Happy new year—or happy random page-turn of the Gregorian calendar! Whether it feels like a new beginning to you, or just another calendar day, fresh starts are always welcome in my book.
And are you looking for fresh start this “new” year? While you certainly don’t need a holiday to wipe your life clean and build again, as a holistic health practitioner, I’m always game for the ceremony of adorning life anew. There’s been a lot of talk about resolutions lately among my people, and some healthy skepticism. I feel that; these cold, dark winter months are not as opportune as, let’s say, spring-time, to jump-start life-change programs. But still, there’s something in the air around this time of year that puts self-love and compassion via self-improvement into our collective orientation.
Yes, we make resolutions because there’s a new year, but I also think we resolve in the darkest days of winter because we are most within ourselves during the long nights. Warmed and indoors, relationships are emphasized, and we all know that work around relationships and ourselves is some of the hardest, and rewarding, work we do. That sweet, soft week between Christmas and the new year, when many activities are slowed or paused, offers fertile ground for examining our lives in this past year. There is something merciful about the slowed activities. Finally, we are all able to at least vibrationally access the notion that doing less makes sense, especially seasonally. In the relative calm of that week, there’s space for introspection about our daily routines and how hard many people push themselves.
And then, happy new year, it’s 2015 and everybody is resolving—and a lot of the resolutions demand more. Do more, make more, be better—sound familiar?
Seasonally, the kick-in-the-pants resolution plan is, well, out-of-season in January, according to Ayurveda. Winter is a time of nourishment and slowness. If you feel absolutely motivated to push a high-powered resolution plan, you might need it now. If that’s the case, please pursue your self-improvement with a moderate and gentle speed.
But many people, especially those with intensely high standards for themselves, should consider modifying their self-improvement plan this winter. Prone to burn out, frustration with yourself and others? Dreading the future because how much work is in there? Dealing with chronic low-immunity issues despite having a packed health-care regimen? Overwhelmed and stressed? Highly critical and sometimes mean?
In 2015, take a chill pill. Do less.
Those who do too much shudder at the thought. Do less? Do less?! But there’s so many problems in the world! But there’s so much to achieve! But I don’t feel like me if I don’t pack my schedule! But you only live once, sleep when you’re dead!
Committing to doing less is an important statement in a world that is teetering with uncertainty due to the psychotic unbridled growth of a capitalist system that seems unwilling to relent, even in the face of the sacred. By doing less, you aren’t just conserving some of your own personal resources, but it’s likely that your scaled-back life also includes less driving, less spending, less wear and tear on yourself, your world, and your relationships.
And doing less builds ojas, the nectar of our life force.
Ojas is the Ayurvedic concept of immunity—it literally means vigor. We all have a certain amount of constitutional ojas we come into the world with—this is dependent on many factors including genetics. Ojas is “the ultimate essence of the reproductive fluids and the heat of the tissues,” according to Dr. David Frawley in his book “Ayurvedic Healing.” “Located in the heart, it pervades the entire body, giving stability and support. … Ojas is decreased by such factors as anger, hunger, worry, sorrow and overwork. Then one experiences fear and lack of strength. One constantly worries, with disturbed senses. Lacking color, weak in mind, one becomes wasted. Such qualities as patience and faith disappear.”
An ojas-lacking person, overcome by fear and a lack of inspiration, depleted and chronically suffering viruses, might find come Jan. 1, they don’t want to live like this anymore. But our push-push-push culture might guide this person to, let’s say, resolve and bundle up and take a knee-pummeling run in an icy climate, trying to beat their hangover and gain some hardiness.
That’s not the right approach. In this case, do less, and do it with gentleness.
Now, yes, some do need to get motivated, even in the winter—for example, sedentary obese folks that know they need more physical activity. These people are sometimes the types that came into this world with more ojas. They can handle a little stimulation.
But those vatas and pittas, overwhelmed and overextended, need to nurture ojas—by doing less. I will cover a ojas-boosting program in future writing, including dietary and other suggestions, but here we are starting with what is sometimes the hardest and most beneficial thing to do: less.
Doing less seems like a shameful cop-out for many of us, who strongly identify with our achievements. Doing less can feel lonely to those who are relentlessly social. Doing less is like receiving a great gift, like some beautiful and delicate cashmere socks. A wonderful gift, but one that we aren’t so likely to buy for ourselves. I know that when I committed to doing less, the concept had to be prescribed to me. I was not going to let myself off the hook and, gasp, slack!
But over time, my moderate schedule became a badge of honor. Friends would ask, “What have you been up to?” My overwhelmed former self would have quickly quipped, “Um, I am learning three instruments, working four part-time jobs, making every meal from scratch, and rarely sleeping! I actually don't need to!” But as I chilled out and let myself build some ojas, I sometimes responded, “Well, I’ve been spending a lot of time doing restorative yoga and staring at the sunlight on the ceiling.”
Once you cave in to the ojas-supporting regimen, the gift of time becomes more valuable than money. A healthy immune system becomes a bragging right instead of name-dropping or cash-flashing. The persistent feelings of insecurity, worry, fear, grief, and anguish drop away because the body's needs are listened to. That's very comforting.
I recently had a cold, and yes, even health practitioners get viruses. My virus put me to bed for a few days, no big deal. In the past, I often spent most of January in bed—I would get a nasty cold that would cling and inevitably turn into something more wicked like a sinus infection or bronchitis. January used to be terribly dreadful for me as I would often get too sick to work and spend the first month of the year barely making ends meet and sniffling endlessly in my sick bed.
But this year, I took the holidays very easy and the years of building ojas are paying off. And lo, I witnessed my immune system robustly tackle my virus. After years of weakness, it was amazing to feel my lymphatic system rebound, kicking out the virus via my sweat glands and getting to work with kick-ass efficiency.
And this was all due to the magic of doing less! Conserving energy, resting, favoring mellow times over hype. Scaling back, being more honest about my commitments.
Self-improvement—I’m all for it! But it doesn’t have to mean doing more, or being harder on yourself. We see so much struggle in our world. The twisted ways that people are stretched to the point of brittleness turns into a kind of violence for ourselves and our planet. Be smart—if you are overextended, try a little tenderness. Reward yourself with free and unstructured time. Learn to meditate. Stoop down and smell the roses. Do less. Do 40 percent less and notice how the other 60 percent is executed with more clarity, dedication, and strategy.
Eva Saelens is a professional member of the National Ayurvedic Medical Association, with over 1500 hours of training in Ayurveda, massage therapy, and Ayurvedic treatments. She graduated from the California College of Ayurveda in 2013. Subsequently, Eva spent a year interning and studying Ayurveda, Tibetan medicine, whole foods nutrition, aromatherapy, and pancha karma at the dhyana Center in Sebastopol, Calif., and in India.