Brahmacharya Practices to Adopt this Summer

As we move into the Ayurvedic season of Pitta, it's important to consider how we can stay balanced during the heat of summer and protect our energy. One way to do this is by practicing Brahmacharya, one of the five Yamas of Yoga. Brahmacharya is often translated as celibacy or sexual restraint, but it also encompasses the proper use of energy in all areas of our lives.

In Ayurveda, Brahmacharya is seen as a way to conserve our vital life force, or "prana," which is essential for physical, mental, and spiritual health. By preserving our energy, we can live a more balanced and fulfilling life, free from anxiety, stress, and burnout.

The word "Brahmacharya" is derived from two Sanskrit words: "Brahma," meaning the absolute or divine, and "charya," meaning behaviour or conduct. Therefore, Brahmacharya is often interpreted as the "right use of energy." 

Practicing Brahmacharya involves cultivating self-discipline, self-control, and mindfulness. This includes our relationships, work, hobbies, and daily habits. It involves being mindful of our thoughts, words, and actions and making choices that align with our highest purpose.

During the Ayurveda season of Pitta, practicing Brahmacharya can be particularly beneficial. The season's heat and intensity can lead to agitation, irritability, and burnout if we don't take steps to protect our energy. By practicing Brahmacharya and incorporating daily rituals that help us stay balanced, we can conserve our energy and direct it toward our highest purpose.

One way to practice Brahmacharya during the Pitta season is to incorporate daily rituals that help us stay balanced. Here are a few ideas:

1. Wake up early: Ayurveda recommends waking up before sunrise to align with the natural rhythms of the universe. This helps us feel more energized and focused throughout the day.

2. Practice Yoga: Yoga is a great way to move our bodies and calm our minds. During the Pitta season, it's best to practice gentle, cooling poses like forward folds, seated twists, and gentle backbends.

3. Meditate: Meditation is a powerful tool for conserving energy and calming our minds. You can start with just a few minutes each day and gradually increase the time as you feel more comfortable.

4. Eat cooling foods: During the Pitta season, it's essential to eat cooling and hydrating foods. This includes fresh fruits and vegetables, coconut water, and herbal teas.

5. Stay hydrated: Drinking plenty of water and electrolyte-rich drinks like coconut water helps us stay hydrated and cool during the heat of summer.

By incorporating these daily rituals into our lives, we can practice Brahmacharya and protect our energy during the Pitta season. When we conserve our energy and direct it towards our highest purpose, we can live a more balanced and fulfilling life.

Looking for some in-person guidance on where to start incorporating these practices? Book your 2-Night Nectar Yoga Experience package here and spend some time slowing down with us in nature.

Sources Cited:

Acknowledgment and thanks to the contributing writers for the resources of this publication; Segal Shah via The Art of Living, Rolf Sovik via Yoga International and Esther Ekhart of Ekhart Yoga

As always, sending gratitude to our community near and far, both for taking the time to explore our blog and for walking the path to your best self - we hope this resonated and aided you in finding peace and balance within.

If you feel called to share your feelings and practices surrounding the practice of Brahmacharya, please do so in the comments below or send us a message via email.

All Photos - Copyright Nectar Yoga

Spring Cleaning with Intention and Celebration (Around the World)

With the daylight stretching longer and longer each day, the energy surrounding the seasonal shift into Spring has many of us feeling uplifted and motivated by the lengthened daylight hours as well as the buds of growth everywhere in nature. 

Typically this motivates us to take a closer look at what we are keeping in both our physical and mental spaces, and make space to declutter what we no longer need (ultimately making space for new beautiful things to grow).

All around the world, there are various traditions, celebrations and holidays that essentially all mark the season of light, planting anew, and (re)birth. In this thread we outline the unique details of some of the more popular ones, however, encourage you to dig deeper and explore your own lineage or interests relating to traditions around this time of year marking a universal time for planting and growth.

Chinese New Year – China

In the lead-up to the Chinese Lunar New Year, people perform a preparatory cleaning of their space, sweeping away the dust and debris of the past 12 months in a symbolical gesture to make room for good fortune to come. It’s important that the tidying session be wrapped up by the stroke of midnight – any cleaning on New Year’s Day itself is said to sweep away good luck.

Songkran Water Festival – Thailand
The arrival of the spring season marks the new year in Thailand and the Songkran Water Festival is a celebration of rebirth. This tradition originated with people throwing water at each other to be cleansed of misfortune, negativity and to welcome luckier times ahead. However, in more modern times, this celebration has taken the symbolism of water to a new level as elaborate water celebrations drench entire streets for days.

