Ayurvedic Insight
Issue #17, February 2003
In This Issue
Kapha-Reducing Lifestyle Tips
In Ayurveda, winter and early spring are considered “kapha”
season. This is the time of year that it is most common to suffer
from kapha-type imbalances such as colds, congestion, asthma, bronchitis,
sluggishness and weight gain.
If you are prone to these imbalances, here are some basic lifestyle
tips to help you stay healthy..
- Kapha is slow, heavy and static and is therefore aggravated by
inactivity. Energizing your life with activities that require movement
helps avoid imbalances.
- Regular exercise is very important. The more prone you are to
kapha imbalances the more rigorous the exercise should be. (Be sure
to check with your health practitioner before making changes to
your exercise routine).
- Walking and hiking are great for reducing kapha.
- Jogging and biking can be good but the repetitiveness can aggravate
kapha in the mind. Try something more challenging like basketball,
racquetball or tennis.
- Occasionally vary your routine with weather-appropriate activities
like snowboarding, skiing, or snowshoeing.
- As always, yoga is an ideal activity. Vigorous forms are the most
kapha-reducing.
- Take the stairs instead of the elevator.
- If your feeling stuck in a rut, try something new or go somewhere
exciting.
- Join the other snowbirds and take a vacation in the tropics.
- Dress in stimulating colors like red, orange, yellow and green.
- Stimulate your mind on a daily basis. Help your kids with their
algebra homework, do a crossword, or write your congressman.
- Turn off the TV and pick up a good book.
- Spend plenty of time with loved ones and friends. Loneliness and
depression are common kapha emotional imbalances.
- Take kapha-pacifiying herbs like Triphala, Trim Support or Lung
Formula.
- Surround yourself with upbeat music, invigorating smells and lively
company.
- Remember to bundle up, stay warm and dry and enjoy the natural
calm that is inherent in winter.
Now Available - Kapha Season Catalogs
The Kapha Season Catalogs are in the mail. Look for your copy filled
with more Ayurvedic tips for balancing kapha during late winter and
early spring. If you are not on our mailing list or have not received
your copy, you can request one at our website http://www.banyanbotanicals.com
or by calling toll-free 1.888.829.5722.
Health, Harmony and Peace of Mind Through Ayurveda
By Dr. Marc Halpern
The journey toward perfect health and the journey toward enlightenment
are in many ways parallel paths. As we grow and evolve as spirits,
we learn to live in ever-greater harmony with our environment. Harmony
brings peace of mind and, according to Ayurveda, perfect health.
The term for perfect health in Ayurveda is Svastha. Literally translated
Svastha means "to be fully established in the Self.” Hence,
when we are fully established in knowing our true nature, we express
our full potential. This represents optimal health for each person.
Ayurveda is a journey to perfect health, peace of mind and, ultimately,
to enlightenment. By the very laws of Sankhya philosophy, human incarnation
is disharmonious. Once incarnated, humanity forgets its true nature
as spirit and lives as a physical being guided by the senses. This
journey is one of the pursuit of pleasure and the avoidance of pain
and suffering. This simplistic and, as some writers have stated, animalistic
existence brings about both physical and emotional pain and suffering.
The process of healing is the process of remembering. When a person
remembers their true nature as spirit, they become empowered to master
the senses and make choices that bring harmony, not pleasure. The
fruit of this action is peace of mind and well-being.
When we live out of harmony we suffer. In the physical body suffering
takes the form of pain and symptoms of disease. Ayurveda understands
that these symptoms are simply the body’s voice communicating
that we are living out of harmony. When we change our life and re-create
a life of greater harmony, our bodies reflect this change. There is
less suffering. The greater the change toward harmony, the more radiant
the body becomes.
The mind is no different. It is subtler, but the same laws apply.
Symptoms of a diseased mind include unhappiness, depression, sadness,
anxiety, anger and any other emotion other than peace of mind. These
symptoms are also communicating that we are living out of harmony,
that some aspect of our life is disharmonious.
Healing is the process of returning to harmony. Once back in harmony
the body and the mind have no reason to communicate symptoms. The
body becomes at ease; the mind becomes at peace. In this state, awareness
reawakens to its true nature as spirit. Self-realization has occurred
and the individual soul continues its advance toward enlightenment.
When Self-realization occurs twenty-four hours a day, seven days a
week, the door opens to becoming a Jivan Mukta; a liberated soul,
and enlightenment ensues.
