It’s that time of year when school is out, the sun is bright and you are ready for that vacation you have been looking forward to all year long! You say to yourself “I am SO READY to go on vacation”, but are you? And what kind of vacation do you need? Restful? Adventurous? Family-oriented? Romantic?
According to the precepts of Ayurveda, your mental and physical makeup (remember the “doshas”? air (vata), fire (pitta) and water/earth (kapha)?) tend to determine what kind of vacation might be best for you.
Those of us who are more “vata” in makeup may not be the best travelers – we are more finicky about things, like schedules, food and weather. The pitta-dominant folks, who are often more fair-skinned by the way, won’t do too well in the extreme heat and sun. And then, there is kapha. Ah, kapha -the adventurous ones among us, more grounded and “ready for anything”.
Of course, what do you do then if you are more of a “kapha” type and your significant other is “vata”? And you don’t want to take separate vacations? 😉 Well, by balancing our diet, exercise and daily meditative habits, we can all adapt and find peace in ourselves and with others. Some of us just call it compromise, but it can be much more meaningful that just giving in. It can prepare us, truly ready us for meaningful experiences both within and outside of our conscious comfort level.
There are also some things we can do in a very practical way to get ourselves ready!
- Don’t give the entire world your itinerary! Just let one or two critical people know how to reach you while you are away, and define the word “emergency” to them!
- Remember that you are essential but life will go on! Clean up everything at work and then LEAVE IT BEHIND when you close the door to your office!
- Don’t overstress the condition of your house! The world won’t collapse if you don’t get all the laundry put away or if you don’t make the bed before you leave!
- Make plans, but don’t overplan! Remember – this is supposed to be a vacation! Leave yourself some downtime while you are away or you will need a vacation from your vacation.
- Don’t pack everything the night before! Start planning what you will need while you are away and what you won’t need the week before you go.
The idea here is to prepare yourself mentally and physically so that you are truly ready. If you haven’t already, get started NOW on a healthy diet to nourish the body, and be sure to include a mental diet of meditation and mindfulness too to nourish the soul. Don’t forget to keep up your hygiene, including your oral hygiene of brushing daily and using your TUNG Brush and Gel to clean your tongue. Just think about how GREAT all that vacation food will taste!
Now get packing, and don’t forget the sunscreen 🙂
