Self-Care for Valentine’s Day

“A daily ritual is a way of saying ‘I’m voting for myself, I am taking care of myself, I love myself.’” – Oprah Winfrey  

Because Valentine’s Day is this month, I thought it was appropriate for February’s blog theme to be about self-love. At the heart of Ayurvedic medicine lays principles of self-care. Not the modern bubble bath, “treat yo’ self”, go on a yoga retreat kind. On the contrary, these are seemingly small and simple self-care actions, consistently incorporated into an everyday routine, and that will have a large impact on one’s quality of life.  As one of my Ayurveda teachers Dr. Vasant Lad says, “Ayurveda is not a passive form of therapy, but rather asks each individual to take responsibility for his or her own daily living.”

Dinacharya is Sanskrit term for this practice, poetically translated as “daily union”. Because Ayurveda is based on nature’s rhythms, aka circadian rhythms, you will notice that all of these practices revolve around nature.

1. Rise with the sun and go to bed early, around the same time each night. 

This one is pretty self-explanatory, despite my long write-up about it 😊. In 2016, the CDC reported that 1 in 3 Americans are not getting the recommended minimum of 7 hours of sleep per night. Lack of sleep is linked to chronic conditions, including obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, and frequent mental distress (1).

Insomnia is on the rise as well, and accounts for some of these numbers. 1 in 4 Americans develop insomnia every year, and 30% report having insomnia symptoms on a regular basis (weekly). Up to 10% are likely to develop chronic insomnia (consistent for a month or longer)(2).

A large number of people experience insomnia because sleep requires peace. The U.S. is the most over-worked country in the world. In a country where there aren’t many protections in place for workers and where many companies fire ruthlessly, we want to keep our jobs. So, many people work more hours and take less vacation (3). In fact, a whopping 47% of Americans didn’t take all their all their vacation in 2017, and 21% with 5 or more days left over (4). On top of this, many American workers value money over time off, or even friendship, at least according to a survey in 2017 (5). All of this leaves many Americans stressed out and trying to keep up.

Technological advancements are also being favored over spending time in nature. Spending consistent time in nature has many health benefits, including natural light that helps our bodies better regulate sleep patterns, reduction of stress and inflammation, improvement of memory and immunity, and increased levels of Vitamin D (6).

But instead of natural light, many of us are getting blue light from digital screens. This blue light, naturally provided by the sun to keep up awake and alert in the daytime, disrupts the production of melatonin, which is responsible for winding us down in the evening. Basically, blue light tricks the brain into believing that it is still daytime and inhibits the production of melatonin (7).  And blue light doesn’t stop at digital screens. We’re even exposed to it from LED and fluorescent lighting in our home, workplace, and from headlights! You could go out and get blue light-blocking glasses. However, instead of making another purchase, I suggest to better control screen time throughout the day, and not to watch TV or use the smart phone in the evenings. Blue light-blocking glasses my limit the effects of blue light, but it doesn’t help if your brain has become addicted to your cell phone. So, quit your scrolling in the evening and enjoy a better night’s sleep.

If you suffer from stress and sleep issues, I suggest working with an Ayurvedic Health Counselor, Herbalist, or another holistic practitioner. A practitioner can formulate a lifestyle, nutrition, and herbal protocol specific to you, and help keep you accountable.

 

2. Morning detoxification—the tongue, skin, and colon

Rather than doing a large detox infrequently throughout the year as we do in the West, Ayurveda believes we should be performing little cleansing actions every day to restore and maintain health. First thing upon waking is the most important time to cleanse the senses, as throughout the night the Liver has been detoxifying the body, and sending the toxins to the 3 closest exits of the body: the tongue, the skin, and the colon.

• Tongue: First thing upon rising, move a stainless-steel tongue scraper from the back to the front of the tongue a few times. If you remove a thick, whitish film while scraping, this can indicate ama, or toxic accumulation in the body. But don’t worry! You will most likely notice that if you follow these self-care steps every day, the film on your tongue will thin out and become clearer.

Cleanse the mouth before ingesting anything, including water, so you don’t re-absorb this film into your body. Scraping the tongue also stimulates digestion, readying the body for a morning bowel movement, and priming the digestive juices aid in breaking your fast. 

• Skin: Shower each morning to remove toxins accumulated from the night-time. In Ayurveda, oils (not lotions or creams) are used to moisturize and nourish the skin in a self-massage practice called abhyanga. Abhyanga can be performed before or after your shower, although most people prefer it afterwards.

