Vedic astrology (Jyotish) is one of the sister sciences of Ayurveda, and it is concerned with how things unfold over time; Jyotish is the study of time, ie: what a particular time is “good” for.

We already know that some times are better than other times for certain activities. Nighttime is better for sleeping than daytime. “Banking Hours” are when business is transacted. Holidays and holy days are times when we temporarily suspend our normal routines and activities. Vacations allow us to retreat from our normal structures and rest.

It turns out that the days of the week all have unique qualities that we can intentionally hook into to get a little added support in our daily activities. Each day of the week correlates to one of the 7 visible planets.

Day of the Week

Planet

Color(s)

Supported Activities
Sunday Sun orange planning, physical activity
Monday Moon white cooking, caring for the home and/or family, gardening
Tuesday Mars red decisive action, surgery, protection/security
Wednesday Mercury green communication, commerce, banking, computers, accounting & bookkeeping
Thursday Jupiter yellow teaching, philosophy
Friday Venus light blue or light purple creative endeavors
Saturday Saturn black or dark blue cleaning house, doing laundry, tending to projects, labor (ie: the trades)

My thought for sharing this information with you is that—in difficult and uncertain times—it is very easy to let routines and structure slip away. This can look like going to bed at a later time, sleeping in later, eating meals and variable times, and forgoing self-care habits such as brushing your teeth. 

At these times it is very easy for health-supporting practices to give way to comfort-seeking practices. This is fine for a (short) while, but it becomes problematic when we don’t course-correct. I know that it doesn’t sound credible, but I have experienced it in my life: having a consistent structure to the day / having routines in place (and sticking to them!) is really very calming and anxiety-reducing.

So what to do when the kids are out of school or you are working from home and the usual routines of life have gone to hell? You create structure and routine:

  • get up at the same time every morning
  • go to bed at the same time every evening (ideally by 9:30 pm)
  • you eat your main meals of the day in the same time frame each day with lunch at midday
  • you stick to your established self-care habits (brush your teeth, bathe, get dressed, do exercise, etc)

Once you have your basic structure in place, you have to figure out how what you’re going to do with your time. You can make use of the qualities of the days of the week to focus what kind of activity you are doing each day. So, going by the table above, you could

  • invigorate yourself: get a good hike or work-out in on Sunday; plan the week ahead
  • cook up a storm to provide nourishment to your family on Monday
  • get in the weeds on something very technical and detailed and precise on Tuesday
  • tackle finances and communication on Wednesday
  • outline the course you are going to teach later this year or work on your philosophical manifesto on Thursday
  • give free reign to your creative self on Friday
  • do whatever is drudgery and feels menial to you on Saturday (ie: laundry, vacuuming your house, mowing the lawn, weeding the garden)

We all have to take care of similar activities in life. It has been helpful to me to channel them on a certain day of the week to make sure that they get done as well as to hook into the energy of the planets, knowing that the energy of the day supports the work that I have to do. I do bookkeeping/bill paying on Wednesday. I send my newsletters out on Wednesdays. As often as possible, I teach on Thursdays. I change the sheets of my bed and do laundry on Saturdays. This system has worked well for me; I hope it will be helpful for you.

Find this content helpful? If so, please consider making a donation. Our community’s support is deeply appreciated and is vital to our ability to bring you useful content on an ongoing basis.

Thank you!