Transitioning into Fall and Winter: The Fall & Winter Vata Diet
by Gary Gran, CYT, DAy.
The long days of summer have passed. The trees have turned color marking the end of summer and the beginning of autumn. The leaves have fallen to create a thick mulch like a blanket to protect the earth against the cold. The plants are going dormant for the long sleep of winter. And everywhere nature is in the process of gathering and storing. It is against this backdrop that we will explore the ayurvedic recommendations for fall and winter. First let’s review the transition from summer to fall.
Summer is known as pitta time, characterized by the combination of fire and water. In early fall, the accumulated fire of summer is released giving rise to the colorful leaf displays. The heat and humidity of summer naturally give way to the cool, drier days of fall. During this transitional time, we want to imitate the natural process and release the build-up of summer heat from our bodies. An excellent way to do this is to eat plenty of apples and pears which are in seasonal abundance. Their soft fiber and mild astringency help clear the bowels and the blood of excess heat. Do this while the days are still warm and the leaves are changing.
When the weather turns cooler and the dried leaves are falling to the ground, we can continue to eat the abundant apples and pears, only then we cook them to guard against the cold weather. At the same time we begin to eat less summer fare like salads and fruits and transition to warmer fare like soups and stews.
Fall is characterized as being cold, dry, light, rough, dispersing, moving and quickly changing. Ayurveda calls this combination of qualities vata or wind. If we continue eating cool and light summer foods into the fall, we can become too cold and too dry. If we don’t take time to slow down we can become worn out and exhausted with excessive movement in the body (think cold shivers). Mentally we are in danger of becoming scattered, unfocused, anxious and fearful (think trembling leaves).
The basic strategy for fall all the way through winter is to apply the opposite qualities of warmth, moisture, nourishment, smoothness, slowness, regularity and focus. Let’s go back to our example of the apples and pears. Apples and pears are naturally astringent, that is cooling, drying, and toning. For the fall and winter, we need to counteract the cooling and drying qualities. So we cook the fruit slowly and add a little cinnamon and organic butter. The cooking and cinnamon provide warmth and the butter provides moisture. Yum!
Every natural quality has its opposite. If we are moving into a cold season or are feeling too cold we apply the opposite quality of warmth to provide balance. An important pair of qualities in our study is expansion and contraction, or dispersing and gathering, which move in a cycle. Let’s take a closer look, then we’ll be ready to understand the diet for fall and winter.
The expanding half of the cycle begins with the spring harvest of shoots and sprouts and culminates with the abundant summer harvest of fruits and vegetables. The fall harvest marks the beginning of the contracting half of the cycle where the food value is concentrated into seeds, nuts, grains and roots before the rest of the plant withers and disperses (the action of vata). The cycle ends with winter which represents dormancy, where the life force is fully contracted before expanding outwards again in the spring. The concentrated forms of plant-life from the fall harvest which are able to withstand the long winter are the key to a healthy fall and winter diet.
In general, the fall/winter diet is called the vata pacifying diet. It features highly nutritious warm cooked foods and drinks. Adequate protein intake and high quality oils are essential. Fall harvest foods like whole grains, seeds, and nuts are known for their concentrated protein and oils. Proteins are building foods that give us the strength to endure the long winter. Oils counteract the dryness of vata and help raise our metabolism to provide more warmth. Well cooked whole grain and bean combos with added high-quaility oils from nuts and seeds, porridges, grain soups, stewed veges and roots, nuts and seeds are the staples.
High quality animal protein is a useful supplement. Organic poultry is one good choice for concentrated protein. Fresh fish is also high in protein and essential fats, but care needs to be taken to avoid environmental toxity and contributing to over-fishing. Beef and pork are considered the most warming, but being highest on the food chain, they are also a potential source of stored environmental toxins. All flesh foods need to be of highest quality and eaten in small portions if at all. Yogi’s will want to avoid eating meat for spiritual reasons. Remember that not just nutrition is concentrated in animal flesh, but also the hormones and emotional primal fear that are released when the animal is killed.
