When it comes to Ayurveda, recommendations for a healthy life change with the seasons. Shifting from a raw to a cooked diet when it’s colder is an obvious example. Having your biggest meal when the sun’s at its highest may be less obvious. The Sanskrit word for season, ‘rtu’ translates as rhythm. Whether we notice it or not, we are all influenced by the rhythms of nature. That rhythm changes over days, months and years. So what is influencing us can change depending on things like weather, lifestyle, environment, and diet.
The three doshas of Ayurveda are pitta, vata and kapha. Pitta is the energy of summer – oily, hot, light, intense, fluid. Vata is the energy of autumn and early winter – dry, cold, light, irregular, mobile. Kapha is the energy of late winter and spring – oily, cold, heavy, stable, viscous.
One of the main ways that Ayurveda helps bring balance to our constitutions is to honour the opposite quality of what is present in our environment.
Balance Vata in Autumn
When Vata is dominant it can leave you feeling worn out, brittle and susceptible to illness. Perhaps you have dry skin or achy joints. Or feelings of restlessness, irregular sleep or recurring earaches.
How can you find balance using Ayurveda?
A full-body oil massage is the best thing to stop the dry, chilling weather from increasing vata in the body. If you don’t have time to do a short self-massage every day, try to get into a routine of rubbing some oil into the soles of your feet and into your scalp before you take a bath or shower. Especially before you go to bed at night. On top of this, try oil pulling where you swish a mouthful of sesame oil for 1-2 minutes after brushing your teeth and then spit it out. Then with a little oil on your finger, gently massage your gums. This is good for sensitive teeth and preventing cavities and earaches.
In terms of diet, it’s best to focus on warm food and drink, reducing ice cold items as well as dry, brittle snacks. Prioritise warm, well-cooked foods with a healthy dose of ghee or oil and drink warm or hot water or tea throughout the day.
Balance Kapha in Winter/Spring
When Kapha is dominant you feel a little unmotivated, lethargic and dull and you might put on some extra weight. You can have sluggish digestion or trouble getting out of bed. Whether or not you have an excess of Kapha in your mind-body physiology, it is fairly common in late winter/early spring to feel the heavy energy of kapha.
How can you find balance using Ayurveda?
The key to managing kapha is to get moving. Think brisk walking or jogging. Also more active Vinyasa Yoga classes. When it comes to diet, lots of leafy greens, spices and beans are best. If you can get most of your calories in the middle of the day you’re going to be helping two-fold. No food after 6-7pm is best. And drinking ginger tea does a lot of good too. Adding invigorating herbs and spices to your food is even better.
If you want to take it a step further, this is a great time to do some nasal irrigation by investing in a neti pot and nasal oil to clear out congestion, prevent allergies and breathe comfortably.
Balance Pitta in Summer
Summer brings longer, warmer days. And while summer is enjoyable when you’re healthy and balanced, it can aggravate a pitta imbalance. When pitta is dominant you can experience acid reflux, dehydration and burning eyes. It can also manifest as skin inflammation or irritability, and excessive anger.
How can you find balance using Ayurveda?
Prioritising slow, cooling and mindful activities is very important. As is eating food that is cooling and drying. You want to balance the hot and light qualities of pitta. Think about eating sweet and bitter foods. Think coriander, mint, cucumber, coconut, watermelon, celery and kale.
Slow Yoga, swimming and long walks are great for balancing excess pitta. Try to create some space in your schedule if you can. Also take on less and leave yourself time to rest and relax. Downtime is imperative to keep your mind and body healthy and balanced. And meditation is very cooling and calming. So is pranayama. Get to some Yin and Restorative classes and bask in the stillness.
Take care, Yogis! x