Vibrant Health and Deep Consciousness Part I
Yoga and ayurveda are known as “sister sciences” that are delineated in ancient texts known as the Vedas. While ayurveda guides us towards optimal physical health using diet, lifestyle practices and herbs, yoga nourishes our spiritual connection by following an eight-limbed system that includes ethical/moral behavior, asana, breathwork and meditation. Both are amazing on their own, but their true potential shines when they are integrated as a lifestyle.
I started my personal yoga practice 31 years ago as a means to heal a back injury on advice from my chiropractor. As a former dancer, I became hooked on the rhythmic flow and challenge of the postures and really pushed my body to the limit. Physically, I was very proficient in yoga. However, I didn’t feel good. I had a lot of anxiety, tension, insomnia and chronic digestive issues.
I thought I had an ideal vegetarian diet: rice and beans, lots of raw food, and smoothies with multiple ingredients from fresh fruit and greens to protein powder and milk. Yet, I was miserable. I had multiple tests run looking for some answers, but my doctor told me everything looked normal.
But I knew better.
I consulted an ayurvedic physician and he informed me that the diet I was using was totally wrong for my constitution and he shifted me to one with soups, stews, roasted and sauteed veggies, grains, fresh fruit and herbal teas. Within a week so much shifted and I was utterly amazed! Thus, my love affair with ayurveda began, eventually leading me to become a certified Ayurvedic Wellness Practitioner to help others.
Ayurveda Works with Nature to Bring Balance
Many scholars consider ayurveda to be the oldest and continuously practiced medical system in the world. Ayurveda means “the science of life” and is based on how we live in harmony with the elements of nature: ether, air, fire, water and earth.
Western allopathic medicine focuses on treating symptoms and using surgery and medication, which often creates harsh side effects. Ayurveda acknowledges there is optimal health when a person’s stress, emotions and energy are balanced, which bolsters immunity to defend against disease. It is a whole person approach.
The five elements are combined in unique ways that create the three constitutional mind-body types known as the doshas. While we physically carry all three doshas, typically one or two are predominant and can go out of balance if we are not preventative. Can you figure out which type(s) you likely are?
The Tri-Doshas: Vata | Pitta | Kapha
1- VATA is composed of air and space which relates to all movement in the body and mind. So these people mentally and physically move a lot, are prone to dry skin and hair and may have a small bone structure.
Strengths: learn quickly, highly creative, enthusiastic, multitasker, vivacious, flexible, go-getters
Weaknesses: forgetful, anxious, unstable mood, easily overwhelmed, highly sensitive, irregular appetite and energy, exhaustion, poor memory, cold hands and feet
Disease Patterns: pain, spasms, cramps, gas, bloating, constipation, nervous system issues, chills, insomnia, anxiety and depression, arthritis, ADHD, heart palpitations
2- PITTA is a combination of fire and water, which is the energy of transformation and getting things done. Body type is medium and muscular with a tendency to oily skin and hair.
Strengths: intelligent, organized, analytical, success-oriented, driven, determined, natural leaders, quick metabolism, good circulation, healthy skin and hair
Weaknesses: impatient, irritated, prone to conflict, very hungry, gets hot easily, judgmental, overly competitive, aggressive, anger
Disease Influence: Inflammation, autoimmune disorders, sore throat, fever, excessive hunger or thirst, heartburn, rashes, acne, early balding or greying, poor eyesight, heart attacks, high blood pressure, migraines, reflux
3- KAPHA is an earth and water combination, so think sticky and dense. They tend to have a large body frame and struggle with weight gain. They are steady and slow.
Strengths: empathetic, caring, trusting, patient, calm, wise, happy, romantic, strong bones and joints, robust immunity
Weaknesses: slow metabolism, sluggishness, over-sleeping, respiratory issues, depression, lazy, unmotivated
Disease Influence: Congestion, mucus, tumors, heaviness, fluid retention, lethargy, obesity, chest colds, kidney and gallstones, asthma, diabetes and high cholesterol
Once a person’s imbalances are determined, an ayurvedic practitioner seeks to upend root causes and prescribes diet, lifestyle practices, herbs and yogic practices to bring wellness on all levels.
