Yoga and Ayurveda are very old systems, when the word “flu” wasn’t even a thing yet. But of course, health has always been a hot topic for people. Back then, people preferred to take good care of their health, so that they don’t get sick in the first place, which is pretty different to nowadays, where everyone just focuses on medication instead of healthy nutrition, movement and strengthening the mind. Ayurveda offers some effective healing methods, but its focus is on prevention.

Having strong body’s defenses is always a perk, but especially now – and not only because of the flu season as such. For many of us, this time of year is mentally straining because it’s dark and cold outside. The effects of such a mental strain, even if it’s unconscious, shouldn’t be underestimated. Mental stress can influence our immune system in a negative way and now is not the time to risk that.

When you’re relaxed, your body’s defenses will work more effectively. When you’re stressed, on the other hand, you burn more micronutrients, minerals and vitamins. Time to wind down a bit!

Take a breather

Take a moment in between to pay attention to your breath. When you’re nervous or stressed, your breath will become flatter automatically. But that’s not a one-way street: If we consciously breathe deeply, calmly and evenly, we send a signal to our brain that we’re relaxed. Whenever you notice that your breathing is quickening, and you feel signs of stress, try deep abdominal breathing.

Find a comfortable seated position for the deep abdominal breathing exercise. Take a moment to watch your breath. Put a hand on your belly. Can you feel how your abdominal wall is lifting when you inhale and sinking when you exhale? Deepen your breath until you can feel a noticeable movement. If you like, increase the positive effect by visualizing that you breathe in relaxation when you inhale and that you release tension when you exhale. Always do this breathing exercise when you would like to take a moment to unwind and get back into balance.

If you have a little more time on your hands, treat yourself to a full deep relaxation. Lay down on your back in a comfortable position and make sure you won’t get disturbed. Now, you can either start a relaxation video on YouTube, for example an imaginary journey, or you can do a body scan for yourself. Notice your body parts one by one and repeat relaxation stimuli in your mind. Start with your feet – “I relax my feet. My feet are relaxing. My feet are completely relaxed.” – and work your way up to your forehead.

Cleanse your airways

Kapalabhati is a yogic breathing exercise which also counts to the yogic kriyas, “purifying” exercises. The part of our body that’s being cleansed with this is our respiratory tract. Kapalabhati has a positive effect on our lungs, bronchia, alveole as well as on our windpipe and nasal passages. That’s why this exercise is perfect for preventing colds and to keep our respiratory tract healthy. Even when you have asthma, practicing regularly can have a positive effect.

Flush your system

I practice Kapalabhati every morning – right after I’ve prepared my lemon water that is awaiting me afterwards. Drinking warm water first thing in the morning is an ayurvedic must and is really good for you and your body. It flushes your body after the nightly detoxification processes, hydrates and gets your digestion and metabolism going. The lemon water adds precious Vitamin C, while ginger is a great addition to this drink. By the way: It’s not only great for taste and an extra bust for the immune system, but it also balances all three Doshas.

Ayurveda’s immunity secret

Another classic in Ayurveda is Chyavanprash. You can take a teaspoon full of this dark paste every day, either pure or with a bit of warm milk. Don’t worry, it doesn’t taste bad – I think it tastes like plum jam. The main ingredient is Amla, the Indian gooseberry. Apart from that, there are more natural ingredients like fruits and herbs in the puree. It’s a healthy mixture that helps prevent bacterial and viral infections, balances all Doshas and boosts the metabolism. If you have diabetes, you should be careful because of all the fruit sugar and talk to your doctor before using Chyavanprash.

With these tips and exercises, you provide a good basis for your immune system to work in a healthy way. Don’t forget to pay attention to a balanced nutrition, good sleep and activities that bring you joy – feeling good is very important during any time of year, but especially flu season.

Fall is not just flu season, but also Vata season. You can read what that means and what you can do to feel your best during that time here: Tipps for Vata season

Unlock your creative potential – teach awesome classes!

You’ve probably heard about journaling, but did you know that you can use it as a tool to enrich your yoga class themes, workshops, and retreats?

