Routines and Rhythms

According to Ayurveda, daily routine, or dinacharya in Sanskrit, is one of the cornerstones of achieving optimal health. Daily routines encourage us to form lasting habits of health and wellness—rituals we can practice every day. As we grow more accustomed to the flow of our daily routines, it becomes easier to move through life in step with the rhythms of nature.

Ayurveda holds that the universe and everything in it is composed of the three doshas that correspond with elements in nature:

• Vata dosha is composed of air and ether. It is most present in the atmosphere around fall and early winter, and has qualities of lightness, dryness, and mobility—like leaves in the wind.
• Pitta dosha made up of water and fire. Its peak in the atmosphere occurs around late spring and summer, especially when the weather is hot.
• Kapha dosha correlates with the elements of water and earth. Its primary seasons are late winter through spring, and its qualities are heavy, moist, and cool—not unlike the spring season itself in many parts of the world.

Discovering your prakriti or Ayurvedic body type can help you determine the unique combination of these doshas present within you throughout your lifetime. It's easy to assume that discovering your dosha is all there is to Ayurveda, but it is actually just the beginning of establishing an Ayurvedic lifestyle.

When you've learned which doshas need to be balanced, you can start to create and follow an Ayurvedic daily routine to help you stay balanced or help correct doshic imbalances that may be occurring.

What Is a Daily Routine?

Simply put, a daily routine is a set of habits that encompasses oral hygiene, self-massage, healthy exercising, yoga and meditation, supportive breathing practices, and much more.

Taking time out of our busy schedules to practice self-care can make a huge difference in how we feel over time, especially when we incorporate a daily meditation routine, yoga, and pranayama (yogic breathing) as part of our ongoing set of rituals.

These articles are designed to help you find what you need to establish a daily routine that works for you. Some topics include:

• Insight on how the doshas can fluctuate and how to adjust your daily routine accordingly. Equally important to learning your dosha is discovering your vikriti or present state of balance, which can fluctuate depending on the season, or due to any number of environmental factors.
• How to adjust your daily routine according to the season. During certain times of the year, your daily routine and other healthy habits can be adjusted as the weather changes around you.
• Blogs about morning and night routines in Ayurveda. Start your day out right with a supportive morning routine, and create a supportive nighttime routines as well.

Whether you're new to the world of Ayurveda and daily routines and are looking for tips on how to get started, or you're curious about how to make changes to the daily routine you currently have in place, Ayurveda has answers.