5 Days Of Ayurveda | Try Living With Lucie | Refinery29 - video Dailymotion

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This week on Try Living With Lucie, our host, Lucie Fink tries 5 days of ayurveda for the first time. She attempts to live a balanced life within mind, body, and soul in the ayurvedic clock. Check out this episode of Try Living With Lucie for some inspiration on how to be your best self!  Special thanks to Sahara Rose: https://www.iamsahararose.com/ Shop The Idiot's Guide To Ayurveda here: https://fave.co/2QuUiVJ  Click here to shop the tongue scraper: https://fave.co/2yhiWRY  ABOUT SERIES Try Living With Lucie follows our favorite R29 millennial, Lucie Fink, as she dives headfirst into social experiments — five days at a time. From a week without sugar to full-blown street performing; there is nothing she won't try!    ABOUT REFINERY29  Refinery29 is a modern woman's destination for how to live a stylish, well-rounded life. http://refinery29.com/  RELATED CONTENT 5 Days Of Cold Showers https://youtube.com/watch?v=j0KGe3_eFdE 5 Days Of Eating Only Pizza https://youtube.com/watch?v=mnrQkORcivA 5 Days Of A Capsule Wardrobe https://youtube.com/watch?v=Di9Bjf_OPj4  SEE MORE REFINERY29 VIDEOS http://refinery29.com/video  SUBSCRIBE TO REFINERY29 Subscribe to the Refinery29 channel: http://bit.ly/subscribe-to-r29 For the latest trends and videos, visit: http://refinery29.com Like Refinery29 on Facebook: https://facebook.com/refinery29 Follow Refinery29 on Twitter: https://twitter.com/refinery29 Heart Refinery29 on Instagram: https://instagram.com/refinery29/  TALENT Follow Sahara Rose on Instagram: https://instagram.com/iamsahararose/ Follow Lucie Fink on Instagram: https://instagram.com/luciebfink/ Follow Unbothered on Instagram: https://instagram.com/r29unbothered/ Follow OnHerTurf on Instagram: https://instagram.com/onherturf/ Follow Refinery29 on Instagram: https://instagram.com/refinery29/

Transcript

00:00I'm Lucy Fink and this is five days of Ayurveda. Hey YouTube welcome back to

00:04another five-day challenge. If you're new to Refinery's YouTube channel click on

00:08the little subscribe button in the corner and now we are about to go on a

00:12journey. My yoga teacher once mentioned Ayurveda in class a few months ago and I

00:17really wanted to learn more about it so over the summer when I was in LA I

00:20picked up a book at a yoga shop and it was this book right here called The

00:24Idiot's Guide to Ayurveda. And little did I know and this is one of those

00:27instances where I think the universe sometimes just works in mysterious ways

00:31but the author of this book Sahara Rose is actually the same person whose podcast

00:37I've been listening to for the past few months. Some might call that a

00:40coincidence but I say the universe really really wants me to connect with and

00:44learn from this girl. Yoga is a spiritual practice the word yoga means to yoke to

00:50become one with universal consciousness Brahma whereas Ayurveda is the

00:54predecessor and it says okay how are you gonna become enlightened when

00:57your digestive system is hurting and your back hurts and you're anxious and you

01:02have all of these issues in the body and the mind so yoga is really a spiritual

01:06practice and Ayurveda is a practice of the body and mind.

