Seasonal Tips

December - The End of The Vata Season

December is overwhelmed by Christmas, and it’s valuable to keep in mind the reason for having Christmas. This is the end of the Vata season and its now essential to balance the increased Vata. So traditionally, lovely heavy foods, lots of rest, companionship of family and friends, are all features of Christmas to settle Vata at the end of the Vata season.

It’s therefore important to use Christmas for this purpose. Avoid getting manic buying, wrapping, sending postcards, excess partying, especially in the run up to Christmas as Vata now will be very easily provoked. It is more in the vein of the traditional perspective to be respectful and restful and kind to your own physiology, which is the instrument for the divine to manifest in our mundane world.  Immediately after Christmas is the time when we are changing to Kapha season, so let the feast end at Christmas and be determined to get out for a good walk on the 26th of December.

Seasonal Tips

November - The Height of the Vata Season

November is the height of Vata season and it’s a most beautiful time in nature when the colours are most enjoyable. Its as if nature is beckoning us out to enjoy its finery. And this is very appropriate because nature is a very settling influence and to be in nature – gentle walks, enjoying the colours – is a very Vata pacifying occupation. Similarly, sorting out the garden is settling for Vata.

The most important thing at this point in the year is that nature has gone into rest mode. The whole of the environment is resting and so should we. So, at this time of the year very early to bed, and days off in the week, and relaxed meals and a good break at lunchtime. Just continuing to take life easier and be more at home at this time of the year. This is not the time of year for major undertakings or lots of travel. It’s rest, walk, comfort, companionship.

Seasonal Tips

October - 7 Ways to Please Vata This Autumn

Come October, change is in the air. Leaves turn colour and fall. The air feels cool and dry. Inside your body, Vata dosha, the dosha of the season, tends to increase, often commanding Pitta and Kapha doshas to play second, and third, fiddle. This is how it is likely to be till February, when the season both outside and within you will change once again.

When Vata dosha takes over for these few months, its restless, sweeping quality can throw your physiology and psychology completely out of balance. Constipation, dry skin, irregular appetite, lack of sleep, stress, fatigue an out-of-sync Vata can cause all of these problems and more - Understand Vata, Pitta & Kapha. But in nature's scheme of things, the Vata environment outside is supposed to synchronize perfectly smoothly with changes within our bodies and minds. If that is we stay in tune with some simple rhythms of nature.

It's really quite logical. Autumn, being the onset of dry and cold days and nights, needs to be offset by a diet, routine and temperatures that are warming, unctuous and nourishing. That's how all three doshas work: if you have a Pitta imbalance, you try to cool down. If your Kapha shows signs of aggravation, detoxify. And if it's Vata that has increased, well, there's a healing tip to soften every aspect of this volatile dosha.

The Council of Maharishi Ayurveda Physicians offers you a whole bouquet of such healing tips. To begin with, they say that the keyword in Vata-management is "regularity." Being a mobile dosha, Vata is always in need of stability, especially in these months when it becomes dominant. Therefore autumn and early winter are the most important times to pay attention to the basics of your daily routine.

Seasonal Tips

September - Start of the Vata Season

According to Ayurveda, Vata is the governing intelligence responsible for movement, both in nature and in our physiology. Vata accumulates in the cold, windy Vata season, which runs from mid-September until late-December.

Symptoms of Vata imbalance

An over-busy mind; difficulty in getting to sleep; a tendency to worry. Stiff joints; aches; wind in the stomach; irregularity in bowel movements.

Behaviour which exacerbates Vata imbalance are: frequent travel; irregular mealtimes; overwork; late nights. To balance Vata, Ayurveda recommends: regularity in your daily routine; take warm cooked food in the middle of the day; bed by 10 pm and early to rise; a morning body massage with warm sesame oil; regular exercise to half your capacity.

If your digestion and/or elimination suffers take more warm moist foods such as soups and milky puddings. Take fresh or stewed fruit in the morning - figs, prunes apricots or raisins. Try Transcendental Meditation and Pranayama help to balance Vata, especially in the mind.

