Winter has this strange, inexplicable hypnotic power about it. While it excites us to flaunt our finest, well-maintained jackets, shawls, boots, and overcoats and make snow angels outside, it also grounds us in a primal sort of way, a hibernation-inducing mechanism that was maybe not intended for humans. Its very nature makes us feel crummy and low on energy and converts us to procrastinators of the highest kind. An Ayurvedic cleanse can help knock us out of this frigid stupor. The goal of an Ayurvedic cleanse is to balance our internal energies, while getting rid of harmful toxins and fueling our inner fire.
Here are six reasons why we need an Ayurvedic cleanse in winter.
1. To Detox
The very sight of a clogged kitchen sink or an overflowing drain pipe is repulsive. Our bodies aren’t much different – that’s if we neglect them. Ama or toxins may accumulate and clog our bodies’ channels, through which nutrients and immune cells migrate. As our bodies become sluggish and lethargic during winter, toxin buildup is maximum during this time of the year. Toxins may be biological waste products that are not efficiently removed by our detox organs (maybe due to an existing condition), inhaled compounds from polluted surroundings, or ingested chemicals from contaminated food and water.
Ama buildup in the body is unnatural, disease-causing, identifiable, and easily fixable. An Ayurvedic cleanse helps excavate ama rooted deep in tissues, mobilizes them into the bloodstream, and finally moves them into the digestive tract for complete elimination from the body. Removal of ama clogging blood vessels ensures free passage of nutrients from the digestive system to even our extremities. It also prevents a nasty toxin aftershock in spring from all the toxins accumulated during winter.
2. To Restore Dosha Balance
Winter is intrinsically designed to be cold, bringing with it a sense of lethargy and heaviness, increased precipitation (snow or rain), and overladen clouds. It makes you want to crawl into a cave, cover yourself with layers of blankets, build a fire, and drink hot chocolate.
Our bodies are a whirlpool of energies – pitta, kapha, and vata. One of the three dominates in each individual, determining your personality and the way your body works. Winter shares its traits with our bodies’ kapha dosha. This means that your kapha dosha is aggravated during winter months, more so if you’re a kapha person. For those experiencing extremely cold, dry weather, your vata dosha may be aggravated as well.
Actively assuage aggravated kapha and vata doshas by indulging in an Ayurvedic cleanse. The cleanse will help restore balance among the three doshas, grounding you and imparting tip-top health.
3. To Fuel Digestion
In Ayurveda, agni refers to the fire within us keeping us alive. It drives our timely digestion, shapes our thought processes and determines the level of our intelligence, makes us transcend to a higher consciousness to connect with the universe, and is a necessity for all physiological transformations (including cellular and bodily processes). A racy, healthy digestive fire (agni) directs undue accumulated kapha, pitta, and vata doshas and toxins to the digestive tract for easy removal.
Cold beats warmth. During the cold winter months, our doshas are thrown off balance and consequentially agni is waned. Diminished agni slows digestion, imbalances the doshas, and encourages toxin buildup. It becomes imperative to rekindle and stoke agni so our bodies can function normally. An Ayurvedic cleanse will help fuel our digestive fire to get maximum nutrition from what we eat.
4. To Bolster Immunity
Agni is an integral component of our body’s defense system. It is the basis of our immunity. As already mentioned, the low temperatures and gloomy weather that winter inevitably brings with it works antagonistically against agni. Unsolicited ill health, a wave of diseases, and a looming feeling of “just not feeling right” are consequences of vitiated agni.
Resort to an Ayurvedic cleanse to restore agni and boost your immunity. It will encourage tissue repair, cell generation (including immune cells), and overall resistance to disease.
5. To Glamorize Your Skin And Hair
Vitiation of kapha and vata doshas during winter results in dry, flaky skin and weak hair. Diminished agni too plays a role in this. Balance your doshas and revive agni through an Ayurvedic cleanse to deal with problems like dandruff, scalp psoriasis, and hair loss. This way you can flaunt radiant skin and strong, shiny tresses even on a cloudy winter day.
6. To Fight The Blues
The fight against gloomy, gray, melancholic weather can be quite the challenge. Nolens volens, it makes you want to lose all hope, procrastinate, and isolate yourself. Fight this urge by cleansing your body the Ayurvedic way. You will feel a bounce in your step, a warmth in your heart, a sense of ambition, and the need to be around loved ones. This kind of warmth is more than welcome in winter.
Recogize your personality traits and identify your body constitution. You will be able to understand which dosha dominates and when it is imbalanced. Make necessary lifestyle and diet changes to keep your doshas in check during winter. Eat warm, cooked, slightly oily, and well-spiced foods and drink room temperature, warm, or hot beverages. Stay active with strength training and yoga.
Ayurvedic cleanses are not suitable for children, pregnant ladies, lactating mothers, and old people above 80 years of age. An Ayurvedic expert should be consulted before attempting a cleanse. There are many types of cleanses, so educate yourself about each type and choose one that suits your body constitution to make most of the holiday season.