01:11Okay starting with the basics for people out there who have never even heard the

01:15word Ayurveda before let me break it down for you. Ayur is the Sanskrit word for

01:20life and Veda means science or knowledge so the word Ayurveda literally means the

01:25science of life and that's exactly what Ayurveda is it's a 5,000 year old medical

01:30system from ancient India that explores the science of healing and the longevity

01:34of life. You might be sitting there thinking this topic sounds kind of

01:37mystical maybe a little bit nebulous and trust me when I first brought this up with

01:41my family a few months ago they thought I was talking about horoscopes or

01:45astrology or something like that but Ayurveda is not magic it's not mysticism it's a

01:50science and it's actually very interesting. Ayurveda is the sister science of

01:54yoga so while the real purpose of doing yoga is to achieve spiritual

01:57enlightenment the purpose of practicing Ayurveda is to achieve health and the

02:01idea is that unless you have your health in order there's no chance you're going

02:05to be able to get to that state of experiencing spiritual enlightenment so

02:08let's dive into it according to Ayurveda there are five natural elements found on

02:12earth fire water earth air and ether or space these elements come together inside of

02:18our bodies in unique combinations that form the three doshas or three

02:22different types of energies vata pitta and kapha I'll let Sahara explain it a

02:28little further people who are high in vata they have airy personalities they are

02:32creative eccentric they think outside the box but sometimes that air can turn into a

02:38tornado and they may get anxious or have trouble sleeping in the body if you have

02:43a lot of air in your stomach you feel bloated gassy constipated you may have cold

02:48hands cold feet dry skin pitta is the fiery dosha people who have fiery

02:52personalities they are goal-oriented ambitious hard-working structured organized

02:56routine but when someone cramps their style they get angry and frustrated

03:02irritated when people aren't moving as fast as them they literally can't deal

03:06your stomach is called an Agni which is your internal fire so if you have too

03:10much fire it's gonna start moving up and you experience heartburn so you feel

03:14acidic you may have acne because that's heat trying to leave your body rashes

03:18rosacea really sensitive skin if you have kapha in the mind you are an earth

03:24mama you are grounded you are calm you are connected to the natural cycles you give

03:30give give and you have that motherly energy but oftentimes you put other

03:34people in front of yourself over time that can make you feel resentful and stuck in

03:39the past and unable to make change and in the body it's gonna reflect that so you

03:42feel heavy lethargic stuck weight gain especially the lower body the hips and

03:48thighs so we all have a little bit of each dosha in us but it's helpful to

03:51understand which dosha is our dominant dosha and if you can't already tell what

03:55your dominant dosha is based on the descriptions there's a 15 question quiz

03:59on Sahara's website eatfeelfresh.com I've taken this quiz many times and my

04:04results show that I'm primarily a vata with a little bit of pitta and even less

04:08kapha energy inside of me and I truly do exhibit most of the

04:11characteristics of a classic vata person but I do need to make sure to add some

04:16of that kapha grounding earth energy into my life because otherwise I can

04:20become too vata I can become restless and my hands and feet are always freezing so

04:25step one for you before you go any further into exploring Ayurveda take the

04:29quiz and find out what your dosha is

04:34Ayurveda does not see the day as a 24 hour period with 12 hours in the morning and

04:3812 hours in the evening instead it divides the 24 hour day into six

04:43four-hour time chunks and each of these four-hour time blocks corresponds to one

04:47of the doshas you're able to figure out exactly what you should be doing and what

04:51you're supposed to be eating according to what dosha it is at that time of day

04:54so I spent Tuesday living out a full day according to the Ayurvedic clock

04:59first and foremost Ayurveda recommends waking up at 6 a.m. and rising as the sun is

05:04rising and this first chunk from 6 to 10 a.m. is kapha time as we learned about

05:08the kapha dosha it's very grounded and peaceful and that's exactly what this

05:12time of day should feel like start your day slowly meditate eat a very nourishing

05:17meal it's all about self-care from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. we're now entering pitta time

05:22now remember pitta is all about fire and energy so this is the time of day when

05:27you're supposed to get your most difficult tasks done this time of day is

05:31also when the Sun is the highest in the sky which according to Ayurveda means our

05:34digestive systems are the most powerful so apparently lunch should be your

05:38biggest meal of the day 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. is vata time this is my time to

05:43shine our

05:44nervous systems are the most active in this time zone so this is when we should

05:47really be tapping into our creativity writing drawing painting designing you

05:52name it 6 to 10 p.m. we're back in another kapha time zone now remember 6 to 10 a

05:57.m.

