Ayurveda & Self-Care

This summer has been rather slow for me. Which is extremely odd... Usually I am involved in at least 3 projects - usually performing of some kind. But this summer, I found myself trying to figure out what to do with my life. Oh, I also turned 30, which actually wasn't that big of a deal to me, but it did make me reflect on my current life and also my future life. (I did throw an awesome Harry Potter themed birthday party and had a BLAST!)

My Hagrid birthday cake was a surprise from my husband. Can you tell I was surprised???

But I found myself in a funk...and not the cool "Uptown Funk" by Bruno Mars, but the "I'm-Bored-And-What-Do-I-Do-With-My-Life" kind of funk.

On a side note: Can we just talk about how awesome Bruno's choreographer is??? Such simple choreography but so awesome and perfect!!! Another one is his Lazy Song...love the choreo!!!

3 Things That Got Me Funky:

1. My teaching schedule slowed WAAAAYYYYYY down. Due to the studio's change in scheduling and my scheduling issues, I went from teaching 4-5 classes in a week to only 1.
2. My husband started Graduate School - so major FOMO started happening
3. The dance companies I performed with kind of disbanded and there weren't any community theatre shows that I could be involved in.

When I am not busy, I think it gives me too much time to think. Too much time to scroll through Facebook and Instagram and seeing all my friends with amazing careers, houses, and new families. It tends to get me a little down, even though I KNOW that there is still plenty of time for all of that for me. Believe me! I KNOW! I get it, I understand, I know, I know, I know...but I still can't help but feel shitty. (Insert poop Emoji here)

The official image of "Blah"

Getting Out of My Funk

I needed to get out of my funk. So I started think of ways I can be more positive and of things I can actively do to change my situation.

1. Substitute Yoga Teacher - Okay so I am not a regularly scheduled teacher at the moment - I am however, a substitute teacher at my studio and have applied to many other studios as well. I actually am averaging about 1-2 classes a week now, and I have more flexibility to take time off if I need to. Which is actually really good for me at this time! I am able to hang out with my friends more and spend time with myself, my husband and my pug, Phoebe! 
2. 300hr Yoga Teacher Training - Since my hubby started Grad. School, I have been feeling the hunger to be in school too. But I also wanted to take some "me time." And what better way to do that than to study Yoga?! I just completed one of my first courses which was a weekend of Ayurveda. It was fantastic!! More on that in a little bit!!
3. Dance - I decided that if I wasn't in a show, I needed to exercise my performing arts muscle, so I decided to take my butt back to dance class! BUT! Before I actually signed up, 2 of my choreographer friends emailed me about some projects they are working on this fall and asked me to dance with them! Hooray!! Just knowing that I have rehearsals coming up in the next few weeks as really boosted my mood! I am still going to enroll in dance class...I just need to wait for my next pay day! :)

So all of these things have really helped my mood. But also what really inspired and helped me was my Ayurveda Yoga Training that I completed yesterday.

Ayurveda & Self Care

So the thing about Ayurveda (without going into too much detail because after awhile, your head starts to spin!) is that it is all about balancing your energy levels. And these levels can change with the seasons, time of day, the food you eat, and your sleep schedule. Have you ever noticed if you are especially grumpy and depressed in the winter? Or overly energized and spacey in autumn? This occurs with different imbalances in your Dosha - or personality/energy. 

So in my case, I tend to put other peoples' needs before my own. I make excuses for other people's rude behaviors. I am also very headstrong and I like to be in charge, like a Type-A personality. Sometimes I work and do a million things for a few months and then I spend 2 weeks on my couch doing nothing at all but binge watching Netflix and taking naps with Phoebe!

Oh so much Kapha going on here....

At times I can get very annoyed with people (usually during the cold weather and gloomy days) and I feel pure Hulk-like rage burning inside me, and I hate everyone and everything! Strange for a yoga teacher right? Aren't we supposed to be the most zen-ed out people? You would think that right? But most of us are nuts! That is why Yoga is called a "practice" because we are constantly working on it :) 

But any hoo, I found out I have a Pitta-Kapha Dosha. The Pitta is my motivated, take charge, Type-A personality side, and the Kapha is my grounded, nurturing, and sometimes lazy side. Whenever I feel my blood boil, I have too much Pitta going on! And I need to slow down, breathe, eat cooling foods and maybe take a restorative yoga class to help balance that out. Whenever, I get a little depressed, heavy, sad and lazy, I have too much Kapha. And to help balance this out I need to take some "me time" and most of all, NOT FEEL GUILTY ABOUT IT! Also it helps to do something fun and just for me, like take that dance class I have been putting off, or the energizing power yoga class, and eat some spicier foods. 