As an alternative to flesh food, an excellent choice is to supplement with organic eggs which are highly concentrated and nutritious. Dairy is another good choice, but is considered neutral to cool in nature. Therefore choose soured and aged varieties or simply use melted cheese or warm milk with spices. Whey protein powder is excellent. If you are deficient in protein you may feel low energy and weak with chronic aches and pains as the winter progresses. (As a special note, vegans must also take care to supplement with B-12. Also, vegan diets and raw food diets are considered too cooling for northern winters. Without animal foods, extra care must be taken to use the seeds, nuts and tonic herbs which are especially warming. Sesame seeds and oil, red ginseng root and ashwagandha root are good choices).
Seeds have special value in the cold months because of their high oil content and warming nature. Many are considered to be carminatives or digestives. When freshly crushed or ground they release their aromatic essential oils. Try adding fennel, caraway, cumin, coriander, mustard, dill, anise, sesame or celery seeds to your soups and stews. In Indian cooking black mustard seeds, onion seeds (kalonji), wild celery seeds (ajwain) and fenugreek seeds are also used. One combination is called panch phoron which is cumin, black mustard, kalonji, fenugreek and fennel seeds. You can also make wonderful digestive teas with your crushed seeds.
Of course seeds are a great source of vegetable oil as well. Remember a key feature of our strategy is to provide moisture. Therefore fall and winter is the time to apply oil both externally and internally to ward off the dryness of vata. Sesame oil is the classic massage oil of ayurveda. First warm the oil slightly, apply from top to toe, exercise a little if you like and take a hot shower or bath to remove the excess. (Remember to clean the bottom of the tub after use to avoid slipping). Any oil or lotion applied to the skin is absorbed into the body (trans-dermally) so make sure it is of good quality and food grade. Two other choices for massage are sunflower oil which is lighter and mustard seed oil which is even more warming than sesame oil.
Sesame oil is also excellent for cooking, as is sunflower seed oil (it has a more neutral flavor). Flax seed oil is not used for cooking but is especially high in the essential omega-3 fatty acids. Try a spoonful or two every day. Other sources of omega-3’s are fish oils, pumpkin seed oil, hemp seed oil and Canadian rapeseed oil known as Canola. Canola is a hybrid product and may cause allergic reactions in some people. Others avoid Canola for political, scientific, and ecological reasons involving genetic modification. And don’t forget seeds for eating. Sesame seeds, sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds are all delicious.
Nuts are also an excellent source of oil and protein. Walnut oil also contains some omega-3’s, though not as much as flax oil. Almond oil and apricot kernal oil are excellent for massage. All nuts, which are harvested in the fall, are excellent and healthful additions to your fall and winter diet.
The best grains are whole grain or minimally processed rice, spelt, wheat and oatmeal. They can be slowly cooked with water, spices and oil. Millet, corn, rye, and barley can be too drying by themselves, so use them less frequently and balance them with other foods. Buckwheat is also drying but has the special feature of being warming. Add a little organic butter or sesame oil and you’re all set!
Roots are another important part of the fall harvest and are divided into two main classes, bitter and sweet. The bitter roots like dandelion, burdock, gentian, barberry, echinacea, golden seal, rhubarb, yellow dock and Oregon grape root are used early in the fall to clear heat from the body and selectively through the vata season to ward off infections. Sweet roots like carrots, parsnips, turnips and rutabaga are used as food and are excellent additions to soups and stews. Other sweet roots are considered to be tonics, strengtheners and immune boosters. They are sometimes added to soups and stews as well or taken as teas or supplements. Try astragalus, ginseng, winter cherry (ashwagandha), wild asparagus (shatavari), Chinese angelica (dong quai), rehmannia, solomon’s seal and wild yam root.
Other important veges are the tubers including potatoes, sweet potatoes, yams and jerusalem artichokes. Please note that potatoes are drying and gassy for some people so be sure to cook them well and add some butter or oil. Cruciferous veges including brocolli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower and kale are also excellent winter foods. They keep well because of their toughness, but need to be softened and well cooked before eating. All the winter squashes and pumpkins are excellent winter foods. They keep well because of their thick skin and are nutrient dense and unctuous.
