Summer is usually a time of improved health: we have more daylight hours and we can spend more time outside.  Each season carries with it certain positive qualities and certain challenges to our system. As with all Ayurvedic principles you just have to observe nature and notice the change in the qualities of the atmosphere, the weather, the light and the temperature so that you can ‘know’ what is right for you to do. Just watching nature can be a practice of awareness and meditation.

Summer is a time when the element of Fire is increased: there is more warmth, dryness and lightness.  Hence summer is naturally a time of calming and reducing pitta.

Summer qualities: Light, warm, dry, penetrating, sharp, transformative, subtle, ascending, expansive.

Fire anatomy: Pitta can build up in the digestive system, liver, eyes, skin and heart at this time of year.

Fire physiology: Sight, digestion, appetite, metabolism, assimilation and body temperature are all affected by the increased warmth of summer.

Psychic Fire: Manipura chakra – situated behind the navel at the solar plexus and related to ambition, gain, wealth, achievement, goals, drive, direction, power, thought and counter-thought – this can be stimulated by the natural increase in the solar energy and fire element.

Fire flavour: Pitta is increased by pungent, sour and salty tastes so too much of these flavours in the summer may aggravate people prone to pitta inflammations.

Yogic summer: It is a perfect time to apply the wise teaching of Swami Satyananda Saraswati by practicing and increasing discernment (viveka) and non-attachment (vairagya). By becoming more discerning, we are choosing what is best for us and not just following the perpetual likes and dislikes of our mind. By following the path of non-attachment we can grow to be free from the pleasures and pain of our experiences and move towards living in the present moment.

Ayurveda also teaches that one of the main causes of illness is inappropriate attachment of our senses to their sense objects. For example, I like ice cream so I eat some, I want some more as I can remember that delicious sweet creamy flavour and so I have some more (ad infinitum in front of the TV!) and hey presto the next day my nose feels congested. Used wisely you can absorb the full pleasure and nourishment that it can offer. If it is abused it will harm you, if it is eaten with discernment and non-attachment then it can bring you much joy!

Suggested summer routine:
• Start your day by brushing your teeth with some cooling tooth powder – a dash of neem and peppermint on your brush will help clear pitta from the mouth.
• A light massage with room temperature coconut oil will nourish the skin and clear any heat.  Shower this off with luke warm water.
• Try and walk with bare feet on a cool dewy lawn for a calming and peaceful start to your day.
• Start your yoga practice with some cooling Sheetali pranayama – this is an especially calming and soothing breathing practice where you roll your tongue into a tube and then breathe the air in through this tube and out through your nostrils. You can just feel the cool air chilling you out!
• Pitta can accumulate in the digestive system and especially the liver and small intestine. Do some abdominal stretches and twists which will help clear pitta from your belly. Try Trikonasna (triangle series), Bhujangasana (cobra), Matsyanasna (fish), Matsyendrasana (twist), Ushtrasana (camel) to massage pitta out of the intestines. As pitta can also accumulate in the eyes, via the liver, try doing a range of eye exercises to relax the eyes and increase circulation that can carry away any excess heat.
• It is important not to practice too many inverted poses as these bring heat up to your head especially if you are already a bit of pitta prone person.
• After yoga anoint yourself with some fragrant sandalwood or rose oil. Place a drop on your third eye, throat and navel to keep these centres of awareness cool, calm and collected.
• Your diet in the summer should consist of sweet, bitter, astringent flavours and be light and easy to digest.
• Breakfast: Eat liquid nourishing breakfasts such as almond milk. Grind some soaked and peeled almonds, mix into some warm milk (cow or rice), add coriander powder and some sweetener if you like (not honey).
• Lunch: Eating at around noon when the sun is at its hottest is best. Try kicharee as a cooling nutritive and easy to digest meal.  Add a teaspoon of ghee or hemp seed oil at the end with some grated fresh coconut and coriander. Eat it with cucumber raita as a delicious condiment. Some green salad is ok at lunchtime as well.  (Email me if you would like a kicharee recipe!)
• For supper have a light meal of basmati rice, sprouted mung beans and green leafy vegetables.
• In the summer it is best to avoid all dark meats such as beef, lamb and pork as well as citrus fruits, tomato, garlic, onion, salt and sour dairy products as these all increase pitta.
• It may be useful to take Aloe vera juice (50ml/day) throughout the summer to clear pitta from the digestive system. Take it first thing in the morning with a dash of water.
• Try drinking cool herbal teas such as peppermint, licorice, fennel and roses!
• Watch out for pitta emotions arising such as criticism, being judgmental, irritation and anger.  Through awareness we empower ourselves to respond consciously.
• Before going to bed, especially if it has been a hot day, rub the soles of your feet with coconut or castor oil to bring all the heat down to your feet.
• Wash your face in organic rose water and spray it in your bedroom. Fill your house and bedroom with fragrant roses and jasmine in the summer.
• It is important to get to bed before 11pm as pitta peaks at around 12 midnight.  If you sleep on your right side then ida nadi in the left nostril is activated and guarantees you a blissful nights rest.
• As with all your yogic practice, the only rule is that there are no rules! Adjust your daily lifestyle and practice to the changes in the weather and to how you are feeling. You are the best judge of the balance of your doshas. Learn to appreciate how the changes in how you are feeling relate to how the doshas change in you.