This course will introduce you to different types of journaling and guide you on how to use it for personal and professional development as a yoga teacher, helping you create more meaningful yoga classes, retreats, themes, and workshop ideas.

Is this course right for me?

This course is perfect for you, if you want to…

• grow as a yoga teacher
• get new inspiration for your teaching
• add more depth to your classes, retreats and workshops

What you’ll learn

• How journaling and yoga can be combined – and why you should do it!
• How journaling can help you grow – both as a person and as a teacher
• What journaling methods are available and how you can use them
• How you can incorporate journaling into your teaching

By the end of the course, you will be able to plan your own yoga class with journaling, offering your students a profound experience that goes way beyond the asana practice!

Course Details

• Total hours for the course: 10 hours
• Pre-recorded videos: 7 hours
• Self-study: 1 hour
• Practicum: 1 hour
• One-on-one call with teacher: 1 hour

Price: $159

Yoga teachers will receive a YACEP certificate for 10 hours of continuing education.

You would like to…

• make your everyday life healthier
• boost your digestion
• get nutritional tips for your type
• optimize your sleep patterns and wake up more refreshed in the morning
• strengthen your immune system
• gain more mental balance
• improve your health and well-being in general?

Then an Ayurvedic consultation could be ideal for you.

What makes Ayurveda so special?

• Holistic: We look at your whole personality and your everyday life.
• Basis: The concept of the three vital energies “Doshas”, which are present in nature and in ourselves.
• Goal: Keeping these doshas balanced to stay healthy
• Everyday Use: Ayurvedic tips include nutrition, yoga, meditation, body care, fragrances, and more. With a selection like this, there’s something for you too that you can easily incorporate into your daily routine.

How does a consultation work?

• In a first step, we determine your constitution, i.e. your very own mixture of the doshas – every person is born with his or her own mixture, just as every color is created from an individual mixture of the three basic colors.
• You will get valuable tips about your constitution. What does it mean? What can you do and eat to feel healthy? How can you recognize imbalances?

Package 1

Constitution determination with valuable tips for everyday life, as described above.

75 min – 50 €

Package 2

Package 2 is for you if you would like to go deeper into the subject. In addition to the general consultation from package 1, you will receive a yoga session tailored to your individual needs. I will take into account your constitution, possible ailments and your current life circumstances.

75 min counselling + 60 min Yoga – 95 €

Package 3

If you really want to do something good for yourself and let me accompany you for a longer time, then package 3 is perfect for you. The basis here is also the general consultation. This is followed by three follow-up appointments with yoga and meditation sessions tailored to you and your needs. In addition, you will receive appropriate journal prompts for your individual reflection.

75 min Beratung + 3x 60 min – 185 €

It’s time to find out how you can benefit from the concept of the ayurvedic constitution! Now that you know the basics of the Doshas, let’s take a look at how to implement them into your everyday life. Again, the qualities and energies of the Doshas play an important role.

Develop a sense of the energies

Learn how to notice certain energies in your daily routine as Vata, Pitta or Kapha energy and how to sense if they might have gotten out of balance.
How? By observing! Let’s remember:
Vata has the qualities airy, light, dry, rough, cold.
Pitta has the qualities hot, passionate, transformative, sharp.
Kapha has the qualities heavy, stable, nourishing, calm, steady.

Vata types are full of ideas, creative, flighty and often freezing. In case of a Vata imbalance, they tend to be constipated. On the mental level, they overthink and worry a lot when imbalanced.
Pitta types are organized, determined and passionate. When they’re imbalanced, they get aggressive and get inflammations easily.
Kapha types are solid, down-to-earth and loving. When there is a Kapha excess, they tend to put on weight too quickly and to get lethargic.

All that is only a rough overview and not a detailed characterization of the Doshas. Nonetheless, it gives you a great starting point to pay more attention to the qualities of the three bio energies – in your body, your mind, your interactions, the weather… it doesn’t matter where, you can find them anywhere!

Windy, unstable weather? Vata energy!
Dry, cracked skin? Vata excess!
Highly concentrated work? Pitta energy!
Grimness? Pitta excess!
An intimate conversation among friends, where both pour out their hearts? Kapha energy!
Lethargy and weariness? Kapha excess!