Fall is a time of gathering and storing. Fruits can be dried for winter use. Tomatoes can be canned for addition to soups and stews. Apples are cooked into apple butter or made into cider. Grapes can be made into wine which has a warming quality. For fresh fruit, we can enjoy the heavier fruits like banana, avocado, figs and dates. Citrus can also be enjoyed in the winter. Try baked grapefruit or add lemon juice to warm water with raw honey. For sweeteners enjoy the nutrient dense ones like molasses, raw honey, barley malt and rice syrup.
We can also gather and concentrate our own vital forces by slowing down and turning within. Let the body become very quiet and still, practice slow deep diaphragmatic breathing and draw your awareness inwards to a single point. Then slowly repeat a seed phrase over and over again in your mind until you become very quiet and peaceful.
In sanskrit, the word for a seed is bija. It is defined as the seed of plants, the seed-corn or grain, the semen of animals, or a short seed sound or mantra. Bija is also defined as the germ or primary cause, the source, the origin and the truth. This last definition, truth, points to the relationship of the seed to what is known as satyam, the level of existence which is beyond time and space, which is permanent and non-changing, therefore considered true. By contrast, we also study ritam, the aspects of existence which are in time and space, therefore impermanent and subject to the cycles of birth, change, and decay. What is it in the seed which is permanent and provides continuity in life if not life itself?
The cycle of life then is seen in the form of the seed or root sprouting or expanding into formed existence, having its day in the sun, and then withdrawing back to the seed or root. Summer represents the expanding movement outwards and winter represents the contracting inward movement back to the dormant seed state. This on-going pulse or rhythm is the breath of life which is forever creating and dissolving the world.
Showing posts with label astrology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label astrology. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Lesson #12: The Fullness of Summer: The Summer Pitta Diet
The Fullness of Summer: The Summer Pitta Diet
by Gary Gran, CYT, DAy
How quickly the coolness of spring seems to turn into the heat of summer! And before we know it, summer is giving way to fall and fall to winter. At the same time, the spring harvest quickly blooms into the summer harvest, and before we know it we are storing foods for winter use.
Many people are familiar with the concept of eating with the seasons to maintain good health. For example, we can eat a reducing low-fat diet in the spring, an energizing high-carb diet in the summer, and a warming high-protein diet in the fall and winter.
To help stay in tune with the changing seasons it is especially helpful to mark the transitions between the seasons. In this article, we will focus on diet for the transition from spring to summer, summer itself, and the transition from summer to fall.
For background let’s review the concept of tridosha (three-doshas) from ayurvedic science. Kapha dosha is a combination of earth and water and has the qualities of coolness, dampness & heaviness and exhibits a downward, slow, and contracting action. It accumulates in nature and within ourselves during winter to a point of excess or aggravation in the spring. Nature’s spring harvest gives us the natural antidote for excessive kapha. Thus, the ideal spring diet is warming, drying and light with an upward and outward action.
If we continue our spring diet too long, we can become too warm, too dry, too light, and too expanded (think frazzled and scattered). During this time, we see the shoots, buds, tender greens, and early flowers of spring turning to the fully flowered, fully leafed and fruiting fullness of summer. This is the time to begin incorporating the full array of summer foods into our diet.
After kapha dosha comes pitta dosha which is a combination of fire and water. Fire has the qualities of heat, dryness, and lightness with a rapidly rising and spreading action. Water has the qualities of coolness, dampness, and heaviness with the downward and contracting action we noted with kapha dosha. Together, fire and water, as pitta dosha, have the qualities of heat, dampness and lightness with a rising yet contracted or intense action.
We can say that water helps to balance fire and that maintaining this balance of fire and water is central to maintaining good health in the same way that it is essential for maintaining all plant and animal life. For example, in gardening we need the right amount of sunlight and warmth (fire) and the right amount of water for each plant.