05:57was also kapha and that was all about slowly winding up for the day 6 to 10

06:02p.m. is actually about winding down for the night so after eating dinner on the

06:06early side it's time for us to start powering down turn off our technology do

06:10a face mask practice all the self-care in the world and get your body ready to

06:14sleep so yes according to Ayurveda you should be asleep by 10 p.m. but if you're

06:19anything like me and you're a bit of a night owl sometimes you can stay up past

06:23what I like to call my tired window and when I get past that window it's like I get

06:27the second burst of energy and that's because from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. you're

06:31entering pitta time and just like that first pitta time zone from 10 a.m. to 2

06:35p.m. this is another burst of energy and alertness think about the late nights you

06:40might have spent finishing up a paper or an assignment for school it's also no

06:44coincidence that clubs and bars are often open from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. because

06:49it's right in that pitta time zone when people are really energetic and want to go

06:53out and then at 2 a.m. we enter another vata time zone so just like the first

06:57vata time zone this is a very powerful creative time most people are actually

07:01asleep from 2 a.m. to 6 a.m. which makes sense because when we're sleeping our

07:06brains are dreaming and we're actually in a very creative state but if you happen

07:09to be awake think of the artist that stays up from 2 to 6 a.m. and is

07:13splashing paint on the canvas or the yogis that wake up super early to meditate in

07:17this time zone that's because 2 to 6 a.m. is a creative time when we're really tapped in

07:21to our imagination and our spiritual sides of course we all have different

07:25lives we're all in different schedules no one's going to be able to follow the

07:29Ayurvedic clock perfectly but if you at least try to incorporate some of these

07:33philosophies into your everyday life you might see a major improvement in the

07:37quality of your sleep your digestive system and also your overall energy

07:41levels

07:44food and digestion are two major pieces of the Ayurvedic puzzle and there are

07:48certain types of foods that you're told either to eat or to avoid based on your

07:52dosha to make sure that your dosha remains balanced for example when my

07:56vata is out of balance and I'm feeling especially cold or I'm experiencing

08:00insomnia I found some vata pacifying recipes to help ground me and I actually

08:05made one of these recipes on Wednesday a homemade butternut squash soup a major

08:10cornerstone of Ayurveda is the idea that food is medicine so instead of eating

08:14whatever you want now and then taking medicine later to fix diseases

08:18Ayurveda sees the food on your plate every day as your daily prescription

08:22Ayurveda looks at your digestive system as a fire that's burning inside of you and

08:27you want to keep this fire burning brightly because when it's like that your

08:31digestive system is working properly but when that digestive fire is either

08:35too weak or too strong it can manifest in various ways throughout the body and

08:39yes this is physically a reference to hot and cold foods so warmer cooked foods

08:45can heat up that digestive fire whereas cold and raw foods weaken or can

08:49literally put out your digestive fire vatas like me tend to have irregular

08:54digestion so Ayurveda wants them to eat warming cooked foods to heat up that

08:58digestive fire pitas have sharp and fiery digestion so they should favor cooling

09:03and cleansing ingredients and kaphas often have dull digestive fires so they should

09:08enjoy vibrant and well-spiced meals you can eat tridoshically which means it

09:12balances all three doshas I lived with Ayurvedic doctors for two years in India

09:16and we all ate the same food regardless of what our dosha is you just have to

09:20take out the foods that will imbalance a certain dosha I say focus on the tastes

09:24make sure you're eating the six tastes of Ayurveda sweet sour salty bitter

09:29pungent and astringent

09:33Thursday for me was all about exploring some classic Ayurvedic rituals and also

09:37following a schedule that Sahara suggested I woke up at 6 a.m. I sat right

09:42here in my bed and I stretched gently while I gave myself some time to just

09:45think about my dreams think about what I'm grateful for then I went into the

