Ayurveda
What is Āyurveda?
Āyur means Life, Veda means Knowledge
I like to say it is a “roadmap to our mind and body” as it truly gives us a detailed description of patterns and conditions and how to work with them. Āyurveda is an ancient system of medicine, dating back over five thousand years from India. It is a natural system that is based on simple energetics, common sense and natural therapies like food, plants, aromas, colors and daily and seasonal routines. It is considered a “sister science” to yoga.
On this page you will find some common concepts that we may address in our counseling sessions to assist you in understanding yourself and working towards balance utilizing the tools this system has to offer.
Pañcha Mahābhūtas
Doshas
The five elements combine in certain ways to create three main types, or constitutions, called Doshas. While the literal translation of the word “dosha” is described as meaning “fault” or “blemish” it is hard to accurately translate the breadth of meaning of the word “dosha”. You can think of it as a set of tendencies, or a set of characteristics, or the biological humors that effect the structure and function of our mind, emotions and body.
While there are three doshas, we are really made up of a combination of all the doshas, with one or two most predominant. Due to lifestyle factors, stress and trauma the doshas (and elements) can go out of balance and cause us pain and suffering. Part of our healing work is to bring the doshas and elements back into a comfortable balance.
Vāta
Vāta is a combination of the ether and air elements. This makes it light, subtle, dry, mobile and cold. When Vāta is increased in our body these elements will show as a feeling of being ungrounded, indecisive, anxious and unable to sleep.
We may startle easily and have trouble focusing. We may be hypersensitive and have changeable moods. In our physical body we may be very cold, dry and constipated.
Pitta
The fire and water can create a hot steam when out of balance – this can lead to anger and irritation, a very judgmental mind, being overly critical or perfectionistic. In our physical body we can experience inflammation, infections, red-skin conditions, hyperacidity, and diarrhea or other “hot” conditions.
Kapha
Kapha is a combination of earth and water. It is heavy, cold, moist, sticky, dull and stable. When these elements are out of balance we may feel lethargic, stuck and attached. We may struggle to let go of the past and have little motivation or desire to make positive changes.
We may experience depression and want to sleep all day, or indulge in emotional eating. Physically we may have excess mucous, swelling of tissues, slow digestion and weight gain.
We are born with a particular constitution but these qualities can increase or decrease based on the geography and climate of our living environment, the diet we favor, the lifestyle routines we follow, the work we do, what type of exercise we practice, how we handle stress and what traumas we have experienced.
If we are struggling with challenges in how we feel, or with what is happening with our mental health and emotional stability, it is imperative that we consider the entire picture of our lives and make changes accordingly.
Even if it seems our problems are coming from outside of us - like a relationship partner, or a work situation, sometimes our inner balance is off, and once reestablished we can see the outer situations more clearly. The process of Ayurvedic counseling can assist in finding this balance again.
Prāna, Tejas and Ojas
These are subtle forms of Vata, Pitta and Kapha that influence our vitality in life. These are very important subtle energies for healing.
Prāna
Referred to as “chi” in traditional Chinese medicine, is the basic life force. It allows us energy, creativity and movement in our lives. It is the subtle air element.
Tejas
This is a subtle form of the fire element which affords us insight, clarity, inspiration and motivation. It allows us to perceive clearly and have good judgement.
Ojas
This is likened to the subtle immune system in the body, or the deep energy reserve. When healthy and full it affords us a strong immune system and a stableness in our mind. We need strong ojas to live a healthy life, but often it is depleted from lifestyle choices, stress, or trauma. It can also get burnt up by high tejas or dried out by excess prāna.
The Three Gunas
These are qualities that exist in nature and are necessary for life and creation.
Sattva
This is the pure essence of consciousnesses, intelligence, peace and light. It is harmony, clarity, and purity. We are living in a Sattvic way when we are aligned with our higher purpose are living a clean, balanced life. Our Sattvic quality of consciousness must be nurtured on a regular basis, as the world can easily pull us into the realm of the other gunas.