Of course, there can be more than one energy present. If, for example, you are working totally focused and all of a sudden so many new ideas spring to your mind that you don’t even know which one to pursue first, then Vata energy has joined Pitta. Make a habit of seeing yourself and your surroundings through an “ayurvedic lens” and try to notice the Doshas in your daily life.

Find out what your constitution is

You can do that either by doing a consultation with an ayurvedic counselor or by taking a Dosha test by yourself. When you have the result, spend some time engaging in your constitution. Start with the predominant Dosha. Which of your physical and mental traits fit to it? Note the attributes that correspond to your main Dosha and check which ones may relate to the other two Doshas. Maybe two Doshas are present in almost the same amount – that’s not unusual, it’s the case with most people.

Observe yourself

Your mood, your emotions, your ailments, your digestion – all of that is related to the Doshas or possible imbalances. Several times a day, ask yourself which energies you can notice in and on you. Also, see if you can notice imbalances. Maybe you’re unusually irritable, which might point to increased Pitta, or you feel listless, which might be due to a Kapha excess.

Pay attention to your current state

You were born with a unique constitution, a unique mixture of the Doshas. If you have a predominant Pitta, for example, it can still happen that you feel tired and lazy due to outer circumstances, unfavorable nutrition, or the situation at home or at work. On the other hand, Kapha-persons, who are usually very patient and tough to trigger, might be influenced by those factors in a way that makes them irritable and likely to snap. Even though we are more prone to imbalances of our predominant Dosha, the two others might get out of control as well.

Opposites balance

This principle helps when one of the Doshas has gotten out of control. In Ayurveda, we always assume that there’s an excess, not a lack. Therefore, we wouldn’t say „I’m not active enough“, or „I have too little Pitta in me”, but rather “I am too lazy” or “I have too much Kapha in me”. Again, the qualities are important. When there is one that is especially high, its counterpart will balance it. As mentioned in the introduction, there are 10 pairs of counterparts, and three of them are important for daily use. Here’s a reminder:

Heavy – light
Hot – cold
Oily/moist – dry

“Heavy” enhances Kapha and reduces Vata, “light” enhances Vata and reduces Kapha.
“Hot” enhances Pitta and reduces Kapha, “cold” enhances Vata and Kapha and reduces Pitta.
“Oily” enhances Kapha and Pitta and reduces Vata, “dry” enhances Vata and reduces Kapha and Pitta.

Let’s imagine it’s a cool, windy fall season. You’re working for an advertising agency and have come up with numerous creative ideas for a new campaign. Due to the heating in your office, the air is very dry. Your significant other at home is in the middle of exam preparations, which is why he or she is very excited and nervous. If you notice that you’re not exactly sure which one of your ideas you should work on first and then discard some of them, or if you have cracked skin or constipations, you can assume that your Vata Dosha is higher than usual. Therefore, the qualities cold/dry should be reduced and heavy/oily should be increased. We can achieve that with a grounding yoga practice, yummy oil massages and warm, easily digestible food.

Give it a try!

Experiment with the opposites and find out what suits you. Observe how you feel after a meal and how food influences your digestion and your energy level. Come to your own conclusions about which foods to eliminate from your plate and which you would like to add. Do the same with relationships, activities and habits. Ask yourself: What’s good for me, what makes me sluggish, what makes me nervous, what gives me energy, what nourishes me?

How you will benefit from this friendship

You will get more mindful. When was the last time you observed how food and certain interactions or situations influence your body? Being more mindful about this will help you see what makes you feel good and what you should stay away from.

You will understand yourself better. When you react to a situation in a certain way, you might be less strict with yourself or more likely to accept that as a Kapha-type you will never lose weight as fast as friends with a predominant Vata-Dosha.

You can live healthier. When you know your constitution and the corresponding needs, you can walk through life with more energy and better health.

You can help yourself. When you realize that there is something wrong, you can try to feel better by implementing little changes. If you get sick, though, it is better to see a doctor.

Have fun establishing this special friendship! I’d love to hear your experiences with it.