When embracing an ayurvedic lifestyle and ayurvedic nutrition program it is important to consider some very important things. Ayurveda uses food as medicine and even goes to prescribe various ways for preparing and consuming food.
A proper functional diet regime is a very critical for keeping the body and mind healthy. In the Charaka Samhita an ancient ayurvedic text it states that a living being is made up of the food that it consumes and diseases are also caused by food that it consumes.
In ayurvedic nutrition, one needs to consider the effects of both the purifying and rejuvenating qualities of food. It is important to remember that both of these are needed to maintain health and longevity but purification must be done before rejuvenation. In our ayurvedic cooking course and retreat, we unfold the proper means of establishing this. This involves selecting the right foods for your constitution and preparing and cooking them in the right way – using the right herbs and spices.
Another important thing is that one must cultivate a positive mental attitude in selecting whole foods to ingest. This requires one to leave consumption of harmful foods that causes ill effect on one’s total well-being.
Generally, people have much resistance to this based on their attachment to certain foods and often at times, the attachment is related to a feeling of pleasure that the consumption brings. The habits of poor diet intake can be a difficult to surrender, but once a conscious choice is made for change an opportunity presents itself as a manifestation for physical and mental harmony. The means for this harmony can be brought up through adopting a sattvic diet – one that does not over-stimulate, aggravate, and make the body dull and heavy.
A sattvic diet should be one that is also suitable for your dosha and current state of well-being. The food should taste good and would be more beneficial to body and mind if were organic and free of toxins.
The beauty about an ayurvedic diet program is that it is allows you to make small adjustments and keep track of the foods that best suit you at particular phase of your life. Taking this into consideration is important when undertaking a change in diet and lifestyle.
From my own experience I have come to know that when my mental resistance and physical addictions to certain foods were broken, I came to relax my notions about a healthy diet and truly felt happy and good about myself. Everyone is unique, with their physiology, so after a period of initial detoxification, it is important to regularly assess how your food is affecting your health and well being. You may end up changing your program and eating different foods with different tastes as a result.
Our rejuvenation Ayurveda cooking and Yoga Retreat in Hawaii incorporates a sattvic and organic vegetarian diet where you will learn all about the nutritional properties of food and herbs in relation to Ayurveda. You will also experience hands on cooking and learn recipes for healing and health.
Stay tuned to my next article when I will give you 10 Ayurvedic Food and Diet Tips for optimum health.