Happy Spring from Essential Yoga Practice!

With the official beginning of Spring, the warmer weather fills us with a sense of wakefulness and inspires us to follow along.  It is time to renew our take on life and the transitional steps include spring cleaning, physically, emotionally and spiritually. 

Ayurveda recommends spring cleansing as a way to “fertilize” all areas of life so as to nourish the soil for well-being into the rest of the year.  Please refer to your copy of Essential Yoga Practice book on Amazon, and both the book and DVD at www.essentialyogapractice.com , which further explain our following recommendations, to include a detoxifying asana practice:

1.  Clean the air in your home, car and workspace.  Use a diffuser with any of the citrus oils as they both cleanse the air from pathogens and are emotionally uplifting!

2.  Make your own cleaners using citrus oils (anti-viral)  and tea tree (anti-fungal) essential oils to clean and purify.   In a 24 oz. spray bottle mix water, a few teaspoons of vinegar and 10 to 15drops each of a citrus essential oil and tea tree and use as an all-surface cleaner.

3.  Declutter so as to practice of Saucha, cleanliness, the first Niyama of the eight limbs of yoga (see page 6 in your Essential Yoga Practice book).  This ideal includes being neat and tidy, being pure in thought, as well as using pure products in how you care for body, mind, spirit and living space.

4.  For the next month, try using a couple of drops of a pure, internal-grade citrus oil in a glass of water once daily – this can support healthy functioning of the GI Tract, coat the throat, and bolster immunity.

5.  From the recommendation of Ayurveda,  massage the body daily with carrier oils, before showering, to pull toxins to the surface that will then wash away.  Refer to pages 22-24 of Essential Yoga Practice for more information, or simply use coconut or sesame oil.  Massage toward the lymph nodes to assist lymphatic drainage.

6.  Support the skin, your largest organ, after showering by using skin-nourishing carrier oils or lotions.  Consider making your own blend using carrier oils infused with a few drops of skin-safe essential oils for a grounding aromatherapy (like Cedarwood and Petitgrain) to support vata dosha, as we all need to pacify vata tendencies in the spring. See pages 15-16 of the book. It is important to use pure essential oils to keep from adding toxic load to the body. Look HERE (www.lifefityoga.com/lifefit) for pure oils. 

7.  In your yoga asana practice, use poses from the categories of folds and twists to detoxify the body. 

8.  Get enough sleep.  Springing forward sometimes takes a while to get our body clock back in sync with the time change.  Allow yourself to be prepared and ready for bed by 10 pm when melatonin production is at a peak and falling asleep is easier.

9.  Start or renew a meditation practice to include attention for spiritual growth.

10.  Find a fun and inspirational way to learn something new for enhancing your wellness practice.  Need help?  Join a virtual class on a weekly basis and show up live to be accountable to the group and for your self care. Remember and repeat some of your favorite parts of class as you continue to build your home practice. Join some of our Essential Yoga Practice students with classes HERE, or use the last page of each of the 6 sequences in your Essential Yoga Practice book, placed at the head of your mat, to see your "Sequence at a Glance." 

Seasonal cleansing allows us to clear away old habits/toxins and to introduce new ways of bringing balance to our daily wellness practices, leaving us feeling renewed with more energy and joy, fostering resilience during times of change. 

Want to win a bottle of pure lemon essential oil?  Like, comment and share/tag 2 friends on any of our EYP social media pages and then tune in on April 22 as we announce the winner! Don't forget #EYPspringcleanse