09:49bathroom I splashed my face with water I brush my teeth and I tried the Ayurvedic

09:54practice of tongue scraping according to Ayurveda the white coating that you see on

09:59your tongue in the morning is toxicity that has built up there overnight in a

10:02Refinery29 article a dentist shares that the bacteria on your tongue can cause

10:06plaque buildup resulting in tooth decay and gum disease the amazing thing is

10:11you're able to see what dosha is out of balance from looking at your tongue so if

10:15you're noticing you have some cracks on your tongue that's a vata imbalance if

10:18you're noticing you have a red tip on your tongue that's a pitta imbalance if

10:22you're noticing your tongue is really really coated in white that's a cough imbalance

10:25after scraping my tongue I did some oil pulling which is something I myself have

10:29done a bunch in the past year oil pulling is basically Ayurvedic mouthwash and

10:34while I typically use coconut oil which is very cooling and great for pittas I

10:38switched over to sesame oil this time which is warming and great for vatas

10:42while swishing the oil in my mouth I boiled some water for a hot tea and then

10:46I made myself a loaded avocado toast breakfast I spent the day relaxing and

10:51reading and then at night I practiced some Ayurvedic nightly rituals I turned off

10:55my phone nice and early and lit some candles that I could turn my actual lights

10:59down and then I dry brushed my skin and lastly I tried a self oil massage

11:04practice called adhyanga I used sesame oil again since it's warming and great

11:09for vatas I heated it up over the stove and then once again between my hands

11:13before I rubbed it into my skin using long strokes towards my heart when I was

11:17first learning about Ayurveda and its various practices and rituals I realized

11:21that I myself have been practicing Ayurveda in various forms for years now such as

11:27using a neti pot meditating drinking ginger tea or practicing breathing

11:31exercises you might see that you too have been practicing Ayurveda all along

11:39I've now given you a ton of information but there's one more system that I want

11:44to touch on before wrapping this up the chakra system these are seven energy

11:48centers throughout our bodies that according to ancient Ayurvedic wisdom are

11:52each associated with a different function your root chakra at the base of your

11:56spine is in charge of security and stability your sacral chakra just below

12:00your navel is your source of creativity and sensuality the solar plexus holds

12:05your sense of self it's your identity and your personality the heart chakra is

12:09all about love and the ability to give it and receive it the throat chakra is

12:14your voice box and allows you to communicate your message your third eye is

12:18related to intuition and lastly your crown chakra is in charge of learning and

12:22connecting to the universe on a higher level if any of these energy centers are blocked

12:27up you might be feeling some physical manifestations of that for example you

12:30might feel cut off from your emotions if your sacral chakra is out of balance or

12:34you could feel low self-esteem if your solar plexus is depleted and you can do

12:38certain things to help rebalance these chakras such as reciting mantras to

12:43rebalance your throat chakra or spending more time outdoors to rebalance your root chakra there are tons of books out

12:49there about the chakras and if you feel called to do so I highly recommend it to do so

12:52then you pick one up and read further I know this episode was jam-packed but for

12:56me it was a week filled with some of the happiest and most relaxing activities in

13:00the whole world and now that I've successfully practiced Ayurveda for five

13:04days on Friday I got back into the yoga studio and started flowing again this

13:08video just scratches the surface of Ayurveda and I'm gonna be honest I read this

13:13entire book cover to cover so I know there is so so much deeper we can go here and

13:19if you're interested in learning more I highly recommend you pick up Sahara's

13:22book The Idiot's Guide to Ayurveda thanks so much for watching and comment

13:25below to let me know what you want to see me explore next time bye guys hey

13:30YouTube thanks for watching five days of Ayurveda click here for another five day

13:34challenge here to subscribe to R29 on YouTube and right here for my personal

13:39YouTube channel see ya

5 Days Of Ayurveda | Try Living With Lucie | Refinery29

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