Lifestyle is everything and anything that affects you. Some examples include relationships, work, climate, environment, season, time of the day, time of life, culture, travel, food (dealt with in more depth under Dietetics), what you wear, the exercise you do, and the activities you involve yourself in.

 

Traditional Ayurveda is based primarily around this idea of Life-style management based on what is correct and compatible for you. Some things you can control and some you cannot. Things are also constantly changing and nothing is permanent in the material world.

Being aware of what does and doesn’t suit you helps you make better decisions and be more conscious of potential problems and disturbances. It also allows you to constantly adjust as the environment around you changes and to accept that what is true in one moment may not be so in the next.

Selecting the correct lifestyle for you according to Ayurveda depends on your Vikriti, because that state is where you are now and what needs to be addressed first. It means you need to select those things that are correct and compatible for you now and that will pacify the Dosha that is currently aggravated (the word Dosha means aggravation or disturbance).

Managing your life on a moment by moment basis is what Ayurveda is all about.

You can learn more about Ayurveda by reading the page ‘New to Ayurveda‘.

Also, see how to adjust your Lifestyle according to your Dosha. Vata Pacifying Lifestyle, Pitta Pacifying Lifestyle, Kapha Pacifying Lifestyle.

Note: If you don’t know your Vikriti (current disturbed state) you can do the Dosha Quiz. Please be aware though, that quizzes are a starting point and educational in their usage, they are never for diagnostic use. The only accurate way to determine Vikriti and Prakriti (birth constitution) is through Ayurvedic Pulse Diagnosis.