Springtime is for Lovers

Beautiful Readers,

The minute the temperatures start rising there's a certain nervousness and excitement in the air which can make that first cup of coffee almost unneeded, but like anything that feels like newness, there can be a sort of springtime emotional unevenness that needs some balancing . In the past month I have received several little notes and calls from exes--more than I have for a very long time, and normally the flurry would seem strange, but then -- it is spring, so nothing seems very strange, and certainly not a little rush of sexual interest and daring. (The boyfriend didn't like it very much though.)

Ayurvedic medicine has an answer to all this flightiness. For those of you who don't know, Ayurveda is an ancient Indian system of wellness that divides the human condition (and beyond) into three essential states Vata, Kapha, and Pitta. In brief (and this is very brief-there are many years of thought describing how these three qualities make up most of existance) Vata is the state of thinness, dryness and airiness, think thin clouds drifting through the sky, Pitta is the state of transformation usually involving heat, or combining of things to create a third product. Pitta also encompasses the passion that comes with creation or drive, think chemicals being combined. Last, Kapha is the state of heaviness, slowness, accumulation and holding on, think, the way you may feel at the end of the winter at the beginning of spring.

Now, according to Ayurveda, the trick to getting peaceably through the spring, enjoying a sense of renewal without getting depressed or being too manic is to gradually shed any excess Kapha (fatness, slowness) that we have accumulated in the wintertime and to get up to speed with the season of transformation, movement, and growth through increasing our level of activity, losing a bit of winter weight, getting to a lighter, faster, place mentally-- gradually enough so that it happens without feeling like a failure for not being in fighting shape already, or overdoing it, thus causing a sudden overabundance of Vata, and making us feel all top heavy and nervous. I tend to be quite Vata. I know nervous.

So here are some classic Ayurvedic suggestions for moving sweetly into the Spring without agita, plus a suggestion or two of my own

1. Begin to eat lighter foods and eat less frequently. For those of you who snack a great deal, try to decrease the number of snacks to once every three hours or so.

2. Do some twisting exercises, they will get you body moving in a gradual way and will offer a kind of internal massage to organs and muscles that may have been sluggish throughout the winter.

3. Try to enjoy some foods that are bitter or sour. Lemonade. Grapefruit. Orange peel.

now my advice:

4. Exercise more frequently, though possibly for a shorter duration. Little sprints. Not to total fatigue. (to ensure you'll want to exercise again soon)

5. Stay hydrated by sipping water throughout the day--you may find at this time of year that you can not down the same volume of liquid all at once that you can in other seasons.

6. Feel free to give into that crazed spring feeling, but be sure to balance it with even breathing and rest. Resist the temptation to thoroughly exhaust yourself with the feeling of spring rush.  Moderate your energy. Exciting spring mania can be followed by a not-so-good-feeling crash afterward.

7. Have more sex. We're kind of designed to do that at this time of year (but then-- isn't that always my advice?)

Thanks for reading and enjoy the warmer weather!,

Alix Florio        President        

Beautiful Fitness

Comments

[exhaust]

never exhuast all options if the first will work