1/9/11 Sunday Payback is a bitch

Woke at 9:15.  Not in pain.  Stomach feels like pooo!!  Why did I do all the snacking last night??  I know better! 

Having Kapha tea for breakfast.  Kapha is one of the dosha types.  Last night’s food and activities (lounging and eating, sweets and bread types) aggravated the Kapha part of my prakruti (Ayurvedic constitution.)  An excess of any of the doshas is unhealthy, so whenever you do things that bring about an excess in the doshas it is important to balance them appropriately.  According to Ayurveda, everything we do has the potential to bring balance or imbalance.  A flower we smell, a sound we hear, a taste, an act, a color, a thought.  Everything.  Many of us understand this balance unwittingly.  We come in from the cold and crave a nice hot cup of tea, or we spend a lot of time traveling and long for the stability of home.  These are some of the subtle ways we balance our doshas.  

As I mentioned before, what brings one dosha type balance, may throw another out of balance.  And what may one day balance your dosha, can totally throw it out of whack another day.  It is all about understanding your needs at the given time.

Ayurveda has really taught me to be mindful about my acts, and notice what my body needs throughout the day.  Yesterday the Sound of Music was a perfect movie to watch to balance my doshas.  If I had watched something like Natural Born Killers it would have had a much different impact on my dosha state. 

This is such a different way of thinking for us westerners.  For years we have believed that the things we ingest, the products we use, our physical environment, the germs we catch and whether we work out or not are the main things to affect our bodies.  It wasn't until recently that we started understanding the state of mind we are in has an affect on our bodies.  This has been a staple concept in Ayurveda for over 5,000 years. 

 I have been practicing an Ayurvedic lifestyle for about four months now.  It has brought new meaning to the phrase “body awareness.”  I think I was already fairly aware, at least of the physical aspects of my body from my yoga practice.  Yoga teaches us to be aware of our bodies.  It helped me to understand how to “hold” my body throughout my day in a way that will not harm it.  I brush my teeth, shower, kiss my man, do dishes, drive my car (the list could go on and on) much differently since I started my yoga practice.  Just as yoga has helped me to understand the physical stance of my body, Ayurveda is helping me to understand the physiological systems in my body and what they might need.  It’s not the same kind of knowing that a nutritionist or doctor might have.  It’s an inherent knowing, one that we all have.  According to this age old system, our bodies were designed with the tools to understand what we need.  

I would love to write more about this but I am tired and need to rest.  

If you would like to take a quiz to determine your dosha type, here is a simple one from Deepak Chopra. http://doshaquiz.chopra.com/

 

Food:

I’m having 1 stewed apple for lunch (12:00) because I don’t think I’m ready to eat just yet.  Another important rule in Ayurveda is only eat after the last meal has been digested.  Maybe the stewed apple will help me to, er…uh, digest.  

Dinner: late 7:30 Moong Dal (split mung beans) with zucchini, spinach and celery and a gluten free rosemary roll with Earth Balance butter.  

Recipe:  too tired.  Will list if anyone requests.