In my last newsletter I broached the subject of Agni (digestive fire) and the importance of keeping this strong in the winter months. It is our agni that sustains our vitality and good health or immunity. Many factors such as detrimental lifestyle, diet, bad food combining and repressed emotions can cause our doshas to become aggravated. This soon disturbs agni and the undigested food turns into a toxic, sticky substance called ama. Signs of ama include coated tongue, generalised body aches, constipation, indigestion, gas, fatigue and general feeling of heaviness.

Spices assist digestion, and can help to kindle agni (remove ama) and improve the quality of digestion. The cold wet quality of winter is an excellent time to increase the amount of spices in your food.

A good winter spice mix that you can add to your food on a daily basis

Yoga can be of great benefit for digestive complaints.Generally speaking all twists, forward bends, sideways bends and postures that put physical pressure on the abdomen benefit the digestive system. Relaxation also has very therapeutic effects as digestion only really works when we are calm and the parasympathetic nervous system is predominant. Digestion can almost stop when we are stressed ,so make sure you eat in a calming environment takling the time and awareness to savour your food.  

Try the suggested Pranayama below   

Agnisara kriya:

This is a simple and effective practice that helps to clear low digestive fire, gas, constipation as well as massaging the digestive organs and stimulating the appetite.

• Sit in Vajrasana with your knees far apart.
• Place the hands on your knees and, keeping the arms straight, lean forwards.
• Open your mouth and stick your tongue out.
• Breathe in and out of your mouth (panting like a dog).
• Simultaneously expand and contract your whole abdomen.

Do this up to 20 times for five rounds. 

Clinic

I am going to be away form the 8^thJuly for approximately one month. If you need to order any supplements or herbs to get through this time please can you contact me before the 1^stJuly at the latest.

If you are prescribed Metagenics Products they have a facility that you can order directly. Their phone number is 09 4782540 and you will need to quote the following Customer number NZ2861X.

Retreat

Weekend the 15^thOctober – Ayurveda the Sister of Yoga at the beautiful Mana Retreat

If you have not been on a retreat before please give this some consideration. It is a wonderful experience to take some time out and just nurture yourself. The retreat this year is focusing on the “Mind” aspect of Ayurveda and Yoga.

There will yummy Ayurveda food and Ayurveda body treatments such as Shirodhara and Abyangha (hot oil Massage) available. I read this quote the other day that rings true for me…..“a retreat is not a refuge for escapists. It is an opportunity to deepen the inner life”

Cooking classes

The next session of cooking classes will run in August starting the week of the 16^th. They will run for 3 weeks and this time they will be on a Wednesday night starting at 6.30pm.Please confirm to reserve your place.

I have several people interested in a day time course but need a couple more interested people to make this worth while. I have tentatively looked at running the day time course concurrently ie starting Thursday 17^thagain running for three weeks. Please email to secure a place asap. For more info go to http://www.ayurvedahealth.co.nz/content/workshops

Blog

My last blog was inspired after my last meditation class which I thoroughly enjoyed teaching. I love the energy of group meditation!!. http://www.ayurvedahealth.co.nz/blog

That is about it. I will leave you with a thought for the day

Namaste Perry