Ayurvedic Insight
Issue #27, January 2004
In This Issue
Tips For Maintaining an Exercise Regime
During this time of new beginnings and resolutions, start a
fitness program that will last with these helpful tips:
- Set reasonable goals, both long and short term. Completion of the short term goals provide personal satisfaction, bringing you one step closer to your vision.
- Choose exercises that work best for your constitution. John Douillard's book, Body, Mind, and Sport is an excellent resource.
- Create a calendar or checklist of your program to be kept in a visible place. i.e., fridge. Cross things off as you go.
- Mix it up. Don't get stuck in just one activity. Branch out and be adventuresome!
- Combine both solitary and group activities. Exercising with a friend or group provides support and boosts motivation.
- Create a healthful reward system. Entice yourself with a spa treatment or a new piece of exercise clothing as a means to reach your goal.
- Don't be constrained by conventional definitions of exercise. Play with your kids. Go dancing with your friends. Walk a dog.
- Most importantly, have fun! Exercise is not about pain or strain. It is about inviting movement into your body to oxygenate, stimulate, strengthen and cleanse your system. It is an important component of overall health.
Ayurvedic Fitness – An individual approach to enjoying life
by John Douillard
A recent survey asked the question, “Why is it that 80% of
Americans do not exercise regularly?” By far the most common
response is that people are too busy and simply can't find
the time. Could this be why more than ten million Americans
are exercising less today than just three years ago, because
they are just too busy? Could it be so simple? It has been
my experience that when people like something they find time
for it.
I believe the real reason why 80% of Americans are not
exercising regularly is simple. It’s because they do not
enjoy it. It’s a “workout", something you have to do, not
something you look forward to. Making exercise fun again
will not only keep us doing it but will deliver numerous
health benefits from exercise not available from our
conventional approach.
For years we have been encouraged to exercise by the experts
because of its pronounced health benefits. People who
exercise regularly on the whole have less chronic disease,
but only recently studies have shown some not so good
effects of exercise. Many reports have linked too much
exercise with compromised immune systems. The problem is,
that at the present time the experts don’t know – how much
exercise is good and how much more is harmful.
There can be no standard answer to this question that will
apply to everyone. The fact is that we are all different and
have individual requirements for exercise. This
understanding of individual body typing is not by any means
new. Arguably the first system of body typing was in ancient
India’s Ayurvedic (science of life) medicine where ten
unique mind-body types are identified, each with its unique
strengths, talents, likes and dislikes. Understanding who
you are can help you determine how much exercise you need as
well as the type of activity that would be best suited for
you.
WHO ARE YOU? In elementary school girls and boys alike are
required to run the mile under ten minutes in order to pass
the class. This can be quite a feat depending on your body
type. When Sara was ten she came to me in tears to get a
note so she would never have to go to gym class again. She
had just run the mile for time and although she gave her
heart and soul she finished in eleven and a half minutes
failing the class. She was humiliated and could not face her
class ever again. She was a KAPHA body type that is
typically hypometabolic with big bones an easy going nature
and much more endurance than speed. She tended to be a
little more on the heavy side as kapha types will hold on to
more water.
Working with her coach I directed her to a sport more suited
to her body type and she came back to see me a year or so
later with a big smile on her face as she told me she just
returned from the regional championships as a race walker,
this being a sport much more suited to her nature. To my
total amazement she went on to tell me that her favorite
class was now gym and she just joined the basketball team.
She said, “It’s really cool – the little and faster vata and
pitta types dribble and pass the ball as us bigger kapha
types stay under the basket and get rebounds.” For the first
time in her life she felt she belonged on a basketball
court.
The VATA body types as Sara mentioned are faster and
actually more hypermetabolic. Opposite to the Kapha type
they tend to think quick and forget quick and have little
endurance. They are great in quick short bursts and would
find a mile run an incredibly difficult endurance event.
They don't hold on to much body mass and are usually trying
to gain weight. When they get out of balance they can tend
to worry, become anxious, constipated and have trouble
sleeping.
The PITTA body type is more fiery by nature and is the type
that would excel in the one mile run under ten minutes. They
are typically more competitive, agile with a medium muscled
frame. When they get out of balance they can over heat, get
irritated and even complain of skin rashes and indigestion.
SPORT BY BODY TYPE – Vata types will typically excel in
quick sports requiring quick short bursts of speed and
agility. These individuals are like highstrung thoroughbred
race horses, always on the go, very restless and even jumpy
at times. They love fast, vigorous activity but can’t handle
too much of it if they are going to stay in balance. If
anything, vatas need to slow down and nature often forces
them to, since their endurance is not great and they tire
quite easily. Vata types are quick to get involved in
fitness programs but because of their constantly changing
interests, they are also quick to give it up.