Persian Nowruz - Several Middle Eastern countries

Persian Nowruz, observed in Iran (as well as many other countries, including Afghanistan, Iraq and Kazakhstan), is a New Year’s celebration that’s preceded by spring cleaning. The Iranian calendar is a solar calendar that honours and syncs with the seasons.
Nowruz coincides with the spring equinox in March, fittingly translating as “new day.” To mark this elemental time of renewal, belongings are sifted and sorted through, floors are scrubbed, closets decluttered and re-organized, and items collecting dust that no longer spark joy are rehomed. This sometimes begins weeks before the equinox to ensure enough time is dedicated to this process of shedding the old and welcoming in the new alongside the rhythms of nature.

Holi – Northern India
Holi in India is a country-wide social sanction to have fun, with a lot of vibrant colours that lift mood and a practice that may be originally linked to a time when colourful, natural medicinal plants were used for healing. Participants take to the streets for the “Festival of Colours” where they cover each other in colourful solutions and powders. Holi has a large social significance in the country, and the tradition is also celebrated with special treats.

Spring Equinox in Teotihuacán – Mexico
While the Spring Equinox is celebrated all over the world in different ways, it is much more significant in Mexico. People dress in red scarves and white robes, burn incense, perform ritual dances, and climb to the top of the Pyramid of the Sun, spreading their arms to follow the traditions of their ancestors, there they perform long-upheld rituals, with a belief that they will receive strong energy.

Cooper’s Hill Cheese-Rolling and Wake – Gloucester, England
For over two centuries, Gloucestershire's small English village has been host to this unique annual tradition called Cooper’s Hill Cheese Rolling and Wake. In this event, a round of Gloucester cheese is rolled down the hill, with participants racing down the steep hillside after it. The goal is to go after the cheese and ultimately catch it. Participants often end up tumbling head-over-heels and falling down the slope.

As mentioned, these traditions around the world are separated by practices, culture, and continent, however, they each involve a similar message; welcoming the arrival of the spring season and celebrating all that is to come.

Perhaps let this serve as a reminder how we are all interconnected with each other and the shifts in nature.

Sources Cited:
Acknowledgment, citation and thanks to the contributing resources of this publication, Fani Ntinoudi, Esme Benjamin, and Faith Davis.

Gratitude to our community near and far, both for taking the time to explore our blog and for walking the path to your best self - we hope this resonated and aids you in finding balance within.

Tell us in the comments what rituals you practice as we move towards the yang seasons of light and growth.

All Photos - Copyright Nectar Yoga

Dinācharya For Deeper Connection

Have you heard of “dinācharya” before?

It is the Ayurvedic term for a daily regimen that is followed to support the maintenance of a healthy life. There is also the term and practice of “rutucharyā”, which is the Ayurvedic word to encompass our seasonally-influenced rituals for optimal wellness. More than likely, you have put it into practice in various forms over the span of your life.

Around this time of year, we are seeing the concept and various themes of romantic love all around, as Valentine's Day approaches. With this heavy push of certain ideals upon us (particularly in the Western world), this is also an invitation to dive-in deeper, and reflect on how we love and respect ourselves through a consistent dinācharya.

The energies of this month can be harnessed to examine and reflect on your deepest love connections, starting with your relationship with yourself and what commitments you are upholding to ultimately walk your best path.

In this post we will delve into the benefits of dinācharya and what they can include. And as mentioned above, perhaps you already have a version of one or more of these rituals, or you already have a daily wellness practice (even if on an off-and-on basis). May this serve as a reminder or encouragement for each of us to journey into our own versions of dinācharya, apply it in our lives and ultimately reap the most benefits from it.

*This article is inspired by a recent course led by Jenna Furnari and some of her specific references. Along with cited sources, you can find a glossary below with Ayurvedic and other less-common terms that are included throughout this article.

Under the teachings of Ayurveda, establishing a physical routine for the body can help to create balance beyond the physical, and extends all the way to seek an internal balance relating to finding your mental and spiritual alignment, as well as your own unique energetic dosha. Learn what your dosha is here. The many benefits of following closely to a daily rhythm include both cultivating and maintaining a seasonally-regulated Agni), the domino impact being a healthy self-esteem, general vitality, and overall longevity - to name just a few. Integrating the daily regimen of dinācharya supports an overall grounded quality within, even while life continues to move through constant transitions.

Below is an introduction to a few steps you can take to begin bringing the practices of daily Ayurveda into your life through dinācharya, presented below, specifically as a morning ritual.

*As with most authentic wellness practices, this is not a one-size-fits-all regime. It’s important to seek additional resources and support (from trusted and recognized sources), along with getting medical clearance if relevant to your specific context, to compile your own unique version of what is outlined below.

This morning routine sets the tone and ample opportunity to maximize the potential of the rest of your day.

