Seasons, Cycles, & Rhythms: Sustaining Health with Ayurveda
One of the many things I love about Ayurveda, is that it is a holistic medical science, yet harmoniously merged with divine wisdom. It is a science and a wisdom of prevention. Preventing disease from setting in rather then trying to cure it after the fact. Ayurveda is also a sister science to Yoga. Understanding how the two can be merged enhances your practice towards optimal health in body, mind, and spirit. Ayurveda is a sanskrit word that means ‘The science of life’.
This wisdom teaches us, and empowers us to be our own healers. How? By learning that we are all individual and unique, like snowflakes, not one of us is alike. Although we may be quite similar, our constitutions define our subtle differences. Understanding your constitution is key for optimal health for you. What you need to stay in balance is unique to you.
Once we understand our constitution, then we can learn the Ayurvedic principles of living in harmony with nature and our physical environment. Not only do we all have our own constitution made up of the 3 doshas, but the time of day, the season, and even 3 phases of a lifetime all correlate with the 3 doshas. Even each planet has a dosha!The 3 doshas that make up your constitution are comprised of the 5 elements Earth, Water, Fire, Air, Space (Ether). Within our physical body, the 3 doshas are organizational & energetic patterns that govern movement, transformation & structure, as well as physiological & psychological functions, providing every living being with an individual blueprint. While modern medicine is based on the structures of the body, Ayurveda is based on the energies within the structures.
The Doshas
The root word ‘Dosh’ actually means “that which goes out of balance” so in a sense, doshas will always have the tendency to go out of balance and it is our job to understand our constitution so well that we can maintain balance for ourselves.To become good stewards of our bodies as we move through life on earth.
When our constitution is balanced, the doshas maintain the good health of the body and mind and guide the normal bodily processes. When out of balance, they create the symptoms of illness and dis-ease.
The 3 doshas are named, Vata, Pitta, & Kapha, & within these 3 makes 7 variations total, yet with each of us embodying a dominant dosha. Balance between the 3 doshas (we all have all 3) is where health and vitality meet. Vata is comprised of air & ether, Pitta of fire & water, Kapha’s of earth and water. Each season pacifies or ignites these energies within us, meaning that our doshas (physiology) can be thrown out of balance if we don’t take measures to adapt our bodies to the weather. This is why we get colds or allergies and other illness during season changes.
How do we stay in balance?Ayurvedic principles help us understand how to eat, sleep, exercise etc. Create a lifestyle with routines that are in alignment with our constitution. So we can consider then, what is our diet? Ayurveda teaches that our diet is all that is taken in by the 5 senses. Taste, Touch, Smell, Sight, & Sound. Therefore it is not just what we eat, but what we smell, what we listen to, what we see and watch, and what we touch that has to be taken into the body for digestion and assimilation. That’s a lot to have on our plates!
Our modern world has us overstimulated by technology, media, devices, schedules overflowing and erratic eating and sleeping patterns. Applying the principles of Ayurveda is so vital to maintaining our health in a holistic way because everything in our environment and our daily and seasonal routines really factors in.
This modern age continues to separate us from our true self, which is intertwined with the cycles of nature. We may have forgotten or become dull to the natural and instinctual ways in which to truly nourish ourselves. With industrialization making once-seasonal food available year-round, and the fact tha we spend more and more of our lives inside in front of devices, it’s easy to forget what it feels like to truly live in harmony with the rhythms of the days and seasons. Ayurveda lays out guidelines, governing principles, for how to create daily and seasonal routines to serve as prescriptions for optimal health and well being. These guidelines include cultivating a practice of self love and self care, and a heightened self awareness as we learn to incorporate Ayurvedic treatments and cleansing techniques that help us sustain clear minds, fulfillment in our spirits, and vibrant in our bodies.
Through the seasonal changes, the doshas go through a cycle of accumulating that leads to aggravation and we can balance them with our diet and lifestyle choices. Is it really that simple? Yes! Once you have full knowledge of your unique constitution and the principles are learned and applied, it is tangible and empowering.
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