Housekeeping for Your Soul

Published: Mon, 12/28/20


As the new year approaches, tradition has it that we will set  goals, that we will not fulfill. History has showed that there are multiple reasons this happens. Believe it or not, in most of the cases, the culprit is not our lack of will power.  The culprit is us being misinformed. We set goals based on what the media tells us we should do instead of what we really want to do. We listen to every one else about how we should do something, instead of listening to ourselves.

Pericles, the creator of the Golden Age of Ancient Athens once said: “Time is the wisest counselor of all.”

That statement has so much wisdom in it.  What has time showed us over and over? Have we paid any attention to it?

Are we doing the same stuff over and over, getting the same poor results?

How has the media's influence, full of fad diets, fad workout routines and fad meditation been working for every one's health?

If it has been working for you, by no means, keep it up. But if it hasn't, let's break this infinite vicious cycle, using the wisest counselor of all, time.

The following time-tested (through Ayurveda and otherwise) practices worked to successfully bring humanity to the miraculous age of the industrial revolution. It's not until the last 100 years or so that somehow they got forgotten and / or replaced by "modern" substitutes which have already proven detrimental to our health and well-being.

Time - Tested Techniques

1. Sip hot water throughout the day. Plain hot water, no need to add anything to it. Charaka (the original author of Ayurveda) praises hot water in terms of its cleansing and digestive benefits. He actually refers to it as a divine prescription for health. Who said that simple is not powerful?

2. Perform 2 rounds of kapalabhati breathing aka breath of power (not to be confused with bhastrika, the breath of fire) followed by a couple of minutes of alternate nostril breathing at least 3 times a week.  It only takes a few minutes and the combination works very well together, as a cleansing mechanism and a concentration exercise. We know that every one who receives this email has taken at least one of our trainings so you should all be familiar with both of them.

3. Do something that makes you uncomfortable on a daily basis. Make it part of your daily routine. It can be anything, from taking a cold shower, to eating something you don't like but history has showed it's good for you, to learning a foreign language to help you expand your business or enrich your personal life. Charaka says that opposites balance and similars increase each other. Too much comfort eventually turns into laziness, lethargy and even depression. The only way to be able to successfully handle external adversity is by first being able to handle adversity caused to us by us. :-) :-)

4. Have a routine, a plan for your day so you don't let random, insignificant distractions or disturbances take your focus away. Be in charge of your present time so you can do the most with it. This way you stop worrying about the past or wonder about the future. Stay focused at the task at hand. Set your own personal deadlines, daily and even hourly if need be. Manage yourself, manage your present time. Ancient Stoic Philosopher Seneca, said very eloquently: The greatest obstacle to living is expectancy, which hangs upon tomorrow and loses today. You are arranging what is in Fortune's control and abandoning what lies in yours.”

5. Lubricate internally as opposed to externally. Internal lubrication, is a lot more critical to our health than the external. Charaka praises the power of animal fat and meat soup (think ghee, bone broth, marrow and stews). In terms of non-animal fats, he only uses, in specific occasions, mustard oil, castor oil and sesame oil. Vegetables and seeds are considered drugs, not food staples, in ancient Ayurveda.

Think of all of the above as your internal housekeeping. Sometimes, we get so distracted by all sorts of external housekeeping, that we forget what matters the most. 

Before we say "until next time":

Until, next time much much love from both of us!! And Happy Holidays!

-Tim and Vie