Ayurveda for Back to School
Ayurveda for Back to School
The perfect subject for a restful, nourishing season ahead.
The Habit Ayurveda
Ayurveda for Back to School
It's back to school for my littles this week.
And as a 39 year-old woman who was feeling pretty lost for the first 33 of them... I wish there were a few things added to the public school curriculum.
Like personal finance,
and history from multiple perspectives,
the functions of the human body, its cells, its organs, its hormonal rhythms,
AND YOGA.
(and I'm not talking about yoga as a workout).
The word "Yoga" means union or connection with oneself, and the path of a yogi is eight-fold.
There are 8 “limbs” or focuses - the asanas (yoga postures), being only one of them.
The other 7 limbs serve as simple teachings for a life well lived, off the mat, to bring you along a pathway to personal enlightenment.
Yoga isn’t just stretching.
The 8-fold path is literally a roadmap to living a life of BLISS,
despite any chaos that surrounds you.
the 8 limbs of Yoga
#1 - THE YAMAS -
Self Restraints, with focus on the harmonization of one’s social interactions. Teachings for living a kind life, including non-violence, truthfulness, honesty, non-possessiveness and divine conduct.
#2 - THE NIYAMAS -
Disciplines that harmonize one's inner feelings and attitudes. Teachings for treating yourself well, including cleanliness, contentment, endurance, faith, and self-study.
#3 - ASANA -
The yoga postures, to release physical and mental tension. My teacher Aditya Bhatia (link to be his friend + student :)) taught me Asana actually means "joyful stillness". The intention of the postures is to help us find joy from any position in life.
#4 - PRANAYAMA -
Complete, full and joyful intake and outflow of breath. Teachings for regulating the nervous system, sleep, energy and digestion through the breath (if you’re the type to breathe shallow into your chest, this is your medicine).
#5 - PRATYAHARA -
Drawing the senses inward. Teachings for taking pause, to reduce overwhelm from our culture of over-consumption (over-doing, over-scrolling, over-stimulating, over-eating, over-purchasing, over-worrying).
#6 - DHARANA -
State of focused attention. Teachings for maintaining a sense of inner stillness and single pointed focus. Drawing away from the tendency to multitask & overwhelm the nervous system.
#7 - DHYANA -
Meditation. Learning to be quiet, outside and inside.
#8 - SAMADHI -
Bliss, my love.
Pause with me for a moment, and imagine a world where each man, woman and child is offered these teachings from youth?
What might be different about this world?
About how we treat each other?
How we treat ourselves?
As Gandhi said, it is best for us to "Be the change we want to see". We can heal the world through first healing ourselves, so we may serve our communities.
We can gift this knowledge to the children of tomorrow.
“The yoga thing, the meditation thing, the herbal tea thing... They were all just "things", before I stepped on this path and it all started to make sense, to have a true meaning, a purpose. This course brought beauty back into my life. Every day I'm learning more about self-love. My body is cleaner, my mind is clearer. This course should be mandatory!“
- Annie Lanthier, Everyday Ayurveda course member