Ayurveda teaches us that we are all unique individuals. We were conceived
with a unique constitution or fundamental balance of energies that
define who we are on the physical level. It defines what we are naturally
attracted to and what causes us to move out of balance and experience
disease. Depending on our constitution, we thrive in a particular
environment.
We take our environment in through the senses, which are the portals
to our body and consciousness. The energies we take in either blend
with us or disrupt our harmony. Proper diet (taste), aromas (smell),
sounds (hearing), colors (vision), and touch are essential to maintaining
internal equilibrium. When harmonious impressions are taken in, the
body is healthy and the mind peaceful. When disharmonious impressions
are taken in, the body and mind suffer.
Hence, Ayurveda focuses on helping individuals understand themselves
as unique beings. With that understanding, a person can become empowered
to make choices that are in harmony with who they are. Ayurveda teaches
us that nothing is right for everyone but everything is right for
someone. Ayurveda is the path of understanding what is right for you.
Ayurveda also teaches us that it is not only the intake of sensory
impressions that determines our well-being it is our lifestyle as
a whole. Proper daily regimens are essential: a regular schedule that
includes meditation, yoga practices, daily massage (morning application
of body oil), proper eating habits and proper hygiene brings about
good health and peace of mind. When combined with proper intake of
sensory impressions, the depth of the peace and well-being we experience
is infinite.
The Three Constitutional Types and Their Path Toward Health,
Harmony and Peace of Mind
Vata Individuals
The constitution of vata individuals contains a great deal of air
and ether, which means they tend toward the qualities of coldness,
lightness, dryness and instability. These qualities may be experienced
as feeling cold easily, having a thin body structure, dry skin, a
tendency to move quickly, difficulty staying focused and frequent
changes of interests. These individuals have a lot of interests and
often drift from teacher to teacher, job to job, and relationship
to relationship.
It is important for people with this constitution to follow a lifestyle
that emphasizes opposite qualities. Warm or cooked heavy foods provide
nurturing and grounding. Oil in the food and applied to the body alleviates
dryness. Regular routines and disciplines create stability and improve
focus.
Pitta Individuals
The constitution of pitta individuals contains a great deal of fire
and a small amount of water. These people tend to feel hot, have oily
skin and a moderate body build. They tend to be focused, goal-oriented
individuals with a competitive and intense nature. Pitta individuals
tend to complete what they begin before moving on to the next goal.
They enjoy the satisfaction of completion but experience emotional
and physical turmoil when failing or losing.
People of pitta nature are balanced by a lifestyle that emphasizes
cool and dry impressions through the senses as well as greater spontaneity
and playfulness. For example, raw salads and foods that are not too
spicy are best. These individuals find it easy to adopt routines,
but more playfulness and less seriousness is needed to bring balance.
Kapha Individuals
The constitution of kapha individuals contains great amounts of earth
and water. These people tend toward the qualities of heaviness, coldness,
oiliness, and stability. They tend to move slowly, act slowly, and
stick with the routines they develop. Their challenge can be in adopting
new routines, as change is difficult. These individuals also have
a tendency toward becoming overweight and lethargic.
People of kapha nature require the qualities of lightness, dryness,
and warmth to bring them balance. Light, spicy cooked foods are best.
Oils are to be avoided. A routine emphasizing spontaneity and movement
is essential.
Creating a lifestyle in harmony with our constitution is not easy
but it is the most important thing in life. The difficulty associated
with the task causes many seekers of good health and peace of mind
to give up. But why? Do we expect peace of mind, perfect health and
enlightenment to be easy? If it were easy we would all have it and
then why would we be here? Sankhya philosophy teaches us that we are
only here to experience creation and re-learn about ourselves as spirit.
The journey of our learning is the journey of the soul finding its
way.
If we knew everything, what would there be to experience and learn?
Each of us must simply do our best and realize that growing toward
perfect health and enlightenment takes time. With this attitude, wherever
we are on the journey is perfect. We can love ourselves in spite of
our perceived imperfections. With self-love comes patience. Patience
is a peaceful tool to carry on the journey toward both perfect health
and enlightenment.
© 2003
Dr. Marc Halpern is founder and director of the California College
of Ayurveda. He is also a founding director of the both the California
Association of Ayurvedic Medicine and the National Ayurvedic Medical
Association. The California College of Ayurveda offers both full and
part time clinical training leading to certification as a Clinical
Ayurvedic Specialist. To receive a catalog or reach Dr. Halpern and
the California College of Ayurveda email: info@ayurvedacollege.com
or call 530.274.9100. You can also visit their web site at http://www.ayurvedacollege.com.
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