. So I have three journaling prompts for you considering Ayurveda in this season. So you're welcome to maybe pause and think about them or actually take the time to journal. The first one is what is my favorite way to move? What is my favorite way to move? The second one is how can I create space for stillness in my daily life? How can I create space for stillness in my daily life. And the third is what areas of my life feel cold or stagnant and how can I bring warmth and flow? What areas of my life feel cold or stagnant and how can I bring warmth and flow? So thank you for taking the time to consciously honor this season within and without, and I invite you to use these Ayurvedic practices and ancient wisdom to embrace the winter. I think oftentimes, especially like here in the Midwest, we hate it. We want to get away, but there are so many beautiful aspects of it as well. And I think the more we work with the energies and balance them out, the more we're able to feel the beauty and see the beauty within this season. And I also recommend maybe picking one or two of these different tips and incorporating them into your daily practices and just noticing how you feel. Try it on. If you love it, keep going. If you don't, maybe think about why.
[00:14:07] And I think soon enough you'll form daily rituals and practices that work with the seasons and feel good in your own specific being. Also keep in mind I am speaking really generally here about Ayurveda and we also hold these different balances and imbalances and dominances within our own beings as well. So if this is something that you're really interested in exploring more of, there are of course great books and podcasts, but I definitely recommend finding an Ayurvedic practitioner and setting an appointment with them and they're going to be able to help you really identify all of these really interesting aspects of who you are and then the different balances and imbalances that you might hold within your own specific being and give you really specific and great practices to help find more balance and health and vitality in your own being. I want to thank you so much for listening today. I hope you have a beautiful winter season. If there's anything else you want to learn about always, please reach out and let me know. I do also want to say for anyone who is interested in the True Love Yoga 200 Hour Yoga Teacher Training for 2025 that our early bird discount ends January 31st. So you have a couple more weeks to get your applications in and to take advantage of that big discount and this is offered both online and in person March through September 2025. I cannot say enough great things about the program. If this is your year to dive in deep, to get to know yourself better, to show yourself more love, to develop a new skill and potentially new career avenue, this is your invitation to join so you can go to trueloveyogacc.com to learn more. Thank you all so much for listening. See you next week. Om Shanti Om Peace.
