What in the world are Ojas and why do they need rebuilding?

Through my Ayurvedic Woman journey I’ve learned that our essence, vitality and immunity – the “juice” of life that gives us our special glow – is called Ojas. The more “good” Ojas we have the better our “protective shield”

In Ayurveda, ojas is our radiance, our vigor. It influences everything from our immunity, digestion, physical strength, and the health of our skin to our spiritual inclination, sleep, and mood.

From the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health

I’ve recently learned that Ojas can be depleted! 😱 After a stressful event this summer I found myself completely depleted. I had low- to no-energy, dry skin, negative thoughts, I wasn’t sleeping or eating well and a large dose of daily stress all left me feeling completely out of whack. These low Ojas qualities were robbing me of the good ones! (positive attitude, clarity and focus, energy, good digestion – this journey has also made me keenly aware of how important good digestion is to overall health. Happy gut = happy life).

Luckily, I have Ayurvedic tools in my wellness tool box. Once I was home I got back to balancing my 5 senses which included:

• Detoxing my diet and my mental clutter by eating whole, seasonal food and cutting back on all media (expect reading books)
• I upped my water intake
• Got back to a regular sleep routine
• Started drinking my CCF tea again
• Started taking my supplements again (triphala, ashwaganda and brahmi)
• Got back to mindfulness and grounding through meditation
• I was able to keep my exercise regular throughout but now I have the energy and desire to work harder (I am training to hike the Half Dome Cables in Oct).

I had started to think that I had a new ho-hum norm that included just going through the motions every day. Researching Ojas I learned it takes 23 – 27 days to rebuild your Ojas – whoa! Twenty-five days have passed and I am just beginning to feel like myself again. Earlier today, I caught a glimpse of myself in a mirror and did a double-take there was a glow – YES!

Depleting my Ojas has deepened my understanding of my body and the signals it gives me.

Striving for balance in all the things is not easy and there is definitely trade-offs along with days where I don’t get all my routines in but I do what I can so that I will be ready for the next adventure or the next stressful event that comes my way.

Stay well my beautiful friends 💙

A few of the things that build my Ojas –