YOGUE: INSIYA RASIWALA-FINN

Yoga + Ayurveda. Rituals for Modern Wellness.

Daily Habits for Happiness

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This morning, I awoke later than usual. The sun was not its brightest yet, as the clouds still washed the sky after the constant rainstorms of the last night.

I had gone to sleep later than I usually do; had not slept well through the night; and subsequently woken up groggy and bleary eyed. Why? I had surgery on my left foot, 2 days ago; and the pain was still quite intense. Why I had to have surgery is another story that I will share later in another blog.

Yet, the effects of the surgery on my day to day life are what concern me right now.

I realize, as I hobble slowly and carefully across the still wet floor – our Bali villa is quite open to the rainy season – that I am feeling a little unmoored and ill at ease today. As if something is not quite right.

Then it hits me. My morning routine has unravelled in the past two days. And it’s making me feel completely out of sorts.

It’s similar to the feeling you have if you’ve been traveling for a while, or have been in various time zones. That feeling of not being in rhythm with your life.

I am not someone who actually loves routine, but what I’ve realized over the years through my studies of Ayurveda, that routine helps me to thrive; which is why now there are a few non-negotiable things I do every single day in the same order. They’ve become part of who I am. Researchers call them “anchor habits.”

What is my morning routine?

I wake up by 6 or 6:30 a.m., stretch in bed; then walk over to the bathroom sink to splash cool water on my face and in my eyes. Then I scrape my tongue with my copper tongue scraper – a simple cleansing practice that helps to wake up my digestive system and signals to my body to empty the waste from yesterday. Usually after this, I go to the bathroom; or first drink a mug of warm water with fresh squeezed lemon (and then go to the bathroom). After the lemon water, I also do a quick neti rinse with warm, sea-salted water.

Today; it takes effort, but I endeavor to do all my morning practices. I drink my lemon water; I do my neti rinse and then I prop up my left foot way up high – the doctor said “elevate your foot” – on the kitchen counter and standing on one leg, I make myself some chai. I don’t really need to take the trouble to make myself chai with fresh spices; but in the act of pounding some cardamom and fennel and peeling ginger root, I notice myself slowly releasing something. It is almost as if, my mind and body relax as I settle into the rhythm of doing familiar things – things my body and mind have been used to for days, months and years. And I feel myself smiling. I am feeling a bit more like myself.

And it hits me. Habits are essential to the health of our nervous systems. Good habits that is. Habits that promote our health and our wellness.

They help us to create a scaffolding for our day. A buffer zone that offers resilience in how we react to things that come at us. Helpful habits help us to self regulate, so we can withstand life, especially unexpected events.

How do they work?

When we create a routine or what I call a ritual, we start to create points of recognition for ourselves in our day, which help to anchor us, physically, but also mentally and emotionally.

For example, when we eat breakfast at a particular time every day; our bodies start to ready ourselves for that meal by secreting digestive enzymes in preparation for our food. This helps our gut to digest our food more easily every subsequent day. When we commit to walking or running every morning, after a few days of struggling just a little bit to get ourselves moving, we start to do this on automaton. The habit becomes part of our daily ritual and we begin to look forward to this activity, it starts to move us, vs. us trying to do the thing. Effort lessons and the rewards grow exponentially as we feel better and more alive and happy through the physical exercise.

Most importantly, habits take away the guess work out of our lives.

And guess work takes away uncertainty. If its Tuesday night, at our home, this means we stay in for dinner and it’s a veggie meal. Or hey, it’s Saturday night, which means we go out to a favorite restaurant that our son loves; and on Sundays and Sundays only, he is allowed croissants from the French bakery down the street.

Sometimes we break these habits and let spontaneity in; but I notice how quickly too much spontaneity leaves me feeling unsettled. In Ayurveda, we call this a little too much of the Vata dosha; which we want to keep in balance as much as possible in ourselves and in life.

As a mama, I know how important it is for children to have habits and a regular routine. And how it helps them to thrive because it helps them to look forward to things in a habitual way which takes away the anxiety of constantly having to try on something new.

Over the years I have worked hard to create daily habits in our family life to keep all of us on track. Some of these in no short order include:

  • Eating at approximately the same / similar times each day.
  • Waking up early, close to dawn and getting outside in the morning light.
  • Drinking my lemon water every morning + doing my net rinse.
  • Giving thanks for our food
  • Getting outside in nature every day for a bike ride, a walk or a run.
  • Doing one creative thing daily, it could be reading a poem, making art or doodling.
  • Saying or writing our gratefuls each night. Research shows this is the fastest way to shift your mood and I can see how it impacts our family daily. It may have been a challenging day, but when we start to look at what happened during a day with a gratitude filter, it really begins to shift things! 🙂
  • Daily yoga or meditation – this week, for me my yoga is simply putting my legs up a wall and letting myself rest.
  • Eating something seasonal to nourish our body, mind and heart.
  • Sleeping before 10 p.m.

