A full body, warm oil massage before showering in the morning is recommended for everyone, especially in the fall season when vata is at it's peak. This is one of Ayurveda’s most important and powerful preventive medicine and rejuvenation procedures. Massage is an important way to reconnect the physiology with the underlying biological intelligence. Ideally, about 5 - 10 minutes should be spent each morning on massage, but it is better to do a briefer massage than to skip it all together.

Disease begins when we forget our true nature as Spirit. In loosing this awareness, we understand ourselves only as body and mind and become wrapped up in the nature of the physical world and all of its stories and dramas. This results in disturbances within the mind. These disturbances or “vrittis” disturbs the mental tranquility and cause challenging emotions to bubble up onto our awareness. These emotions upset the biological energies, which control the body, and the result is physical disease. Forgetting our true nature as Spirit is the primordial cause of all disease.

Vata season in general is from October through mid- winter, starting in Southern California when the weather cools off and the Santa Ana winds blow and ending in the midst of the rainy season. Vata is associated with a windy, dry, and cold climate – think desert in the winter. As our external environment changes, it increases Vata in our own internal environment. This is when it is time to change our daily routines and diet so it is in tune with the physical changes in the environment. By living in tune with the natural laws of the season a sense of balance can be maintained and we will be able to build a stronger natural immunity against the bugs that tend to attack during this season.