Preparing for the Fall Cold/Flu season by following ancient practices of AYURVEDA.

Ayurveda is a 5000-year-old ancient healing system that covers aspects of health and well-being from a holistic perspective. It is a personalized approach to health and understanding your mind-body constitution or Dosha type. It allows you to make optimal health choices from diet, to exercise, to use of herbs and supplements and overall lifestyle.

Ayurveda believes the 5 elements (Space, Air, Water, Ether and Earth) and are around us and we are made from these elements. Ayurveda has categorized these elements into 3 DOSHA types for each individual, named Vata , Pitta and Kapha. Each dosha has a specific emotional, psychological and physically characteristics. These make up the 3 vital forces of life and a perfect balance of these doshas bring balance and harmony within you.

We are now moving from a Pitta (Summer) time of year into the dry, cold, windy, damp season of fall. Ayurveda believes depending on your age, time of life, external environment, seasons and other variable factors the doshas have to be in balance to avoid any health issues (physically and mentally). 

So how can we prepare our bodies and minds for the FALL period? 

Lets take a look at few things we can do ahead of time before entering into fall. Just like how we prepare our homes and our outfits based on seasonal change, we have to prepare our mind and body as well. 

Recommendations:

• Eat Chyawanprash 1 TSP every day in the morning. 

It is an ayurvedic jam and has many medicinal herbs, one of them mainly being Amalaki which is an antioxidant and has a high content of vitamin C. It is extremely nourishing and provides a great support to build a strong immunity. It also helps to release any toxins and clears out ama out of the body and overall Rejuvenates all the tissues in the body.

• Start to drink warm water with lemon/lime and some honey in the morning

Depending on your dosha you can choose to add lemon or lime. If you are a Vata/Kapha type the qualities are lemon are nice and warming and if you are a pitta type, you want to add lime into your warm water. But drinking a cup in the morning gets your digestive tract moving and helps in elimination of waste/toxins from the colon. Try not to drink cold water around this time as it lowers your immunity. 

• Drinking Turmeric tea with some ginger and honey

Trying to drink 1 cup of this tea will really help you build immunity to fight the cold/flu season.  The anti inflammatory properties in Turmeric highly assist in fighting with the free radicals and any infections. Ginger helps with digestion, bloating, or gas as well.

• Eating-warming foods and not cold salads and cold soups during this time. Eating seasonal.

Depending on your dosha type and the foods that pacify your body, make sure you are cooking warming and nutritional meals to assist you with feeling grounded and staying warm during this cooler period. Foods such as eggplant, squash, beetroot, carrots, and radish are all warming foods. Spices such turmeric, cinnamon, cloves, mustard seeds are all heating qualities.

• Taking Triphala every night before bed:

Triphala is a combination of three Ayurvedic fruits: Amalaki, Bibhitaki, and Haritaki. It helps in supporting a healthy elimination (it’s a mild laxative) and also helps lubricating intestinal walls. It aids in weight loss and helps in all bodily function and brings balance needed. 

You can get the tablet or pressed form and take 1-2 a day or get the triphala powder/churna and mix ¼ tsp in warm water and drink it before bed.

• Use a NETI POT to cleanse your sinuses. 

In the fall its extremely important to keep your nasal passages clear from any build up of mucous so they don’t get prone to infections or allergies or cold/cough. But using a neti pot at least 3 times a week can ensure that the sinuses are being cleared out. Therefore there are no blockages in the respiratory pathways. Always seal your nostrils with coconut oil/sesame oil by using a cotton swab to apply inside your nostrils on the inner edges to avoid any dryness or crust build up in the morning.