Ayurvedic Routines for Winter ---
Why to Follow Them.

According to Ayurvedic principles each season has its own qualities that can have its impact on the bodily intelligence that keeps us in perfect balance.

The winter season has qualities such as – cold, damp, moist, slow and heavy.
 
Due to these qualities one has a tendency to become sluggish, slow and to feel heavy and cloudy at a physical and mental level.  Some of us will feel the impact of these qualities more, some less.  This depends on each person’s body and skin type, but the impact will still be there.
 
Due to damp, moist, slow qualities, naturally one will have a tendency to retain water in the body, thus making circulation and lymphatic flow more sluggish.  To counter this, one must make an effort to have a warm Black Sesame oil massage.  It helps to flush excess fluid from the tissues.  Those who have tendency towards cellulites should use medicated oil -- WARM KAPHA OIL for massage.

One should avoid cold, damp, moist or heavy foods such as Ice-cream, Cheese, Yoghurt, Bread, Bananas or too much oily food.

One should use warm spices that help in digestion, such as Ginger, Garlic, Black Pepper and Mustard Seeds in cooking,

Use winter to build your immune system
At the same time, according to Ayurvedic principles winter is also known as the period for rejuvenation.  Winter relates with Kapha intelligence which is responsible for building, endurance, energy and strength.  Hence in this period, one should use lot of Nuts and Seeds such as Almonds, Sesame, and Linseed, Sunflower, Pumpkin Seed and walnuts.  These Nuts should be toasted with Ghee and always used with Raisin or Jaggery, to get the best assimilation and absorption.

According to Ayurveda KESRI KALP is one of the best Anti-oxidant products, which should be used by every member of the family during winter.  This can be used as a spread or just use on its own ½ to 1 Teaspoon once or twice a day.  This helps to slow down the catabolic stage of our tissue and make ones immune system stronger.

Due to damp, cold moist qualities, breathing also becomes shallow.  To counter this, one must make an effort to do regular deep breathing.

Sluggish slow and damp qualities, also makes one’s nose get congested and blocked. This can lead to Spring Hay fever, sneezing, coughing and asthma attacks.  One can avoid this by doing – NASYA – putting three drops of warm sesame oil in each nostril.
 
Drink only warm water.  But don’t drink too much water, as the body already has too much moisture.

Winter care for your skin
In the same way, these qualities will have an impact on our Skin including our Face.  Cold, damp, slow qualities can make circulation slow to the skin’s surface which can make the skin saggy.

Those who have naturally sensitive skin, such as PITTA SKIN – damp, slow and moist qualities can make the cells constrict, and thus heat can get retained in the Skin’s upper surface, which further gets dry.  This leads to more pimples in the coming spring and summer season.

For those that have either Kapha or Vata skin, the slow, sluggish, damp qualities can cause the oil to be retained in the skin cell structure, which later on, comes out as pustules.

And those with Vata type skin, these cold qualities can make their skin become much drier and lacking in oxygen to skin cell.  This results wrinkles or blemishes.

To counter these problems, one should massage their face daily with warm Oliana oil, using active and vigorous strokes, before applying other skin products.