Excess Pitta
How to Summer Wisely
Revolved Head to Knee pose / Parivritta Janu Sirsana - This is a great pose for pitta season!
Happy Summer (for my Northern Hemisphere friends)! Summering is taken very “seriously” here in the Pacific North West. We are “serious” about getting up and out into nature! When I'm not in the studio or my office, you can find me making my way to some form of water, usually a river, with my hubby and my pup, to soak it up. Nothing soothes and revitalizes me more than water. Because I have a good amount of fire, air and ether in my elemental make-up, I crave water and earth. Lying on a sandy beach, and taking dips in the cool river is such good medicine for me. However you delight in celebrating this time of year, we can all summer more enjoyably when we look to Ayurveda for guidance on how to adapt our yoga practice, the food we nourish ourselves with, and our lifestyle rhythms.
Ayurveda is the traditional system of nutrition and medicine in India, and is at least 5,000 years old. Ayurveda is a model of understanding the body and mind, and looks to the forces and elements of nature as symbolic representations of reality. Ayur = life and Veda = science. It’s a structured way to wrap our minds around the complexities of life.
THE PITTA DOSHA
Pitta is one of the three Ayurvedic constitutional types, doshas, and we all have some amount of pitta in our unique constitutional make up. The pitta dosha is made up of mostly fire, with a little water. During pitta season we all have the tendency to go out of balance in excess pitta ways.
When the pitta dosha is in balance, people are passionate, ambitious, and courageous. Pitta dominant folks are natural leaders and are blessed with determination and a strong will. When pitta is out of balance, there’s a tendency for anger, impatience, irritability, and jealousy to arise. In addition to these fiery emotions, there can also be red, inflamed skin issues like acne, rosacea, rashes and eczema, and too much acid and activity in the digestive tract resulting in heartburn and diarrhea.
HOW TO ADAPT YOUR YOGA PRACTICE
In our yoga practice during pitta season, or any other time that pitta is in excess, we want to focus on cultivating more ease, surrender and sweetness. Because of the tendency to burn the wick at both ends, to push and push until exhaustion, the aim is to soothe the nervous system and remind ourselves of the sweetness of life. Life is more than our work, productivity and accomplishments. We have this tremendous gift of being embodied, and by opening our hearts and allowing ourselves to steep in the awe of life, we can practice and live in a way that celebrates the qualities of the pitta dosha. It’s not that we want to run away from pitta, we want it to be there from its healthiest, balanced state.
Pitta is said to reside in the lower half of the stomach and the small intestine, so, during pitta season, and any other time that pitta goes into excess, we want to encourage circulation in the abdomen. That means we practice lots of side bending and twisting postures. We also want to calm the nervous system with more forward folding and restorative postures, and include cooling practices. Because ujjayi / victorious breath is slightly warming, we may want to set aside this pranayama during pitta season. Adapting our yoga practice to support the elemental effects of the warm months will allow us to do all of the summering our hearts desire, while remaining rooted and in ease.
SITALI
Sitali and Sitkari are cooling pranayamas, well suited for the warm months of the year, and anytime there’s frustration, anger or a pitta imbalance. Sitali involves curling the tongue into a straw. If the tongue doesn't curl, then the practice is Sitkari.
Begin in a tall seat, and quiet your eyes by softening your gaze downward or closing your eyes.
Place your palms face down on your knees or rest them in your lap any way that’s comfortable.
Sitali: Curl your tongue lengthwise and reach it out of your mouth a little.
Sitkari: Gently close your teeth, rest your tongue in the bottom of your mouth and slowly inhale through your teeth.
Another option is to place your wide and flat tongue a bit out of your mouth (like a warm, panting dog!) and slowly inhale through your mouth, over your tongue.
As you inhale, soften your belly and focus on the cool inhalation traveling down into your lungs, into your core.
Withdraw your tongue and close your mouth, and exhale completely releasing heat and holding.
Continue practicing for a few minutes. Follow this practice by taking a few deep breaths of inhaling through your nose and exhaling through your mouth with a “sigh”.
HOW TO IMBALANCE YOUR PITTA
I have a favorite resource called The Ayurvedic Cook Book by Amadea Morningstar with Urmila Desai that I brought to class the other day to share with the students, and many of you asked me to include it in this newsletter, so here you go! This book has a really great introduction to Ayurveda in the beginning and then delicious recipes with a key that indicates if the recipe increases or decreases each dosha. The book includes a list of how to both balance and cause imbalance in each dosha. As a person with a good amount (OK a very good amount) of pitta in my constitution, I chuckled as I read the list of ways to cause pitta to go into excess.
