We've all heard about it. Read about it in a blog, magazine, or maybe your yoga teacher keeps bringing it up, but what the heck is Ayurveda?

The literal definition: A science of life (Ayur = life, Veda = science or knowledge). It’s designed to help people stay vibrant and healthy while realizing their full human potential.

The two main guiding principles of Ayurveda are 1) the mind and the body are inextricably connected, and 2) nothing has more power to heal and transform the body than the mind. 

Sounds freakin' awesome! So how can we start incorporating this into our daily lives? 

The quick summary here is that your mind and your body are one. They operate together in harmony (or chaos) that can work for or against your health. Let's focus on how to get them on the same happy page. 

So here are cliff note tips to get us more Ayurveda-ish! 

• Eat a colorful, flavorful diet: Include the six Ayurvedic tastes (sweet, salty, sour, pungent, bitter, and astringent) in each meal for a balanced food plan. Filling your plate with the colors of the rainbow promotes a long and healthy life. You can literally ingest the information of the universe into your biology. Foods that are deep blue, purple, red, green or orange are leaders in antioxidants and contain many nutrients that boost immunity and enhance health.

• Get abundant restful sleep: According to Ayurveda, sleep is the nursemaid to humanity. During sleep, our body repairs and rejuvenates itself. A lack of restful sleep disrupts the body’s innate balance, weakens our immune system, and speeds up the aging process.

• Live in tune with nature: As nature made you, what you need and what you want shouldn’t be in conflict. When you’re in balance, you naturally desire only that which nurtures your health and life. You flow in harmony with your body’s natural rhythms, getting restful sleep, feeding your senses with experiences, tastes, touch, aromas, sounds, and sights that uplift and nourish you. 

• Tune in to your body: When choosing a certain path or behavior, ask your body, “How do you feel about this?” If your body sends a signal of physical or emotional distress, pay attention and consider a different choice. If your body sends a signal of comfort and eagerness, you may proceed.

• Strengthen your digestive power: When our digestive energy, known as agni (fire), is robust, we create healthy tissues, eliminate waste products efficiently and produce a subtle essence called ojas. Ojas, which may be envisioned as the source of our vitality, is the basis for clarity of perception, physical strength, and immunity.

• Take it easy: You will expend the least effort when your actions are motivated by love because nature is held together by the energy of love. When you chase after status, money, power, or accolades, you waste energy, but when your actions are motivated by love, your energy expands and accumulates. So take it easy and be guided by love.

Happy Ayurveda'ing!

Special Thanks to: https://chopra.com/articles