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March 26 - April 12, 2023
In our bodies, these three doshas or humors govern our psychobiological functioning. vata–pitta–kapha are present in every cell, tissue, and organ.
All people have all of these three doshas, but one of them is usually primary, one secondary, and the third least prominent. Thus, each person has a particular pattern of energy, an individual combination of physical, mental, and emotional characteristics that make up his or her constitution (prakruti).
These principles are a key to healing with Ayurveda. When an imbalance has manifested, successful treatment requires increasing opposite qualities.
Characteristics of the Vata Individual
General Guidelines for Balancing Vata Keep warm Keep calm Avoid raw foods Avoid cold foods Avoid extreme cold temperatures Eat warm foods and spices Keep a regular routine
Characteristics of the Pitta Individual
Following are the main attributes of pitta dosha and how they are expressed in the physical, mental, and behavioral characteristics of a pitta individual.
Eating fatty fried food, or oily food such as peanut butter, can create nausea or headaches for a pitta.
General Guidelines for Balancing Pitta
Avoid excessive heat Avoid excessive oil Avoid excessive steam Limit salt intake Eat cooling, nonspicy foods Drink cool (but not iced) drinks Exercise during the cooler part of the day
You can also use the knowledge of constitutional types to understand others with whom you are related, whether in your personal life or at work. To succeed in relationships, which is such a confused and problematic area today, it is helpful to know the constitution of your husband or wife, boyfriend or girlfriend. Understanding one another brings clarity; clarity brings compassion, and compassion is love. Such a relationship brings happiness, joy, and longevity.
Use the knowledge of your prakruti as a baseline, to see where you should be. Then look at your vikruti, your current imbalances, as a clue to help you restore balance, using the food charts, yoga postures, herbs, recommended exercises, and the like, presented throughout this book.
This state of happiness and balance can be created and sustained by maintaining a healthy lifestyle in accordance with nature and the requirements of your own constitution. Proper nutrition, proper exercise, healthy relationships, positive emotions, and a regulated daily routine all contribute to a healthy life.
Eating spicy food or sour or citrus fruit and drinking alcohol all increase heat and acidity in the body, something a pitta person cannot afford.
Fear, anger, grief, hatred, envy, possessiveness, and other negative emotions disturb our doshic balance; likewise, when the doshas are already out of balance, they may give rise to these same negative emotions.
Increased pitta is associated with anger, envy, hate, ambition, competitiveness, criticism, judgmental attitude, sharp speech, perfectionism, and the need to be in control.
result or condition than as a causal factor in disease. A regular daily routine, nourishing diet, positive emotions, and loving relationships result in strength and health. But keeping late hours, eating food that is aggravating to one’s constitution, traveling a lot, using the mind or stimulating the senses too much, repressing negative emotions such as anger or fear, and maintaining problematic relationships all put stress on the body and mind. In addition, toxins in food, water, air pollution, excessive noise, and many other environmental factors are also stressful.
Vata individuals may develop vata conditions such as anxiety or fearfulness. Pitta individuals may react to stress in the form of anger, or they may suffer from hypertension, peptic ulcer, ulcerative colitis, and other pitta disorders. Kapha individuals under stress tend to eat and eat and eat.
Overuse of the senses strains and stresses our nervous system. To use a simple example, repeated exposure to bright light hurts the retina and strains the optic nerve, which triggers pitta,
Ama is thus the root cause of disease. The presence of ama in the system can be felt as fatigue, or a feeling of heaviness. It may induce constipation, indigestion, gas, and diarrhea, or it may generate bad breath, a bad taste in the mouth, stiffness in the body, or mental confusion. Ama can most easily be detected as a thick coating on the tongue.
The first preparatory step is internal oleation. The patient is asked to drink a specific, small quantity of ghee (clarified butter) every day for several days. The ghee creates a thin film in the body’s channels that lubricates them, allowing the ama lodged in the deep connective tissues to move freely, without sticking to the channels, to the gastrointestinal tract for elimination. Internal oleation is done for three to five days or even longer, depending on the individual circumstances.