I'll tell you more after the list :)
Drink plenty of alcohol
Eat spicy food
Engage in frustrating activities (I'm still trying to figure out what this one means)
Emphasize tomatoes, chilis, raw onions, sour foods and yogurt in your diet
Exercise at the hottest time of day
Wear tight hot clothing
Use drugs, especially cocaine, speed, or marijuana
Avoid cool fresh peaceful places
Snack on highly salted foods
Repress your feelings
Eat as much red meat and salted fish as possible
I basically live off of tomatoes (only when they're in season because I'm a total tomato snob), chilis, sour foods and yogurt sauces, and LOVE salty snacks. Tight clothes are my primary work uniform, and please give me all of the spicy food. So... we all have things to work on!
Ayurvedic Summer Support
Happy Summer!
Here, in the Pacific NW, we’ve already had a good number of smoldering days…. pitta season has landed! Time to shift gears in our practice, diet and lifestyle rhythms so that we can balance out the increased fire element that pitta season brings. I find such great value in aligning my practice, diet and lifestyle with the flow of the seasons and the moon. Attuning to seasonal rhythms is called ritucharya, a derivation of “ritus”, the external seasonal rhythms, and “charya”, which means to follow.
This wasn’t always the case for me. Culturally we aren’t taught to follow these rhythms. In fact, we’re taught to ignore them and our bodies, and push through life at high speed. This isn't how our bodies work. Like the earth and its seasons, human biology is cyclic. We’re most healthy in body and mind when we flow with the natural rhythm of the seasons.
When I was in my late teens and early twenties and trying to be “healthy”, I would eat a cold salad every day for lunch at work. Lots of veggies ... that’s good, right? Oh also, I was living in Wisconsin, where cold and snow dominated the scene for almost half the year. When it’s cold outside, Ayurveda recommends eating warming foods. Cold salads certainly don’t fit into the “warming foods” category. As I was eating my raw veggies, I would experience a deep chill to the bone, specifically in my low back / kidney area. As I reflect back on that time now I had a myriad of other symptoms of this mal-aligned dietary choice. It took me years to get out of this habit because ... well ... it was a habit, and I thought I was doing the right thing. If we know what to pay attention to and listen, our bodies are constantly communicating with us.
So here we are in pitta season, and I want to help you learn how to best support yourself during this time of year. The pitta dosha is composed of the fire and water elements and is related to all the transformative processes in the body and mind. These processes include the digestion of food and the processing and assimilation of experiences and emotions. Pitta dominant folks are passionate, ambitious, and tend toward the “type A” personality. When the pitta dosha moves into excess there can be irritability, reactivity, anger and jealousy, inflammation, rashes and other “hot” conditions. As the outside temperature rises, we’re best supported by cooling, soothing and calming practices. When it’s warm outside, our body pushes our internal heat to the periphery to disperse it, and this means that our digestive fire (jatharagni) actually decreases.
PITTA SEASON RECOMMENDATIONS
ASANA: Include lots of variety, less intensity, and postures that promote a sense of ease and lightness. Work at 80% of capacity and don’t take yourself too seriously! Include poses which put pressure on the belly like Locust and Bow pose which build jatharagni, lots of Twists and Side Body openers, like Revolved Triangle and Revolved Head to Knee pose, which improve circulation and clear stagnation of the abdominal organs, and Forward Folds like Wide Legged Forward Fold, to calm the nervous system during the busy season of summer. Add in more Restorative and Gentle Yoga practices. You may use a Lowered Gaze, dristhi to root and soothe.
PRANAYAMA: Lengthen out your exhalations and practice Chandra Bhedana to down-regulate, and Sitali / Sitkari to cool.
MEDITATION: Focus on the coolness of the inhalation. Visualizations of non-firey images, such as a lake, a river, a mountain, or a blue sky. Affirming mantras cultivating non-judgement, compassion, and forgiveness.
MANTRA: “There’s nowhere to go, there’s nothing you need to do, there’s nothing you need to undo, and there’s no one you need to be”. Let these words really sink in ... What does it feel like to not have to do or be anyone during your practice?
DIET: Focus on eating and drinking lightly, with a mix of raw and cooked veggies, and incorporating sweet, bitter, astringent and cooling foods. Sweet foods such as fresh fruit, grains, and lightly cooked root vegetables can “sweeten” the sharpness of the pitta dosha. Bitter foods such as leafy greens, green vegetables, cumin and saffron are cooling and drying, balancing the heating effect of pitta. Astringent foods (one’s that leave a puckered or dry sensation in the mouth) such as legumes, some fruits such as apples and pomegranates, some veggies like broccoli and cauliflower, as well as basil, coriander, dill, fennel and parsley, can also aid in cooling and creating a sense of lightness. As the temperature rises, remember to include lots of good oils, like avocado and coconut, and stay hydrated with electrolyte-rich fluids, like herbal infusions - nettle and oat seed is a fantastic combination with the qualities of sweet, bitter and cooling. You can find out how to make herbal infusions here .
