Guest post by: Sham Karunanidhi
Ayurveda is a thousand years old science developed in classical India.
It embraces living our daily life in harmony with nature and a better understanding of its functioning and that of all living beings through it.
It is therefore an ideal medicine to be reborn with the spring.
In Sanskrit, "Ayur" means life, and "Veda" means science or knowledge.
Created by the Rishis, the Sages of classical India, "Ayurveda" can literally be translated
as "Knowledge of life or longevity."
Balancing our elements
Kapha dosha (element of water and earth) naturally increases in spring. As a result, Agni* (fire) is reduced. Reduced Agni leads to low digestive capacity and emotional imbalance.
*In Ayurveda, Agni is the source of life and well-being.
Rituals to follow
Eating light foods with a pungent, astringent, and bitter taste is recommended. Foods that are
seasonally available in the spring have these attributes. For emotional imbalance, meditation, and outdoor activities are recommended. For example, a hike up a mountain on a sunny day followed by a peaceful meditation with sunbeams falling on your face could feel spiritual and emotional.
Panchakarma is an integral and powerful ritual that can be taken during the spring season, but it requires the supervision of an Ayurvedic doctor. However, we could do something similar to Nasya in the Panchakarma procedure with the help of a Jala Neti at home.
This gentle nasal cleansing procedure reduces kapha in the upper body.
Pranayama and yoga are other simple practices to restore weak Agni. For example, pranayama breathing techniques, including bastrika and kapalabhati, are known to activate agni and both brain hemispheres.
The surya namaskara yoga procedure helps activate all the chakras in the body and restore agni.The 12 postures involved in surya namaskara also contribute to eliminating ama (toxins accumulated in the body during winter).
Take care of our beauty.
During the winter season, we used a lot of moisturizers for the dry weather, and now in
the spring, it is better to use exfoliating agents to remove the old winter skin. In Ayurveda,
Neem powder (Azadirachata indica) is used as an excellent skin cleanser and in many sacred Ayurvedic rituals.
Neem has many healing properties for the skin. It is also a gentle exfoliant. Therefore, use mild cleansing products with the Neem ingredient. Do not use soap or soap-based cleansers, as it is not recommended in Ayurveda!
For the hair, it is recommended to use shikakai powder (Acacia concinna) for a healthy scalp and hair. Shikakai has the unique property of being slightly acidic compared to many neutral shampoos. Using a mildly acidic hair cleanser is best, as our scalp is mildly acidic.
About the guest writer
Sham Karunanidhi is a veterinary biochemist. He founded the Melo Ayurveda brand
in 2018 to address skin allergy issues in India.
