Ayurvedic Insight
Issue #21, July 2003
In This Issue
Managing Hyperacidity
By Shannon Mooney
According to Ayurveda, the root cause of all disease stems from impaired
digestion. Many of the recommendations that Ayurveda suggests help
to enkindle and balance the digestive fires or agni. With balanced
agni, everything taken into the body, from perceived experience of
our external environment to the food we ingest, can be properly assimilated
and absorbed. These nutrients can then nourish all the tissues, increasing
cellular intelligence to restore health. Many common digestive problems,
including hyperacidity, can be alleviated by following an ayurvedic
approach to health, by cultivating balanced agni and most importantly,
honoring the body.
Hyperacidity is a condition of excess acid secretion that causes
irritation and burning of the mucosal lining of the stomach. In Vedic
scripture, this condition is a result of derangement of one of the
sub-types of Pitta dosha, Pachak. Pachak contributes to the digestive
fire through the release of gastric juices. Excess secretion of hydrochloric
acid in the stomach is described as Amlapitta, a disorder of the sour
(acid) and liquid quality of Pitta.
The main symptoms tend to appear between one to two hours after eating.
This is the time when gastric juices have sufficiently processed the
ingested food and the excess acid begins to irritate the mucosal membrane
in the stomach. This causes burning sensations in the stomach, nausea,
occasional vomiting, sour belching or burping, indigestion, loss of
appetite and restlessness. Excess acid can splash up into the esophagus
creating a burning sensation in the chest known as acid reflux or
heartburn. If left untreated, the protective mucous lining may burn
away allowing the strong digestive juices to form a sore in the stomach
wall.
Many of the causes contributing to the condition of hyperacidity
are excessive in nature. Overeating is one of the most common causes,
especially in America where the super-sized portions served in restaurants
easily provide enough food for two or three meals. Indulging excessively
in foods that are sour, acidic or foods that promote acid secretion,
like sweets and meats, will directly influence this condition. Excessive
use of alcohol, tobacco, tea and coffee also play a significant role
in aggravating pitta and exacerbating acid conditions in the body.
Improper food combining and eating too many leftovers contribute
to chronic indigestion. Weak digestion speeds the aging process, lowers
immunity and can create imbalance in the body. If the body is not
sufficiently nourished, deficiency may occur. Without the proper assimilation
of essential amino acids, vitamins, and mineral, the body cannot effectively
regulate secretion of digestive juices.
Psychologically, excessive worry, stress and severe mental exertion
stimulate acid secretion in the stomach. Hormones released from the
adrenals during stress response irritate the nerve tissue in the body
causing an increase in gastric acid secretion. Hyperacidity is one
of the many disorders that may occur as a result of prolonged arousal
of the nervous system.
Understanding the probable cause of hyperacidity and how dietary
and lifestyle factors play a role in the disease process can be an
extraordinarily empowering experience. Commitment to healing and bringing
awareness to the disorder is fundamental to restoring balance. The
Ayurvedic treatment plan includes a pitta-pacifying diet, herbal remedies,
yoga postures, and meditation. It is a wholistic approach that promotes
genuine health.
In treating any Pitta disorder, attention to diet is paramount. Avoid
all hot, sour, oily, fried and fermented foods, alcohol and tobacco.
These will stimulate an acid response in the body and create excess
heat. Favor foods that are light, fresh and easy to digest. Include
foods with qualities of sweet, cool and preferably alkaline. Wise
choices are organic barley, whole wheat, basmati rice, steamed dark
leafy greens, pomegranate or cranberry juice. Other mucilaginous foods
include banana, avocado and cucumber. Aloe vera juice taken a half
hour before or after meals can help to soothe the entire gastro-intestinal
tract. Tea made from coriander, cumin, and fennel seeds is cooling
to the system and is an effective digestive aid.
When using diet as a therapeutic treatment for hyperacidity, it is
not only the qualities of the foods that should be taken into consideration.
The quantity of food ingested and the level of awareness that one
brings to each meal are of equal importance. According to Ayurveda,
one should only fill one third of the stomach’s capacity with
food. Leave one third for water and digestive juices. The last third,
left empty, provides the space needed to properly churn and digest
the food. Mindfulness while eating provides a multitude of benefits
toward better digestion and general well-being. Focusing your attention
on each and every bite, noticing texture and flavor of the food helps
ensure proper mastication. Chew your food well! Pay attention to your
hunger and take your time. This will help prevent over-eating. Eat
in a calm, peaceful environment. Remember to take a deep breath before
moving on to your next activity. Making a ritual of your eating experience
sends a message of nourishment to the body, and ultimately establishes
a sense of reverence towards life.
