It’s a well-known fact that Ayurveda has been practised for centuries and despite our hyper-connected and extremely technological world that we live, it’s still widely practised to this very day.
However, while the practice itself may be thousands of years old, it still has much relevance in the lives that we’re leading today. This is because the practice is all about the science and art of improving your mental and physical well-being, which will all know these days are off the scale in terms of diversity.
Today, we’re going to turn our attention to how Ayurveda practices can help us manage our stress levels. If you’re able to manage your stress, you’ll be able to stay calm and collected throughout any situation in life, enabling you to stay level-headed and in control.
Let’s find out what it’s got to offer!
Managing Stress Through Food
One of the most important focal points that Ayurveda practices have is through the food you eat. This is how we supply our body with the nutrients and energy we need which makes it easy to see why managing our diets is the key to happiness and optimal well-being.
Regarding stress, it’s important to note that spicy, salty and bitter foods only help to improve restlessness and can increase the heat of the body, resulting in you feeling out of balance. With this in mind, if you’re feeling stressed, these are foods that are best off avoided.
Likewise, stress is associated with sour tastes, which will mean that you’ll want to balance it out by eating sweet foods. However, before you go reaching for chocolate cake, the guidelines refer to natural sweet flavours, such as fruit and vegetables which will be far more beneficial to you.
Finally, if you fancy drinking some cumin tea, this is a renowned tea that’s extremely beneficial for combatting stress as it actively lowers your blood pressure.
Ayurveda Massages
Massages are one of the best ways to reduce stress and to take a ‘time out’ from your everyday life. However, while your mind might instantly jump to spa treatments and luxury hotels, which of course can be used if you like, there are many Ayurveda treatments that can bring you the same benefits for free.
As like massage treatments, Ayurveda uses special oils that can soak into your skin or give off a certain aroma that can help you to combat stress. The oils used are always warm, never cold.
While attending an Ayurveda massage therapist would be ideal, even getting some lavender oil, dabbing a bit on your finger and gently rubbing it into your arm, hands, feet or legs can bring about the same effects.
Yoga for De-Stressing
Of course, no traditional anti-stress list would be complete without the captivating and hugely beneficial Ayurveda practice known as yoga. When you’re stressed out, if you pay attention to your mind and body, you’ll find that you ‘forget’ to breath, clench your jaw or hold your breath in.
Not only can this decrease your overall lung capacity over time, but it will also decrease the oxygen supply in your body, causing your blood pressure to raise and for you to feel ultimately more stressed.
While you don’t have to jump into a downward dog when you’re feeling the stress start to rise, you can simply treat yourself to some breathing exercises to help oxygenate your body, naturally calming yourself of any stress you might have.
Next time you’re feeling stressed, take some time out, breath in through your nose and out through your mouth but exaggerate your breaths. You’ll feel calmer in seconds.
Summary
As you can see, there are many ways that Ayurveda can help us to manage our stress, and this is only scratching the surface. Next time you’re feeling stressed, make sure you start eating healthy, exercising and focusing on your breathing, and you can guarantee that you’ll feel like your happy self in no time at all!
