Written by: Sara Garofalo, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Ayurveda is a practice that helps you balance mind, body and soul. These steps can be very simple but have profound results.
Reaching an imbalanced state from an overabundance of heat can manifest a host of uncomfortable side effects.
Summer is a time when the element of fire is increased. There is more warmth, dryness, and lightness.
Excess fire can flare up as irritability, skin inflammation, and acid indigestion, anger, excess sweating, bad breath, body odor, nausea, diarrhea. These discomforts can be eased with these Summer Ayurveda tips!
Ayurvedic Lifestyle for Summer
Begin your day by brushing your teeth with powders of cooling herbs like mint and neem. Alternatively, you can select toothpastes of these herbs or you can use these powders to massage your gums.
Light massage with coconut oil is good. Wash it off with lukewarm water.
Walking barefoot on a cool dewy lawn is very cooling.
Frequent bath with cold water, sauna with cooling herbs like sandals and wearing of garlands of flowers are good.
Wear thin and loose dresses.
It is good to have an afternoon nap during Summer, especially if you are a Vata or pitta type.
Decorate your house with roses and jasmine, which can calm you.
Diet in Summer should consist of sweet, bitter, and astringent flavors and be light and easy to digest.
Breakfast: eat a nourishing, cooling breakfast with plenty of liquids, like almond milk
Lunch: eating at around noon when the sun is at its zenith is best.
Supper: have a light dinner with protein a bit of basmati rice and green leafy vegetables.
In the Summer, it is best to avoid all dark meats such as beef, lamb, and pork as well as citrus, fruits, tomato, garlic, onion, salt, and sour dairy products as these all increase pitta.
Sweetened fruit juices, rice flakes, meat of jungle animals, milk, ghee, grapes, coconut water, and cornflour are good.
Avoid excess salt, sour and spicy foods, frequent sex, and over-exposure to the sun. Use umbrella, hat, and sunglasses.
When thirsty, try drinking cool herbal teas of peppermint, licorice, fennel, and rose. Another delicious delicacy is to collect a glass of fresh rose petals and cover them in sugar overnight (in the moonlight). In the morning you will have a delicious rose syrup elixir to mix in your almond milk or just dilute with water.
It is important to watch for pitta's emotional responses arising such as criticism, being judgmental, irritation, and anger. If you feel a bit hot under the collar a good trick is to hold a glass of water in your mouth as the water cools your pitta and keeps you quiet.
Before going to bed, rub the soles of the feet with coconut or castor oil to bring all the heat down to the feet.
Go to bed before 11 pm as pitta peeks in around 12am. Sleeping on the right side will help reduce aggravated pitta and guarantees a blissful night's rest.
Interested in learning more about Ayurveda? Check out the Ayurveda 101 beginner's guide here!
Sara Garofalo, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Sara Garofalo is a certified Intuitive Health and Life Coach, and Certified Ayurveda Counselor, helping HSP women to get to the root cause of their weight gain and break free from emotional pain through a mind-body-soul transformation.
Sara’s goal is to help women break unhealthy patterns and become more intuitive about their bodies through a sustainable holistic approach.
With her Intuitive Gifts and Healing sessions, Sara has been helping women heal from the deepest traumas and roadblocks stored in the body that are preventing women from becoming the healthiest version of themselves.