Seasonal Tips

August -  The Height of the Pitta Season

In mid-late August we are heading towards the maximum accumulation of Pitta

So we are still well embedded in the Pitta season and that is the main dosha for most people to take care of.  Pitta accumulates in the body throughout the summer so going towards the end of the pitta season is a good time to really make a big effort to get rid of that excess Pitta. It’s good to spend time out of doors, but it’s important to protect yourself from the sun during the middle part of the day.

Use Ayurveda Products

During this season it is very helpful to use the Ayurveda products that are associated with reducing Pitta, such as Pitta Aroma and Pitta reducing spices in the form of Pitta Churna. With aromas, it is useful to use Sandalwood, or Rose or Lavender, and these can be used any time during the day, but particularly if you are in a hot environment.

If you are in an enclosed environment, it is helpful to keep the Pitta under control. For example, it might be a good time to use Pitta aroma in the car, where it will have an impact on the tendency towards irritability during driving.  When you don’t have access to open air and are in a hot environment, it’s good to splash the face with water to reduce Pitta. If you have too much exposure to sun, then consider applying coconut oil or Aloe Vera gel to the skin. If there are any symptoms of irritability, changing the abhyanga massage oil to the head to coconut oil is recommended. Coconut is more cooling than sesame oil.

Avoid Excessive Exercise

For exercise, swimming is good, and taking walks by water and in woodland is very helpful. It is important for Pitta people, during this period, to avoid excessive exercise over the midday period. It is better to take exercise in the early morning or evening.

Foods to Avoid

Try to avoid or reduce very Pitta-aggravating foods, such as hot peppers and very hot curries. Also reduce or avoid coffee, chocolate, sour fruit, tomatoes and vinegar; and keep alcohol to a minimum. Also hard cheeses, because they are very salty and sour.  Favour foods which are sweet, bitter and astringent. Sweet foods would include grains, such as rice, and the sweet fruits such as peaches, pears, grapes, nectarines, very ripe kiwis, leeches and melons.  Astringent and bitter foods include lentils (pulses), which have a drying effect on the mouth, spinach, asparagus, cabbage and broccoli. Its good to take all six tastes, ideally with every meal, because then, in a natural way, you get a cross section of all the nutrients which are necessary. The taste is an indication towards the nutrient contained in the food. Pitta has the quality of heat plus some moist quality, so balancing Pitta needs cool, drying qualities in food and activity. Pitta is aggravated when the climate is hot and humid, so Pitta types are  advised not to take their holiday somewhere hot and humid.

Seasonal Tips

July - The Height of Summer

July is also Pitta season and Pitta is perhaps even more increased now and so all the tip and advices that were relevant to June such as having lots of fun and enjoying Pitta-reducing diet are all the more relevant in July.

If you think of the appropriate joys that are soothing to pitta, high on the list has to be water. Pitta is the element of fire and it is soothed and balanced in the presence of water which is why you will choose the sea or the lakes as a site for your holidays. Even to look at the sea or the lakes, listen to water, to swim in it, to sail on it, is all very soothing to Pitta.

Other things that are soothing to Pitta are agreeable company, because disagreements are very provoking for Pitta, so enjoy your friends and family. Food soothes Pitta but your digestive capacity is a little bit diminished and the energy drops with the heat, sun. So choose the Pitta-reducing foods but keep the meals moderate in size and light, easy to digest.

Nice meals in pleasant company are very Pitta-pacifying experiences. Other things are music, especially the flute. Wind instruments are lovely for Pitta. And because of the eyes being Pitta, sight being Pitta, beauty is very soothing, so look and enjoy nature and art and things of beauty is very soothing for Pitta.

One more consideration at this height of the summer season is the drying effect of this warm weather, and by virtue of the heat starting to dry us, our Vata will start at this stage to be slightly increased.