Herbal remedies that are sweet and cooling in nature are especially
balancing for pitta. Banyan Botanicals’ Digest Ease contains
cooling herbs to help moderate digestive fire, balance the hydrochloric
acid output and help support a healthy mucosal lining of the stomach.
Avipattikar is a traditional ayurvedic formula that includes rock
candy, nishoth, cardamom, clove and ginger. It is used to relieve
excess pitta from the stomach and small intestine, helping to alleviate
hyperacidity, heartburn and indigestion. Stress Ease, another Banyan
formula, can be especially useful when the cause is stress-related.
It contains herbs that are adaptogenic, improving the body’s
ability to cope and process stress. Passion flower, a nervine and
anti-spasmodic, helps to calm a worried mind.
Yoga and meditation are an integral part of treating hyperacidity.
Bring qualities of calm and softness to your practice. Breathing should
be slow and deep, focusing on the areas of the navel and the solar
plexus. Making time to practice a few asanas will help to disperse
heat and tension from the stomach, small intestine, liver, spleen
area, all places pitta tends to accumulate. Practice these postures
with equal parts effort and surrender, leaving behind the competitive
tendencies inherent in pitta individuals. Vajrasana, kneeling Hero
pose, practiced five to ten minutes after every meal will greatly
improve digestion. Matsyasana, fish pose, is cooling and calming,
particularly good for releasing heat from the solar plexus. Setu Bandha,
bridge pose, is a little deeper backbend that will lift the diaphragm,
expand the abdomen and help to cool the agni. Focus should be on softening
and cooling the inner fire. In cases of severe hyperacidity, one should
avoid most forward bends. These will compress the abdominal area and
create more heat. The result of yoga is inner harmony. Yoga, aside
from having an immediate cleansing effect on the body, provides the
calm space to make healing choices about diet and lifestyle.
Meditation can be the ultimate tool to bring focus to the commitment
to healing. If our minds are clear and self-reflective, it will help
us to choose ideal food, activity and other life patterns. Meditation
opens and purifies the mind, and strengthens the spirit. Ayurveda
is a wholistic system of health that addresses the unity of mind,
body and spirit. Bringing attention to the multiple levels of the
disorder of hyperacidity through consistent awareness practices is
the most efficient way to begin the healing journey.
Recipe: Cool Mint Tea
- 1 cup fresh peppermint leaves or 1/4 cup dried peppermint
- 1 quart boiling water
- 1 quart cold or room-temperature water
- 2 Tbs. honey or rice syrup (optional, Pitta needs to drink this
with rice syrup and Kapha with honey only)
Pour quart of boiling water over mint in teapot or other heatproof
container. Cover; let steep for 20 minutes. Strain tea into pitcher
or Mason jar; stir in sweetener. Add cool water, stir. Chill in refrigerator
at least one hour, or serve immediately with a few ice cubes.
This is a great drink for aiding digestion and calming the nerves
on a hot day. Spearmint or catnip can also be used. Good for people
looking for flavorful non-caffeinated alternatives to juice or soda,
also for those on their iced tea in the summer.
Recipe reprinted with permission from The Ayurvedic Cookbook by
Amadea Morningstar with Urmila Desai, Lotus Press, P.O. Box 325, Twin
Lakes, WI 53181. ©1990 All Rights Reserved.
Spiritual Healing: Bringing Benediction into Everyday Life
By Dr. Martina Ziska
Report: Summer Intensive Course conducted by Dr. Vasant Lad at the
Ayurvedic Institute in Albuquerque, New Mexico, 2002.
Whether you are practitioner of Ayurveda or just interested in what
it can bring into your life, you must have at some point come across
the spiritual aspects of Ayurveda. The vedic background as well as
the view of human life as mind-body-spirit complex make the non-material
aspect of our existence very tangible. But how do we incorporate the
yearning for freedom from suffering, everlasting joy and liberation
from birth and death cycle into our everyday lives?