Shared by Ayurvedic Holistic Wellness Teacher, Wendy Young.

How we live each day is key to Ayurvedic living. Ayurveda is really the art of moment to moment living in accordance with our unique nature and Mother Nature. The awareness of how we need to live to be optimally healthy needs constant adjustment. This is very difficult because of our routines, commitments, desires and attachments. Ayurveda recommends different lifestyles according to age, sex, climate, time of day and time of year.

Suggested Daily Routine – Dinacharya:
* Sleeping late in winter is fine – rise with the sun around 6:30am.
* Hold some warm sesame oil in your mouth for a few minutes. This sounds strange but it has a wonderfully nourishing effect on the mouth, strengthens the teeth and stops bleeding and receding gums. Massaging your gums with your finger is also very beneficial.
* Massage yourself with warm sesame oil. Sesame oil is warming and can be beneficial to every constitution at this time of year. This can offset the seasonal tendency to coldness and aching joints.
* Rinse the oil off in a hot shower.
* Drink a cup of warm water. This relaxes the digestive system, enkindles the appetite and encourages a healthy bowel movement.
* Now its time for your yoga practice! Begin with some brain-cleansing pranayama (kapalabhati) or bellows breath (bhastrika). These practices invigorate the body with prana and clear excess mucus, lethargy and sluggishness.
* Practice asana that balances kapha helping to clear excess heaviness and phlegm. Do vigorous sun salutation (suryanamaskar) up to twelve rounds until you are warm and your breathing becomes deep. Also include strong backwards and forward bends that open the chest such as the fish (matsyasana), the wheel (chakrasana),the camel (ushtrasana)
and the tiger (vyagrasana) to stimulate the kidneys and lungs.
* Your winter diet should consist of warm cooked foods that are mildly spicy, slightly salty and nourishing. The digestive fire is usually stronger in winter as the colder weather constricts the surface of the body and pushes the heat back in to the centre of the digestive system.
* Breakfast can be a bowl of porridge oats, millet, barley or rice. Add some cinnamon, cloves and honey. Honey is considered to be beneficial for kapha as it is heating and helps to clear mucus.
* Lunch and supper should be wholesome meals avoiding too many cold, wet and damp foods that are excessively sweet or from the fridge or freezer. Barley is one of the best grains for kapha as it gently clears fluids from the body and can help clear sluggish digestion.
* Drink spicy teas throughout the day.
* If you are easily disturbed by the cold and heavy qualities of winter then you may benefit from taking the herb Trikatu. This is a mixture of ginger, black pepper and long pepper – it will help blow away colds, coughs, poor circulation and post-nasal drips.
* After a day of hard work settle in for a relaxing evening. Ayurveda suggests that an occasional glass of dry and warming wine may be beneficial in the winter to encourage circulation and stimulate digestion!
* Then it is off to bed with a delicious glass of hot spicy milk. Nutmeg is a very calming herb that promotes sound sleep and can be added to your milk.