The heat of the summer will contain it, yet that quality of dryness is the first increase of Vata coming towards the autumn and that is why it is valuable to consider now to continue or to restart your daily oil massage. You may have gone off the sesame oil because of its heating property when it came into the summer, but it’s nice to know that the coconut oil, because it is very cooling, would be very refreshing and enjoyable as a massage oil now. Sunflower oil would be an alternative, as it would balance both the Pitta and the Vata.

Generally our imbalances tend to be more Vata and Kapha, and so summertime is a lovely time. For most of us it brings better balance, and the trick is to enjoy.

Summary

1. Pitta-reducing diet - include sweet, bitter and astringent tastes; avoid fermented foods; use mild and cooling Pitta Spice Blend; see culinary guide wall chart for seasonal advice on foods.
2. Choose water - sea, lakes and rivers.
3. Agreeable company - family and friends.
4. Digestive capacity - moderate, light meals; main meal at midday, Maharishi Ayurveda Aci-Balance for delicate digestion.
5. Music - elevating Gandharva Veda flute melodies suitable for the time of day.
6. The eyes and beauty soothing surroundings; beautiful Nature, uplifting art.
7. Dryness of skin - morning oil massage with cooling coconut or sunflower oil.
8. Enjoyment - take time to appreciate.

Seasonal Tips

June - The Pitta Season

Now we have reached the pitta season, and the enjoyment of hot lovely weather means that pitta, the fire element, is coming stronger in our minds and bodies. So it’s relevant and appropriate to think of how to balance pitta in the summer. There are two real fundamental things that balance pitta: one is food and the other is fun, because what soothes pitta is to chill out and to enjoy. Pitta is to do with that discriminating faculty of mind, as well as the metabolisms and hormones in the body. So pitta, by virtue of the heat of the summer, gets increased. And unless it’s kept balanced, by the end of the summer people can suffer road rage, or irritability, or obsessiveness, or inflammations like heat burn or skin rashes.

 

It’s useful to think of the five different aspects of pitta in the body

Pachaka Pitta

The first pitta in the body is pachaka pitta, and pachaka pitta is located in the stomach and governs digestion. So the best method of balancing pachaka will be through the appropriate foods. Pitta-reducing diet is mainly the foods with sweet, bitter and astringent tastes. These include lots of sweet, juicy fruits, grains such as barley, oats, wheat and rice, pulses (beans, peas, lentils), and sweet mild spices like coriander, cardamom and cinnamon. And dairy foods are good, but it is better to avoid fermented foods such as yoghourt and cheese, and vinegar. However fresh, home-made yoghourt diluted and made into lassi is a lovely cooling summer drink because it is not heated by too much fermentation. So the right foods are good, and food after being acted on by packhka pitta is directed to the next of the pittas, which is ranjaka.

Ranjaka Pitta

Ranjaka pitta is located in the liver and bitter tasting foods are especially helpful for liver function so the same foods that help to keep pachaka pitta in balance also help to keep ranjaka pitta balanced. Pachaka’s the first pitta, ranjaka is the second pitta. And sadhaka is the third pitta.

Sadhaka Pitta

Sadhaka governs fulfilment and it’s located in the heart and, when functioning well, helps to keep us happy. So what is real nourishment for keeping sadhaka balanced is all the joys and fulfilment and enjoyment of the summer. It’s nature’s time of fulfilment, so naturally it is good to plan a holiday for summer, and enjoy.

Alochaka Pitta

The fourth pitta is alochaka. It governs sight and is located in the eyes. It’s also to do with insight. This also involves the elements of fire and light and how we metabolize them through our sense of sight. Obviously in summer it’s time to take care of the eyes by protecting them from too much light, so a good set of sunglasses will help to keep your alochaka pitta soothed, or balanced.

