It is that time of the year. Incessant sneezing, coughing, flu bouts, skin drying like the trees in winter-itchy, scratchy, and white. From the west coast to the east, people have started layering up but when temperatures drop below zero, nothing seems to help. This time of the year, our bodies need extra care. But Ayurveda can help you stay warm and healthy and support healthy immune function this winter!
According to Ayurveda, winter is the time when Kapha and Vata qualities dominate in nature. It is heavy, grounding, but also extremely drying, and cold, to the point of being brutal for the skin and body. So our foods and skincare products need to be unctuous and oily, warming and light. At this time of the year, digestive fire happens to be more robust and so our body is able to take oily, unctuous, warm, moist foods better than other times of the year.
1. Have ginger tablets to keep the body warm this winter
Spices like ginger, turmeric, cinnamon, nutmeg, among others help keep your body warm, support healthy immune function, and rekindle the digestive fire.
Ayurveda recognizes the connection between the gut and brain health and provides ginger its pride of place in supporting this connection. Ginger root offers plenty of traditional wellness benefits.
One of those rare spices that can work as a flavoring agent; help ease occasional queasiness; be used as an essential oil; support menstrual comfort; support regular, healthy elimination; ease occasional gas; is rich in antioxidants; and supports joint comfort and digestive comfort, especially in winter.
Ginger also
- Helps support a healthy respiratory system.
- Helps support clear, comfortable sinuses.
- Helps support a healthy reproductive system.
- Helps support a healthy lower back.
2. Include Ghee or clarified butter in your diet
Ghee absorbs fat-soluble vitamins A,D,E and K very well. During winters, when the digestive fire is strong, healthy fats like ghee or clarified butter comes strongly recommended by Ayurveda experts, to be had in food. With growing interest in the traditional benefits of clarified butter as a nourishing and rejuvenating food, more and more people have started taking it in their diet on a daily basis. If your skin looks dull and dry, it may have something to do with increased Vata, poor digestion, and accumulation of ama in the body, according to Ayurveda. Ghee is traditionally used to support the body's natural cleansing processes, healthy digestion, and Vata balance. Ghee is also incredibly moisturizing and unctuous in quality and it removes the dryness in the body, thanks to the presence of omega-3 fatty acids in it.
3. Winter Abhyanga
A good way to deal with winter dryness is to prioritize copious body oiling through the traditional practice of Abhyanga.
Ahhyanga is different from any ordinary oil message in that, it ensures the warm oil seeps into body tissues, presses into the tissues, moisturizes your body through and through, and supports the body's natural cleansing processes. Ayurvedic texts talk about the use of coconut oil, neem or sesame oil for abhyanga. Cold-pressed Coconut oil is particularly good for the purpose since it is deeply penetrative, moisturizing and helps retain moisture within.
Sri Sri Tattva's Organic Virgin coconut oil comes with antioxidant properties that help support healthy immune function. You can use it for body massages, oil pulling, or cooking! Coconut oil works as a natural moisturizer in the rough and dry weather, keeps skin soft and supple due to Vitamin E.
4. Taking care of your skin with saffron this winter
Saffron is a rare Indian herb that is known for its rich antioxidant content and warming nature, which helps comfort your skin in the cold. Saffron is great for glowing skin and shiny long, healthy locks of hair. Moisturizing body creams like Sri Sri Tattva’s Kesar Body Cream, fortified with saffron can really help hydrate and protect your skin during winter since it helps exfoliate dead skin cells, cleanses skin impurities, contains multivitamins and nutrients that keep the skin looking young, supple and ageless.
It is important to pick a moisturizer that nourishes and conditions your skin to deal with the winter using ingredients that are natural and suited to the season, as ascribed in ancient Ayurvedic texts, like Sri Sri Tattva’s Moisturizing Body Cream, made from the rich goodness of aloe vera, rose extract, soybean oils, and shea butter. The ingredients hydrate, soften, tone, and soothe the skin, locks in moisture and helps reduce the appearance of fine lines and dryness.
5. Taking care of your winter foot
The foot bears the greatest brunt of a bad winter as layers of skin on the heels harden, crack, flake, and break. Here you can try natural options in foot creams like Sri Sri Tattva’s Repleneshing Foot Cream which is an effective fusion of aloe vera, neem and sariva to soften and soothe feet in the winters. The aloe vera present in it is hydrating and moisturizing, helping protect feet from dryness. The neem is an excellent agent for exfoliating dead cells in the feet, and sariva nourishes and replenishes the underlying layers of the skin. The mint in it is a good astringent that helps tone up and clears off skin cells, removes dirt from skin pores, tightens skin pores and helps retain moisture.
6 Herbs-Haritaki and Ashwagandhadi
Winter is also a time when joint discomfort and stiffness can increase. This time of the year, Ayurveda experts strongly recommend the consumption of herbs like Haritaki and Ashwagandha to support joint comfort and mobility, as they also balance Vata and Kapha. While Haritaki is an excellent digestive herb that helps absorb nutrients better and supports regular, healthy elimination; Ashwagandhadi helps support healthy immune function, particularly in older adults, and supports physical strength and vitality.
6. Yoga
Winters can get you. It is hard enough to get out of bed, let alone work on yourself. But winters, Ayurveda recommends working out, exercising and practices slightly tougher asanas. To prep your body for winter months, you can practice the inverted poses, that increase blood circulation and work up the sluggish lymphatic system. You can start with three gentle sets of sun salutations.
*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.