AYURVEDA

Trying to explain Ayurveda in short form, in one or two minutes, is nearly impossible. It’s hard to encapsulate a discipline like Ayurveda, which by its very nature is all-encompassing.

You may have heard of traditional Chinese medicine, things like acupuncture, chi and the like. This tradition has made its way into Western culture more than Ayurveda, which is essentially the Indian system.

Ayurveda is a 6,000-year-old system of natural healing that has its origins in the Vedic culture of India. Although suppressed during years of foreign occupation, Ayurveda has been enjoying a major resurgence in both its native land and throughout the world. Tibetan medicine and Traditional Chinese Medicine both have their roots in Ayurveda. Early Greek medicine also embraced many concepts originally described in the classical Ayurvedic medical texts dating back several thousands of years, written by the Sapta (seven) Rishis, who were holy man dedicated to the downloads of diverse wisdom through meditation.

More than a mere system of treating illness, Ayurveda is a science of life (Ayur = life, Veda = science or knowledge). It offers a body of wisdom designed to help people stay vital while realizing their full human potential. Providing guidelines on ideal daily and seasonal routines, diet, behavior and the proper use of our senses, Ayurveda reminds us that health is the balanced and dynamic integration between our environment, body, mind, and spirit.

Ayurveda is often referred to as a sister science to yoga, as they come from the same tradition. In fact, in the timeline of our understanding of yoga asana (poses), Ayurveda precedes yoga.

Tri-Dosha

Ayurveda categorizes everything–our minds, bodies, interactions, natural world, food, energy–as comprised of a mix of five basic elements. Earth, water, fire, air and space (sometimes called ether).

Each person has a unique constellation of these elements in his or her body and mind, a pre-set constitution determined at the moment of conception that remains in place throughout one’s life. This is your dosha, or Prakriti.

Essentially, this means that if you already have more fire in your make up, it will probably be the first element to go out of whack.

This is particularly true when you combine an understanding of those five elements with the seasons.

As you might expect, summer is fire/Pitta season (think hot, humid days); fall and early winter are air/space or Vata seasons (think: windy and cold), late winter and spring are earth/water or Kapha seasons (think: heavy, wet snow and ice).

So if I’m a Pitta person, summer is likely to be a challenging time for me, as the fire in the external environment is increasing, the element of fire already present in overabundance in my body/mind will ramp up too.

This can leave you feeling high Pitta symptoms: irritable, quick-to-anger, envious, gossipy and really competitive. In the body, you might feel a front of the head: acne, headaches, an acid stomach, or diarrhea, to name a few.

The elements in an individual’s constitution can also be affected by lifestyle, diet, exercise and essentially all the variables of life.

So in Ayurveda as in life, there are no hard and fast rules. (Rats! That would make it so much easier, huh?) Thus, bringing your body and mind into balance, Ayurvedically, is always a moving target. You never “arrive,” a good notion to give up anyway.

Recognizing that human beings are part of nature, Ayurveda describes three fundamental energies that govern our inner and outer environments: movement, transformation, and structure. Known in Sanskrit as Vata (Wind), Pitta(Fire), and Kapha (Earth), these primary forces are responsible for the characteristics of our mind and body.

Body Types

Each of us has a unique proportion of these three forces that shapes our nature. If Vata is dominant in our Ayurvedic Consultation system, we tend to be thin, light, enthusiastic, energetic, and changeable. If Pitta predominates in our nature, we tend to be intense, intelligent, and goal-oriented and we have a strong appetite for life. When Kapha prevails, we tend to be easy-going, methodical, and nurturing. Although each of us has all three forces, most people have one or two elements that predominate.

For each element, there is a balanced and imbalance expression. When Vata is balanced, a person is lively and creative, but when there is too much movement in the system, a person tends to experience anxiety, insomnia, dry skin, constipation, and difficulty focusing. When Pitta is functioning in a balanced manner, a person is warm, friendly, disciplined, a good leader, and a good speaker. When Pitta is out of balance, a person tends to be compulsive and irritable and may suffer from indigestion or an inflammatory condition. When Kapha is balanced, a person is sweet, supportive, and stable but when Kapha is out of balance, a person may experience sluggishness, weight gain, and sinus congestion.

The elements:

• Earth: stable, dense, heavy, grounded – KAPHA

• Water: cool, smooth, fluid – (can work to mediate KAPHA or PITTA)

• Fire: hot, light, intense, fiery – PITTA

• Air/Space: dry, cold, light, mobile, erratic – VATA

Ayurveda teaches us that if a dosha (our unique individual make up of elements) increases too much, it fosters an environment where disease can take hold. So, keeping our eyes turned toward balance remains an important focus, and at the same time, something we never really achieve, just work toward.

It is common for our predominant dosha (Vata, Pitta or Kapha) to increase more quickly than other doshas because we tend to do and live with what we know best.

For example, if your dominant dosha is Kapha, due to the slow, earthy quality of Kapha, you may be naturally inclined toward calming activities. If you're not moving enough, eating lots of cool, dense foods (ice cream, mac n’ cheese, creamy casseroles, or cheese and other dairy (especially when cold).

In excess, this quality may lead to mental stagnation (getting stuck in a rut) or physical stagnation (weight gain, especially round the middle) and congestion, often in the form of mucus. (Yuck, I know.)

If your dominant dosha is Pitta, you may be naturally inclined to rigorous exercise (hot yoga), competition, envy and find yourself constantly moving toward achieving. Look around the room in your next hot yoga class.

You’re likely to see a room full of Pittas. The Pitta person loves the rigorous, challenging nature of the practice (as a Pitta myself, I know this impulse well), but that type of practice will throw Pittas out of whack more than any other type. That’s the rub.

If your dominant dosha is Vata, due to its light and mobile nature you may be naturally inclined to move around a lot—never completing a task or sitting still for long. In excess, this quality will lead to inability to complete things, flightiness, anxiety, insomnia and constipation. (More about Vata in my next post as Vata season–fall–is right around the corner.)

If a dosha increases in our bodies, Ayurveda suggests that we will want to decrease it in order to restore a healthy balance to our constitution.

For example, if Kapha has increased due to excess stagnation in your life, more activity can be your medicine. If earth/water have increased due to excess coolness, you can use heat as a medicine. Too much heaviness? Use lightness. See how that applying the opposite quality thing works?

One of the practical aspects of Ayurveda is that anything can be used as a medicine because everything that exists is made up of the elements and their inherent qualities.

This includes but is not limited to: herbs, foods, drinks, environments, colors, smells and lifestyles. As you can see, writing a primer is tough, because Ayurveda pervades nearly every aspect of life!