The Way of Ayurveda: Learn These 3 Stress-Relief Strategies from the Ancient Practitioners
Ayurveda is based on the concept of the holistic healing system. At 5,000 years old, it is one of the oldest forms of medicine and is unique in the way that it seeks to strike a balance between the mind, body, and spirit. Ayurveda’s focus is on increasing good health and preventative healthcare. This is why stress-busting techniques are so important for Ayurveda.
Stress has been shown to affect everything from your health to your mood, which is why it’s so important to find ways to get relief from your stress. In western culture, we rarely focus on how we cope with stress and more on general coping solutions like taking a long walk or a bath. However, Ayurveda stress relief is about accepting that each person’s requirements when it comes to stress relief are unique.
So here are a few tips everyone can modify to fit their own unique schedules and needs:
1. Start the day stress-free
No matter what schedule you adhere to, starting your day stress-free is key to continuing to have a productive and peaceful day. Create a schedule that allows you to take the necessary steps to get your day started right. In an Ayurvedic morning routine, this would include:
- Waking up at least 2.5 hours before you need to be at your first commitment of the day.
- Use the toilet
- Wash your face and eyes
- Brush your teeth, scrape your tongue, and rinse your mouth
- Give yourself a quick, full-body oil massage
- Do fifteen minutes of sun salutations or basic yoga flows
- Shower with warm water
- Meditate
- Deep breathing
- Breakfast
- Take your supplements
- Go to work/school
2. Build an armour against stress
If you are already unbalanced, ill, or irritable, it will be easier for stress to negatively affect and throw off your body’s balance. To prevent this, learn the ways that you can build armour against stress using things like daily meditation, therapeutic aromas, and yoga. The important things are to work these healing concepts into rituals that help you de-stress. Association is a powerful tool you can harness in your fight against the damages of stress. Once your body becomes familiar with the soothing responses a certain ritual can provide, stress relief will come faster. The key is to start learning about Ayurveda and how its concepts can help you fight stress.
3. Use Ayurvedic herbs
Ayurvedic herbs can be truly beneficial when it comes to stress relief. There are a few key herbs in Ayurvedic medicine that contribute to overall wellness and stress relief. Herbs like Brahmi can help counteract stress by helping to regulate the hormones involved in stress responses, like cortisol. Bhringaraj, used in a tea, is often utilized in Ayurvedic medicine to detoxify the negative emotions associated with stress. It will energize the brain and increase blood circulation. This will help leave your mind and body more relaxed. Finally, Jatamasi (also known as Spikenard) helps soothe the stressed-out mind by helping to free the mind of the blockages that can cause stress to build up and get “stuck”. Jatamasi provides the mind with a sense of stability, allowing it to function properly.