This is followed by external oleation in the form of oil massage (snehana) and sweating (swedana). Oil is applied to the entire body with a particular kind of massage that helps the toxins move toward the gastrointestinal tract. The massage also softens both the superficial and deep tissues, helping to relieve stress and to nourish the nervous system. Then the individual is given a steam bath, which further loosens the toxins and increases their movement toward the gastrointestinal tract.
If they are within the normal range, there is no problem. If they are high, then instead of ghee use flaxseed oil, which provides effective oleation and also contains fatty acids, which help to reduce cholesterol levels. Take 2 tablespoons of the flaxseed oil three times a day for three days, fifteen minutes before eating.
Begin your home detoxification program with internal oleation. For three days in a row, take about 2 ounces of warmed, liquefied ghee early in the morning. (See appendix 2 for instructions on making ghee.) For a vata person, take the ghee with a pinch of rock salt. For a pitta individual, take the 2 ounces of ghee plain. The kapha individual should add to the ghee just a pinch of trikatu (a mixture of equal amounts of ginger, black pepper, and pippali, or Indian long pepper). The ghee provides internal oleation and lubrication, which is necessary so that the ama or toxins begin to come back
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After the oil is well rubbed in and absorbed, take a hot bath or shower. Then wash with some Ayurvedic herbal soap, such as neem. Let some of the oil remain on your skin. The ancient Ayurvedic textbooks recommend rubbing some chickpea flour over the skin to absorb and help remove the oil. This works very well to remove the oil, but it is more suited to a culture in which individuals bathe outdoors. Today, if you use chickpea flour, be aware that oil, flour, and hot water combine into a formidable mass that can easily clog your plumbing. Flushing the drain with extra hot water immediately
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During your home purification, every night at least one hour after supper take ½ to 1 teaspoon of triphala. (For information on triphala, see appendix 2.) Add about half a cup of boiling water to the triphala powder, and let it steep ten minutes or until it has cooled down, then drink it. Along with its many healing and nourishing properties, triphala is a mild but effective laxative. It will provide the benefits of a more potent virechana or purgative treat...
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To complete your home panchakarma treatment, on the last three days perform an Ayurvedic medicated enema, or basti, after your hot bath or shower. Use dashamoola tea for the enema. Boil 1 tablespoon of the herbal compound dashamoola in 1 pint of water for five minutes to make a tea. Cool it, strain it, and use the liquid as an enema. (See instructions for basti in appendix 3.) Retain the liquid as long as you comfortably can. And don’t worry if little or no liquid comes out. For certain individuals, particularly vata types, the colon may be so dry and dehydrated that the liquid may all be
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Ayurvedic rejuvenatives (rasayanas) bring renewal and longevity to the cells, and when the cells live longer, the person lives longer. Rasayanas give strength, vitality, and longevity, strengthen tone, increase energy, and build immunity. The body’s various agnis become more robust, so health becomes more robust.
An excellent rejuvenative herb for pittas is shatavari. Take 1 teaspoon twice a day in a cup of warm milk.
Get plenty of rest. • Observe celibacy so that you don’t waste your vital energy. • Eat carefully, according to the guidelines for your constitution. • Meditate and do yoga postures regularly.
A lack of self-confidence and self-love is detrimental. Cancer is an example of this lack. Cancer cells have lost their intelligence and grow separate from the body.
Thus self-esteem is important for maintaining immunity. If you love yourself as you are, you will develop confidence, and that will heal disease. That is why cellular immunity, or natural resistance, depends upon self-esteem.
Pitta • 50 percent whole grains—whole-wheat breads, cereals, cooked grains • 20 percent protein—beans (except lentils), tofu, tempeh, cottage cheese, ricotta cheese, raw milk, egg white, chicken and turkey (white meat only), shrimp, rabbit, venison • 20–30 percent vegetables—with an optional 10 percent for fresh fruit
ALMOND MILK. Almond milk helps to eliminate anxiety. Soak about 10 raw (not toasted) almonds overnight in water. Peel off the skins, and put the almonds in the blender. Add 1 cup warm milk. While blending, add a pinch of ginger and a small pinch of nutmeg and saffron.
