Five Ayurvedic travel tips
Ayurvedic travel
I am a big believer in diving head first into the culture in which I am visiting. Right now I'm in Montevideo, Uruguay, and I am tasting the whole city. This means I am totally out of my normal routine and embracing the cultural norm of staying out super late and eating things that i normally wouldn’t.
Through an Ayurvedic lens, traveling in any capacity is very vata aggravating. It throws us out of our normal routine and rhythms which brings much excitement and joy. And yet it can be very detrimental to our health if not managed well.
Here are five easy to pack tools to help maintain some balance while traveling:
Copper Tongue Scraper
Light weight, easy to pack, and incredibly useful. Tongue scraping first thing in the morning to remove the coating of ama (toxic buildup) that develops overnight. Especially if you’re trying new cuisines, eating airplane food, or late night gas station snacks, this is a great way to manage any buildup of ama. Preferably use a copper tongue scraper as copper is naturally antibacterial. How to use: Prior to drinking or eating anything in the morning, lightly scrape the tongue scraper from the back to front on your tongue 5-10 times to remove the coating that has developed overnight. Then move onto oil pulling or brushing your teeth.
Oil, Oil, Oil
Ayurveda loves oil. It is super calming for the nervous system, and helps with basically everything. If i were to offer just one travel tip, oil would be it! If you are in a hot climate, use coconut. In a cold climate, sesame. Other nice oils to use are almond or sunflower. Make sure your oil is always organic and cold pressed. Use oil on your skin before your shower (abhyanga), use it to “oil pull” - swish oil around your mouth in the morning to draw out toxins, use it in your nose (nasya) to cleanse the sinuses, in the ears (Karna Purana) to reduce congestion from wax or yeast overgrowth. The benefits of oiling are beyond and would require multiple blog posts on their own. When traveling I usually buy my oil when I land as it’s pretty universally available. For step by step instructions on oil massage, read the how-to Abhyanga PDF in the AGNI section of the platform.
Fresh Ginger
Available in most countries, ginger is a powerful spice to help to reduce the effects of vata. Travelling is incredibly vata aggravating often leading to symptoms of dry skin, constipation, bloating, feeling ungrounded and spacey. If this sounds like you, having a thin slice of ginger before meals, grated in your food, or sipping on fresh ginger tea is an excellent way to combat this.
Tennis Balls
Not necessarily ayurvedic, but useful af. Travel with a tennis ball or two in your bag to use as a self-massage tool. If you’ve spent long hours in plane seats and hauling heavy luggage around, or walking hours and hours around a new city, a little bit of love with a tennis ball can go a long way. We have an abundance of myofascial release classes in the YIN portion of Studio Ojas to help guide you.
Triphala tablets
Although when at home I take triphala powder, I find that while traveling triphala is easiest consumed in capsule form. A superpower churna (herbal blend), rejuvenating, packed with vitamin C, helps to maintain digestive regularity, antibacterial, anti-ageing, anti-inflammatory and much more. If you’re going to take just one herbal blend, triphala is my go-to recommendation.
All my love,
Cat xx