Directions (from my Ayurvedic Best Practices for Fall post):

Step 1: Determine how your skin is presenting right now. If it’s like Vata right now— mostly dry and cool—use warming, heavier oils like sesame. And warming up the oil before application can increase the benefits! If it’s like Pitta right now—warm and slightly oily—use a cooling, lighter oil such as coconut. And, if it’s like Kapha right now—cool and slightly oily—use a warming, lighter oil such as almond.  If you’re not sure which to use, choose a tri-doshic oil such a sunflower. Don’t know about Vata, Pitta, and Kapha? Take a look at pages 9-11 of my free eBook to learn more about the Doshas. 

Step 2: After your shower, gently pat the excess water off your skin. With some water droplets left on your skin, apply your oil in rhythmic strokes over your entire body. Do long strokes on the arms, legs, and torso, and circular strokes on the joints. You can optionally massage oil into your scalp for dry/ brittle hair. I recommend doing this weekly/bi-weekly before the shower.

Step 3: Because facial skin is a little more sensitive, I usually recommend using jojoba oil. Jojoba oil is a tri-doshic oil that is only 1 molecule away from the oil sebum. Gently apply a small amount after showers or washing your face with warm water. The warm water will relax and open your pores and provide moisture, while the oil will lock the moisture into your skin, leaving it feeling soft and supple.

• Colon: A morning bowel movement each day is an important concept in Ayurveda and reflects the overall health of one’s digestion. Ayurveda goes as far as advising not to break your fast until you’ve had a bowel movement. Considering that 16% of total Americans, and 1/3 of Americans over 60 suffer from chronic constipation (8), that suggestion may be impractical for some. However, a glass of warm or hot water with lemon in the morning (after you clean your tongue) may help to get things going. Gentle stretching or exercise, a high-fiber diet, and proper hydration may help. And you can train your colon by sitting on the toilet without straining at specific times every day, even if you don’t feel the urge to go. This method uses biofeedback to retrain the colon and the brain to overcome dyssynergic constipation (9). If you aren’t regular in the morning, try it and let me know how it works!

Ayurveda believes that all disease originates in the gut due to imbalanced agni, digestive fire. An Ayurvedic Health Counselor or Herbalist is able to holistically assess your digestion and other systems and create a nutrition and herbal protocol tailored to you. However, if you believe something serious is going on with your gut, I recommend seeing a gastroenterologist first.  

 

3. Eat 3 meals a day, at the same time every day 

For thousands of years, Ayurveda has been advising that when we eat is just as important as what we eat, and modern studies are supporting this centuries-old practice. In fact, there is even a new category of health and nutrition call “Chrononutrition”, which links one’s metabolism to circadian rhythms. In the studies, those who consume meals at the same time every day had better cholesterol and insulin levels, and were less obese, even though they consumed more calories overall. (10) (11)

Now, Ayurveda suggests that in order to stabilize your blood sugar for the long haul, eat 3 meals per day, and minimize snacking. This is especially important if you get a mid-afternoon energy slump.

In order to do this, each meal much be sufficient enough to get you to the next meal. And, if you do need a snack, reach for easily digestible food like fruits or soaked almonds to tide you over.

What’s the ideal times to eat? This also relates back to nature’s rhythms. Ayurveda suggest eating “like a prince/princess” in the morning, “like a king/queen” in the afternoon, and “like a pauper” in the evening. Our largest meal should be when our digestive fire is at its peak, between 11-1pm. This happens to coincide with work for most people. However, it is manageable to eat your largest meal at work, especially if some thought and preparation go into your efforts. A medium size breakfast is ideal between 6-8am, and a small, light dinner between 5-7pm, but no later.

 

All-In-All

The above steps may seem like common sense, but so many of us in today’s stressful and chaotic society have drifted so far away from things like basic self-care and nature’s rhythms that it’s worth repeating.

And although I’ve given you a lot to think about, here’s my ultimate advice: Stop overthinking it. Eat moderately well. Workout a few times a week. Get enough sleep. Repeat forever.

 

References:

1. https://www.cdc.gov/sleep/data_statistics.html

2. https://www.thegoodbody.com/insomnia-statistics/ 

3. https://20somethingfinance.com/american-hours-worked-productivity-vacation/

4. https://www.forbes.com/sites/victorlipman/2018/05/21/why-america-has-become-the-no-vacation-nation/#65519a774c53

5. https://www.newsweek.com/americans-value-money-more-friendship-survey-reveals-1228665

6. https://www.goodnet.org/articles/10-unexpected-benefits-spending-time-in-nature

7. https://www.npr.org/2019/03/20/705224359/do-this-today-to-sleep-well-tonight

8. https://www.statnews.com/2017/08/17/constipation-bowels-colon/

9. Ibid.

10. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/proceedings-of-the-nutrition-society/issue/FF3A60CDF76C43DA85714072D0FCAEB3

11. https://www.delish.com/food-news/news/a53940/eating-same-time-every-day-helps-weight-loss/