It doesn’t always happen, but we have these daily habits that feel like they are a part of us. It takes us a little closer to the simplicity that only comes from the hard work of editing down life. And appreciating it fully.

What are some of your daily habits? How do they help you? Would you like to know more about Ayurvedic Rituals to keep you more in flow with the natural rhythms of day/ night? If so, take a look at this post here. And for my favorite and familiar chai recipe, head over here.

Drink this Ayurvedic Tea NOW

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Like so many of us, I’ve been watching this wild unfolding we are collectively experiencing in our world with a constant feeling of being on edge. Of stepping into the unknown and not knowing what is to come.

In fact, it has taken me the last few weeks to begin to arrive at a place of acceptance of our current reality and with that, I’ve come to realize that I need to show up NOW more than ever to share whatever tools I’ve gained from years of studying Yoga, Ayurveda and being committed to natural healing practices, so that I can offer help.

Which brings me to what I want to share with you today.

It’s a concept that is key to Ayurvedic living and I hope will help you to stay strong and vibrant especially right now.

It is something I call Ayur-Immunity.

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My Daily Routine

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At the start of October, I led an online seasonal Ayurvedic cleanse. For 5 days I shared my daily ritual practices to create more health and vitality in my life with students around the globe.  We feasted on khichadi and homemade digestive teas made with simple kitchen herbs and we simplified our schedules to create more space for self-reflection and healing.

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Honey, Honey… an easy Ayurvedic face mask

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For clear soft skin with a lot of sweetness.
Who said you’ve got to quit sugar after the holidays.  This simple face mask has the healing and sweet benefits of raw honey and turmeric and the goodness of fresh cream – if you’re vegan use some coconut cream instead.

Sip some warm tea, light a candle and take 5 minutes for yourself.  You deserve it. Relax. This ayurvedic inspired facial mask will feed your skin and prolong that happy holiday glow. Beware, this tastes delicious but try to save it for your face and not your lips 🙂

Ayurvedic Honey Face Mask

Ingredients:

  • Pure local (organic + raw) honey – 2 tbsp
  • turmeric – dried, 1/2 tsp
  • cream – 1 tbsp  – fresh from the top of non-homogenized milk / or plain thick yoghurt or coconut cream.

Mix thoroughly until smooth and pat onto your face. Raw honey is full of antioxidants and turmeric is both an immune booster and an anti-bacterial, while the cream will soften your skin and make it all glowy. Enjoy.

 

Ayurvedic Immunity Tea

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Immunity Tea

Ayurvedic Immunity Tea… mmmm delicious

Hello from Santa Cruz, California, where my husband, son and I have now been living for over a year.  If you’ve followed my travels at all over the fledgling course of this blog you will know that this is a milestone in what has been our peripatetic gypsy life of the past seven or eight years, or ever since we got hitched! 

So far, Santa Cruz is treating to surf, sunshine and an embracing yoga community – plus our son loves it here – especially our little beach house and his constant joy at being able play with his toys in one place, vs. taking only a few in a suitcase! – and most importantly (I think) – he has a little band of friends and loves both them and his school.  

Yet even in this land of golden sunshine, Fall has arrived with even a few, short rainstorms, which prompted me to share some thoughts – inspired by a wisdom tradition I study: Ayurveda – on the changing season and how we can best sustain our immunity during these months of turning toward greater darkness.  

According to Ayurveda, the ancient Indian philosophy of life, health and healing, Fall or Autumn is a time when the force of the Vata dosha (or bio-energy) – Vata translates as wind/air or space; is at its highest.  To understand the quality of Vata, consider the quickness and coolness of autumn wind, the drying out quality of Fall,  the leaves which start to lose their green vitality and juiciness and begin to prepare for a winter of sleep.  You can also feel it in swift temperature changes throughout the day – the mornings and nights are cold here while during the middle of the day the sun is strident. The quickness of these changes can destabilise our physiology say the Ayurvedic sages and doctors – which is why – fall is traditionally seen as a time when it is easy for us to fall ill.  If you think about the onset of winter cold and flu season, it generally begins right now and in Ayurvedic terms, this happens when we allow the instability and erratic-ness of Vata to destabilise us.  