Summering Made Easier with Yoga
Summer is right around the corner here in the Pacific Northwest, and you know what that means ... Vacations! Camping! Backpacking! Road trips and Flights!Summering is super fun, except when you've been cramped in the tiniest of airplane seats or trapped in a car for hours. You finally arrive at your destination with an achy back, and there's no amount of coffee that will successfully revive you. Well, friends ... I'm here to help. Yoga to the rescue! Here's a little taste of a workshop I've developed to help address some of those pesky travel-induced ails.BEFORE:Before getting in your car or hopping on that plane, get your blood flowing and move your spine in all directions, especially twists and gentle back bending movements:
Standing Twist Flow – Stand with your feet wider than your hips, with your knees and toes turned out a little. Soften your knees place your arms next to your sides. Begin twisting side to side, and let your arms be floppy. As you twist to the right, lift your left heel and allow your left foot and entire leg rotate inward (to the R) and do the same for the opposite side. Do this for a minute or more. To help you stay balanced and prevent dizziness, find an object to look at in each direction you’re twisting.
Standing Back Bend – Place your hands on your low back and upper sacrum. Draw your pubic bone towards your belly using your abdominals. Inhale lift your ribcage away from your pelvis, reach your sternum forward and up, moving into a little back bend. You may keep your chin tucked or slowly release your head back.
DURING (not for the driver!):
Movements focusing on your feet and legs to inspire circulation in your low body and stretches to open your chest
Heel Pumps - Press your heels down, then lift your heels up while pressing the balls of your feet down, alternating back and forth. You can also make any other movements with your ankles and feet like pointing your toes or writing the alphabet with your foot.
Chest opener - Sit forward on your seat. Interlace your fingers and place your hands behind your head with wide elbows and move into a little baby backbend, while looking upward slightly.
AFTER: Get those hip flexors stretched out and blood flowing from your low body back up with an inversion. You will also benefit from doing the “Before” postures as well.
Hi Lunge Pose – From standing, step one leg back into a long stance, with the ball of your back foot rooted, and your heel lifted. Bend your front knee over your front heel. Reach your arms out to the sides, shoulder height, and then bend your elbows and point your fingers up towards the sky for “Cactus Arms”. If you’re not getting enough stretch in your back leg hip flexors, scoot your foot back a little more. Take 10 deep breaths or more then switch sides.
Legs up on a wall or chair (or a tree!) – Lie down next to a wall, a chair or a stool and put your legs up. Rest here for 5 minutes or more.
Support Your Adrenals for Optimal Summertime Fun!
Quite apparently, many of you are hungry for more information on herbal medicine, a wonderful thing for sure! I have received more comments on my article "How to Make Herbal Infusions" than any other I've written. So here you are, plant lovers, some herbal goodness....The sun is shining and warming us all to the core, inspiring a full fledged summer fever! People everywhere are crawling out of their winter caves, and socializing in high gear. Let's support this bounty of energy with some basic lifestyle guidelines and some herbal adrenal support, so we can keep playing without exhausting ourselves.
The adrenal glands are the powerhouses of our nervous system, responsible for making and storing certain hormones involved in our bodies stress response. In our modern day society, we are assaulted with an abundance of stimulation from the moment our loud alarm clocks jolt us out of slumber, to the minute our heads hit the pillow to retire. This hight level of stimulation can result in elevated stress, which eventually weakens the adrenal gland function, leaving us with an inability to properly handle stressful situations. Whether the stress comes from disease, injury or emotional trauma, we find ourselves in this depleted state and even a small stressor can feel like a disaster.
So, how do we strengthen adrenal function?
Eat - a nutrient dense diet, suited to our individual needs
Rest - well
Move - the body
Take - adrenal supportive herbs
Herbs! One category of herbs that are heavy hitters in the adrenal support world is called adaptogens. Adapatogens are herbs that help our bodies adapt. They guide our bodies to react properly to stressful situations. Instead of automatically going into flight or fight mode, at the drop of a hat, adaptogens invite our adrenals and other body systems to stay cool and collected. Thus we waste less energy, and experience less stress and anxiety.
Some of my favorite adaptogen herbs include: Holy Basil Leaf, Oat seed, Rhodiola Root, Ginseng (Asian and American) Root, Eleuthero Root, Licorice Root, and Schizandra Berry. These plants can be taken in a liquid alcohol or glycerite extract (tincture), a water extract (infusion or decoction), or as capsules. Depending on the plant as well as the part used, one form may be superior to the others. While all of these herbs fall into the adaptogen category, they also have other properties as well, and to choose the best option, it's advisable to consult with a practitioner before taking a new supplement.