Spring Rejuvenation for Kapha

 

By its very nature, spring is wet, fertile, nutritive, and revitalizing. Everywhere around us, the natural world is re-emerging to embrace the sense of renewal that the spring season has to offer.

Given this context, now is truly a perfect time of year to invite deep nourishment, love, and abundance into our lives. Ayurvedic rejuvenation is aimed at doing just that, and the process helps our bodies repair and revitalize on a very deep level—body, mind, and spirit.

As a kapha-predominant type, the spring and summer months are a particularly wonderful time for you to consider a rejuvenation program because it can help to restore a full sense of strength and vitality in the wake of kapha season.

For those of you who recently completed (or intend to complete) a cleanse, rejuvenation is the final component of the cleanse itself. After working so hard to purify and reset your physiology, you are prepared for deep nourishment on all levels.

And even if you did not do a spring cleanse, rejuvenation alone can strengthen and tone your physical, mental, and emotional spheres.

What’s an Appropriate Period of Time?

As with many things in Ayurveda, the length of an appropriate rejuvenation program varies from one person to the next. Rejuvenation therapies are typically implemented for a set period of time—usually at least one month and up to three months.

While this may strike you as a long time, keep in mind that rejuvenation should feel nourishing and enjoyable to you. And, it can really be as simple as adding one practice or one herb to your daily routine.

Based on Cleansing

If you completed a full seven-day cleanse, your body will benefit from a longer period of rejuvenation (about three months), starting as soon after you complete your cleanse as possible. If that time frame feels overwhelming to you, commit to at least one month of rejuvenation.

If you completed a shorter cleanse, be sure to do at least one month of rejuvenation. Or, if you like, you too can rejuvenate for up to three months.

Even if you did not complete a cleanse at all, you can still benefit from a period of rejuvenation. However, there may be some instances where this would not be appropriate.

Based on State of Balance

If you have a known kapha imbalance (especially if it is of greater concern than any other imbalances you may have), you’ll want to go easy on rejuvenation so as not to further aggravate kapha.

Similarly, if you have a lot of toxicity in your system, which can be identified by a thick coating on the tongue, you’ll want to keep your rejuvenation routine very simple so that you don’t inadvertently nourish the toxins.

In either case, a simple rejuvenation program (of one to three therapies) for about a month is probably sufficient. You'll take comfort in the fact that kapha-type rejuvenatives, which are lighter and less likely to aggravate either of the above conditions.

Pathways Toward Rejuvenation

What follows is a list of many possible rejuvenative therapies. Please don’t feel overwhelmed. The idea is not to do all of these things, but to pick and choose those recipes and practices that most resonate with you.

As you consider each therapy, remember that your rejuvenation process needs to feel beneficial. It should not add stress to your life but should instead add a sense of vitality, contentment, creativity, and joy.

If several possibilities pique your interest, consider starting with one to three therapies and then gradually expand your repertoire of rejuvenatives only if and when it feels appropriate.

Dietary Rejuvenatives

At the most fundamental level, a healthy, balanced diet supports deep rejuvenation. All of your tissues, organs, and systems draw directly from the nourishment contained within the food you eat every day.

A diet primarily composed of freshly cooked, whole foods is quite rejuvenative. On the other hand, processed foods and old, stale foods have little life force, are difficult to digest, and often contain toxins.

As a kapha-predominant type in the midst of kapha season, focus on eating a healthy and balanced kapha-balancing diet. You can compliment these broad strokes with some especially rejuvenative foods:

• Almonds, Soaked and Peeled
  Soaked almonds are very grounding, nourishing, and energizing. Soaking and peeling them makes them more digestible and more beneficial to the body. As such, almonds are a highly revered rejuvenative in Ayurveda.
• Soaked Cashews
  Cashews—which are oily, nutritive, and building—can also be used in a rejuvenation program. They actually share many qualities with soaked almonds, including the fact that soaking them makes them more digestible.
• Rejuvenative Almond Milk
  This very restorative drink provides another delicious way to ingest soaked and peeled almonds. You can cook with it or drink it plain. It is especially useful in fall and winter, or after a period of major exertion.
• Dr. Lad’s Date & Almond Shake
  This shake is a warm, nourishing, and deliciously sweet breakfast or snack. It is very nutritious, grounding, and the dates, soaked almonds, and milk make it an excellent rejuvenative.
• Alakananda Ma’s Non-Dairy Ojas Drink
  This restorative almond drink is lighter and more subtle than the date and almond shake and is a nice spring and summer rejuvenative. Ingredients like soaked almonds, rose petals, ghee, and saffron make it a potent rejuvenative.
• Dream Date Balls
  A very good and sumptuous rejuvenative. In ancient India, these would have been considered an aphrodisiac of sorts. Very yummy.
• Saffron Asparagus Kitchari
  This light and subtle tridoshic dish is filled with nourishing ingredients that are perfect for spring and summer periods of rejuvenation. Originally designed to tonify the reproductive system, it is especially useful for promoting fertility, virility, and menstrual health.
• Rejuvenating Red Dal
  A perfectly rejuvenating, nourishing, and delicious springtime meal, your body will thank you for this creamy and warming red dal.

 

Rejuvenative Herbs

There are many different types of rejuvenating herbs—each with a distinct purpose. The most widely used Ayurvedic rejuvenatives work simultaneously on all of the body’s tissues. Below are several herbal rejuvenatives well-suited for your constitution and for the spring and summer seasons.

