Cultivating Individual Health

Ayurveda Fundamentals

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Ayurveda translated from Sanskrit means “Science of Living” or “Wisdom of Life”. It is the oldest established health care system still in practice in the world.  It originated in India over 5,000 years ago.  Ayurvedic insight applies to many modalities such as diet, yoga and lifestyle practices.  Most importantly, Ayurveda emphasizes individualized approach to living that is in harmony with a person’s unique constitution, and seasonal and environmental changes.  

Ayurveda tries to understand the nature of Nature.  Its Rosetta Stone is the “5 Great States of Material Existence” or The 5 Elements

The Five Elements are: Ether, Air, Fire, Water and Earth.

• Ether is the concept of Space and Connection
• Air is the concept of Change and Movement
• Fire is the concept of Transformation and Illumination
• Water is the concept of Flow and Cohesion
• Earth is the concept of Stability and Substance

The Cornerstone of Ayurvedic Wisdom as it pertains to individuality is the 3 Doshas

The doshas are forces of nature that operate on a macrocosmic and microcosmic scale. Understanding the doshas creates a frame of reference and vocabulary to understand health in accessible terms. 

There are 3 Doshas: Vata, Pitta and Kapha

• Vata is movement and change: Air and Ether
• Pitta is transformation and combustion: Fire and Water
• Kapha is substance and form: Earth and Water

In the body the interplay of the Doshas is exemplified by the digestive system.  Vata moves things, as chewing, swallowing and peristalsis.  Pitta digests things, as stomach acids and bile.  Kapha is the form of the organs and their protection, the container. the lubrication and insulation.
In the personality, Doshas influence the state of mind. Vata is inspiration, movement of thought.  Pitta is focus, determination and illumination.  Kapha is stability, calmness and contentment. 

On many levels the Doshas are acting in concert and symbiosis.  But each Dosha is a self interested energy.  The propensity of the Doshas is such that unmitigated: Vata would disperse everything, Pitta would burn everything up, and Kapha would smother everything.  That is the nature of each beast and why literally translated Dosha means “that which goes awry”. 
Each person has all three doshas constantly at work, but we tend toward one or two doshas that predominate. 
Everyone is born with a unique Doshic disposition known as Prakruti.  This is kind of the blueprint that is set in stone upon conception; the plan for your energies.  But that disposition is constantly under the influence of external factors such as lifestyle choices, environmental changes and, of course, the seasons.

• VATAS are Artistic, Inspired, and Changeable (example: butterfly). They often suffer excessive movement or stimulation related issues like anxiety, insomnia and overwhelm—getting “spaced” out! Physically Vatas are often unusually short or tall.  Vatas tend to have a thin and narrow frame.  Irregularity is a hallmark of Vata.

• PITTAS are leaders, courageous, and passionate (example: Bull).  They often suffer from excessive heat issues like anger, irritability, and fevers—A Hot Head! Physically Pittas are of medium frame and musculature.  Pitta’s fire maintains a strong metabolism.  They are hot blooded and often sunburn and sweat easily

• KAPHAS are stable, calm, and devotional (example: Tortoise). They often suffer from lethargy, depression and weight related issues—Gravity’s got me! Physically Kaphas are more robust and have a wide-set frame.  Kaphas tend to gain weight easily.  Kaphas tend to have thick, moist skin.

Ayurveda has long understood that seasonal effects have a great deal to do with human health.  The protocol one uses in summer may not be apropos for the winter.  The year is divided into three Doshic paradigms, in which the quality of the season is prevailingly one way.  Pitta is stronger in late spring and summer as the solar and thermal factors HEAT up.  Vata is stronger in the autumn and early winter, as temperatures and weathers CHANGE.   Kapha is stronger in the winter and early spring as moisture and COLD prevail.

• Autumn is Vata Season
• Summer is Pitta Season
• Spring and Winter are Kapha Season

Diets should ebb and flow in the same way the seasons do.  A proper diet will reflect understanding of one’s constitution with heed to the elements at play in the environment.  Natural body responses to the environment are often antagonistic to the outside conditions; this to create homeostasis; when it is cold the body causes shivering and goose bumps to heat the body, when it is hot the body causes sweating to cool the body.   With diet one should, likewise, try to mitigate external factors with what is consumed.

Our disposition tends to change as we age.

• Youth (0-20) is the Kapha Age
• Midlife (20-60) is the Pitta Age
• Elder (60+) is the Vata Age

The Doshas are not set in stone. If a Pitta were to eat Ice cream and watch TV all day, everyday, that would encourage the qualities of heaviness, coolness, and being static: Creating more Kapha.  Or if a Kapha were to only eat crackers and commute four hours a day, then the qualities of mobility, irregularity and dryness would prevail: Creating more Vata. 

• A Couch Potato lifestyle (follower) is Kapha Increasing
• A Managerial, or Confrontational (leader) lifestyle Is Pitta Increasing
• An Irregular or chaotic lifestyle (artist/rock star) is Vata Increasing

People manage the Doshas with common sense, if not deliberate rationale.  Consider coffee: Ayurveda recognizes the qualities of coffee as: Pungent and Bitter in taste (both Kapha reducing), warming in energy and pungent in long term affect on the body (heating and drying).  This profile is a recipe for Kapha antidoting.  Coffee is classically used during Kapha time of day (early to mid-morning) to counter inertia (a Kapha quality).  This is not an endorsement of copious coffee consumption, but is used for illustrative purposes.