Bhrajaka Pitta

The fifth pitta in the body is called bhrajaka. Bhrajaka is located in the skin, and in the skin it metabolizes what ever you put on the skin such as the oils you use for your massage.  But, because the skin is one of the main sites where pitta lives, your skin will be sensitive to being provoked by excess heat of the summer and the sun. So Ayurveda would concur with the wisdom of protecting your skin from the excess exposure to hot sun. So wear your sun protectors on a hot summer’s day. By knowing the Pitta's, their locations in the body, and how to keep them balanced you can enjoy the fulfilment of the summer without throwing your physiology, your pitta, out of balance.

Products recommended for Pitta season

Selected Summer Products

So because of the pitta season it’s nice to consider things that are cooling and the Almond Energy drink, taken just with water at room temperature, is very soothing and cooling. The Pitta reducing teas, or aromas are something else you would find very refreshing at this time.

• Pitta Tea
• Tridosha Tea
• Pitta Aroma Oil
• Even Temper Aroma Oil
• Blissful Joy Aroma Oil
• Emotional Strength Aroma oil

Rasayanas

• Rasayanas are always useful
• Amrit Kalash can be taken through the summer.
• Aci-Balance (MA575) is a pitta-reducing digestive supplement.
• Amla Berry (MA1) is a very good pitta-reducing herb, a great support for the liver, eyes and for stamina.
• Triphala tablets (MA505) are excellent, both because they contain amla berry and because they keep the elimination regular and they act as a general vitalizer.

Seasonal Tips

May - A Change of Season

May is joyful time of transition – a change of season

Kapha season comes to and end and Pitta season, the one most people love, starts. The reason we love the summer is that it tends to balance our Kapha and our Vata, which our changeable, damp, cold weather overall tends to put out of balance. However, Ayurveda cautions that we should be discreet and careful at the change of season. Over a two-week period we should let go of strategies for balancing Kapha and adapt and adjust to those strategies which reduce Pitta for the oncoming season.

Two things to specifically to keep in mind for the summer

One is a change of diet

Pitta-reducing foods are much more a summer fare. We naturally, at this time, prefer the salads and the leafy greens and the sweet fruits, which soothe Pitta. Now is the time to cut back on hot spices, and oily foods are not good for Pitta, so we go for lighter, cooler diet with sweet and bitter and astringent tastes.

The second strategy for summer is to enjoy plenty of fun

This is the season of fulfilment, and nature is most productive at this time. So it is good for us to enjoy the fulfilment of life, and naturally we tend to take holidays and time out for fun, especially to be by water because pitta is fiery in nature. So whether you swim, or walk by the beach, or listen to the waves, or look at the lakes, it is very soothing for Pitta in the summer.

Seasonal Tips

April - Fasting, Exercise and Detox Herbals

 

In April, we are now in Kapha season, but we are now definitely into Spring and this is the time for spring cleaning

Because Kapha has predominated in our bodies over the last two or three months it now becomes more liquid and fluid in the body and more easy to move around the body. The toxins which gather in our tissues when we go out of balance are of a Kapha nature. So because the Kapha is more fluid, it’s most easy at this time of the year to eliminate these toxins from our tissues.

So how are you going to spring clean your body if it’s accumulated\toxins?

One very good strategy is a fast, and traditionally at this time of the year there is 40 days of fasting, during Lent, around Easter time. Fasting is determined by your own nature. If you are very Kapha or have a Kapha imbalance, strong fasting is indicated. Pitta is moderate fasting, and Vata a light fast.

Certainly what would be good for everybody at this time of year would be to eat lightly for a day. In other words, some light fruit for breakfast, a good thick soup or kedgeree, which is rice and dhal soup, for lunch, and a light vegetable soup in the evening. In between meals, teas or sips of hot water help.

Almost all could manage a light day every week, but if someone was very Kapha, a week of eating nice nourishing soups and fresh fruits, particularly apples, pears would be a good strategy.

With fasting, we could put the rider if you are considering doing a strong fast it would be advisable to check with an Ayurvedic physician to ensure it is appropriate for your nature or your imbalance. Overdoing fasting can disturb Vata which will have a detrimental effects.