That was the focus of the summer course offered by the Ayurvedic
Institute in New Mexico. The last in the 5-week series of summer intensives
led by Dr. Lad, this course attracted about 15 students from as far
as Great Britain. Dr. Lad, director and founder of the Institute,
is probably not only the most accomplished and experienced vaidya
in this country, but also an enlightened master, embodiment of the
yogic principles. This makes him the most qualified teacher and conveyer
of the secrets, techniques and styles necessary to enter and sustain
us on the spiritual path.
The teachings are simple: When one moves beyond the realm of duality,
likes, dislikes, and conditioning due to our past and current actions
- karma, beyond the realm of ego, one develops the pure awareness
of reality. This reality is perceived by the mind in its totality,
without coloring of the separator - the ego. When every moment of
our existence is filled with this pure consciousness in which everything
is one, object, subject and the process of observation disappear,
one fully realizes, i.e. becomes one with the only reality that is
– nature, God, spirit, consciousness, pure energy, or whatever
name we might try to use to capture the infinite. In this state, all
pain, diseases, suffering, limitations and misery disappear and only
the everlasting bliss and joy remain.
But why is it so hard, if not impossible to reach this tantalizing
state?
The answer can be simplified into one word: ego. Lots have been said
about ego, but let’s understand its role properly. Ego or ahamkar
is necessary to give form and identity to our physical reality. When
ego enters other than biological fields, when it becomes so big and
rigid that it blocks access to the Self, the image of our body is
disturbed, emotions hurt, and suffering ensues. We create our reality
through our thoughts and if we suffer, it’s because we have
created our own suffering. Disease starts in the mind in a form of
negative thinking. While ego has an enormous moving power, it is only
when it takes the proper place and allows the mind or thought wave
to move beyond the mind-body complex, that it becomes a pure awareness
and spiritual healing happens.
There are ways to move the ego move out of its obstructing place.
An ancient pratyahara technique called a double-arrow awareness is
one of the ways to accomplish this difficult task. In this state,
senses move not only outside, as is their nature, but at the same
time the awareness moves them inwardly into a witnessing state. Sounds
simple enough? Try it! Don’t be discouraged – it takes
a long consistent effort to make any progress. There are of course
other ways to strengthen the inner workings of spirit. A fully focused
awareness on the present moment called mindfulness is a very practical
way that makes the subject of your attention irrelevant. Other centuries-proven
ways are chanting the name of God through various mantra techniques,
devotion to the chosen form of God, approaching all activities and
tasks as a loving service, and purifying your mind through meditation
such as so-hum or empty bowl techniques.
This is all great, but where do we start and how do we navigate through
the spiritual maze? First of all, the body has to be strong and balanced
to withstand the intensity of inner work. To that end, practice ayurvedic
life-style, eat balanced diet, exercise, calm the body and mind with
yogic asanas and don’t overwork. Once you create a harmonious
physical platform, focus on the workings of your mind and emotions.
Choose the path of your truth – dharma, that you can pursue
with passion. Whether action-karma oriented, knowledge-jnana seeker,
or bhakti-compassion driven, choose techniques that deeply resonate
with you. Practice them consistently with no attachment to results.
If your intension is pure, the inner guru (or the one in physical
form) will move you and guide you along the complicated path of the
inner growth. With total devotion of pure heart, attend to all aspects
of life lovingly and intensely. As Swami Satchidananda’s commentary
of Bhagavad Gita concludes: “Be good, do good”. Do so
with passion! Now!
Dr. Martina Ziska, a full-time ayurvedic practitioner, has recently
scaled down her practice to restore balance in her own life. She now
practices out of her home in Deep River, CT, where she patiently awaits
the next universal direction. To contact her, call 860.526.8116 or
email: martinaziska@aol.com
The above article was reprinted with permission from Light on Ayurveda.
Light on Ayurveda, Journal of Health is a peer-reviewed quarterly
journal for practitioners and students of Ayurvedic science and for
those who have a recently enkindled interest in Ayurveda. It contains
informative articles written by experts in the field of Ayuveda. Topics
include panchakarma, Ayurvedic herbs, philosophy, dietary and treatment
protocols, massage therapy, yoga and meditation, Jyotish and Ayurvedic
Palmistry. To subscribe, visit the web site: www.loaj.com
.
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