By Shreejan Sita

‘Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise’. -Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard’s Almanac, 1736

Though seemingly simplistic, Benjamin’s age-old adage encapsulates a world of wisdom and holds the potential to transform our lives. The essence of Franklin's words has been embraced around the globe for centuries. A straight-forward interpretation of this adage highlights two fundamental aspects: prioritizing sufficient rest and adopting a proactive mindset towards starting the day. Perhaps he was influenced by eastern teachings during his youth?

Ayurveda explains the importance of waking up early in the morning before sunrise, specifically, during Braahma muhurta, the 48 minutes prior to sunrise. At this time, it is most beneficial to practice yoga, meditate, and conduct pranayama, which focuses on breathwork. This is because oxygen molecules are the smallest of all the day just before sunrise, allowing them to pass through the walls of the lungs, and saturate the rest of the body. Breath into your kidneys! But you have to wake up and get outside before the sun peaks over the horizon.

The ancients conducted their research in much the same way our scientists do today, longitudinal studies with large groups of students provided empirical evidence. We benefit from their experiments today in many ways, including a concise list of what to do from the moment we wake in the morning until we sleep again at night. Their research revealed a system of preparing the body for the day, conducting the right work at the right time throughout the day, and preparing for ideal rest at night. Followed consistently, we find the mind remains peaceful and focused, energy and liquids circulate throughout the body’s channels accurately, and organs purge their toxins completely, in a timely manner.

Adopting a new schedule for your morning is possible if you make small changes over the next month, in preparation for Spring. You’ll find the system of Dinacharya (for the morning) in this month’s booklet.

Shree

Editor's Note: Our next issue is all about the Spring Cleanse. If you are even considering it or have questions, start making changes to your daily routine now. That way during the cleanse, you can focus more on diet changes.

Designing a day to accommodate the 5 pillars of health ensures a balanced work-life experience: movement, breath, mind control, diet, and sleep. Each pillar requires manageable techniques that are repeated daily for long-term improvements.

Wednesday

Feb. 26, 6-8 pm

Travel to India in a group, immerse yourself in a 600-year-old ashram community and experience a pure, yogic lifestyle. Attend classes daily, work in the kitchen or garden, study in the library, evening fire puja with drums, dancing under the Rajasthani clear sky. See the full Milky Way for the first time! Join a ‘Retreat to India’ online webinar and community to get your questions answered. The last Thursday of each month, 6-8 PM 

Only 37 days remain before Spring equinox, marking the beginning of the new year. April comes from Latin Aprilis, meaning to open. Before the Gregorian calendar was decreed in 1582, there were 13 months of 28 days in use on this planet for more than 6,000 years. Stil today many cultures adhere to the natural calendar. Politics and religion aside, our bodies still adhere to a natural calendar!

We prepare for the grand opening of the first season as we would for a new baby: clean the house, wash everything and everyone, empty the cabinets and throw away expired food, clean out the fridge, and clear the runway for new, healthy, peaceful life.

Our bodies work this way also. As it nears the end of the hibernation season, the flame of appetite returns to normal, a desire to stretch or even dance and run enters our system, and with it, a message is sent to the GI tract ‘everybody out!’

During our annual, community Spring cleanse, we meet to learn about the body’s natural purging mechanisms just before the new year, and how to take advantage of the seasonal transition to detox the tissues and the mind. We’ll be meeting online weekly for lectures and movement, beginning mid March through 11 April. You’ll receive explicit instructions for simple recipes, herbal decoctions and capsules, bodywork, breathwork, meditations, and some fun activities in the bathroom. Meet with Shree to register for the program if you haven’t done this before. 

What does the cleanse do for the body?

The purpose of the clean is to move and eliminate long term imbalances and toxins from body. Through the process, be prepared for physical and emotion experiences. In the current environment, our food, water and even laundry detergent is filled with toxins that stay in the body until we rid them through the cleanse according traditions that have been in place for more than 2,000 years.

Why now?

In Ayurveda, the year starts at the spring equinox signaling longer days, warmer temperatures and coming out of the cold winter. Ridding the body now allows replenishing the body with healthy, whole foods and energizing the body for more activity.

Can you do a cleanse if you are older than 70?

As we age, the cleanse can be difficult on the body. Consult with Shree about specific health conditions and experiences and whether a cleanse is a good fit.