Tools for Dinācharya

• Tongue Scraper

• Sesame and/or Coconut oil

• Neti Pot

• Nasya Oil

Morning Dinācharya

• Rise before the sun

• Splash cool water on your face

• Drink warm lemon water

• Visit the toilet

• Scrape your tongue

• Oil pulling *Learn why and how to do this

• Rinse with a Neti pot

• Follow up with Nasya oil nasal massage

• Abhyanga with coconut or sesame oil

*Benefits of daily massage include bestowing good health and nourishment to the body, which slows down the aging process and supports restful sleep.

Glossary of Terms :

Agni: Our internal, biological fire that aids our ability to digest, absorb and assimilate the food that we eat, the experiences we have and the emotions that occur within. This transformation also takes place with the sensory impressions that come our way.

Abhyanga: A self-given body massage

Āyurveda: This system of medicine is translated as the science of life, originating from India.

Dinācharya: A daily regimen followed to support the maintenance of a healthy life.

Imbolc : The halfway point between Winter Solstice and Spring Equinox/Ostara).

Kriyas: Specific sets of exercises, breathing techniques and sound mantras practiced to unlock energy channels or chakras in the body with intention.

Nasya: A method of administering herbal oil through the nostrils as a therapy for one of the five major senses.

Neti: A body cleansing technique used for nasal irrigation and cleansing of nasal membranes. This simple therapy has many benefits for the both the body and the mind.

Sources Cited:
Acknowledgment and thanks to the contributing resources of this publication, Jenna Furnari for her supplied content, and inspiring this entire article, and Aruna Bakhru via literature included in “Nutrition and Integrative Medicine: A Primer for Clinicians.”

Gratitude to our community near and far, both for taking the time to explore our blog and for walking the path to your best self - we hope this resonated and aids you in finding balance within.

Tell us in the comments what mornings rituals you look forward to most.

All Photos - Copyright Nectar Yoga

Winter Dream Work + DIY Dream Pillow

As we step into a new year, in the Northern Hemisphere, we are held in the yin energy of the winter months alongside the in-between Ayurvedic seasons of Vata and Kapha.

During the day, as we move through the cold months, you may notice a gradual and incremental return to more vibrancy and drive within yourself. The upcoming Kapha season (Kapha season lasts from the second half of winter through spring), is the time to go deeper into any exercise program with specific attention placed on movement and a time to solidify your commitments to yourself and your plans for the near future.

However, in the dream world, there is a juxtaposition to these daylight hour natural motivations forward.

You may notice that your dreams have been revisiting issues in your past. During these natural outer-world shifts, your time in the dream world is susceptible to revolve around very old memories, both desired and undesirable, often playing out to recreate new scenarios.

Take notice of how you feel when you awaken, reflect on what your dream may be asking you to pay attention to or hold space for. Consider what the lessons may be from the dream, and if it is asking you to make a choice or step into action, then reflect if you’re ready.

What matters with dreams is how you relate with them. What are you learning? Is it asking you to show up in a new or renewed way?

A meditative craft that can be supportive in your dream work is making a Dream Pillow.

You can typically create a dream pillow with materials that you already keep in your home.

What you’ll need:

• A small muslin or cotton drawstring bag

• Favourite calming herbs (dried)

Crafting the dream pillow itself is a mindful exercise on its own that offers its own calming effects. If you’re using multiple herbs, pour them into a bowl and gently mix them with a small spoon or your hands. Breathe in the smells that waft around you as you set your intentions for what you desire to manifest in your dream work.

Use a spoon or small scoop to pour the herbs into your drawstring bag, secure it tightly, and place it under your sleeping pillow (or beside your bed).

The ritual of making a dream pillow can be done as often as you like, using different favoured and/or seasonal local herbs to tap into various energies they embody and support.

Having a calming night ritual prior to going to sleep is the best way to tap into our most profound intuitive dreamwork insights. This may include exercising your journal practices (specifically dream journaling), a slow movement practice, using a dream pillow, or all of the above.

Whether a morning journal practice is already part of your wellness routine, to hone in on your dream work, we suggest keeping your journal next to your bed to write down the details of your dreams as soon as you rise in the morning.

If you wake up in the middle of the night from a particularly intense dream, write whatever memorable details about it before going back to sleep, as you may likely forget by morning. Documenting your dreams allows you to work through unprocessed issues in your waking life and the symbolic lessons you explore in your sleep.

Sources Cited:
Acknowledgment and thanks to the contributing resources of this publication, Rebecca Turner via Lucid World Dreaming and Irene Wolansky via Mountain Rose Herbs - a precious resource for herb ideas if you’re unsure where to start.

Gratitude to our community near and far, both for taking the time to explore our blog and for walking the path to your best self - we hope this resonated and aids you in finding balance within.

Tell us in the comments what herbs you’re inclined to add to your dream pillow this season.

All Photos - Copyright Nectar Yoga, Adrienne Andersen, Subi Yanto, Ana Pou, Yan Kruko and Olena Bohovyk