Like Attracts Like and Opposites Bring Balance in Ayurveda
In Ayurveda, the principle of "like attracts like" means that similar qualities tend to attract each other. Qualities can be things like hot/cold, wet/dry, heavy/light, mobile/static, smooth/dense, fast/slow, etc. and they can pertain to food, weather, moods, relationships, the mind and energy patterns. The opposite of a quality can help restore balance and equilibrium.
Here’s a simple example: if a person has high pitta (excess fire and water) and is prone to classic pitta symptoms like acid reflux, loose stools, inflammation, sweating, anger, judgment, etc., we would conclude he/she has too much of the “hot” quality circulating in the body.
In order to treat the excess heat, we would employ the “cooling” quality and give foods, herbs, yoga poses, breathwork and/or lifestyle habits to cool the excess heat. Things like mint or fennel tea, coconut, cucumber, grapes, dairy, rice, sweet fruits/juices, avoid sun/heat exposure, cooling breathwork, gentle or restorative yoga, moon salutations instead of sun salutations, no vigorous exercise, avoid sun/heat exposure, moonbathing.
When we come into balance using ayurveda correctly, the cravings for what we don’t need cease, and we actually crave what we do need and are more easily able to maintain homeostasis on all levels.
I’ve seen amazing recoveries in clients using this simple, but powerful system that is free of side effects. They are able to become very attuned to the elemental presentation in their bodies and intuitively know what to supply it with to maintain vibrant health.
Integrate Yoga and Ayurveda for Optimal Living
Even though I had a strong asana practice 31 years ago, I was doing it with anxiety, exhaustion and attachment to how well I performed. And that is an imbalance. After my health improved using ayurveda, I had much more equanimity, awareness, self-compassion and energy available not only on my mat, but in all areas of my life.
One of my teachers, Dr. David Frawley, Director of the American Institute for Vedic Studies, is a leading advocate for integrating yoga and Ayurveda to create harmony between the body, mind and spirit. “In classical yoga, yoga and ayurveda were always integrated,” stated Frawley. “As yoga was introduced to the West, it was presented without ayurveda, more as a movement toward yoga therapy, or yoga chikitsa. Traditionally, yoga was not a physical therapy."
Therefore, if we gain excellent health and ample energy using ayurveda, we may not have a sense of how to purposefully channel this robust energy without the system of yoga. And if we practice yoga without ayurveda, our bodies can become inflamed, toxic and sluggish. The mind may be inflexible, restless or stagnant, and unable to gain self-realization. Therefore, those on the self-healing journey should be aware of how these time-tested sciences intersect.
Yoga Asana Should Not Be One-Size-Fits All
Another reason yoga and ayurveda should be practiced together is that ideally we do an asana practice that is suited to our doshic type as a means to correct our imbalances.
Yoga asana was never meant to be one-size-fits-all as it mainly is presented in the U.S.
Instead, practices were carefully customized for one’s specific needs or ailments.
And this is where things go wrong here with westernized yoga that has drifted away from its original, sacred roots. Many people view yoga as exercise instead of a spiritual practice and many are exacerbating their imbalances with the type of yoga they do.
Our society perpetuates the concept that “more is more” and we are trained to believe that our value hinges on how much we can achieve in every realm of our lives: work, action-packed vacations, relationships, education, hobbies, exercise and yoga.
One of the main goals of yoga is to gain the ability to control our minds and detach from materiality so that we can connect to and merge with the Divine.
Learn what ancient practice yogis use to quiet the constant chatter in
Part II of Vibrant Health and Deep Consciousness.
Learn more about the Yoga Lifestyle Course.