According to Ayurveda, healthy nourishment produces healthy rasa dhatu. Rasa dhatu refers to all of the fluids within the body, including plasma, lymph, breast milk and menstrual flow. Healthy rasa dhatu feeds all the other tissues of our body. When the rasa dhatu is healthy, we remain young, vibrant, vital and “juicy.” When our rasa is depleted, we age faster, feel dissatisfied with life, lose our vitality, and feel “dried out.” Rasayana is the Ayurvedic process of rebuilding rasa. In doing so, we put the juice back into our lives and feel healthier, more vital, vibrant and alive.
Here are 5 tips to juice up your body and mind:
1. Warm, raw cow’s milk taken with cardamom and ginger. Drink 1/2 cup twice a day.
2. Pace yourself. Avoid working too hard, playing too hard, and engaging in emotional drama (doing so will surely dry you out)
3. Explore the facets of love: kindness, forgiveness, non-judgement, non-attachment, compassion, and faith
4. Lovingly massage yourself each day with warm oil which is appropriate to your constitution (sesame oil for vata, sunflower oil for pitta, and safflower oil or dry massage with herbal powders for kapha)
5. Ahimsa: Ayurveda teaches that ahimsa (non-violence) is the foundation of healthy rasa and ojas. Rasayana is not possible without cultivating non-violence in thought, word and deed.
As you replenish the juice in your body and mind, don’t forget to offer a cup to your loved ones.
Om Shanti, Dr. Marc Halpern, Founder of the California College of Ayurveda