ALOE VERA. To reduce pitta and preserve the health of your hair, drink aloe vera juice (⅓ cup) or take some aloe vera gel (1 tablespoon with a pinch of cumin) 3 times a day for about 3 months. OIL MASSAGE. Another effective way to pacify pitta is to rub some coconut oil on your scalp and on the soles of your feet at bedtime. Wear some old socks, and to preserve the health of your pillow, wear a loose woolen cap or cover the pillow with a towel so it won’t get damaged by the oil. • Massaging the scalp with brahmi oil or bhringaraj oil at bedtime can help to prevent hair loss. In addition to the
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circulation at the root of the hair, thus bringing more nutrients to support hair growth. • Massaging the hair with vitamin E oil may also be effective in preventing or slowing hair loss. FOOD FOR YOUR HAIR. Healthy hair depends upon a nourishing diet. Dairy products such as cheese, milk, and yogurt are beneficial for the hair (assuming you digest them well), as are white radish and daikon. Coconut, cooked apples, and cabbage are also useful. • Eat a handful of white sesame seeds every morning. One handful of these small seeds contains about 1,200 mg. of calcium and magnesium and is a good
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MASSAGE. Stress, stiffness in the neck, and whiplash from a car accident can also contribute to hair loss. To soften the neck muscles, relieve pain, and reduce stress, massage your neck and shoulder muscles before showering. NECK EXERCISES. You can also do some simple neck exercises, such as turning your head to the left 3 times, to the right 3 times, lifting it up 3 times, moving it down toward your chest 3 times, and then rolling it gently in a circle 3 times in each direction. ANTISTRESS TEA. To help you deal with stress, make a tea of equal proportions of jatamamsi and brahmi. Steep 1
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Pitta-type depression is generally associated with anger, or with fear of failure, of losing control, or of making mistakes; it often involves thoughts of committing suicide. It is serious; you should consult your doctor. Of course it is possible to have a mild pitta depression, caused by failing an examination, not getting a promotion at work, or some such thing. A pitta person can be quite addicted to success and, when he or she doesn’t succeed, can easily become upset and depressed. This type of depression may not last long or be too severe.
As you look at the image in your mirror, at the same time look within. Ask yourself, do you like those eyes of yours? Do you love your nose? Don’t you have some affection toward your own lips, your own chest? In this way, gradually, by looking outside, into the mirror, and at the same time inside at your own inner observer, two things will happen. First, you will begin to feel that you are beyond your body, that you are something higher, nobler, greater, and more beautiful, that you are pure existence. Second, this process will also bring greater acceptance, and you will start feeling more
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day, after meals, with a little warm water. Continue to take it until your symptoms resolve.
Ayurveda says that whatever symptom we experience is an expression of doshic imbalance. To restore good health, we have to reestablish balance by juggling the three doshas, favoring this one or pacifying that, in order to attain harmony between vikruti, the present doshic state, and prakruti, the original state of our constitution.
For aggravated pitta, use red coral or pearls. Their cooling energy will help with pitta disorders such as angry emotions, various inflammatory conditions and “-itises” such as colitis and conjunctivitis, as well as hyperacidity.
Pitta is soothed by the use of cooling, calming, sweet aromas such as sandalwood, khus, jasmine, and rose. Rose geranium, lemongrass, fennel, peppermint, gardenia, and mint may also be beneficial.
Ghee increases digestive fire and improves absorption and assimilation. It nourishes ojas, the subtle essence of all the body’s tissues, strengthens the brain and nervous system, and improves memory. It lubricates the connective tissue and makes the body more flexible. Ghee carries the medicinal properties of herbs to all seven dhatus. It pacifies pitta and vata and is okay for kapha in moderation. NOTE: People who have high cholesterol or who suffer from obesity should be cautious about using ghee.
