CALM • RESTORE • HYDRATE

Autumn asks you to be honest: Are you truly balanced? 
Does the windy season have you feeling more like a tornado than a cool gentle breeze?

Commit to your whole-body wellness this season.
Establish an abhyanga practice as a nurturing nightly ritual. Massage your entire body with heated oils that are known to balance vata, like shea butter or sesame oil. Diffuse calming essential oils like sandalwood and lavender. For relaxation and hydration use Soul Artist Living mellow butter which contains a seasonal blend of whipped organic shea butter and calming essential oils, as well as ashwagandha, and vitamins A and E. 

Drink warm teas and eat cooked, oily, and grounding meals like baked root vegetables with ghee, soups, and whole grains. Enjoy warming mild spices like cinnamon, ginger, and clove. Focus on tastes that are naturally sweet, sour, salty, and in season.

Align with the rhythms of nature. Commit to maintaining a consistent bedtime (before 10 p.m.) Wake by 6:00 a.m. to a nurturing morning yoga and meditation practice. Include deep breathing exercises to soothe your nervous system and keep you feeling easy-breezy all day.

Take time to eat, work, exercise, meditate and rest *consistently* every day.

AYURVEDA • BODY • RITUAL

Author: R.R. Shakti, PhD
Photo: Chelsea Shapouri

​I have two words for you: Self Massage.

If you ask me, the Ayurvedic ritual of abhyanga (oleation of the skin) NEEDS to be a living part of every body's self-care routine.
Maybe it's because I have been a practicing Massage Therapist for two decades and I've seen *first-hand* the pure magic of therapeutic touch. Right now, I'm thinking of all the excess tension you hold in your body–the stress and habitual patterns of emotional suppression–oh my goodness! Your sweet body carries your baggage. 

But your body is more than a baggage handler. It is also your temple and your shelter. It is your medium for self-expression, your vehicle for movement. When your body is healthy, it provides both a sense of security and connection. Your body is the interface between you and the world around you. As a human being, it is probably your most valuable asset (obvi.)

And your skin...don't even get me started!...

You've probably heard that your skin is the largest organ of your body. Intuitively you know that it is pretty important. 
It protects you from harmful microbes and harsh elements. It helps regulate your body temperature and prevents dehydration.
Your skin literally helps hold you together. Not to mention: it provides a canvas for super-cool tattoos.
But perhaps the best quality of your skin: It is a playground for sensation. Heat, cold, smooth, rough, pain, itch, tickle, prick–sensation can be delightful and delicious...or it can alert you of danger in your environment.

Abhyanga is a seriously amazing ritual of Self-care with some seriously amazing benefits to your glorious skin, your entire body and, ultimately, your whole being: 

• Reduce pain, edema, and inflammation.
• Ease headache tension.
• Promote skin health: elasticity and resilience.
• Improve your flexibility and range of motion.
• Activate lymphatic drainage.
• Loosen and lengthen constricted fascia.
• Soften, relax and realign muscle tissue.
• Minimize scar tissue.
• Alleviate muscle ache or joint pain.
• Instigate the Parasympathetic Nervous System (the relaxation response) which in turn helps to...
• Lower blood pressure and heart rate.
• Conserve oxygen consumption. 
• Inhibit the levels of stress hormones: cortisol, epinephrine, and norepinephrine.
• Calm anxiety.
• Counteract insomnia.
• Improve circulation and digestion. 
• Release happy/calm hormones: serotonin and dopamine.
• Increase your overall vitality.
• Put you in a better mood. 
• Provide a moment of centering meditation for your mind to become fully present.
• Invite yourself into deeper connection to your miraculous embodiment.
• Attune with your body's natural rhythms so that you can more easily sense when something feels misaligned. 

Abhyanga self-massage is an easy, effective, and affordable ritual of Self Care that can bring your whole being into balance. 
I recommend this ritual of Self-Care for at least 15 minutes every day. Below is a little protocol for each Ayurvedic dosha: 

The elemental properties of vata dosha include the cool, drying, and moving energies of wind and space. Vata season includes late autumn and early winter in environments that are windy and colder.
RITUAL OIL: Use a carrier oil that is rich, warming, and nourishing like shea butter, sesame oil, or jojoba. 
AROMATHERAPY: Use essential oils that are warming and calming like lavender, clove, ginger, sweet orange, and sandalwood.

ĀYURVEDA • SLEEP • RITUAL

Oh the magic of a sunset.
We have all witnessed the radiant blast of glory just as the sun descends behind the horizon. 

The ancient Egyptians celebrated this daily phenomenon as an epic journey of the Solar God, Ra, as he sailed into the underworld, leaving the luminous and nourishing powers of the moon to govern the night sky. The underworld traverse was considered an auspicious event, necessary for confronting shadows and defeating monsters so that the sun could rise again the following day.

In the ancient Sumerian myths, the heavenly goddess Inanna descends into the underworld to confront her recently widowed, and completely heartbroken, sister. Although Inanna must face terrible hardship, the story expresses the value of compassion for transformation and ultimate freedom.

The underworld descent has been interpreted by Jungian psychologists as an archetypal symbol of the spiritual journey each of us must take into our heart's wisdom. Only by encountering the depths of our inner knowing may we become truly balanced and whole.

Sunset is therefore a sacred time to turn inward and center your awareness upon the wisdom flame of your heart. Within the traditions of Yoga and Āyurveda, the evening provides a time for lunar practice, or Rātricharyā. When you establish an evening ritual you set yourself up to enjoy deep benefits:

• Harmonize with the rhythms of Nature.
• Receive guidance from your deepest truth.
• Embrace the dark stillness with contemplative calm.
• Enjoy restful sleep.​