Habits to Hone Your Radiance

On By Kim LuyckxIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

Ayurveda defines Ojas as clarity, dynamism, luminosity, and your glow.

Ojas is the body’s vital energy. Ayurveda says that we are born with a certain amount of ojas but that we must maintain it to stay healthy. Allowing it to dissolve would mean permitting our life to dissolve.

Ojas is known to develop in the heart. According to Ayurveda, the heart is the physical and figurative location of this essence. And, the prime reason is because the heart is the link between the body and the mind. It is our life blood.

The quality of Ojas is cool, heavy, soft and supple yet very stable. It is our protection against disease, and because of that ojas is best described as our immunity. 

How do we get this Ojas? 

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You Are What You Digest!

On By Kim LuyckxIn Healthy Food & DrinkLeave a comment
food dinner lunch meal

Food is our medicine. And, when it is taken at the right time, in the right quantities and is full of prana or life force, it will provide us with the fuel that can be appropriately digested so as not to leave behind any uncooked or undigested food. Undigested food can build up in our systems, cause aggravation and ultimately lead us to a state of dis-ease. 

“No disease can be cured unless supplemented by the right diet. 90% of the disease can be prevented by the right diet alone.”

– Dr. Everett Koop

“Let food be thy medicine, and let medicine be thy food.”  

– Hippocrates

Ayurveda states that there are three pillars or supports that we need to build and preserve in our lives to foster our wellbeing for our physical, mental and spiritual bodies.

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Meditation in Perspective

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woman in blue sportswear meditating on rocks near sea

Emptying the mind isn’t easy. Attaining a true state of meditation necessitates significant preparation so that the mind can shift gradually and develop over time. That is, if one is to find an authentic meditative state.

I believe that having an understanding of the first six limbs of yoga is important to recognizing the seventh limb called meditation. Because in my opinion, the prior limbs give you the knowledge to see where the heart of meditation lies. I’m not saying that you need to be a master of the headstand or absolutely pure in thought, word and deed, but to have knowledge of the ethics, know physical alignment, be comfortable with the breath and have the ability to disengage are all skills that are very helpful to setting up a practice of concentration and meditation.

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Best Routines for a Balanced Life

On By Kim LuyckxIn UncategorizedLeave a comment
woman walking on fence

Today we turn to the practical side of Ayurveda. The point at which we apply the concepts and the principles I have been presenting… to our lifestyle and daily routine. Our health journey continues with learning how we can live a life that is not only long but one that is optimal and full of vitality.

In this week’s podcast, I provide some details with a general daily schedule or dinacharya for waking, cleansing, exercising, eating and sleeping. There are so many great suggestions here for honoring yourself by incorporating specific routines for the body and mind. Once you get going, you will surely see the benefits and want to keep building your ideal regimen.

Why is a daily routine or dinacharya important?

Because everything we do has a particular energy. There is the windy, moving energy of Vata, the heated, transforming energy of Pitta and the stable, nourishing energy of Kapha. The key is to achieve a balance of all three energies in order to maintain our strength, stamina and harmony.

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Daily Cycles, Circadian Rhythms and Life’s Phases

On By Kim LuyckxIn UncategorizedLeave a comment
clear glass with red sand grainer

Ayurveda’s goal is to achieve, maintain and preserve our health and prevent disease. Prevention is the key in Ayurveda. In order to prevent dis-ease we need to create balance by moving with the flow of nature and harmonizing our tendencies.

We all have specific tendencies (or doshas) and it is important to identify your tendencies in order to begin to balance them. Hopefully, you are already familiar with your basic dosha energies. If not, please connect with my dosha post.

These tendencies or inherent qualities are affected by the daily cycle of darkness as it transitions to light, the rhythms in nature (which are the seasons) and the various phases we move through during our life. Therefore, time is a key component for balance in Ayurveda. Time or Kala as it is called in Sanskrit is the cyclic remodeler of our lives. 

I will soon talk of the specific lifestyle routines of Ayurveda, but for now I would like to introduce time as it relates to the doshas or the functional energies of Vata, Pitta and Kapha. 

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Foundational Tools for Maintaining Health

On By Kim LuyckxIn Uncategorized2 Comments
photo of a couple hugging each other

Ayurveda states that there are three pillars or supports that we need to build and preserve in our lives to foster our wellbeing for our physical, mental and spiritual bodies.  The first pillar is our inputs (or the things that we bring into our bodies), the second pillar is the impact we create (or how we connect through our senses) and the third pillar is our immersion (or how we immerse ourselves with rest and sleep). 

The following content can also be found on my podcast “On Wellness Way.”

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It’s All in Your Head

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This old adage has mostly negative connotations. Maybe you’ve heard someone claim that their doctor told them that their pain is “all in their head.” Or, that you, yourself, maintain from time to time that a specific feeling you are having is just “all in your mind.” I would like to respectfully declare that, of course it’s all in your head because the mind is responsible for everything.

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Excessiveness: How You Can Keep the Flame Balanced

On By Kim LuyckxIn Lifestyle & Habits2 Comments
lit candle on the paper with notation

Photo by Nati on Pexels.com

We have now, officially, entered into the holidays. 

And, for most of us, this is the time when we go far away from our normal routines for eating, drinking, sleeping, exercising and the general schedules we are used to. We communicate and socialize more often and with larger groups of people. We are generally busier with more cleaning, hosting, cooking, projects and travelling. 

So, I thought I would provide a few feasible wellness tips for keeping balanced during this holiday season.

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