May for Movement - Part 2
Two rhythms that promote free-flowing creativity & flexibility in our lives
प्रियः साधकाः।
(Priyah SAdhakAh)
How is your month of May going?
By the time you will be reading this post, we will have passed two-thirds of it already. I am mindful that if nothing else, this letter serves you as a re-do, opening a path for वातज (vAtaja, vAta-like) rhythms.
This letter is in two parts. The first, posted last fortnight, I shared how regardless of what your प्रकृति (prakrti, being) is, a good place to start noticing your well-being is by noticing वात (vAta)a.
वात (vAta) is all that moves inside us and around us.
Starting from the insides of our bodies, we can observe how food moves through our gut, to how thoughts move in and out of our mind, and finally our breath - that involuntary rhythm that takes in air from & expels air into the atmosphere around us.
वात (vAta) is like the primary colour, yellow, for life.
Outside of our bodies, वात (vAta) represents movement starting with the changing flavours of our experiences as we interact with all that is around us (आहार (Ahara), विहार (Vihara)), and through the natural rhythms of day & night, seasons & the progression of our age in this lifetime.
Time, how we calculate these rhythmic movements, is वातज (vAtaja, vAta-like). The kala chakra or wheel of time is circular, continuous and complete. If we were to play time in slow motion, stretching out the movement like we would the pliant dough whilst making a Malabar parotta, then perhaps what we will see a row of pearls - each pearl, a move in a particular direction. The silk thread holding these pearls together is वात (vAta).
All change, a byproduct of some movement or the other, is वातज (vAtaja, vAta-like). Some changes feel much bigger than others. While other changes are more subtle & easy to miss entirely.
Noticing वात (vAta) is about paying attention to change. वातज (vAtaja, vAta-like) individuals are especially attuned to change - subtle ones in their gut, or rough ones like the feeling we get in our tummy when the plane we are flying in is going through a period of turbulence.
All change is disruptive. This is because if change is वातज (vAtaja, vAta-like) and like attracts like, this accumulative impact is disruptive.
Changes in nature are rhythmic - circular, continuous and complete. We see this in how the days turn into night and nights turn back into days. We see this in how our seasons follow one another, every year. We see it in how our bodies age, every year. Noticing वात (vAta) in nature - both in our bodies and around us, is then about noticing these changes / transitions. When did day turn into night? When did night turn into day? When did winter turn into spring? When did spring turn into summer?
By tuning into these changes / transitions, we are able to better support the disruption these rhythms bring in our lives.
For example, if we consider a day when the Sun rises at 6am and sets at 6pm, then the four hours prior to sunrise (2 - 6am) and the four hours prior to sunset (2 - 6pm) are considered वातज (vAtaja, vAta-like).
Dawn and dusk are the transitional 'joints' (site of वात (vAta) in our body too) for the day & night cycle.
Similarly ovulation and menstruation are the transitional joints of the menstrual cycle.
Adolescence and menopause are the transitional joints of our aging cycle.
The equinoxes mark the transitional joints of the solar cycle.
पूर्णिमा (pUrNimA, full moon) and अमावास्या (amAvAsyA, new moon) mark the transitional joints of the lunar cycle.
This list can go on and on. In every movement is a ‘joint’, a few transitional moments or नवरात्र (navarAtra, nine nights) that give us an opportunity to rest, reset & redo.
Paying attention to these joints in our body, mind & environment enables us to put in place rhythms that builds resilience against what is a world of continuous disruption.
The best outcome from following these rhythms (e.g. नवरात्र (navarAtra, nine nights)) is one of moderation or balance because excesses birth disease. Our rhythms are continuously working to help us find balance, making small corrections in a timely and proper way - this is the art & the science of स्वस्थ (Svastha), translated as health (etymologically means to be established in oneself).
For this next fortnight, let's identify what is in excess from a वातज (vAtaja, vAta-like) perspective and identify rhythms to help make those balancing corrections.
Perhaps a good place to start is to check for वातज (vAtaja, vAta-like) in our body and mind due to our आहार (Ahara) & विहार (Vihara) - the outer layer. Then to deepen our enquiry, consider the disruptions that the natural rhythms of day-night, season and age bring - this forms the inner layer. The space in-between these layers is our dynamic experience of life & where we want to practice these rhythms. (Raworth’s doughnut finds itself in Ayurveda too, through with subtle differences)
एतस्य अभ्यासं कुर्वन्तु | (Let’s practice this!)