So besides fasting, other ways of detoxing would include simple things like sipping hot water often through the day. That tends to move water-soluble toxins through the kidneys. Again, another way of helping the body to get rid of toxins is by taking exercise, as we discussed in February.

The use of Herbal Preparations

Another strategy in helping the body clear its toxins is the use of herbal preparations.

One herbal is called Detox tablets MA1010, and this is useful as it supports the detox organs of the body such as the liver, kidney and skin to clear the toxins, as well as functioning on the cellular level to help the cells clean themselves.

However if you are very Pitta or have a Pitta imbalance you will be better off choosing the Detox Pitta MA1663. Taking this product helps removes toxins without creating too much heat, or Pitta.

 

Seasonal Tips

March - The Kapha Season

March needs to continue the theme of balancing kapha because kapha is not only increased by the heavy weather of winter, but even spring time increases kapha because kapha is responsible for growth and so must be strong through March and April into May.

In January we emphasized balancing kapha in general. In February we emphasized exercise as a most fundamental strategy for keeping kapha balanced.

In March it’s worthwhile considering the foods you are eating and the processes of digesting the food so as to keep a better balance.

You may by now have noticed that your weight is increasing as the season progresses, and if so this will indicate to you that you are eating more than your body wants. So, certainly you need more food in winter in order to generate more heat in cold weather to keep yourself warm, but you may be overdoing it.

Eat Appropriately

So the first strategy for a balanced kapha in relation to food is to eat appropriately to your nature. So you should always have hunger for your meals and eat to satisfy the hunger.

This is most important at breakfast. If you overeat at breakfast time you throw kapha out of the balance for the day because breakfast comes during kapha time of the day, between six and ten.

So ensure you have a light breakfast leaving you just contented, but hungry come midday for your middle meal of the day.

Having eaten appropriately at breakfast you are hungry for your lunch and, again, after lunch ensure that you haven’t overeaten. Just check that you are fulfilled but not filled full.
So if you eat appropriately at lunch you’ll have some appetite again for your evening meal about six.

You should not eat in between meals unless hungry, but, if so, just have something light between meals so as not to rob the hunger for the next meal.

Presuming you are eating the right amount of food at the right time, the next strategy for good digestion is relaxed eating. Always sit, always take time out and always relax and enjoy your food. There should be no stress, or anger, or depression over food. Food should be enjoyed. This stimulates the digestive juices and helps you get more benefit from the foods you are eating.

Kapha Reducing Foods

Choose kapha-reducing foods. These should be eaten warm.
• Because our digestion and metabolism can be dull with the kapha season, it’s nice if you could use a digestive. A good one is chopped ginger with a little lemon, salt and honey just before the meal.
  
• In the food itself, spices like fennel, cumin, coriander, black pepper, cinnamon, basil are excellent to support digestion.
  
• The foods to favour are foods which are light, hot, dry. The tastes -  pungent, or hot; bitter taste and astringent taste. The bitter taste is there in leafy greens, it’s there in a lemon. Astringent taste is the dry, puckering feeling in the mouth like with an apple or with dhals.
  
• Steam, or boil, or bake, or grill foods, but don’t use much oil in the cooking. Avoid using oils, or avoid much heavy dairy.
  
• In general, vegetables, spices, pulses and grains, other than wheat, are good for kapha.
  
• Remember your nature. If you are kapha, two meals a day may be sufficient, whereas pitta and vata will need more.
  

Seasonal Tips

February - We should think a bit more about exercise

 February is a continuation of the Kapha season, and since Kapha has qualities of being sluggish and dull and stable and grounded, the opposite qualities will bring balance, and exercise more than anything else brings movement and lightness and quickness, and stimulates the system.

Exercise is excellent to stimulate all the body’s metabolisms and thereby to burn off toxins which otherwise gather. So it flushes out tissues and causes a feeling of renewal. At this time of year it is the most important time for taking exercise. Traditionally at this time people would have been getting more physically active in preparation for Spring, and it’s also noteworthy that the sunlight is increasing and this also brings us more vitality and energy at this time.