Herbs
Ashwaghanda – a tonic herb that benefits the central nervous system, energy levels and reproductive system.  Very beneficial in all conditions caused by stress, useful post-convalescence, as a pain killer and anti-inflammatory to treat arthritis and is useful to strengthen the lungs.  Ashwaghanda is a tonic herb for both the male and female reproductive systems.

Triphala – is a key part of all programmes of health maintenance as it is used to purify and nourish the colon helping to treat sluggishness, constipation, bloating, flatulence, abdominal pain, indigestion.  It can also help to heal ulcers, inflammations, and general dysbiois in the gastro intestinal tract.  When there are signs of toxicity in the blood manifesting as skin
inflammations, acne and boils, Triphala is used to detoxify the whole system.

Trikatu – the three spices formula (ginger, black pepper & long pepper), is a warming and stimulating herb for colder weather.  It is effective in the treatment of a sluggish digestive
system with bloating, abdominal pain and flatulence; also helps in conditions of poor assimilation due to low enzyme secretions. Its heating properties rejuvenate the lungs effectively treating colds with nasal or sinus congestion, coughs or wheezing with sticky white phlegm.  Where there is slow metabolism with low energy and lowered immunity, Trikatu can be part of a treatment strategy and is also helpful in boosting circulation and warming the body.  Use before meals as a digestive stimulant and after meals as an aid to digestion.

Shatavari – a beneficial tonic herb for the female hormonal and menstrual cycle to regulate, clear inflammation and boost fertility. Very useful to treat various menopausal symptoms.

By Wendy Young
Wendy Young is a yoga teacher at the ISHTA School of Yoga & Health. In addition to her Satyananda-inspired yoga classes, she offers: Wellbeing Coaching, Ayurvedic Massage, Indian Head Massage, Yoga Therapy, Meditation and Reiki. She is available on a Tuesday from 8am – 8pm at the ISHTA Crystal Healing Room. Please call Wendy on 072 800 4982 or email *protected email* to make a booking.

A wise woman traveling in the mountains found a precious stone in a stream. The next day she met another traveler who was hungry and the wise woman opened her bag to share her food. The hungry traveler saw the precious stone and asked the woman to give it to him. She did so without hesitation.

The traveler left, rejoicing in his good fortune. He knew the stone was worth enough to give him security for a lifetime. But a few days later he came back to return the stone to the wise woman.

I have been thinking, he said. I know how valuable the stone is, but I give it back in the hope that you can give me something even more precious. Give me what you have within you that enabled you to give me the stone.

Camel Pose is a gentle backbend asana and is important as it prepares the body (and mind) for more difficult backbends. It is best to enter this pose from either Child pose or Hero pose. Camel Pose opens the chest, working deep into the Heart Chakra, stretches the shoulders and abdomen and provides increased flexibility to the lower back.

Camel Pose is further very stimulating for the nervous system. It improves flexibility of the neck and spine, relieves backache and helps degenerative spinal problems such as kyphoscoliotic deformities and cervical spondylosis. By stretching the abdominal organs, Camel Pose helps constipation, and it also stretches the throat and thyroid and parathyroid
glands.

Ustrasana – Step by Step

1. Come up onto your knees. Take padding under your knees if they are sensitive. Place your hands onto your hips and lift the torso from the base of the spine and pelvis so as to open the chest. Tuck your tailbone under and lengthen the thighs, lifting the collarbone higher and arch your back.

2. Reach your hands back one at a time to grasp your heels, slowly dropping back and reaching for the heels. Eventually, the palms can be placed on the soles of the feet. Roll the shoulders further back and lift the ribs, arching deep into the back while pressing the hips forward. Drop the head and neck back, without straining, and lift the chin. Stay in this pose anywhere from 30 seconds to a minute.

3. Tighten your knees and inhale deeply as you release the hands and bring the body gently back up to the knees, lifting the pelvis with the strength of the thigh and buttock muscles. Rest back down into either Child or Hero Pose.