Pitta types excel in individual competition requiring
strength, speed and stamina. They are fiery both in
personality and desire to win. They are highly motivated and
driven and are often not satisfied unless they have won.
They are natural leaders and are attracted to individual
sports because of their strong ego and natural competence in
most sports. Pitta types must be careful not to get
overheated and must learn how to enjoy themselves regardless
of the final score.
Kapha types excel in endurance and mind-body coordinated
skills. They are great under pressure and are naturally
calm, stable and easy-going under pressure. They are often
late bloomers both physically and mentally. They love the
camaraderie of team sports although these don't usually give
them the aerobic exercise that they need. Because of the
hypometabolic nature they will tend to be more lazy and need
motivation when exercising. They love team sports but must
be sure to get plenty of stimulating and vigorous exercise
as well.
MINDING YOUR BODY – In addition to knowing your mind-body
type and its requirements, it is also important for your
mind to know how to listen to your body. We have heard the
term “listen to your body” for years only no one has ever
told us how to do it. In the past we have been taught to
listen to our body by jogging at a pace that allows us to
hold a conversation with our partner. To me this technique
sounds more like listening to someone else’s body rather
then your own.
Inadvertently many of us have been conditioned to distract
our mind from our body during exercise. Oftentimes exercise
is found too boring unless we have a TV to watch, a book to
read or a magazine to flip through. It seems we have
resigned ourselves to the fact that exercise is mindless and
boring so we engage our minds in one activity while our
bodies do another. High-tech distraction devices have
emerged on the scene as virtual reality workout centers and
TV-ridden cardio theatres fill health clubs. People can now
exercise beyond their tolerance without the boredom and
without feeling the pain. No pain-no gain has been replaced
with, if we distract you, you won't feel it.
The degeneration of even moderate levels of exercise has
been recently documented in a landmark study by Dr. Kenneth
Cooper, who is considered a leading authority and visionary
in the field of exercise physiology. His recent findings fly
in the face of all our current exercise standards yet match
up perfectly with the exercise requirements laid down over
5000 years ago in the Ayurvedic texts. He found that when
people exercise at 60% of their maximum heart rate for four
hours a week or more, they will produce a significant amount
of harmful exercise induced free radicals which are the
leading cause of aging, disease, cancer and death.
Mind you, current exercise requirements state that we need
to get the heart rate over 60% before any cardio-health
benefits are gained. The results of this study were so
controversial and radical the fitness industry for the most
part the industry has chosen to ignore Cooper’s advice. He
says if you insist on exceeding this limit then you must
take large doses of antioxidant supplements to combat the
harmful effects of moderate exercise.
Does this mean we should be restricted to a walk around the
block to ward off this free radical onslaught? The Ayurvedic
approach to fitness, which made its more public debut about
1500 years ago as the original martial arts of China,
utilized physical techniques in order to access one’s full
human potential. It is in this light that I discuss a new
approach to how and why we exercise. The human body is
unlimited in potential, it is just a matter of knowing how
to access it. In this case less will definitely be more.
THE SECRET TO LIFELONG FITNESS – In Ayurveda, the first
requirement for health, fitness and longevity is that the
body’s life force or “prana” must flow effortlessly into
every cell of the body. This is accomplished primarily via
the breath. It is with the proper use of the breath during
exercise that will bring harmony between the mind and body
and create a measurable experience of calm and rejuvenation
into each workout. Most of us do not realize that our body
responds to exercise as an emergency. The fight-or-flight
nervous system gets maxed out even during moderate exercise.
This emergency response during each workout not only
produces stress-fighting degenerative hormones but it is
likely the key factor in America’s chronic aversion to
exercise.
Normal people would never intentionally subject themselves
to an emergency day after day after day. Yet when we ask
people to engage in regular conventional exercise that is
exactly what we are asking. It is no wonder that eighty
percent of America doesn't do it. To make exercise fun again
we must replace the degenerative emergency response with a
rejuvenative calming one. It is this experience of calm,
like the eye of a hurricane, that will act as a hub as we
engage in the most dynamic physical, mental or emotional
activity. In nature, the bigger the eye of the hurricane,
the more forceful the winds. It is this experience of calm
that we seek to reproduce in the midst of even the most
extreme stress. In athletics and in life, when people are at
their best they often find it effortless and euphoric. When
tennis great Billie Jean King was at her best she said, “I
would transport myself beyond the turmoil of the court to a
place of total peace and calm.”
