Ayurvedic Clock: Time of Day
Ayurveda is a practice and lifestyle of living in sync with the rhythms of nature. It’s matching our daily activities to the time of day, our annual routines to the season of the year, and our overall lifestyle to our stage of life using the Ayurvedic Clock. The Ayurvedic Clock combines the biological clock with mother nature’s clock and serves as a guide for structuring our daily routines.
In today’s post we’ll take a look at the Ayurvedic Clock as it pertains to the time of day.
VATA: Vata time of day is considered to be 2:00am - 6:00am, and 2:00pm - 6:00pm. During this time of day the qualities of vata are more predominant. It is Ayurvedic tradition to rise with the sun, when vata energy is abundant so that you benefit from vata’s spacious, etheric qualities. Waking during vata time will also mobilize you, giving you motivation and energy to complete the days tasks. How many times have you “slept in”, only to feel more tired and groggy than you did before? The 2pm - 6pm time frame will be the time of day when you feel most creative. This is the time to dream big, make plans, set goals, and work on creative projects.
PITTA: Pitta time of day is 10:00am - 2:00pm, and 10:00pm - 2:00am. Both of these intervals are when you digestive fire is strongest. You should eat your biggest meal of the day between 10am and 2pm, and make sure you don’t eat anything at all from 10pm to 2am to allow your digestion to do its thing overnight. Pitta times of day are also when our inherent pitta nature is at it’s strongest. To avoid sending pitta out of balance avoid strenuous physical exercise between 10am and 2pm, and make sure you call it light’s out by 10pm so you don’t get that determined burst of pitta before you go to sleep. If you are predominantly pitta dosha this is SUPER important……if you aren’t in bed resting by 10pm you’ll get a “second wind” and be up working until all hours of the night.
KAPHA: 6:00am to 10:00am, and 6:00pm to 10:00pm are Kapha time. Definitely wake up before Kapha makes her appearance in the morning. Waking up after kapha has transcended vata will make it difficult to awaken, and leave you feeling sluggish and dull, and in need of caffeine to get you going. Between 6am and 10am is a perfect time for a more active yoga practice to slough off kapha’s density. In the evening, 6pm - 10pm are the time to start winding down, and preparing for sleep and kapha’s energy supports this transition. Don’t be overly active during these evening hours, and instead opt for quiet activities like gentle yoga, reading, or journaling.
Aligning your day to the Ayurvedic Clock can be a challenge, given that most of us have jobs and extra curricular activities that keep us out until well into the kapha hour. Given some of our most modern health and wellness complaints - insomnia, poor digestion, anxiety - aligning to the Ayurvedic Clock can help you achieve balance and support your health and wellbeing.
Check back next week to learn more about the Ayurvedic Clock.