The ideal summer diet then is one that is cooling, moistening, nourishing and refreshing, with a balanced action. We find these qualities in abundance in the natural summer harvest which is rich in mature leafy greens, colorful flowers and fruits, and naturally complex carbohydrates. According to taste, summer foods should emphasize these naturally sweet foods, with the addition of bitter (cooling and clearing) and astringent (balancing & toning) foods.
After pitta dosha comes vata dosha which is a combination of air and ether. Vata has the qualities of coldness, dryness, and lightness. At the end of summer, it is time to transition back to a richer, more warming, oily and heavy diet for winter.
The Summer Diet
In the transition from spring to summer we can emphasize green leafy vegetables which are in abundance. They are bitter and astringent with a high chlorophyll content. They are detoxing, cooling, cleansing of the blood, the liver, and the skin. Choose tender or bitter greens and lettuces of all kinds along with handfuls of cilantro, parsley, dill and mint for generous salads. Also cook the more mature greens as they become available like kale, collards, chard and beet greens.
Flowers have a special affinity with pitta and help mark the transition from spring to summer. The bright colors correspond to the element of fire. Keep plenty of flowers around the house and garden and learn which flowers can be eaten. Try adding squash blossoms, rose petals, violets and borage flowers to your salads. Nasturtiums are delightful as well which exhibit a slightly pungent taste which shows its subtle fiery nature.
Some flowers are too strong and fiery, however, and can even be poisonous or narcotic. Take special note of the deadly nightshade (solonaceae) family such as belladonna, dulcamara, henbane, jimsonweed, and tobacco. Interestingly, when prepared homeopathically, these can be excellent remedies for excess fire, fever, redness, and delerium by the principle of like cures like. Please note the fruits of these plants can also be poisonous, like the brightly colored belladonna and dulcamara berries. Also, we have the cultivated nightshades, peppers, tomatoes, potatoes and eggplant, which can aggravate inflammatory conditions like arthritis or act as common allergens.
As summer comes into fullness, we can focus on the cool and refreshing juicy fruits of the summer harvest. Eat plenty of apricots, sweet cherries, grapes, peaches, nectarines, plums and melons of all kinds. Perhaps the epitome of the summer harvest is the magnificent watermelon which is deliciously sweet, cooling and refreshing.
We can also enjoy the generosity of nature’s harvest from the summery tropics. Consider eating more mangoes, sweet pineapple, papaya, avocado, coconut, dates, and figs as they come into seasonal abundance from May through October.
A special class of fruits are the berries. They are well noted for their medicinal use. Their rich colors show a special affinity to fire. The colors show the presence of rich pigments, flavonoids, and phytonutrients now being studied by modern science. In classic ayurveda, the Indian gooseberry, known as amla or amalaki, is considered one of the best rejuvenatives for pitta, with protective and nourishing actions for the blood, liver, heart, eyes, skin and small intestine. We can use bilberries and wolfberries for the eyes, elderberries for the immune system, hawthorn berries for the heart, blueberries for the pancreas, schizandra berries for the adrenals, cranberries for the urinary tract, and saw palmetto and chaste tree berries for the reproductive system. We can enjoy fresh raspberries, blackberries, mulberries and organic strawberries. (Please note that commercial strawberries are highly sprayed and not recommended.)
For vegetables we can enjoy generous amounts of the so-called fruits of the vine such as cucumbers, okra, summer squash, zucchini, bitter melon, peppers and tomatoes. And what would summer be without delicious fresh-picked sweet corn? We can continue with lots of salads and work in more cruciferous veges like kale, brocolli (especially the flower heads), cauliflower and cabbage towards fall. Other veges of note are artichokes from the desert and jerusalem artichokes which are native to the midwest. For the transition to fall, when the weather is cooler, work in parsnips, sweet potatoes, and rutabagas.
Remember that pitta is a combination of fire and water. Too much fire has a drying effect. Use unctuous grains like basmati rice, spelt, whole wheat, and oatmeal to counteract the dryness. Too much water leads to dampness, humidity, heaviness, swelling, bloating and oozing. Use drying grains like blue corn, barley, quinoa and amaranth to counteract dampness.
