3 Reasons to Integrate Both Yoga & Ayurveda into Your Daily Life
In the West, most people practice Yoga as a physical practice once or a few times a week on the mat.
You might be the same – rushing to your favorite Vinyasa Flow Yoga class after work for a good workout. You might feel great during the class and perhaps a couple of hours after the class (if you are lucky!) but you soon get back into your daily hustle and stressing out with the next thing on your to do list.
I was that person.
I loved my sweaty Yoga class twice a week and felt amazing, but I also felt tired, stressed and for me I was rather short tempered the rest of the time when I wasn’t ‘doing’ Yoga.
People assumed that I’m fit and healthy when I told them I’m a Yoga teacher and practice Yoga regularly. But when I started teaching Yoga back in 2014 I was far from ‘fit and healthy’.
I was ‘doing’ lot of Yoga, but not ‘living’ Yoga.
One of my biggest learnings in my Yoga journey is one of the quotes from my Guruji –
“Yoga starts from your kitchen”.
My Guruji told us that Yoga starts from eating for your mind-body type called Dosha (which is the foundational concept in the tradition of Ayurveda), and living a lifestyle that is unique to your Dosha. And that is when you will feel the full benefits of Yoga.
I didn’t know this at the beginning of my Yoga journey that it is difficult to fully benefit from Yoga on its own, when your mind and body are not nourished and balanced. I thought if I was ‘doing’ Yoga a couple of times a week I’m on the right track to become healthier happier person.
But soon I realized that going to classes a couple of times a week is not going to benefit if I wasn’t eating the right food, living in a harmony of nature and the lifestyle that benefits my unique mind-body type.
Living Yoga doesn’t mean doing physical Yoga practice everyday.
I personally think that living Yoga is about a journey of understanding your true-self and exploring how you can use your unique gifts to serve others.
Now, if you are doing physical Yoga practice once or a few times a week, that’s a great start and please continue practicing!
But I’d love to invite you to start integrating Yoga & Ayurveda into your daily life so you can regain full alignment of your mind, body and soul.
Here are the 3 reasons to integrate Yoga & Ayurveda into your Daily life!
#1 It will nourish your mind, body & soul from inside out
The word ‘Yoga’, derived from Sanskrit and can be translated in English as, to ‘join’, ‘connect’ or ‘unite’. Yoga helps us to unite our inner-self with a higher-self and helps us to live your ‘True Self’.
The word ‘Ayurveda’ is made up of two Sanskrit words: ‘Ayu’ means ‘life’ and ‘Veda’ means the ‘knowledge’. Therefore Ayurveda is often translated as ‘Art of Living’ or the ‘Science of Life’.
Simply put, Ayurveda gives us the knowledge to maintain a physically and emotionally balanced state by living in harmony with nature, diet and a lifestyle unique to our mind-body type, Dosha.
Complimenting this, Yoga gives us the technology which is our physical practice (Asana), soundwork (Mantra), meditation (Dhyana), breathing exercises (Pranayama), and Yoga philosophy to re-balance your mind and body.
Therefore by integrating Yoga & Ayurveda into your daily life, you will nourish your mind, body and soul from inside out!
#2 It will help you tune into the rhythms of nature
Ayurveda helps us to recognize that we are also part of nature and encourage us to live in harmony with the rhythms of nature and balance our inner world according to our outer world.
Ayurveda associates a specific time of the day and the season with a particular Dosha.
We can tune into find harmony by:
- The circadian Rhythm: 24 hours a day (read more about the circadian rhythm here)
- Lunar Rhythm: 28 days
- Seasonal Rhythm: 12 months a year
#3 It will help you find your life purpose & live a fulfilling life
By understanding the principles of Ayurveda and our Dosha, we can be more conscious of who we truly are and knowing the best diet, lifestyle for our unique Dosha to ensure that the maximum vital energy (called prana) is available at all times to raise our consciousness.
And practicing Yoga will enable us to create space to utilize that vital energy to attain our full potential.
Practicing Yoga & Ayurveda daily will bring clarity on who you are meant to become and how you are meant to serve the world. Read more about how to find and fulfil your life purpose (Dharama)
I hope you now have a better understanding of how daily practice of Yoga & Ayurveda can bring a huge benefit to your mind, body and soul!
P.S. If you are curious to discover what food and lifestyle choices and Yoga style to practice for your specific mind-body type, the first step is to take my Dosha quiz and discover your Ayurvedic Dosha – your mind-body type!
You will then receive some practical tips & recommendation on which foods, lifestyle habits and Yoga style are best for your specific Dosha.
