Ayurveda & Managing the Change in Seasons

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AYURVEDA & MANAGING THE SEASONS HEALTHFULLY

 

By Bill Courson,

Ayurvedic Practitioner Program at

the Starseed Center for Yoga

www.starseedyoga.com/AyurvedaCourse.htm

 

With the change in season taking us from long, warm days spent

outdoors to short and cold ones huddled inside our homes, it is quite

ordinary for many individuals to feel a bit " off: " – disoriented, out

of sorts and low on energy. The hours we sleep, the food we eat, and

the activities we engage in can all be affected profoundly by our

environment and the climactic conditions that surround us.

 

Ayurveda, India's ancient system of healing (and the oldest medical

tradition in the world) has long recognized the impact of seasonal

change on the health of individuals, and for countless centuries has

helped individuals manage the change in seasons in a healthful

fashion.

 

The change in climate that we all experience tends to place a degree

of stress on the human body, and we all tend to respond to it in a

fashion consonant with our " metabolic type " . Ayurveda postulates

three such " types, " (known in Sanskrit as the `tridosha') roughly

analogous to the western concepts of endo-, ecto-, and meso-morphism.

Thus, types of individuals are characterized by their predominant

energy. This includes Kapha individuals (who tend to be compact,

heavy, easygoing, calm and self-indulgent); Pitta individuals

(exhibiting high energy, irritability, perfectionism and who are

generally " intense " in many respects) and Vata types (who are

constantly in a `mental whirl,' fretful, forgetful, prone to lack

bodily moisture, thin and easily fatigued or depressed).

 

Seasonal change can often unbalance (or as Ayurvedic practitioners

say, vitiate) one or more of the energies comprising the tridosha

(the singular is dosha) and Ayurveda suggests ways in which such

imbalances can be avoided or corrected. Note that one can see any of

the dosas fall into imbalance: one's own predominant dosa or another.

Thus, one can have a Vata constitution with a Vata imbalance, or be a

Vata with a Pitta or a Kapha imbalance, and so on.

 

Kapha governs all structure, fluid balance and lubrication in the

body. It controls weight and growth as well as the functioning of the

joints and lungs, and the formation of all seven types of tissue -

nutritive fluids, blood, fat, muscles, bones, bonemarrow and

reproductive tissues.

 

If you tend to be overweight, are often lethargic, experience sinus

problems, and wake unrefreshed from a night's sleep, then your Kapha

energy may be out of balance. Other signs of unbalanced Kapha include

oily skin and hair, emotional possessiveness and over-attachment,

discomfort in cold damp weather, laziness and complacency, bloating

and water retention. If you exhibit one or more of the foregoing

symptoms, you may need to balance your Kapha energy; if you exhibit

four or more, then you certainly do.

 

Unsettled Kapha can be pacified by vigorous regular exercise, a

little each day; keeping oneself in relatively warm temperatures and

avoiding strong winds or chill (in other words, if you go outside

wear sufficient clothing!), and by making sure your diet includes

fresh fruits, vegetables and legumes. Pungent, bitter, astringent

tastes and light, dry and warm foods are preferred over others, and

it is a good time to reduce heavy, oily, cold foods and to avoid

sweet, sour and salty tastes. The ancient maxim " Early to bed, early

to rise " will also serve Kapha folk well in dealing with winter.

 

The body's Pitta energy governs heat production and distribution,

metabolism and digestion. It also controls how we process our sensory

perceptions, and how we discriminate between right and wrong.

 

Do you need to balance Pitta? You may, if your hair is prematurely

gray or thinning, or if you wake up in the early hours and find it

difficult to fall asleep again. If you tend to be more than

ordinarily demanding. Impatient, critical or irritable, are often

frustrated, angry or intense, your skin is ruddy and prone to rashes

and eruptions, and you suffer from excess stomach acid, then you

likely do need to tone down your Pitta " fire. " Here are a few ways of

doing that.

 

Don't allow winter to keep you completely indoors, and don't allow

yourself to become over-heated. You can take a bit of cold; it surely

will do you no harm, as you carry your own internal " heater " around

with you as a part of your metabolic make-up. Favor cool, heavy, dry

foods with sweet, bitter and astringent tastes.

 

Reduce pungent, sour, salty tastes and avoid warm, oily and light

foods. Allow yourself sufficient leisure time and avoid the

temptation to overwork. It's also important to keep to regular

mealtimes, and you may want to consume your largest meal of the day

at noon. As a regular treat, a nice massage with appropriately

scented oils would be a very good preventive health measure as well

as make you feel great.

 

Vata governs all movements and transportation within the body. It

controls blood flow, waste elimination, breathing and even the

movement of thoughts across the mind. Since the Pitta and Kapha

energies cannot move without it, Vata is considered the leader of the

three Ayurvedic energies in the body. It's very important to keep

Vata in good balance, but it is by far the most commonly unbalanced

dosha.

 

You may need to balance Vata if your skin is unusually dry, rough, or

thin; if you are underweight, with a mind constantly in a whirl –

restless, agitated and incessantly worried. If in addition you

experience constipation, have difficulty sleeping, suffer from

dryness, experience discomfort in your joints or are easily fatigued,

its time to implement a Vata reducing strategy.

 

Such a strategy includes a nice daily massage or self-massage with

warmed sesame oil, making sure to keep your environment comfortably

warmed, and avoiding cold, undercooked or raw foods. Go for warm,

oily, heavier (i.e., denser) foods that taste sweet, sour, and/or

salty, and avoid lighter or dried foods with pungent, bitter or

astringent tastes. Avoid stimulants of any kind (caffeine is among

the worst) and get lots of rest, observing an early bedtime.

 

With these sensible, time-tested precautions observed and just a

little good fortune, winter will come and go with one's health

unimpaired.