Ideally, the Ayurvedic diet is vegetarian and organic. Also, it is very specific and I am still trying to wrap my head around it. I also am fully fueled by pizza so it is going to take a lot of time and effort for me to change my dietary habits. But as my teachers Ali Cramer and Dana Slamp said, "Even one change can make the world of difference!" So I decided to adapt Dinacharya, or a daily routine to my mornings. This routine gives me a little extra time to slow down in the mornings (helps keep my Pitta in check) and also allows me to put myself first (helps keep my Kapha in check). Luckily, it is pretty easy to adapt these to the morning routine I already do. But I now have more awareness to how I am feeling while I do it!

Ashley's Dinacharya

1. Drink Water - First thing I do when I wake up is drink a glass of room temperature water that I set up the night before "to get the juices flowing" so-to-speak
2. Go To The Bathroom - pretty self explanatory....
3. Wash My Face - I have never washed my face in the morning. I usually take showers at night and wash it then, but I was surprised to find how refreshed I feel after washing my facing and then applying a gentle moisturizer.
4. Scrape Tongue - I bought a tongue scraper from Walgreens for $8 (pack of 2). I scrape my tongue 9 times to get coating that forms overnight off and I feel super clean afterwards
5. Brush My Teeth - again pretty self explanatory
6. Blow My Nose - It is recommended to use a Neti-Pot, but that weirds me out at the moment. So right now I blow my nose to get all of the "stuff" out so I can start fresh!
7. Oil - The last step I do is take oil and massage it into my feet, legs, stomach, arms, chest and neck. Not too much but enough to help me feel moisturized. This is really good to do after a shower or bath. I usually bathe at night, so I apply the oil a little bit heavier at night, than I do in the morning. The oil is specific to my Dosha - Almond oil with Frankincense and Geranium essential oils. 

**There are more things to do like, oil pulling and eye washes, but I chose to do the things I know I will be able to keep up consistently

I have only done this for 2 mornings and so far I feel amazing!! It only takes me 20 minutes to do in the morning and that includes getting dressed! Just taking a little bit of time for myself and allowing myself to slow down is wonderful for me! Especially living in NYC where everyone is rushing and the first thing I do is get on the crowded subway to go to work and everyone's tensions are high!

I plan to keep up my Dinacharya for my whole life. I know some days I may not have time, but I am promising myself to always try to make time for myself at some point during the day if I miss my morning routine. Ayurveda is quite fascinating to me and it is so interesting how simple and yet complicated it is. There is a fantastic website called Banyan Botanicals, where, if you are interested, you can take a free survey that will help determine your specific Dosha. Then according to your results, it will suggest foods, oils, spices, etc. that may be beneficial to you! 

For my own amusement, I am going to check in two weeks and see if anything has changed as far as my skin, mood, digestion etc. When I am stressed or sad, I feel like I carry it a lot in my face, I feel dry, wrinkly and tight.

Here is my "before" picture from a few months ago:

No make up, a little rosy and slightly dull skin

I took this picture of my face on Day 2 of my Dinacharya: 

No makeup and a little less pink, a little more under-the-skin-glow

I can't really tell if my face is changing, or if its the lighting, or if I just think I look "glowy-er" because I feel better about myself! Who really cares, as long as I am happy and healthy right?? But I am excited to see if my face changes even slightly for Day 14! Now that I may be starting dance rehearsals soon, it will be very beneficial to keep my morning routine going. It is a small task but I already feel the affects! Hopefully, if you are feeling off maybe the links I have included in the blog can help you find at least one thing that you can do everyday to feel better about yourself! It doesn't have to be huge! Something as small as taking a big inhale and exhale everyday at 10am can do wonders!!

So until next time! Namaste!