Winter is here and so is the cold and dark time of the year. If you are living in a tropical country, this might not be the case for you, but many of us do go through this tricky yet beautiful time of the year. Winter is the season of cosiness, snow, Christmas, heating spices, biscuits and sleep ins.
How do you feel about winter this year?
Personally, I love winter in all its forms, yet I find the long period of coldness and darkness (it gets dark here around 4:30PM!)
How do you manage this?
Here are a few tips and ideas on how you can turn this season into a more pleasant and rejuvenating experience!
Avoid all the unnecessary Consumption
Yes, winter-time is the peak time of consumerism, buying new things covered in tonnes of plastic, shopping non-ethical Christmas gifts and getting caught up into advertisings that promise happiness in order to purchase even more. You, as a yogi should see this and make a change! It’s simply not good for our environment and evolution to make the footprints even bigger and supporting this never-ending foolishness. How about choosing plastic-free local shops over big chains and going for seasonal fruits and veggies rather than imported GMO food?
Eat well, Eat Healthy according to your body type
Each body and being is different, yet some of us share the same dosha (body constitution) that can be either pitta, vata or kapha or a mix of them. According to Ayurveda, each of these doshas hold specific properties and need different meals. Which type are you? If you are primary pitta dosha which is very common actually, your digestive fire is already quite high, yet it can get lower during the cold. Therefore, you should heat warming foods, cooked veggies, grains and soups. You can use cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, garlic and nutmeg to add a little extra heating powers to your meals. Drink also plenty of (warm) water and fennel seed tea for any easy digestion.
Integrate a daily yoga practice into your morning and evening routine
A bit too much? You don’t have to practice four hours of yoga every day but see if you can make some space for it around 30 minutes in the morning and 30 minutes in the evening.
Yoga in the morning (some warm-up + 8 rounds of sun salutations) helps you to wake up, remove physical and energetical blockages and stiffness from the night and increase your blood circulation so your body and mind feel energised and oxygenated.
During the evening time, yoga or some silent sitting (meditation in combination with breathing) can help you to release stress that accumulated during the day and calm yourself to get a good and peaceful night of sleep.
Be kind, give love and speak with compassion
Be a yogi, be kind! No matter where you are and what you are a doing, a yogi always speaks with compassion and sees the things from a perspective of love and positivity. When you go out, interact with the people from a kind and mindful angle. Don’t judge, don’t complain, don’t gossip. Focus your energy on your personal growth and sharing love instead of hate. There is enough war, anger and unfair in the world already. Be the change that you want to see in the world!