Model Penny Anstey
Photograph Brett Rubin

As with other forms of vibrational healing, colour therapy treats energy imbalances that may cause dis-ease in the body. Colour treatment can be self administered, given in the form of light. To invoke colour awaerness, it is best to limit the application to a specific chakra and not to “overdose” on it…

RED: The Base Chakra (Muladhara)
The first chakra is activated by a clear, bright shade of red. The red colour warms and revitalises and awakens life force, vitality and courage. If this red is tinged with a shade of blue, it will help you permeate your vital drives with spiritual energy. Red light is also very stimulating, increasing energy to aid blood circulation.

ORANGE: The Sacral Chakra (Svadhistana)
A clear shade of orange activates the second chakra. The colour orange supplies us with a stimulating, renewing energy and frees us from rigid emotional patterns. It encourages our self-esteem and increases the joy we get from sensual pleasures.

YELLOW: The Solar Plexus (Manipura)
A clear and sunny yellow activates and reinforces the functioning of the third chakra. Yellow strengthens our nerves and thoughts, but it also stimulates contact and interaction with others. It compensates feelings of inner fatigue, creates joy and cheerful relaxation. Moreover it aids digestion, both on a physical and spiritual plane. It strengthens mental activity and stimulates the kind of wisdom that grows out of experience.

GREEN: The Heart Chakra (Anahata)
The colour of the meadows and forests of our planet provides us with harmony and compassion and makes us receptive to reconciliation. Green has a regenerating and detoxifying effect on the body and can be used for all manner of imbalances, acting as an antiseptic.

BLUE: The Throat Chakra (Vishuddha)
A light and clear shade of blue is assigned to the Throat chakra. This colour creates calmness and expanse and opens you up to spiritual inspiration. Because it is calming, it reduces pain, enhances spiritual growth and communication.

INDIGO: The Third Eye (Ajna)
Transparent indigo has an opening and purifying effect of the sixth chakra. It provides the mind with inner calm, clarity and depth, and strengthens and heals the senses as well as opening them to subtle levels of perception.

VIOLET/WHITE: The Crown Chakra (Sahasrara)
Violet brings about a transformation of mind and soul and opens both to spiritual dimensions of being. It dissolves blockages and can guide us towards an experience of cosmic unity. White contains all the colours of the spectrum. It integrates the different levels of life to a higher unity and opens our souls to divine light, knowledge and healing.

Sources: The Chakra Handbook By Shalila Sharamon and Bodo J. Baginski; The Chakra Bible By Patricia Mercier

Expect this year to be an energetic one, filled with optimism, power and entrepreneurship…

The Symbol of the Dragon
In Chinese Astrology, the symbol of the dragon is a powerful and revered one – the dragon is the only mythical animal in the zodiac and is associated with luck and good fortune, intense strength and power. It is regarded as a divine beast and not, as commonly portrayed in the West, as a malicious monster.

Beginning next Monday, January 23, 2012 and ending on February 9, 2013,  the year of the Dragon is destined to be a year characterising many of the traits of those born in the year of the dragon itself. As the fifth sign of the Chinese Zodiac (which follows on from the lunar Chinese calendar), Dragons symbolise such character traits as dominance and ambition.

The Dragon Personality
Dragon personalities prefer to live by their own rules and, if left on their own, are usually successful. They’re driven, unafraid of challenges, and willing to take risks. They’re passionate in all they do and do things in a grand fashion. Unfortunately, this passion and enthusiasm can leave Dragons feeling exhausted and unfulfilled.

The characteristics of the Dragon are however further tempered by one of the five Chinese elements of Metal, Water, Wood, Fire and Earth and, 2012 is the year of the Water Dragon. Water has a calming effect on the Dragon’s fearless temperament. Water allows the Dragon to redirect its enthusiasm, and makes him more perceptive of the needs of others.

2012 – The Year Ahead
In Sung Dynasty (AD 960 – 1279) texts, the dragon is accompanied by thunder and rain, the fierce animal moving like lightning and whirlwinds. That said, Dragon years can be powerful yet totally unpredictable too. The balance arises when the flames of fire and passion that dragons wield are used in keeping with it’s soft and vulnerable underbelly.

