SEASONAL SELF-CARE BLOG
How are you taking care of yourself?
Posted on October 31st, 2018
Several times in the past few weeks, I have stopped in awe and taken the time to drink in the beauty of the Autumnal leaves. Their final vibrance and glorious colors painting the vast brilliant blue sky has made me fall in love with life again. With this joy also comes a deep sadness welling up inside of me knowing that our planet is in deep peril. We have such a short time to turn things around, I fear that we won’t be able to do it. The pain of this is so strong that it is unbearable. I know that I must do all that I can to arrest this catastrophe since I am alive now in this magnificent world and must do all that I can to take care of the Earth. I didn’t mean to get into this here, really I didn’t, but it weighs so heavily on me as I’m sure it does on all of you too. With our unstable political landscape and the looming climate issues, anxiety and uncertainty are reaching an all time high in my mind & body. In addition to all of this, it’s Fall which according to Ayurveda is Vata dosha season which heralds an increase of the air element in all of us. This Fall I’ve really been feeling my vata go out the roof! One of the signs of vata out of balance is anxiety. When our body mind system has too much vata dosha we feel ungrounded, unstable, and therefore anxious. To quell this anxiety, for the past few weeks I’ve been increasing my Ayurvedic self care practices. Knowing how important it is for vata dosha to eat grounding, nourishing foods, my first move was to cook my favorite Roasted Root Veggie Delight!
This is my fav..carrots, sweet potatoes, beets, turnips, onions, leeks, fresh rosemary & thyme & olive oil – all from my sweet neighborhood farmers market in Greenpoint! Just dice it up & pop it in the oven to roast. Absolutely yummy & all those root veggies help ground the vata, air element, which gets out of whack in Fall. Easy to do! Ayurvedic wisdom in your kitchen & belly, bringing you nourishment, grounding and balance to your body & mind.
Every night I’ve been curling up with a yummy warm drink & getting all cozy!!! This is really nourishing for vata dosha! My favorite is Ayurveda’s elixir, Golden Milk. My nightly ritual has really been helping me sleep, stay grounded, and calm my anxious vata mind. Which is so important during this windy season and imperative in these turbulent times when strength, stability as well as creativity and vision are needed.
If you want to learn all about the doshas and Ayurvedic self-care practices to help you invite more health, well being, and balance into your life, please join me for my Ayurveda Teacher Training, Nov 10-12 at Sacred Sounds Yoga. This training is open to everyone.
❤️💫❤️💫❤️💫❤️
joyous heart!
Leigh
3 Fall tips to balance vata dosha
Posted on October 1st, 2018
For the sensitive, delicate, creative vata types, the increase in the air element in the Fall often brings anxiety, nervousness, and hyperactivity to a high pitch. Are you feeling a bit scattered, overwhelmed, and fragmented this Fall. Is it difficult to focus and complete projects? Do you have insomnia? Do you suffer from arthritis or creaky joints? Is your digestion off? If you are experiencing any of these things, your vata dosha may be out of balance.
3 TIPS TO BALANCE VATA DOSHA THIS FALL
GROUND
Embrace rooting yoga practices this Fall, to help ground the windy air element. Invite steadiness and clarity into your mind by choosing poses that will deepen your connection with the Earth. Calm down the wind, by doing less vinyasa’s. Establish stability by staying in your standing poses for longer periods of time. Deepen your roots by waking up your feet, legs, and pelvis. Add more seated poses and forward bends in your practice to literally sit on the ground and anchor your windy distracted, fragmented mind.
LUXURIATE
Cherish yourself this Fall. Bask in a luxurious daily self oil massage to nurture your dry, rough, chapped skin and ground your anxious mind. This is one of the most effective ways to calm your mind and soothe your nervous system. Abhyanga, self oil massage, is a deeply nourishing Ayurvedic practice of anointing yourself with warm oil before showering. Loving yourself with this warm, nurturing, touch will calm the fragmented, anxious, nervous vata. Sesame oil is best for vata dosha because of it’s warming quality. Abhyanga is an essential practice to ground Vata Dosha. I just love doing this. When I do Abhyanga, I truly feel so much more relaxed and calm. Give it a try.
ABHYANGA- daily self-massage with warm sesame oil
- Heat up a pot of water.
- Take it off the stove, place the container of organic sesame oil in the pot to warm the oil
- Slowly and lovingly massage the warm oil into your skin from head to toe.
- Use long strokes on your limbs and circular strokes on your joints
- Let the oil soak into your skin for 20 minutes
Rinse off in the shower.
NOURISH
Warm up and ground yourself this Autumn with yummy soups using carrots, parsnips, beets and other root veggies as well as the gorgeous assortment of squash available in plenty at the farmers markets now. Soup is the best thing for the delicate vata digestion, which tends to run dry and cold. Nourish and ground yourself with root veggie soups – perfect to help ground and nourish those experiencing constipation, gas, bloating and other vata digestive issues!
Celebrate Fall with joyous and nurturing practices for seasonal well being. Relax in nourishing yoga and Ayurveda remedies which ground vata dosha, the air element, and restore focus and balance to your being.
joyous heart!
Leigh
Stay centered this Fall with Rudra Mudra
Posted on September 18th, 2018
I have been feeling very fragmented and distracted the past few weeks from the political craziness on top of the Seasonal change from Summer to Fall. To help me stay grounded, I’ve been focusing more on meditation and other internal practices.
This morning I woke up early and meditated using Rudra Mudra to invite centering and balance into my being. I’ve been finding this mudra, sacred hand position, very helpful and it’s so easy to do! Rudra Mudra rules the solar plexus chakra (third chakra). It helps strengthen the earth element and the digestive organs associated with it. According to Chinese medicine, Late Summer and Early Fall, is the time to nourish and stimulate the Earth element.
RUDRA MUDRA
Sit comfortably with as much support as you need.
With each hand, place the tips of your index finger, ring finger and thumbs together.
Breathe deeply into the belly and relax any tension that you are noticing in your body and mind.
Stay in the position for 5 minutes or for as long as you like. You can do it a few times a day.
VISUALIZATION
As you hold Rudra Mudra , visualize a wheel with a square hub with a yellow point in the center. As you inhale, imagine that the yellow point expands and moves towards you. As you exhale, the yellow point recedes back to the hub. Keep your focus on the center.
I’ve been doing Rudra mudra regularly for the past month and sharing it with my students in class. It has been very grounding, which is especially important in these rocky times!
I am excited to offer many beautiful opportunities for sound healing and yoga this Fall. Join me for an exquisitely relaxing mid-week Restorative Sound Bath on Wednesday nights! Starting tomorrow night, this 4 week series will help you reset your being at Narayana Yoga Project! You can drop in for one juicy session, or sign up for the whole deeply nourishing series! This Sunday I’m offering my first monthly Kirtan – Sept 23 at Sacred Sounds. It is donation based with each month going to a different organization. Our first Kirtan donations will go to SwingLeft to help the blue wave in the mid term elections! Keep the high vibes going and join me the following weekend with my monthly Restorative Sound Bath @ Sacred Sounds, Sat Sept 29!
Nourish yourself with sacred self-care with my signature Private Sound Healing session. Sign up right now for this extraordinary rejuvenating and transformative healing experience. You will be floating in a sea of blissful sound in no time at all!
I’m offering an incredible retreat in Thailand this winter – Awakened Heart Retreat – Thailand, Feb 5-12. The buddy special is just around the corner, so invite a friend to join you on your Winter yoga Adventure to Southern Thailand! It is a spectacular location: remote, quiet, peaceful, and perfect to practice yoga and meditation!
joyous heart!
Leigh
