What Does Ayurveda Say About The Winter Season?
Generally, we refer to seasons as Spring, Summer, Monsoon, Autumn, & Winter, but in Ayurveda, we characterise seasons as per the 3 Doshas – Pitta, Vata & Kapha.
Pitta Season – Later Spring + Summers
Vata Season – Autumn + Early Stages of Winters
Kapha Season – Later Stages of Winters + Early Stages of Spring
The Autumn (fall) season + early stages of the oncoming Winter is what we know as the Vata season. It's when the chilliness begins to settle around, just before the onset of the colder, harsher months. What follows this mildly cold season is Winter in full force and then the early bloom of Spring. This is Kapha.
Irrespective of your Dosha, the coldness of Late Vata and Early Kapha Season, will have some impact on you. However, the degree of its impact depends on how well you prepare your body for the seasons. Apart from eating right (sweet for Vata, pungent & bitter for Pitta and warming spices for Kapha), keeping warm and keeping yourself active (to avoid sluggishness), you must also indulge in a self-sufficing skincare routine that preps your skin to fight drying and cold winds that would otherwise leave your skin dehydrated.
Therefore, during the harsh winters, your skin requires tender care and optimum hydration so it can battle against the cold winds that would otherwise leave your skin gasping for moisture.