Water: Elixir of Life
I have a lot of experience with a variety of detoxification methods and I enjoy facilitating those kinds of processes and watching people learn more about themselves and their bodies. This year the focus has been on cleansing and rejuvenation in most of my work with others. I’ve had numerous clients undergoing an ayurveda based cleanse and rejuvenation. This is an involved, individualized, dynamic journey lasting from 7-60 days or longer depending on what is being treated and what is desired by the client! If you consider that most of the chronic imbalances we are dealing with developed over time then it makes perfect sense that fully addressing them will also take time. Ayurveda is focused on getting to the root, core cause of the imbalance and not based on just handling symptoms. I always learn a lot from these processes and I definitely educate the client as we go if they are interested. We have created whatever we are dealing with. It didn’t just poof, happen. And when we decide to be responsible in a different way, things can change in ways we may not have thought possible. I am witnessing that right now with one of my clients who is deep in a cleanse right now.A mountain of very old junk and gunk has been cleared from the body, mind and emotions and soul. It is a deep personal process and the transformation we both see has us excited and very hopeful. An important part of the detox is a deep and thorough reset of the digestive system with a specific diet that is prepared fresh each day. It also involves lots of oils for all kinds of reasons. We are working with the forces I talked about the other day of vata or air, pitta or fire and kapha or water. Because Vata is the dominant dosha or force responsible for all movement, a lot of attention is paid to balancing and harmonizing that force. I love watching the thorough transformation these people go through, not just physically but mentally, emotionally, spiritually and energetically. If you haven't guessed it by now, I like to work on all those levels and by doing so know we can truly create not just change but transformation. I think many of us know we are in need of some type of cleanse but we have no idea where to really start. Just get on the internet and you can see why people are confused. I stick to these time tested natural methods that consistently bring results each and every time whether you come for 7 days or a month. The longer the better because we are able to go much deeper into the tissue where the body stores so much of what it doesn’t want and doesn’t have the energy to clear.
There’s an over abundance of talk about self care these days which to me is kind of silly. I mean, yes, you have to take care of yourself! That seems obvious to me. I look at things a little differently. I see these routines as self love and self knowledge. When we take the time to properly nourish ourselves our system begins to digest what we are putting into it in a different way and I don't just mean food. This is a foundational piece to creating a loving relationship with ourselves. I’m pretty sure most if not all of us can work on loving and accepting ourselves more. Self care and loving yourself aren't necessarily the same thing and I'm not trying to say there is anything wrong with self care. I just think it’s obvious. Why would we think we don’t need to take care of ourselves? I mean who will if we don’t? I’ve never been looking for someone to take care of me. That’s my job. But I would appreciate and be grateful for any loving support that is organically given so don’t get me wrong. I want to share a few simple ideas with you that can provide additional support to your system.
First is that we are 50-70% water which we all know. This does not however mean for you to drink water all day every day. We can create stagnation and heaviness in the system by drinking too much water. You heard me right. Too much water. And this is a big one! You should never drink ice cold water. This can cause disturbances in the digestive process itself as well as putting out the digestive fire. Here are a few of the other guidelines from Ayurveda about drinking water:
Water should be consumed while sitting down rather than standing. This helps in proper and efficient absorption and distribution of the water consumed.
Water should be consumed in small sips and not gulped down which prevents dilution of the blood and gastric juices. Blood is 83% water so that could be a big deal.
Always drink warm or room temperature water whenever you feel thirsty. The idea is that your daily intake will be fulfilled if you have sufficient water whenever your body asks for it.
The color of your urine will indicate if you are sufficiently hydrated. I drink a mason jar of warm water with lemon the first thing every day. If you are sufficiently hydrated, the color of your urine will be fairly clear or light yellow.
It's helpful to have a gap of about 45 minutes between food and water intake. Drinking water immediately after food can actually make people obese and immediately before reduces digestion. The same is true of drinking water to flush down your food instead of properly chewing it to a watery state.
Warm water consumed in the morning on an empty stomach has a lot of medicinal value. Ages 16-80 should have around 2 glasses while other age groups should have 3. This aids digestion, better sleep and makes you feel more active.
Your brain is made up of a lot of water around 74%. Being properly hydrated helps with concentration, thinking clearly, and maintaining good energy levels.
Water clearly has flushing actions that remove toxins through the skin and urine. This is a way to be doing a simple daily detox. This can play a role in reducing the probability of cancer and also heart attacks.
I think many of us would say we could do a better job of paying attention to our water intake and hopefully this will encourage you to do that.
This isn’t all ayurveda has to say about water! Many of us know water has memory so it’s important how we store it. If water is kept in a copper vessel preferably overnight but for at least 4 hours the water acquires a certain quality from the cooper which is very good for your liver in particular and your health and wellbeing in general. You should also not drink water straight from the tap. If it sits for one hour, it will come back to its original state and lose the memory of it’s journey into your house.
Being more attentive to your water consumption is an easy way to help the body remove waste and stay cleaner. There are many more ideas from ayurveda about cleansing the system and this is a subject I will post on again.