CREATING THE EYE OF THE HURRICANE – If you were to see a
bear in the woods, you would most likely take a quick upper
chest gasping emergency breath. This breath would trigger a
fight-or-flight response in your nervous system as the upper
lobes of the lungs are primarily innervated by the
sympathetic nervous system. The kind of gasping mouth
breathing much like a hyperventilation breathing pattern is
a normal breathing response to extreme stress. Unfortunately
this how most people breathe during exercise triggering the
same neurological response.
In contrast, the nerves that would calm, rejuvenate,
regenerate the body are in the lower lobes of the lungs
alone with the majority of the blood supply. The problem is
that most people never breathe into these lower
parasympathetic dominant lobes. The most noteworthy reason
is that the rib cage has what’s called “elastic recoil”
which means it is constantly contracting and squeezing on
the heart and lungs 24 hours a day. Over time the rib cage
can literally become a cage making it very difficult to
breath into this lower lobes thus forcing us to breath
through the mouth into the upper lungs and triggering a
minor but constant emergency.
Exercise can act as a double-edged sword where it can either
incur stress or remove it depending on the quality of the
breath. The best way to consistently breathe into the lower
lobes of the lungs is by nasal breathing. The nose is really
an intricately designed breathing apparatus that will
prepare the air perfectly for access into the lower lobes.
In short the nose filters, moistens and rarefies the air so
it penetrates the lower lobes. Probably the most unique
feature lies in the turbinates of the nose which act as
turbines to swirl the air into vortices that drives the
incoming air into the small and distal alveoli of the lungs.
It is when these distal lobes are fully perfused that the
body produces a neurological state of composure even while
under extreme stress – thus the eye of the hurricane.
YOUR FIRST AYURVEDIC WORKOUT – Go for a walk and for the
first ten minutes breath deeply in and out through your nose
as you walk fairly slow. Here you are exercising your lungs
first making sure that each breath is deeper, longer and
slower than the one prior with the emphasis on comfort. It
is this experience of comfort that you will be taking into
higher levels of exertion. Then begin to walk faster and
then faster and be sure to maintain the exact same rhythm of
the breath you established from the beginning.
At some point you will notice it becoming more difficult to
get the air in through the nose and an ensuing urge to take
a mouth breath. When your exercise forces you to take your
first mouth breath, you have just then lost the eye of the
hurricane and your body was at that moment forced into an
emergency response to maintain that pace. At that time,
immediately slow down and recapture the original deep, long
and slow rhythm of the breath. Once it is reestablished, try
to walk faster again, telling your body you want more
performance. When the breathing gets labored and you open
your mouth, then slow down on cue again, constantly telling
your body you want more performance and we will not create
an emergency. Soon your body will accommodate a higher level
of a natural and more permanent fitness.
Because of the years of lower rib cage constriction you will
more than likely find this difficult at first. But, what you
couldn't do the first day you will find yourself
effortlessly doing within two or three weeks, comfortably
breathing through your nose. When this happens you rib cage
is not a cage any more – rather twelve rib-like cleavers
that can massage your heart and lungs up to 28,000 times a
day. When this starts happening, a natural calming influence
stays with you all day while you deal with all kinds of
extreme stressors. This is the first step of living in the
eye of the hurricane and the provider of the most important
health benefits of exercise.
The above article was printed with permission from Dr. John
Douillard. For more information about Dr. Douillard or the
products and services available from his company, Lifespa,
please go to lifespa.com.
Recipe: Sweet Potato Soup
- 3 large sweet potatoes
- 1 inch fresh ginger root, peeled and sliced
- 1 1/2 cup soy milk or fresh raw cow's milk
- 1/4 tsp. freshly ground allspice
- 1 T. maple syrup (optional)
- salt to taste
Scrub potatoes. Put them in a large pot with ginger and
enough water to cover them. Bring to a boil, then reduce
heat to medium and cook until the potatoes are soft, about
35-40 minutes.
In a small saucepan, bring milk to a boil.
Reserve 1 1/2 cups of cooking water from the sweet potatoes
(the rest of the water makes good soup stock). Blend this
cooking water, the hot milk, the cooked sweet potatoes and
ginger in a blender with spices, maple syrup and salt. Add
more milk or water as desired to reach a creamy consistency.
Puree the finished soup until satiny smooth.
Serve hot with fresh greens and a quick bread.
Recipe reprinted with permission from Ayurvedic Cooking for
Westerners by Amadea Morningstar, Lotus Press, P.O. Box 325,
Twin Lakes, WI 53181.©1995 All Rights Reserved.
Return to newsletter index.
|
