Tea Time to bring Ayurveda in your life

Philosophically, both Yoga and Ayurveda come from the common ground of Sankhya philosophy. The goal of both is to eradicate pain and misery. Although scriptures such as the Charaka Samhita claim that ayurveda can help us attain freedom from all levels of pain and misery—physical, mental, and spiritual—its focus is mainly on preventing and treating physical illness. Yoga texts such as the Hatha Yoga Pradipika and the Yoga Sutra focus on disciplines related to the mind and senses.

For someone who has no background of Yoga and Ayurveda, Ayurveda brings us into balance in our body, helps with prevention of disease, and reconnects us to nature.  Yoga helps us balance and discipline the mind, senses, and reminds us of our true nature within. 

Ayurveda is a vast science full of so much wisdom, but at its core there are the 4 pillars of health that when balanced help us maintain vibrant health:

 
🍊The first is "Ahar" or food/diet.  This is so important to our health since it's the way we fuel our body, and we spend a good amount of time understanding this pillar in Ayurveda as we learn the qualities of the seasons, the foods, and our bodies. Overall, we want to eat foods that are prepared fresh, seasonal, and local.  Foods that are rich in Prana (lifeforce energy).

🚶‍♀️The second is "Vihar" or lifestyle. This refers to the habits that make up your days, weeks, months, and years.  It's what we do most of the time that makes the biggest impact.  Ayurveda guides you to create beautiful daily routines based on your individual circumstances and constitution.

😴 The third is "Nidra" or sleep. Getting enough good quality sleep is essential for good health and this is recognized by Conventional western medicine as well. Ayurveda provides us with the knowledge to learn and understand our individual bodies and minds, which in return gives us the power to know what diet and lifestyle will help support quality sleep.

🔋 The fourth is "Brahmacharya." This is one that is hard to put into words in the English language, but I've had teachers translate it as, right use of energy, or energy management. How we use our energy can be important to our health, whether we are someone who burns the candle at both ends until depleted or someone who paces themselves and takes time to recharge when needed.

Healing requires us to live simply, tune into our natural rhythms, and remember our connection to the earth.

What inspired Ayurveda Tea Time was wanting to create an educational space that was casual and fun for the yoga community.  There is so much to learn about ayurveda that I think it can feel overwhelming for some, so Ayurveda tea time is a way to grasp little bite size principles that can be easily incorporated into daily routines.  When we want to make big health changes they happen in small steps 1% at a time, and I hope this offering will be a supportive space to begin that journey.  Participants can expect to learn simple Ayurveda seasonal tips, get hands on with herbs and spices to better understand their qualities and healing benefits, and get to experience delicious ayurveda tea or snacks!

-Megg