Popular wisdom says that while other years might see to drag on, the Year of the Dragon has the potential to breathe life-shaping fire… to be magical, quite mythical even!

There is a story of a woman running away from tigers. She runs and runs, and tigers are getting closer and closer. When she comes to the edge of a cliff, she sees some vines there, so she climbs down and holds onto the vines. Looking down, she sees there are tigers below her as well. She then notices that a mouse is gnawing away at the vine to which she is clinging. She also sees a beautiful little bunch of strawberries close to her, growing out of a clump of grass.  She look up and she look down. She looks at the mouse. Then she just takes a strawberry, puts it in her mouth, and enjoys it thoroughly.

Tigers above, tigers below. This is actually the predicament that we are always in. Each moment is just what it is. It might be the only moment of our life, it might be the only strawberry we’ll ever eat. We could get depressed about it, or we could finally appreciate it and delight in the preciousness of every single moment of our life.

When you realise that, behind all the worry, complaints and disapproving chatter that goes on in your mind, the sun is always coming up in the morning, moving across the sky and going down in the evening. The birds are always out there collecting their food and making their nests and flying across the sky. The grass is always being blown by the wind or standing still. Food and flowers and trees are growing out of the earth.There’s enormous richness. You could develop your passion for life and your curiosity and your interest. You could connect with your joyfulness. You could start right now!

Extract from ‘The Wisdom of No Escape’ by Pema Chodron, American Buddhist Nun.

Speaking on universal laws and principles such as the Laws of Attraction and Abundance, Kumi’s straightforward approach is refreshing: “Life is simple,” he says.

Explaining the downward spiral that so often affects those of us choosing to live in our fast-paced, demanding environments, Kumi explains how our apathy, negativity and lack of enthusiasm can create physical disorders or “dis-eases” that result from living out of accordance with these natural laws. “Everywhere we look we are surrounded by nature and nature is full of abundance – we just have to look at how many leaves there are on the trees to know this!”

We are all born to be abundantly successful, says Kumi, who maintains that the secret to living a prosperous life is to focus on the intentions behind your thoughts. “We create reality in our conscious state through the thoughts we think. We therefore need to focus our attention on the intention of our thoughts and go back to our essence,” Kumi expounds.

“Life is a flow of experiences,” he says. “If you don’t like the experience, change it!” Often however we are too lazy to really work with ourselves, to empower ourselves and to be responsible for our reality. According to Kumi, we look outside ourselves for our happiness when “the seat of our power lies within our creative, conscious mind”.

“By letting the mind become flexible through yoga and meditation and learning to relax, we are able to synchronise our vibrations with the universe and tune into the frequency of success. By giving ourselves the permission to feel worthy of success, we will become successful,” Kumi says.

After a half-hour guided deep relaxation, everyone had experienced an uplifting shift in energy and a healing return to our individual and collective essences, which according to Kumi, is like sugar - pure sweetness. Realigning our energy and consciously creating our realities, we look forward to a blessed and successful 2012!

Gyan Mudra is one of the most familiar hasta mudras (hand gestures). Many of the great spiritual masters are depicted sitting in meditation with their hands in Gyan Mudra with the thumb and index finger brought together in gentle contact.

It is understood that because of the tremendous flow of energy in our hands, bringing our hands into a mudra helps draw our attention inward and aids in developing mental peace as well as sharpening  memory and concentration.

The Sanskrit world Gyana means “pure knowledge” – i.e. the enlightenment of wisdom, or, that which enables us to find truth. Working with this mudra enables us to develop the spiritual feelings and qualities necessary to awaken to our own inner wisdom that leads us to enlightenment.

According to Acharya Keshav Dev, each finger represents one of the five elements — the thumb is agni (fire), the forefinger is vayu (air), the middle finger is akash (ether), the ring finger is prithvi (earth) and the little finger is jal (water).

Specific benefits of Gyan Mudra include:
• Stimulates the Root Chakra (Svadhisthana) and is therefore very grounding
• Beneficial for those suffering with insomnia and mental disorders like depression, anxiety and excessive anger
• Helps energise the neurons in the brain for instant action
• Stimulates the centres of the pituitary and endocrine glands