The Four Stages of Rejuvenation
An interview with Rina Golan on how rejuvenate on daily basis and have a harmonious life.
In January, I talked to Rina Golan about her Spring Cleanse and her seasonal work in helping us to live a balanced and healthy life. Now that we are moving into summer, I wanted to catch up with her again and talk about what happens after we cleanse — the Rejuvenation stage.
She will be holding one more free Summer Cleanse, June 11th-15th and Rejuvenation Retreat June 25th-29th before she moves onto a woman’s initiative called Seasonal Sangha in September. Owned by women, it’s about women practising self-care for social change and you are invited to be part of this movement, just get intouch with her.
Hi Rina, last time we talked about Cleansing, but how do we make sure the cleanse has a lasting effect on our lives?
The cleanse traditionally is done to prepare the body for rejuvenation. With the cleanse we focus on the body. We work with fire, the sun and masculine energy, while the rejuvenation stage is about working with the moon and yin energy and is focused on the mind. It helps us to live our Dharma, which is the idea that we are strong enough and inspired enough to be the change we wish to see. It is about living the life we want to live, sharing with our communities and our families, and being the best versions of ourselves. Living our Dharma is also aligned with our values which gives us a sense of purpose and peace.
I use four principles in the rejuvenation stage to increase soma. Soma is described in Indian mythology as the energy of youth. It has an oily, watery quality and lubricates our organs. When we are dry, everything is crumbling, which is a health hazard, so good fat is recommended.
The four stages of increasing the soma are Food, Lifestyle, Behaviour and Medicine.
When you have a sufficient amount of soma and are rejuvenating daily, your nature is sweet — you have kind words, you laugh a lot, people feel comfortable around you, you are inspired, and you have an appreciation of life.
Food
In the rejuvenation stage, there is hardly any raw food because we need food that is grounding to rebuild. Things like porridge, stews, local organic, slow-cooked seasonal food aids this process. Eating food from the land you are living on is the highest form of rejuvenating food. We use spices because they are warming and help with digestion, especially ginger, fennel, turmeric, cardamom, cinnamon, saffron, bay leaves and rosemary. Garlic is also recommended but not late in the evening as it can stimulate the mind. Other rejuvenating foods are ghee, dates, almonds and of course, seasonal fruit and vegetables. I recommend doing a vegetable box delivery scheme as this saves you the headache of working out what is in season.
You should avoid anything frozen and don’t consume too much dairy, as they create dampness in the body. If you choose to do smoothies, add some boiling water to make them room temperature. I also have a superfood mix called Regenerate Mix. I put a lot of fibres and greens in this to help with the rejuvenation.
What is also very important is gut health because it affects brain function. Food that is very high in fibre is good for our guts, and a diet made up of seventy per cent vegetables boosts its health.
Lifestyle
You can rejuvenate daily, and this is why a healthy lifestyle is essential. If we lead a conscious life, we are regularly rejuvenating. Working with the circadian rhythm can help with this — waking up when the sun rises and going to bed early, having an early, light dinner so that the body finishes digesting by ten. We regenerate between ten at night and two in the morning. During these hours, it is good to be in complete darkness so the pineal gland can activate, allowing melatonin and serotonin to balance. We all know that having a good sleep is an essential part of rejuvenation.
Always ask yourself when you’re starting a new relationship, job, or routine: is this going to simplify my life and make it slower and more nourishing, or make it more complicated, fast and depleting? If you live slowly, you live longer.
Aligning our lifestyles with the seasons and the rhythms of nature is very beneficial. When we slow down, we cultivate appreciation. It makes a routine into a ritual. It doesn’t have to have religious connotations, but it brings more meaning and attentiveness to life and is a sign we have more soma. A daily connection with nature and being exposed to the sun as much as possible, especially in England, helps us create this lifestyle.
Behaviour
Where Ayurveda finishes, yoga begins. Ayurveda is working on the body, yoga is working on the mind. They meet in the Yamas and Niyamas, which are like the ten commandments of yoga.
It is necessary to have values as they are rejuvenating, and values are the foundation of yoga. Things like not stealing, not lying, speaking truthfully, avoiding situations that make you jealous. Think about what happens to your body when you feel jealous or when you are untruthful. There are usually contractions and heaviness.
When we are truthful, our body straightens up, helping us to breathe and digest well. It moves us from the sympathetic nervous system, where we are focused on survival, to the parasympathetic nervous system, where we thrive.
We can always choose between being peaceful or angry, between being compassionate or judging. You know that you are rejuvenating regularly when the choices of the experiences are passion, joy, compassion, courage, wonder and gratitude.
Medicine
I think Bright Sky community would like to know that psychedelics are mentioned in the scriptures — cannabis and mushrooms, but you only ‘fly’ when you have roots, so I would say stick to a regime of taking adaptogenic herbs, daily to create those roots first, they are also teachers.
Psychedelics can bring us ‘Messages’ from other realms and heal the brain, which can be can be rejuvenating but traditionally very few people in the community would have had access to psychedelics. These would have been the people who had already mastered the physical realm.
If you have your life sorted, a home, a job, a good relationship with your family and friends, and you’re in a good space, then you have a safe place to return. If you are in a mess, it is going to make your life even messier.
There are other things in the other realms that are bigger than our understanding, and it can be a dangerous and depleting practice. Especially for Vata (air element) type. Ensuring your physical reality is stable is the most important thing to do in these unstable times.
Taking adaptogenic herbs daily as part of a rejuvenation practice helps with this. I have a few herb mixes based on the scriptures, the Adaptogen Mix and the Aphrodisiac Mix. The herbs recommended are tulsi, or holy basil, a herb connected to the goddess.
It brings that mothering, nurturing energy..
Shatavari helps with calming, ashwagandha tones the nerves, improves memory and concentration and helps with the reproductive system, heart and kidneys.
The herbs take about three months to get to the root of things. You will see an immediate change, but for a long-lasting experience, it is good to take them for at least four months.
In these crazy times, we live in and things change constantly, I would say — stick with them.
I adjust the formulas for the seasons and have seasonal packages which help with adapting and integrating the changes.
Rejuvenation is about a daily experience of being a kind, loving human being, and you can’t be kind to others if you’re not first kind to yourself, so you start with the body. You feed it the right foods, you walk in nature, you mediate. You know that you are on the right track when you feel grounded in the simple things, and you feel grateful for them, then your relationships can start to heal. When we focus on things outside of ourselves, it takes us away from the sacredness of the moment. We are never satisfied when something is out of our reach. When you know that this moment is special, then you are on the right track.
Having a good community around you, like BrightSky, can help us stick with lifestyle changes. We need to hold each other accountable in this way of living — in the physical and practical daily routines.
My rejuvenating mantra is; simplify, simplify, simplify.
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Thank you to Rina for her tips on rejuvenation.
If you would like to talk to her about joining the last FREE Summer Cleanse June 11th-15th or the Rejuvenation Retreat June 25th-29th (£49 for Bright Sky members instead of £99).
Or to get more info about her Rejuvenation & Cleanse formulas, please visit her website or email her for more information:
Rina also offer 1:1 mentoring, and she offer 30 minutes FREE discovery session so you decide if her style of coaching is working for you.
You can contact her directly at info@rinagolan.co (just co)