Shikakai Seed Pods

Shikakai (senegalia rugata) is a spiny climbing shrub native to Asia and has been used for shampoo for more than 4,000 years. It is a natural way of cleansing, preventing chemical damage from synthetic detergent based shampoo. Combined with several other natural ingredients specific to the needs of daily hygiene and hair health, Shikakai is used dry, following scalp and follicle oil treatments, and then finished with a tea for rinse. If you’d like to try an Ayurvedic Hair Care Sampler Kit, write to us and pick it up or receive it in the mail. It contains detailed instructions for use. Shifting to natural hair care takes a few weeks after giving up detergent, but the change is worth it when your locks shine and growth returns.

Designing a day to accommodate the 5 pillars of health ensures a balanced work-life experience: movement, breath, mind control, diet, and sleep. Each pillar requires manageable techniques that are repeated daily for long-term improvements.

Wednesday

Feb. 26, 6-8 pm

Wednesday

March 12, 6-8 pm

Ayurveda (The Science of Life) considers health to be fully balanced body, breath, and mind. Alone or as a complimentary medicine, the 5,000 year old wisdom provides daily strategies to improve health for everyone in the family.

Wednesday

March 19, 6-8 pm

Join a cohort of spring cleaners and learn a repeatable, annual system of detoxifying and lightening the whole system. This meeting will provide an understanding of the process and published materials to guide your way through the program with daily instructions. 

First man was guaranteed 120 years to complete his work on Earth. And then modernism happened. Our life span, with high quality lifestyle, can be improved with small changes within the 5 pillars of health, including our understanding of life itself.

Wednesday

March 26, 6-8 pm

Travel to India in a group, immerse yourself in a 600-year-old ashram community and experience a pure, yogic lifestyle. Attend classes daily, work in the kitchen or garden, study in the library, evening fire puja with drums, dancing under the Rajasthani clear sky. See the full Milky Way for the first time! Join a ‘Retreat to India’ online webinar and community to get your questions answered. The last Thursday of each month, 6-8 PM 

Calories per serving: ~450

Pattie Ingredients:

Instructions:

Yogurt Sauce Ingredients:

Instructions:

Nutritional Breakdown (Approximate):

Spiced Chickpea Patties:

Herbed Yogurt Sauce

Full menus and templates are available with nutritional counseling which starts with discovering your constitution (dosha). Meeting with an Ayurveda nutritionists greatly simplifies your shopping, menu planning, and cooking. It also clarifies how to adjust family meals to accommodate all unique constitutions in your home. Clients come for guidance about food allergies, weight loss/gain, recovery from surgery or other trauma, or eating for disorders such as crones or IBS. The benefits of eating foods that suit your body are usually immediate and with some training, transformative long-term. Make your appointment today and fill out the online form so we can have a Saturday chat about your goals. Happy cooking, Asmit. 

Average daily life is spent forward – looking and moving forward. Rarely do we move in reverse, and even rarer, twist. When was the last time you twisted your spine? Twisting is very important to spinal health and intestinal tone. Done correctly, consistently, the spine remains limber and lubricated. Never practice twists with quick, jerking motions. And if there is already damaged vertebrae, move slowly with advice from your PT or chiropractor. But for those wanting to prevent damage, twist often and deeply.

Even in your office chair, take several breaks and shift your legs to the side, grab the back of the chair with both hands on either side of the back rest, and pull slowly away from the seat, exhaling as you go. Inhale and move back to the original posture, for a rest before the next two reps. Then switch to the other side.

Yoga from the beginning...

Proof positive, yoga provides relief:

Details:  March-September, 2025 on Sundays 9 am -noon

Sherman Lake YMCA (MI) or via Zoom

By donation with limited seats...email now!

Attend a no-obligation introductory meeting this Thursday, Feb. 27, 6-8 pm. Go with Shree who lived in India for 7 years and has traveled back and forth many times and knows the ropes.

Ask questions, discuss options and costs, and see if it is right for you. Spend time in a working Ashram living the yogic lifestyle, eating traditional food, and meditating under the stars. Learn about the camel safari, women's festival and other site-seeing opportunities. Sign up for the zoom link below.

Designing a day to accommodate the 5 pillars of health ensures a balanced work-life experience: movement, breath, mind control, diet, and sleep. Each pillar requires manageable techniques that are repeated daily for long-term improvements.

Wednesday

Feb. 26, 6-8 pm

Wednesday

March 12, 6-8 pm

Ayurveda (The Science of Life) considers health to be fully balanced body, breath, and mind. Alone or as a complimentary medicine, the 5,000 year old wisdom provides daily strategies to improve health for everyone in the family.

Wednesday

March 19, 6-8 pm

Join a cohort of spring cleaners and learn a repeatable, annual system of detoxifying and lightening the whole system. This meeting will provide an understanding of the process and published materials to guide your way through the program with daily instructions.