How can we allay the effects of this season and stay healthy?  It’s more simple than you think.  Since Vata is all about change-ability – we can counter that with it’s opposite: routine.  This is a time when we both need to and can detoxify our bodies and minds by following a routine of gentle, sustained exercise such as yoga, healthful, whole foods and a regular sleep schedule.  The more routine we can establish, the easier it will be for our bodies and minds to regulate and sustain our immunity as we make way for the cooler months to come.  Plus if you look after yourself now, you can enjoy the festive season so much more.  For more on a daily Ayurvedic routine, check this post out here on Dinacharya. 

Detoxifying the liver is ideal now – as the liver has been working hard for us all year and needs some extra love. Here’s a simple recipe containing three powerful, immune superstar herbs that act together to support liver detoxification.  According to traditional chinese medicine, the liver is most active between 1 and 3 a.m. and so it’s beneficial to drink this tea before bedtime.  Honestly, I love it in the mornings also! Turmeric is known as both an anti-carcinogen and an anti-inflammatory; and works closely with black pepper which stimulates digestion and cleanses the body of excess kapha dosha (the watery/heaviness that can cause colds and excess mucous in our bodies).  Ginger with its pungent kick is wonderful for improving circulation and warming the body.  And the lemon and maple syrup add a delicious lift.

Fresh cut organic ginger

This recipe is adapted from Get it Ripe, a wonderful vegan cookbook by Toronto/Montreal based holistic nutritionist Jae Steele.  My lovely friend Jen from Centre Luna Yoga in Montreal, shared the book with me and it is definitely one of my kitchen staples.  This recipe is common in Ayurvedic cuisine.  Turmeric, black pepper and ginger were essential ingredients in my grandmother’s, mother’s and any Indian/ Ayurvedic kitchen!

Recipe:

  • 1 tsp grated turmeric root or 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
  • 1 tsp grated ginger root or 1/2 tsp dried ground ginger
  • 2 – 3 twists of black pepper (from a pepper mill)
  • 1 1/2 cups filtered water
  • juice of 1/2 lemon
  • 2 tsp maple syrup or to taste (you can use raw honey also, but be sure to let the tea cool a little bit before adding the honey)

Method:

Combine turmeric, ginger, black pepper and water in a saucepan on medium-high heat.  (If you use turmeric powder, you can also toast the powder on a dry skillet for 30 seconds to a minute and allow it to get toasty and warm before you add it to the pot of water).  Allow the mixture of herbs to simmer for 5 – 10 minutes; be careful not to boil. Strain and pour into a mug, add lemon juice and maple syrup to taste, stir and enjoy.  

notes:
* ps. Turmeric stains a bright yellow so be careful with your countertops, clothing, dishtowels etc. I once had a security deposit deducted from a rent check as I left a turmeric stain on a kitchen countertop! 🙁  In fact turmeric is also used as a natural dye. If you have a glass saucepan, and a glass mug, use them as the colour won’t stain the glass.

** Be sure to use organic ingredients and non-irradiated spices.

Namaste + enjoy.

Insiya.

Khichadi: the Ultimate Winter Comfort Food

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“Cooking is at once child’s play and adult joy. And cooking done with care is an act of love.” Craig Claiborne

If you don’t “cook” daily or often, cooking can often seem so laborious.  Yet if you look at it as a way of creating nourishment for yourself and those you love, it becomes an act of mindfulness.

Here’s what I love about cooking.

It’s focused alchemy.  You take a few ingredients, you add heat, or some other force, a lot of LOVE – and magic (usually) happens.  And you know what, it’s grounding.

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Dinacharya: Essential Daily Ayurvedic Practices to stay Vital, Joyful + Balanced

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flower offering, india

Flower offerings, India

Hello dear readers, I’m finally back in one of my favourite cities in the world, Vancouver, BC.  Honestly, there is almost no other place I would rather be in the summer.  It is the one season we forget the damp, cool, rainy climes of the North West and embrace the seemingly endless days of sunshine with abandon and joy.

Today, I bicycled with my son on the back seat to his favourite beach park in Kitsilano and I couldn’t stop myself from smiling a toothy, happy smile. It wasn’t just the wind blowing through my hair, or the ocean breeze. Deep inside, I felt, amidst all the movement of travel that I’ve experienced since you last heard from me, that I had once again re-found a sense of stillness.

Perhaps my conversation this morning with one of my dear teachers, the amazing, inspiring Ayurveda teacher Robert Svoboda helped, but so did this feeling that I was once again in flow.

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Morning sun salutations, Bali.

That’s why I want to share some of my essential tips to find this sense of vitality, nourishment and aliveness daily.   [Read more…]