Ayurvedic Insight
Issue #2, October 2001
Changing Seasons, Changing Climates
By Dr. Claudia Welch
“One’s diet (of various types) leads to promotion of
strength and complexion only if he knows the wholesomeness according
to (different) seasons dependent on behavior and diet.”
Charaka Samhita VI:3
A fundamental tenet of Ayurveda is that we should live in harmony
with our external environment as well as our internal one.
We harmonize ourselves with the various seasons. We do this by adjusting
our lifestyles, diets, herbs and remedies according to whatever season
we’re in. For example, we may eat cooler things when it’s
hot out or warmer things when it's cool out, thereby discouraging
too much heat or too much cold, respectively, from accumulating in
our bodies.
It’s easier to maintain balance when what you’re standing
on isn’t moving.
At least in the Northern hemisphere, summer has come to a close and
autumn is setting in. But summer is not gone for good and cool weather
has not completely engulfed us. So we’re dancing back and forth
between them. It’s a time of change. This is always a little
tricky.
Add to this the effects of the climate of the world now, due to events
of September 11 this year, and things become just that much trickier.
Let’s look at all this for a minute.
Autumn is predominantly a cool season where Vata predominates. If
it’s windy or dry or you live in a high altitude this increases
Vata further. The time surrounding seasonal changes is governed by
Vata too, as Vata is associated with movement or change in general.
So, more Vata. Remember that emotions associated with increased Vata
include fear, a scattered feeling, spacey feeling and anxiety. All
emotions which have increased since the recent national tragedies.
A couple weeks after the September 11 events, I asked about 100 med/surg
nurses at a Presbyterian hospital conference in Albuquerque, NM how
many believed that all of their patients were adversely affected emotionally
by the recent terrorist events. They all raised their hands. When
I asked how many believed that all of the patients under their care
were adversely affected physically, about ¾ of them raised
their hands. The point is that, on top of a rather difficult seasonal
time to maintain our physical and emotional health, we have a difficult
world climate to adjust to as well.
According to Ayurveda, the main effect that violent acts have on
our systems is to increase Vata. Whether your main constitution is
Vata, Pitta or Kapha, something like this will almost certainly increase
Vata. The nervous system is governed by Vata. Suppose the normal stimulation
to our nervous systems is, say, 50 units of input. The attacks on
the WTC and the other targets boosted that number a great deal. So,
instead of having our usual 50 inputs we now have, say, 300 units.
(This is just to illustrate a point and is not a scientific fact).
This assaults the nervous system and sends Vata through the roof.
How will the nervous system absorb those extra 250 units? Well, it
has a hard time. For a number of reasons.
First of all, when we are faced with absorbing something we’d
rather not absorb, we tend to push it away. But this doesn’t
work. It’s still there. Some of the wonderful mentors in the
Ayurvedic and Jyotish community are fond of saying, “you should
definitely live with reality. Otherwise reality will definitely come
to live with you.” No matter how nasty and hateful and poisonous
something is, if we can digest it and let it move on through our systems,
we can not only swallow it, but it can even sustain and strengthen
us. Ayurveda says that as long as we can digest something it is not
poison.
Secondly, as I mentioned above, we are already in a Vata-increasing
change-of-season time.
So, what can be done?
No matter what our constitutions, we can do all the things we can
to decrease or soothe Vata in our lives. We can take time to digest
events emotionally, by doing warm oil, self-massages daily before
bathing; by taking time to meditate, take walks, spend gentle time
with people we love, taking baths, listening to sweet music and surrounding
ourselves with warmth, emotionally and physically. We can take time
to chew our food well, take a few deep breaths after eating, eat at
the same times every day and eat warm, nourishing, freshly-cooked,
easily digestible foods.
Specifically, when there is a change of seasons, it is beneficial
to simplify our diets greatly for at least a few days. A monodiet
of kitcheri for a short period of time during any change of season
is especially soothing. It gives our bodies a chance to shift gears
along with the seasons and keeps digestion strong. If you do this,
be sure to come off the kitcheri-only diet in a slow, simple way.
Introduce rice, stir-fried vegetables, soups and whole, freshly cooked
foods and gradually you can increase the complexity of your food,
as your appetite increases. For kitcheri recipes, you can look to
Dr. and Usha Lad’s Ayurvedic cookbook.
These steps can go a long way to soothing our nervous systems and
reducing Vata. You can read more about Vata on the Banyan website
at http://www.banyanbotanicals.com/constitutions/vata.html.
Banyan’s “Tranquil Mind” can be effective for soothing
the nervous system, or calming Vata in the mind. “Mental Clarity”
may help if you find you’re too spacey on a job and need to
bring your mind back. There are also some beneficial, Vata-reducing
digestive aids like “Hingvastak.”
To all our brothers and sisters in this and every country, we pray
for peace and extend our heartfelt sympathy for whatever suffering
has been caused by recent events.
The above article was written by Dr. Claudia Welch for the exclusive
use of Banyan Trading Co. The information is protected by copyright
and may not be reprinted without the written permission of Dr. Claudia
Welch and Banyan Trading Co.
Are you Vata, Pitta, or Kapha?
To take our free Ayurvedic Analysis and find out your"Prakriti"
(constitutional type) visit our website at http://www.banyanbotanicals.com/constitutions/index.html.
Results are tabulated automatically based on your answers to 30 simple
questions. You can read the results online or have them e-mailed to
you immediately.
Sometime this fall we hope to add a new link that discusses“Vikriti”
which will help you identify current imbalances and hopefully take
steps in the direction of balancing them. We’d love any feedback
about the new link or the upcoming link.
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