Navi Gill's guide to spring SZN
Navdeep (Navi) Gill is an Ayurvedic practitioner, therapist and educator. I first came across Navi’s work on (where else) Instagram, where I fell in love with her feed and all it contained: a heady mix of wisdom, beauty, activism all channelled through the lens of a lioness.
Navi’s specialities are one-on-one lifestyle consults, Marma Chikitsa therapy and foundational Panchakarma bodywork. She helps her clients and community gain autonomy over their well being using her ancestral medicine practices, and in conversation with Navi it is evident that her work is mission-led, with its focus on decolonising, reclaiming and connecting BIPOC to ancestral wisdom and ritual as a form of self-care.
In Ayurveda, health is synonymous with balance. Ayur means ‘life’ and veda means ‘knowledge’, and Ayurveda’s life knowledge is that to build immunity, vitality, and strength, the body and mind must be in balance with each other, as well as with nature, and the world around. The idea, for those grappling with the scope of teachings that include the trees as much as their teeth, is that in every day, and in every moment, your mind and body are in constant interaction and conversation with each other, and with everything else that is around you, and all of these interactions serve (or should serve) in maintaining that balance.
One of the easiest ways to practice this is to follow the cycles of nature, a practice that’s referred to as ritucharya (in Sanskrit, rtu is ‘season’ and acharya is ‘to follow’ or ‘practice’). It is a profound practice, and Navi walked us through the basics, as well as supplied a super-handy summary and schedule that’ll help you, at a glance, think about your routine at this time of year.
“Going onto the second year of a global pandemic, most of us are carrying extraordinary amounts of mental, physical, emotional and spiritual ama and heaviness”
The qualities of this season
Basant or Spring is known as the Kapha season where qualities of earth and water are most dominant in the atmosphere. When the cold and dryness of winter begins to thaw with the increased sunlight, the same thawing process happens inside of our bodies and we experience increased symptoms related to Kapha dosha. All of the toxins or ama that we accumulated over the winter will begin to loosen from the deep tissues. This process makes the transition between Winter and Spring is an ideal and beautiful time to undergo a cleansing process, in Ayurveda this is known as Panchakarma. The qualities of Kapha dosha are cold, wet, heavy, dull, slow, sticky, cloudy, liquid, smooth/slimy, soft/hard (like mud which can be both), dense, gross (not subtle). Each dosha also presents itself through the three gunas: Sattva, Rajas and Tamas. When Kapha dosha is in balance or in its sattvic state I like to think of it as ghee, which provides nourishment, love, generosity, contentment, forgiveness.
What may feel more obvious right now is the imbalanced properties (rajasic or tamasic) or what happens when Kapha is in excess. Especially if you did not create a stable base for your immunity and body during Winter. Given that we are going onto the second year of a global pandemic, most of us are carrying extraordinary amounts of mental, physical, emotional and spiritual ama, heaviness, trauma which may have led to more pain, anxiety, depression, stress and burn out symptoms.
This excess kapha can show up as increased lethargy, stagnation/inertia, feeling depressed/low, a foggy mind, poor digestion, increased mucus and respiratory ailments, allergies, feeling unmotivated, attachment or greed, feeling uninspired, tendency to be sleepy after eating.
Dinacharya is our daily routine and each season or ritu/rtu we make changes to it in order to be in better alignment with nature, this is our ritucharya or seasonal routine.
Some basics
To bring balance and ease to this season, wake up slightly earlier each day until you are waking up with the sunrise. I like to aim for 6-6:30 AM for my constitution. Those with a naturally kapha-dominant constitution will have a tendency to sleep in but in order for the lightness of Vata dosha to give them energy, they should aim for 4:30 AM-6:00 AM and Pitta dominant people can also aim for 5:30- 6:00 am.
Schedule regular mealtimes with your largest meal being at lunch (ideally between 12:00 pm-2:00 pm) and ensuring that you are eating only when the last meal has digested and you have true hunger.
Include some form of movement in your day for at least 30 minutes and if possible include 20 minutes of meditation and 10 minutes of Pranayam or breathing practices. These essential practices help to support the nervous system, flush excess ama from the deep tissues, reduce stagnation, bring mental + emotional balance, uplift the mood, regulate the function of all organs and systems as well as regulate the flow of prana (life force).
How to eat
Diet and lifestyle play a very big part in our well-being, understanding how we may be unknowingly contributing to our ailments. Knowing our habits, patterns and how to counterbalance them is the key to creating harmony between our bodies and nature. In Ayurveda we use the opposite as medicine and remember that like increases like. So if you are anything like me and you tend to indulge in treats or comfort foods that are sweet or heavy when the weather is gloomy, you are increasing the Kapha in the body, mind and spirit.
To help alleviate excess Kapha dosha it is recommended to eat foods that are bitter, astringent and pungent and increase more vigorous physical activities ( Vinayasa yoga, sun salutations, kapalabati + bhastrika pranayam, dance, jogging/running or other cardio pumping activities).
It is best to decrease and limit the intake of foods that are cold, creamy, sweet, oily or heavy as they increase Kapha production in the body. Ayurveda always recommends eating in season for this reason because Mother Nature will naturally provide the right foods to balance the excess dosha. Some Spring seasonal fruits you can include in your diet are apricots, mango, lemon, persimmon, pomegranate, pear, berries, peaches, raisins, apples and dried figs. Some Kapha friendly vegetables are beets, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, celery, dark leafy greens, okra, spinach, peppers, peas and corn.
Daily rituals
Your daily practices should include ones that create expansion in the body and prevent stagnation. Abhyanga is a classic practice, a detoxifying full-body warm oil massage that is supportive all year round, you can include garshana or dry brushing prior to your abhyanga (avoid when in the first trimester of pregnancy, have sensitive or broken skin or hypertension). Jala Neti or nasal cleansing when done properly helps expel excess mucus and debris from the nasal passages to reduce allergies and sinus congestion. Nasya or nasal oiling is another panchakarma technique which helps keep nasal passages lubricated and reduces irritation of allergens like pollen, pollution, dander etc.
You can use these two handy slides (below) with some easy-to-implement spring tips to integrate the deep wisdom and medicine of Ayurveda into your daily life. Swipe for the second slide and feel free to save or screenshot for future use. We can each strive for better well being through knowledge, integration, embodiment and wisdom of these incredible practices that are available to us all.
Connect with Navi on her website www.navigillwellness.com, on Instagram, or email her at navigillwellness@gmail.com
