Experience the throb of this energy first in your head, in your shoulders and arms, your belly, legs and feet. Then, 'sweep' it several times through your body, from the toes to the head and back again. Feel every cell and fibre filled with its subtle power.

New Year resolutions, they say, are meant to be broken. So, Farah Baria refuses to make any, resolving instead on starting every day right

Why do we do it? Why do we spend the first day of every new year making all those grandiose resolutions - and then the rest of the year, undoing them? The answer, in a word, is hope: the very human need to aspire, to renew, to flower. But, the opportunity to reinvent ourselves need not be restricted to the annual prelude; in fact, every new day is a brand new chance to start all over again. Which is why, in Ayurveda, the ancient Science of Life, dawn is the most sacred part of the day.

With the first glimmer of light, about ninety minutes before the sun peeps over the eastern horizon, comes a great surge of cosmic energy. Sleeping creatures awake, shaking the sloth from their bodies. Then, less than half an hour before sunrise, a second surge of energy suffuses the atmosphere, much more powerful than the first. This is the single most important moment of the day, the time when body chemistry is set for all living beings. Sanskrit scriptures call it Brahma Mahoorta, the time of Brahman or cosmic consciousness. Rising before dawn, therefore, is the key to healthy living. Accordingly, Ayurveda prescribes ten morning rituals to greet the new day:

The first of these is 'tuning in' or connecting to the Divine Self within us. A good way to do this is to visualise a pristine ray of sunlight flooding your body with its ethereal energy. Sit up and drink a glass of water, preferably left overnight in a copper vessel, to flush out the digestive tract. During sleep, the human system directs all its refuse to the bowels and bladder, so it's important to clear the trash before resetting your biochemical clock.

For the rest of the article, pick up VERVE’s January-February, 2005 issue