I would like to share two rhythms that I experiment with & invite you to consider which ones (or a combination of both) you might want to add to your practice.
One - Greasy love
Firstly, let me start with the body and share a practice called स्नेदन (Snedana, Sneha means love or oily). This practice is also called अभ्यङ्ग (abyanga, rubbing with unctuous substances). In English, this is referred to as massage.
There are three ways to practice this. One can give a massage. One can receive a massage. Or one can give & receive by massaging themselves.
On a weekly basis, my partner introduced a rhythm of giving our son a full body अभ्यङ्ग (abyanga, rubbing with unctuous substances). Sometimes I join in & give them both a full body अभ्यङ्ग (abyanga, rubbing with unctuous substances).
Establishing a rhythm for अभ्यङ्ग (abyanga, rubbing with unctuous substances) in his life has been fantastic for all of us & especially him. It is repeated every week. It lasts about 20-30 minutes & when I do it, I apply more pressure on his वातज (vAtaja, vAta-like) sites - lower back, joints (especially hips & shoulders), hands & feet.
I haven’t been able to establish a similar rhythm for myself for reasons that perhaps are more common between you and me - affordability & time.
My challenge to myself, then, is how might I find a way to practice this rhythm for myself? So my practice this fortnight will be to spend 10 minutes doing an अभ्यङ्ग (abyanga, rubbing with unctuous substances) for my hands & feet.
Two - Sun & Moon
The transitional joints for the day-night cycle are dawn and dusk. Given the dramatic skies over the UK, observing dawn and dusk is an absolute delight. I am particularly partial to the pink blush that streaks the sky at dusk.
One way to find this day-night cycle mirrored in our body & mind is by paying attention to when we wake up (Day) and when we go to sleep (Night). The dawn and dusk of our daily lives then are the moments when we wake up and when we fall asleep.
If you live in the UK, the Sun rises at approximately 5:04 and sets at 20:50 today. So invariably when I wake up these days, & move to the bathroom, my eyes are flooded with natural light. This means my transition from sleep to being awake is quick, abrupt and harsh. This is because the time I wake up is not aligned with the day-night cycle.
ब्रह्मे मुहूर्ते उत्तिस्थेत (Brahme Muhurte Uttisthet)
You might recall this vedic suggestion from a previous post. It suggests that humans may wake up at ‘Brahma Muhurta’.
Google ‘Brahma Muhurta time today’ and if you live in the UK, you will find out that it is from 3:58 AM to 4:31AM.
The rhythm suggested by Ayurveda for transitioning from sleep to being awake, is to wake up at Brahma Muhurta - thereby synchronising our body cycle with the natural day-night cycle.
The reasons to do this is also supported by modern science. When we wake up, the sleep hormone in our bodies takes about 1 - 1.5 hours to disappear. During this time, our bodies are not able to take in too much daylight, too quickly. By experiencing dawn, a gradual, slow increase of daylight, we are able to transition more kindly from sleep to awakening.
However, what if I am not able to wake up at Brahma Muhurta. In such cases, I have experimented with introducing a ‘dawn’ rhythm in my daily practice. This practice lasts 20 - 40 minutes. It means keeping the blinds down or wearing blinds for the first 20 - 40 minutes after I wake up. It is not an easy practice to follow given how bright our living spaces are - but whenever I give myself this ‘dawn’, I find myself more energised during the day and sleeping better at night.
Similarly, how might we introduce a ‘dusk’ into our daily lives? Thanks to electricity, we rarely experience a dusk. We might not even notice it is dark outside because we are surrounded by artificial light sources - the worst of them our screens.
My practice here is to use a no blue light mobile lamp that I can clip on to a book or the side of my table / bed frame & work on my Remarkable - reading, writing or drawing! A 30 - 60 minute prior to sleep ‘dusk’ routine that eliminates white light & the extreme वातज (vAtaja, vAta-like) activities of digital consumption does wonders to the quality of my sleep and my energy levels the following day.
The take-away here is how do you limit your exposure to light as you transition from day to night and night to day as a daily practice?
योग (yoga, combination)
Both of the suggested rhythms above can be combined for greater impact.
Set aside a ‘dawn’ rhythm in a space with no blue light & treat your hands with some warm oil.
Set aside a ‘dusk’ rhythm in a space with little to no blue light & treat your feet with some warm oil.
Consider how this योग अभ्यास (yoga abyAsa, combined exercise) can bring free-flowing creativity & flexibility - both वातज (vAtaja, vAta-like) qualities of a balanced mind - into your lives.
Happy experimenting!