24 Feb Ritucharya
The art of sensational routine
-by Supriya Ruparelia
One of the fundamentals of the ancient science of Ayurveda medicine is living in tune with nature and its seasons. In Ayurveda we call this Ritucharya, meaning the art of seasonal routine.
Given we are experiencing a proper summer in Australia, I want to focus on the main elements of the summer season which has hot, drying and sharp qualities.
The summer season brings high temperature, heat and humidity and naturally the ‘fire’ element pervades in the environment. In the same way, the Pitta Dosha (consisting of water and fire) becomes dominant in the body and can be the reason behind skin irritations, inflammation, anger, irritability, tiredness etc.
Pitta is one of the three (the other two being Kapha and Vata) Ayurvedic doshas, or qualities, and each person’s unique constitution contains all three to varying degrees. Some of us are naturally more grounded and earthy types (Kapha), some more fiery and analytical (Pitta) and others are more creative, ethereal (Vata) in our approach to life.
In Ayurveda there is a law which states that like increases like. So, when similar qualities come together, their quantitative expression increases. In summer this results in Pitta becoming the dominant dosha.
The classical Ayurvedic texts suggest that it is best to eat naturally sweet, cold, unctuous, liquid and easy to digest foods; and to avoid spicy, salty, and sour foods like kombucha, miso or sauerkraut.
I have put together my top summer tips and included some useful recipes below which might be useful during this long and extended summer.
Ayurvedic summer lifestyle practices
- Start your morning routine early, if possible before sunrise, when it’s cooler outside. So, this might be some form of exercise, meditation or other activity.
- Apply coconut oil to your head and hair as a treatment, coconut has cooling properties which will take some heat out of your body.
- Buy yourself some Rosewater and apply on pads for your eyes or on your face as a spritz to feel it’s incredibly cooling effects.
- Don’t push yourself too hard, especially when it comes to exercise, try not to run around midday and if you are exercising at lunchtime do a swim or a walk.
- Drink your water at room temp, add a little mint and a slice of cucumber.
- Coconut water, with a squeeze or several slices of lime is incredibly cooling.
- Go for the greens. Choose leafy greens with a bitter, astringent flavor, like rocket, spinach, and kale and lightly cook them if possible so they are easier to digest. Other great foods for balancing pitta include cucumber, rock melon, watermelon, and berries.
- Add herbs to your meals. Mint, coriander, and basil all have cooling properties, and are surprisingly nutritious.
- Steer clear of pitta-aggravating foods. These include overly salty, oily, fried, and spicy foods, including onions, garlic, processed, and canned foods.
- Lay off the coffee. Caffeine is very stimulating and dehydrating.
Morning Detox Recipe
Add the following ingredients to boiled water.
½ tsp lemon juice
½ tsp honey
½ tsp fennel powder (fennel powder has cooling and sweet properties and is great for detoxifying the gut)
½ tsp ginger
*Tip, wait until the water is warm before adding the honey, in order, to keep the healing properties of honey intact.
Coriander Chutney Recipe
1 bunch of coriander, roughly chopped
¼ cup mint, chopped
3 shoots spring onion chopped
¼ teaspoon black pepper
¼ cup water
1 tablespoon minced ginger
¼ cup lime or lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
This can be eaten with vegetables, fish or added flavour to a nourishing or poke bowl style meal
