Ayurveda - Part 5
Finding Balance
Now you have a better idea about your dosha balance and what this means for your body…your question may be, how do I find balance?
In Ayurvedic medicine, disease and ill-health begins through an imbalance in your dosha balance. These are really quiet imbalances at first, but later may manifest into larger issues like arthritis or chronic inflammation. Balancing your doshas can help your body find balance at its core.
What I love about Ayurvedic medicine is that it helps me find balance each day. I use it to help me feel grounded, balanced, focused, and mentally balanced. It helped me finally understand why cold and windy days were so bothersome to me (triggers a vata imbalance) and why I tended to get angry easily during heatwaves (triggers a pitta imbalance). By using dosha balancing foods, I find the heat of summer and the early cool and windy days so much easier to handle :).
(and I think everyone appreciates that I’m less of a wild hurricane most of the time now :).
In this part, I’m going to take you through a few ways you can use Ayurveda to help you find balance :). And at the end, I share with you some of my favourite books if you’d like to do some more reading.
Consider the Seasons
It can be easier to feel off balance during the season of your main dosha(s). This is a time to take extra care and enjoy more dosha balancing foods.
Kapha – Winter to early Spring (dark, heavy, calm season)
Pitta – Late Spring to early Fall (hot & bright season)
Vata – Fall to early Winter (dry & windy season)
An example of the seasonal effect is one I see often in Kapha people. During the early spring, a Kapha person may feel really off. Everyone around them is feeling “spring fever” and getting out to hike, garden, and enjoy the early days of spring…but a Kapha person might struggle to get off the couch. Feeling very sedentary is a common kapha problem.
This is a good time to bring in lots of Kapha balancing foods, which are also seasonal foods. Sprouts, early lettuce greens, and asparagus (all early spring veggies) help to pull up the energy of a kapha person and “de-root” them from the couch.
For me, I need to be careful in the summertime. The heat can trigger lots of inflammation in my body (pitta imbalance) and so it’s a common time for me to have skin breakouts and joint pain. September/October winds can rile up my vata dosha and cause anxiety and I have trouble concentrating. A big bowl of roasted sweet potatoes, covered in butter, is a fall favourite dosha balancer for me :).
Your Age
The doshas are dominant at different times of your life as well:
Childhood – Kapha (growth)
Adulthood – Pitta (accomplishment, determination)
Senior Years – Vata (creative, spiritual)
This means that you may have new symptoms that are unrelated to your dosha balance at this time. Kids tend to have a lot of congestion and colds (kapha), adults can be fiery and aggressive (pitta) and seniors may develop constipation, arthritis, and forgetfulness (vata).
This is something to keep in the back of your mind, especially if you’ve got a lot of dosha symptoms that aren’t in your normal balance. I.e., if you’re a kapha person with a lot of vata problems. It could be your age (and maybe the season). Adding some vata-balacing foods to your diet, even if you’re a kapha person, can be helpful :)
What You Eat
This is my favourite part of Ayurvedic medicine and is where I find the most balance. I need to stress again that the food lists for each dosha aren’t a list of “good” and “bad” foods, but instead act as a general guide to help you find balance. If you’re feeling symptoms, eat less of the foods that aggravate your dosha and more of the ones that help to balance you. That’s it, perfection isn’t needed.
And, in time, it can be really easy. I don’t have the list of foods that balance my doshas memorized, instead, I have a few foods on hand that I grab when I’m feeling off.
Cool, windy days (or any other time I’m feeling my vata-ness out of whack) – I make a batch of sweet root veggies, like sweet potatoes and carrots, and I make sure they’re well-roasted and well-oiled. This helps me feel more balanced quickly, usually by the next day.
If I’m feeling hot, hot-headed, or frustrated, I grab some pitta cooling foods. These are mostly raw summer veggies…and truthfully, it’s one of the rare times I’ll make a frozen smoothie or a salad. It works like a charm if my pitta-ness is overheated.
Overall, the food lists are something to experiment with and play with. Where do your staple foods land? Do they help you find balance, or might they be increasing your symptoms? Are there any balancing foods that you could easily eat more of?
In Conclusion
We all could spend years and decades diving into the brilliance of Ayurvedic medicine and we’d find so many treasures and so much wisdom. And, you can learn a little bit and try it out.
This masterclass is a quick introduction into a 5000-year-old tradition. There’s so much more to learn and discover, it’s quite a brilliant system. If you’d like to learn more, here are some great books that I’ve really enjoyed:
Dr. Vasant Lad –
All of his books are wonderful. He’s one of the top experts and some of his books go into great detail and others are easier to dive into.
One of my favourites is his book “The Complete Book of Ayurvedic Home Remedies”. The first half is a great and readable introduction to Ayurvedic medicine (it was my reference for many sections in this masterclass) and the second half includes remedies for specific ailments, like inflammation, back problems, and other conditions.
He’s also the author of “Textbook of Ayurveda” volumes I & II. There are many books of his to choose from.
Dr. David Frawley –
He is another leading expert in Ayurveda. His book “Ayurveda and the Mind” takes an in-depth look at the physical, emotional, and mental supportive elements of Ayurveda.
The Everyday Ayurvedic Cookbook by Kate O’Donnell –
This is a beautifully created cookbook with tons of recipes. At the top corner of each recipe, it shows which dosha(s) it supports and which ones the recipe might aggravate. My only wish is that there were pictures of the recipes to entice me to use it more often. But, I’ve heard from people who have tried many recipes from it and they’ve loved them :)
What has intrigued you the most about Ayurvedic Medicine? Or, if you’ve done some experimenting, what has helped the most? Share it with the group below or email me directly. I’d love to hear about your experience :).
Got any questions or comments? Comment below, jump to our private Facebook Group, or the Ask Lisa page :).