Introduction to Ayurveda (Part 3) – The Three Imperatives

Introduction to Ayurveda (Part 3) – The Three Imperatives

by | Feb 17, 2022 | Ayurveda

 

Introduction to Ayurveda – Part 3

Ayurveda is a holistic method of health and healing. Ayurveda, the “knowledge of life,” teaches us how to live to our full potential, body, mind, and spirit.

This week I talk about the three imperatives to health and healing in Ayurveda: practices to connect to healing intelligence, clearing the blocks, and balancing mind and body.

Ayurveda in part rose from a system of yoga that sees both duality and unity, all material including your mind is part of Prakriti, the material world. You are a unique expression of Prakriti. The intelligence from which Prakriti arose is called Purusha, or pure consciousness, our source consciousness. This is another belief that can be rejected or substituted. You may choose to believe in any higher being or consciousness, God, Universe, Nature, or anything else that your beliefs affirm.

You and the natural world around you are infused by the intelligence of Purusha, pure consciousness. You can think about the intricate process of cells being created endlessly, the formation of a baby from inception to birth, plants growing, the vastness of the cosmos. There is an order and intelligence to all life.
The more you recognize and connect to this intelligence within you, the greater you can create peace, joy, and wellness.

In Ayurveda there are three imperatives for optimal well being.  You must be able to connect to this source consciousness through practices like yoga, meditaiton, sleep and gratitude.  You need to remove any blockages that keep this pure consciousnes from moving into every part of your being.  You need to find balance.

In this 30 minute video, I talk more in depth about the 3 imperatives.

If you have any questions, please reach out to me [email protected]

 

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Introduction to Ayurveda (Part 2) – Create Balance

Introduction to Ayurveda (Part 2) – Create Balance

by | Feb 10, 2022 | Ayurveda

Introduction to Ayurveda – Part 2

In the first lesson, I introduced the basic building blocks of Ayurveda, the five elements; Ether, Air, Water, Fire, and Earth. Everything in creation contains a unique mixture of these five elements in the form of the Doshas elements.

The Doshas are energetic principles that are combinations of the five elements. Therefore, we all have a unique blueprint based on the combination of the doshas, with generally one predominant Dosha, or energetic quality.

Each Dosha has characteristics or qualities and functions they serve.

Vata, the combination of Ether and Air, is the lightest and most mobile. Its qualities are Dry, Light, Cold, Rough, Moving, Subtle, Coarse.

Pitta is the combination of Water and Fire and is flow and heat. Its qualities are slightly oily, light, hot, sharp, flowing, liquid, pungent.

Kapha is the combination of Water and Earth and is the most solid and heaviest of the Doshas. Its qualities are oily, heavy, cool, slow, dull, sticky, stable.

Like Increases Like

A fundamental rule of balance in Ayurveda is like increases like. Qualities similar to those of a Dosha will increase the Dosha. Applying the opposite will decrease the Dosha. In cases where there is an imbalance in the Dosha or even dis-ease process, this concept can help regain physical and mental balance and health.

The Universal Pharmacy and the twenty attributes 

The twenty attributes are ten pairs of opposites that describe the qualities of everything in nature. For example, balance can be created by applying similar qualities as a Dosha for deficiency and more of the opposite for excess.
For example, if someone physically has an excess of Kapha and is trying to lose weight, they can use the principle to decide what foods to eat. Kapha is heavy, dense, oily, and cool. Eating cheesecake that is heavy, dense, and oily will not help. Instead, eating something that has the opposite qualities will decrease Kapha. Instead, they might choose warm, lighter baked apples. Someone who has excess Vata and tends to lose weight would benefit from a more grounding diet of warm cooked foods with some oils. A light salad would create more imbalance. Kapha needs more movement because Kapha resists movement, whereas Vata may benefit from a gentler form of exercise. Excess of Pitta heat can be countered by cooling down physically and with cooling foods like cucumber.

The Six Tastes
Tastes and spices are also ways to work with imbalances. You can use spices to help balance the doshas. Add a spice mix to food to increase the specific qualities. The Six tastes should be present in every meal to satisfy cravings. Reducing tastes that may aggravate the Dosha or adding tastes that pacify a deficient dosha may be necessary if a dosha is out of balance.

Sweet: Earth + Water Found in meats, grains, bread, pasta, potatoes, milk, and desserts. This Taste increases Kapha and decreases Vata and Pitta.
Sour: Earth + Fire Found in yogurt, cheeses, citrus fruit. Increases Kapha and Pitta and Decreases Vata.
Salty: Fire + Water Found in all salts and sea vegetables. Increases Kapha and Pitta and decreases Vata.
Bitter: Air + Ether Found in Salad greens, bitter roots, and bitter tea. Increases Vata and decreases Kapha and Pitta.
Pungent: Air + Fire Found in many spices and herbs. Increases Vata and Pitta and decreases Kapha.
Astringent: Air + Earth Found in beans, broccoli, rhubarb, raw vegetables, and raw apples. Increases Vata and decreases Pitta and Kapha.

Doshic Cycles

The balance of the Doshas will change based on the time of day, the season, the stage of life, your location.

The Times of Day
Different times of day are considered to have more of the qualities of one of the Doshas.