Rajas
This is the principle of action, movement and energy. It is dynamic and can even be agitating. We are living a rajasic life when we are busy all of the time, constantly moving from one thing to the next and always keeping our mind occupied. Some of this is necessary for life to continue, but we need it in the right proportion. Too much rajas is disturbing to our mind.
Tamas
This is the principle of heaviness, lethargy, darkness and resistance. It is part of the necessity of life – so do not judge tamas as bad. Tamas is important at times, like in sleep or deep rest. But, we can also get stuck in tamas and not move forward.
Out of Tamas is born Rajas, and out of Rajas we cultivate Sattva. This means learning to live in harmony with ourselves, our environment, with others and finding more peace, clarity and contentment in our mind. We learn to cultivate the qualities that lead us to maintain balance and equilibrium.
Purushārthas
The Kośas
The Vedic system believes that we have “bodies” or “layers” around us called kośas or “sheaths”. These sheaths encase the soul, or ātman, and separate us from our true self, but they also allow us to live in the world and carry out our karmas. For the person interested in developing a more conscious awareness, we can get to know these sheaths and work with them. We can work with each layer to develop more clarity which allows us to access our higher consciousness.
Annamaya kośa
This is the physical body that is affected by diet and nutrition. This is the easiest sheath to understand as we can see and touch it. How we treat our physical body affects the additional layers.
Prānamaya kośa
This is the energy body. It is impacted by our breath and affects our energy levels and moods. It is the bridge between our body and our mind (which is why all those breathing practices work so well to make us feel calm and centered!)
Manomaya kośa
This is our mind and sensory input system. It is affected by the information and sensory impressions we take in. It governs our actions and feelings and is affected by the food and energy sheath.
Vijñānamaya kośa
This is the level of intelligence and discernment and is affected by wisdom, right knowledge and judgment. If we are making poor choices in the lower sheaths, we will not develop proper discernment. This is affected by the choices we make in life.
Ānandamaya kośa
This is the most subtle layer, the bliss sheath. This is the thinnest veil between us and our soul, and is a realm of pure bliss and awareness. It is affected by right relationship with ourselves and the divine.
Meditation
In the 20+ years I have been encouraging individuals to have a meditation practice, the one phrase I have heard over and over again is "I can't meditate because my mind can't get quiet". And this is always my opportunity to share that it is not our job to get the mind to be quiet. This is a misunderstanding that prevents people from working with this fabulous tool.
In the Yoga Sutras, there are certain practices that come before Dhyāna, which is the Sanskrit word for meditation. The one I will discuss here is Dhārana, which means concentration. Our job is to develop our power of concentration, that's really it. We pick an object of focus (the breath, a meaningful word or mantra, an image) and we do our best to let our mind rest on it. When we notice that we've left the object and we've been rehashing a conversation with someone in our head, we simply drop that train of thought and come back to our chosen object. And we do that over, and over, and over (and over!). Over time it gets easier to build our focus, but even then we have days when it is more challenging than others. That's okay. Just work on building concentration. If you do this, meditation spontaneously happens. It is not something you have to work so hard to do.
Just the simple act of slowing down and trying to focus the mind on one object has enormous benefits that has been well documented (do a google search for "benefits of meditation" and see for yourself!).
One study I will share is from the Behavioral Brain Research Journal from Basso, McHale, Ende, Oberlin and Suzuki (2019) found that even 13 minutes of meditation a day, done by non-experienced individuals, for 8 weeks supported emotional regulation, increased memory and attention and decreased anxiety. That's not bad for only 13 minutes a day.
If you want to start a meditation practice, I suggest beginning with one or two minutes a day. Set a timer on your phone so you're not worried about how long its been, sit comfortably and close your eyes. Take a deep breath in and a long exhale out. Decide if you are going to continue focusing on the breath or a simple word, like "peace" or "calm" or "om". When your mind wonders, just bring it back. No big deal. You'll be surprised how quickly that minute passes.
Basso, J. C., McHale, A., Ende, V., Oberlin, D. J., & Suzuki, W. A. (2019). Brief, daily meditation enhances attention, memory, mood, and emotional regulation in non-experienced meditators. Behavioral brain research, 356, 208–220. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbr.2018.08.023
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