Also traditionally, this was the time of year when more physically active sports were played, such as squash and weightlifting and cross country running. So, it’s the right time for plenty of exercise, but you should be aware of your own individual nature and capacity for exercise.

If you are predominantly in Vata, or tend to a Vata imbalance, exercise you choose should be gentle and not too demanding. So, half an hour’s brisk walk is good exercise, or things like Yoga or Tai Chi or Pilates.

Vata has to be cautious because Vatas can get addicted to the excitement of exercise and end up overdoing it. But certainly, exercise preceded or followed by an oil massage is a lovely balanced rejuvenation for Vata.

For Pitta exercise should be moderate because of their moderate stamina and strength. Pittas would enjoy jogging or cycling, or team sports like soccer. Any water sports are excellent for Pitta as Pittas tend to be fiery, hot natured. As Pittas can overheat in exercise, it’s important not to burn out overdoing it, and necessary to remember their moderate stamina and strength. A lovely refresh strategy for Pitta is a cold shower, or a coconut oil massage to follow the exercise.

 Exercise for Kapha is a must, and in general for Kapha the more exercise the merrier. So, demanding physical sports suit the strong nature of Kapha – rugby, marathons, triathlons – any exercise that’s stimulating and demanding would be good for Kapha. And the more the merrier.

In general, the timing of exercise should be as follows: for Kapha it’s good at any time of day; for Pitta and Vata certainly the Kapha time of day – early morning from six until ten, or early evening from six until eight - are ideal times. Vatas probably better not exercise too much in Vata time – between two and six in the afternoon – in case it over stimulates their vata.

Seasonal Tips

January - The Kapha Season

 In January we have moved into Kapha season. The cold damp heavy dull weather increases the qualities of kapha. Because of that it is essential that we work to keep kapha more balanced in the winter especially after Xmas when we may have tended to overeat and been lethargic.

It’s very important that we should do the opposite - start to be more dynamic, more active. Choose more activities, more interests, and more things that are stimulating and enjoyable to do.

The theme of activity follows through to exercise

This is the time of the year when exercise is most important. And so during January your New Year’s resolutions should include to get out and about more and be more physically active in whatever way you enjoy.

Sleeping in is a very bad policy

To be early up in the winter is much better. Foods to eat in the winter should be more kapha-reducing foods. These should include plenty of hot spicy foods; all the spices except salt are good. Eating a variety of grains is very useful but cut down on the wheat and brown rice.

The pulses are good, and most vegetables are good. Fruits are variable, some are good for kapha and some are not. Certainly stewed apple with cloves for breakfast is excellent – it is nutritious, cleansing and enlivening all at the same time. See recipe below.

Eating appropriately and not overeating becomes important in the winter. And if we make these changes in the winter - getting up early, getting a bit more exercise, eating appropriately and choosing the right foods – then we enjoy more energy, success and health in this season.

If we don’t balance kapha at this time of the year we’ll be prone to colds and to putting on more weight, to feeling a bit down and depressed, and being more lethargic and sluggish.

Cooked Apples with Cloves 

Start the day with a stewed apple to build appetite for lunch, stimulate regular bowel movements, increase vitality and alertness, and provide a light but satisfying start to the day.

• 1 whole fresh, sweet apple, cored and peeled
  
• 5 whole cloves
  
• 1/4 cup of purified water
  

Directions: Dice apple into small pieces. Add cloves, apples and water in a covered pot. Cook until the apples are soft. Discard the cloves, cool slightly, and enjoy.

Cautionary note

                 If you are ill or have a medical condition we recommend that you have a personal health evaluation with a practitioner trained in Maharishi Ayurveda. The practitioner will identify any imbalance that is giving rise to your condition and will recommend specific changes in diet and routine and herbal Ayurveda products that will help you.  Even if you are not ill you will find that a personal health evaluation is the ideal introduction to Ayurveda.