Kapha Time 6 am to10 am and 6 pm to 10 pm
 It is good to get out of bed before Kapha time. During Kapha time, there may be lethargy, and you will end up sleeping in and feeling dull when you get up. On the other hand, getting to bed and falling asleep during Kapha time uses inertia that may help you fall asleep. In addition, Kapha time is a great time to exercise in the morning, offsetting the dullness.
Pitta Time 10 am to 2 pm, and 10 pm to 2 am
At noon, digestion is the greatest. Eating the most significant meal at lunch is good practice to digest and assimilate your food thoroughly. Staying awake into Pitta time at night may give you a second wind.
Vata Time 2 pm to 6 pm and 2 am to 6 am
Vata time is the best time for mental activities. In addition, Vata time at night is often where the most dreams happen.
The seasons affect the Doshas.
There are four seasons here in New England, but Ayurveda looks at three seasons. So, depending on your location, you may be more or less affected by the seasons.
Autumn is dry and cool, like Vata.
Winter is wet and Cold, like Kapha.
Summer is hot and moist, like Pitta.
You may need to adjust your foods and lifestyle during a season to maintain balance. For example, you would probably not want to eat ice cream in the middle of winter in New England, but that would balance the heat in the summer.
Stages of Life

Each of the stages of your life will affect balancing the Doshas and balancing the Doshas. For example, a lifestyle that works for someone in their childhood may not work in adulthood or senior years.

The Kapha stage is your early years, from infancy to late teens. During this time, physical and mental growth forms your bones and body. Kapha time is when you are in school.
The Pitta stage is the time of most ambition and effort. It is when most people are working and raising a family.
The Vata stage is the senior years of your life. Vata time is when your body starts to age and lose its Kapha or stability and moisture.

 

This  video is about 25 minutes long.  If you have any questions, please reach out to me [email protected]

 

Here are links to Part 1 – an introduction to Ayurveda and the third video in the series, The 3 Imperatives.

Enjoy!

Intro to Ayurveda – Part 1

Intro to Ayurveda – Part 3

Finding Balance

Finding Balance

by | Jan 4, 2021 | General Musings, Yoga

 In my last blog, I wrote about resilience as a balance between strength and flexibility. If you are strong and inflexible, you snap. If you are very flexible but not strong or grounded, you fall over. I wrote about the opposing balance in Yoga between Sthira, our structure and strength, and Sukkha, ease, or mobility. Even the strongest trees will snap in the wind if they can’t bow to the force.

Yoga is the practice of balancing opposites. It is finding balance or equilibrium in all things in life. Not too much, not too little. Like Goldilocks looking for the just-right bowl of porridge, not too hot, not too cold.

Yoga as the Balance of Opposites

Strength and flexibility are just one example of finding balance in pairs of opposites.  Almost everything in our lives holds a range of possibilities between pairs of opposites.  

Finding balance is hard.   Reality is continually changing, shifting around you.  As soon as you find balance, you lose it and go back to seeking balance again.  Finding balance is like surfing the waves.  You learn to paddle up and ride the waves down, rebalancing all the way down.  There is a balance between everything, too much and too little, hot and cold, moist and dry, heavy and light.  What was the right balance one day may not be the next.  What works for you may not work for someone else.  

Like makes Like

Ayurveda, a wellness practice related to Yoga, has a doctrine of like creates more of the same.  For example, if you are already hot, drinking hot liquids will make you hotter.  Ayurveda suggests applying the opposite as a remedy.  If you are hot, drinking cool beverages or finding shade will cool you down.   Balancing of opposites can be used as a way to find balance.  If you want to lose weight, try to lighten the diet and eat less heavy, greasy, fatty, or dense foods. Feel sluggish and dull?  Move your body more.  Try walking someplace quiet if your mind is overstimulated.   We each have a different need for balance, and our balance will change based on the time of day, the seasons of the year, and the seasons of our life.

 

Clinging and Running

Humans alternate between clinging to safety, certainty, and pleasure and running away from anything unsafe or uncomfortable. You may try to hold on to joy; you run from sorrow.    But the truth is, you only fool yourself. In your ever-changing reality, you will feel both joy and sorrow.  You end up clinging and running, never fully present to the reality around you.  If you shut out sadness, anger, and frustration, you also shut off feeling joy and happiness.    

One of Yoga’s main goals is finding balance, the equilibrium where you can feel, be aware, and know everything is transient.   You allow yourself to feel joy and appreciate it even more because you know it may not last. You allow yourself to feel fear, pain, and grief, knowing it is a part of being human and will pass.    You know happiness only because you have felt sadness. 

Finding Balance on the Mat

On your yoga mat, you practice finding balance, sometimes literally, through physical movement.  You connect, ground, through whatever meets the mat, your legs, hands, or seat.  You build shapes from the mat up.  If you start to topple over, you move back toward the mat.  If you are holding your breath or fighting to create a shape, back off and find just enough. You are grounded and mobile.  There is both effort and ease.    The physical practice of Yoga allows the experience of frustration and joy.  It teaches you to stand in your own balance in the middle of whatever comes up in practice or life.

This is the true practice of Yoga.