Taking these herbs and formulas with a catalytic agent such as ghee, honey, or ginger tea helps to deliver the benefits deep into the tissues, increasing the potency and efficacy of the herbs. Instructions for using each of these specifically as a rejuvenative are provided, but if you prefer to take your herbs in water or without ghee and honey, they will still be beneficial.
 

• Triphala with ghee and honey. Triphala is a tridoshic formula that naturally rejuvenates all of the tissues in the body (while encouraging the elimination of toxins). It is an especially potent rejuvenative when taken with ghee and honey—usually first thing in the morning.
  
  Mix ½ teaspoon of Triphala powder with ½ teaspoon of ghee and ½ teaspoon of raw honey. Or, if powdered herbs aren’t your thing, take one Triphala tablet, followed by a mixture of ½ teaspoon ghee and ½ teaspoon raw honey.
   
• Healthy Kapha Tablets. This warming and astringent formula is designed to restore and maintain balanced kapha, without aggravating vata or pitta. In particular, Healthy Kapha supports a clear respiratory system, a robust immune system, and helps support the maintenance of a healthy weight. Healthy Kapha is an excellent formula for the winter and spring seasons, when the cool, wet weather tends to disturb kapha.
  
  If you are doing a longer rejuvenation program, you might consider switching from Healthy Kapha to Healthy Pitta in the late spring or summer—whenever the weather heats up enough to make balancing pitta a higher priority. Take one to two Healthy Kapha tablets, once or twice daily, or as directed by your health practitioner.
   
• Chyavanprash. Chyavanprash is a delicious nutritive jam. It is an ancient herbal formula containing both ghee and honey—both of which help to deliver the herbs to the tissues. Chyavanprash can be taken alone, it can be stirred into milk or water, or it can be spread on toast, bread, or crackers—like any other jam. Taking chyavanprash in warm milk (or almond milk, if dairy is not appropriate) helps to carry its tonifying and rejuvenating qualities deep into the tissues.
  
  As a rejuvenative, chyavanprash is typically taken in the morning, or sometimes in both the morning and the evening. Take 1–2 teaspoons once or twice daily, or as directed by your health practitioner.
   
• Ashwagandha. Ashwagandha is a highly esteemed herb aimed at improving strength, energy, and vitality. It improves one’s ability to handle stress, promotes physical strength, rejuvenates the tissues, and supports sound sleep at night.
  
  A typical rejuvenative dose would be ½ teaspoon Ashwagandha powder in the morning, in ½ teaspoon ghee and ½ teaspoon raw honey. Or, if you would prefer a tablet, take one Ashwagandha tablet, followed by a mixture of ½ teaspoon ghee and ½ teaspoon raw honey.
   
• Bibhitaki. Bibhitaki is one of three ingredients in the famous Ayurvedic formula, triphala, but it is particularly calming to kapha. If your primary imbalance relates to kapha, you could use bibhitaki in place of triphala, but in a similar manner—taking ½ teaspoon of Bibhitaki powder with ½ teaspoon ghee and ½ teaspoon honey in the morning.
   
• Kapha Digest. This formula is designed to kindle a strong digestive fire while burning away fat and natural toxins. And since proper digestion is essential to effective rejuvenation, Kapha Digest tablets can truly enhance your rejuvenation experience. This formula simultaneously rejuvenates the lungs and supports clear and healthy respiratory channels. Take one to two tablets, once or twice daily, or as directed by your healthcare practitioner.

Rejuvenating Practices

Not surprisingly, your lifestyle has a profound impact on your body’s ability to repair, regenerate, and revitalize itself. When we fill our days—particularly our mornings—with practices that set a tone of health and self-love, our bodies are much better able to nurture the rejuvenation process.

Simple Lifestyle Adjustments to Support Rejuvenation

• Minimize stress
• Reduce any tendency toward attachment to things or relationships
• Avoid melancholic or depressing situations and be careful not to oversleep
• Start your day with some stimulating exercise or a vigorous yoga practice
• Wear enough clothes to avoid getting chilled, especially when the weather is cool or wet
• Cultivate creativity and flexibility in your life

In addition to any of the above commitments that appeal to you, you can incorporate some more formal practices to invite rejuvenation on a very deep level.

Formal Rejuvenation Practices

• Abhyanga (Ayurvedic Oil Massage)
  Each morning, before a shower or bath, massage about ¼ cup warm Kapha Massage Oil into the skin. This practice calms, lubricates and rejuvenates the tissues—in particular, the nervous system. For further instructions on this rejuvenating technique, click here.
• Nasya
  Each morning (or at least several times per week) apply 3–5 drops of Nasya Oil into each nostril. This practice helps to soothe the nasal passages while promoting unobstructed breathing, relieving accumulated stress, supporting mental clarity and fostering the unfolding of awareness.
• Yoga
  Kapha-balancing yoga, which is active and invigorating is the best rejuvenative practice for kapha-types, especially as you move deeper into the winter and spring. However, incorporating restorative postures such as legs up the wall and corpse pose with a bolster opening the chest will be equally beneficial this fall and winter.
• Meditation, Pranayama, Quiet Time, and/or Reflective Time
  Any quiet, contemplative practice—even if it is only five to fifteen minutes in duration—is incredibly rejuvenative to the mind and physiology. Practicing in the early morning hours, especially before and around dawn, is powerfully supportive of rejuvenation.

Rejuvenative Products to Consider

• Triphala powder or tablets
• Healthy Kapha
• Kapha Digest
• Chyavanprash
• Ashwagandha powder or tablets
• Bibhitaki powder
• Organic Ghee
• Kapha Massage Oil and/or Organic Sesame Oil
• Nasya Oil