There’s an Ayurvedic Way to Drink Water (and You Probably Aren’t Doing It)

Hey, you. We need to talk about that half-empty S'well bottle sitting on your coffee table.

Sure, you know you’re supposed to drink eight glasses a day to stay fully hydrated (but realistically, you probably drink more like four—us, too). And because you’re so busy and totally forget, you usually go for long stretches without drinking, followed by huge gulps like you’ve just gone on a ten-mile hike through the desert. But hey, at least you’re drinkingsomething, right?

Not according to ayurvedic medicine (pronounceday-er-vey-dic), the ancient Indian practice of healing the body through食品和草药. Our pals to the east think it’s not only about how much water you drink, buthowyou drink it—and they have an excellent point.

You’ve heard that practicing mindful eating, or allowing your body to slow down and really focus on the process of chewing and enjoying your food, can helpreduce stress levels and improve digestion. And ayurvedic experts, like our friends at Vasanti Health, believesipping water slowly and deliberately throughout the day is much more beneficial to your body than sudden gulping.

为什么?在阿育吠陀medicine, the aim is to always keep your body in as relaxed a state as possible to reduce stress and keep your organs running efficiently. So instead of shocking your system with a sudden gush of ice water, try more frequent, gentle sips of room temperature or warm water.

BRB, filling up our water bottles…slowwwly.