All beans and peas are excellent for pitta and summer use because of their natural astringency and protective effect against environmental toxins. Try soy milk, tofu spreads, tofu dogs and cold bean salads for convenience. But don’t forget the abundant variety of fresh beans, string beans, green beans, peas and snow peas. Furthermore, whole grain and bean combinations provide a rich source of plant-based protein.
Animal based proteins are generally more heating and should be used with care during the summer. Exceptions are fresh water fish, and, if desired, organic poultry. Eggs can be a reliable source of supplemental protein, but the best source for summer use may be fresh organic dairy products. Fresh dairy is considered to have a neutral to cool affect on the body. If you want to enjoy ice cream on occassion, summer is the time to do it!
Drink spring water, fresh vege and fruit juices, and green tea in the summer. Green tea combines well with the mints, crysanthemum and rose for sun tea. Crushed fennel, coriander and dill seeds make a fine digestive tea. And you can use passionflower, california poppy, or chamomile tea to relax.
Cold-pressed olive oil and organic ghee are the best oils for regular summer use. Sunflower oil can be used if there are no inflammatory disorders. For essential fatty acids, borage oil and evening primrose oils are specific for pitta. Borage flowers have a cooling blue color and attract bumble bees to the garden. The beautiful evening primrose blooms in the coolness of the evening in harmony with the moon. It can be used for its phytoestrogenic properties to help balance the feminine moon cycle. In fact, why not enjoy the cool evenings and refreshing moonlight yourself!
You can also enjoy the coolness of water, gardens and woods. Think cool while you practice summer yoga poses like the half moon, tree, cobra, grasshopper, half spinal twist, inverted lake and lotus. Wear cool colors like white, blues and light greens, wear silver against the skin, and use soothing apricot kernal oil, coconut oil or aloe vera on the skin. Use floral scents like rose, jasmine, lavender, geranium or neroli, or more grounding woody scents like sandal.
Rose holds a very special place in our summer repertoire. The rosaceae family includes not only the mighty rose itself, but also the afore-mentioned cherries, peaches, nectarines, apricots, plums, raspberries, blackberries, strawberries and hawthorn berries, all marked by their five-pointed sepals. The leaves and petals of the rose family are noted for their astringency. For example, rosewater is used as a topical astringent and raspberry leaf tea as an internal astringent and gentle diuretic. And last but not least, the rose family includes all the apples and pears which mark the end of summer and the transition to fall.
The transition from summer to fall is also noted by the glorious burst of autumnal colors. This colorful pittic display can be viewed as the last hurrah of summer. We call it Indian summer. This is the time to release the remnants of summer heat from the body. And this is the time to enjoy the late summer harvest of apples and pears, perfect cleansing and clearing foods to end the summer season.
by Gary Gran, CYT, DAy
How quickly the coolness of spring seems to turn into the heat of summer! And before we know it, summer is giving way to fall and fall to winter. At the same time, the spring harvest quickly blooms into the summer harvest, and before we know it we are storing foods for winter use.
Many people are familiar with the concept of eating with the seasons to maintain good health. For example, we can eat a reducing low-fat diet in the spring, an energizing high-carb diet in the summer, and a warming high-protein diet in the fall and winter.
To help stay in tune with the changing seasons it is especially helpful to mark the transitions between the seasons. In this article, we will focus on diet for the transition from spring to summer, summer itself, and the transition from summer to fall.
For background let’s review the concept of tridosha (three-doshas) from ayurvedic science. Kapha dosha is a combination of earth and water and has the qualities of coolness, dampness & heaviness and exhibits a downward, slow, and contracting action. It accumulates in nature and within ourselves during winter to a point of excess or aggravation in the spring. Nature’s spring harvest gives us the natural antidote for excessive kapha. Thus, the ideal spring diet is warming, drying and light with an upward and outward action.
If we continue our spring diet too long, we can become too warm, too dry, too light, and too expanded (think frazzled and scattered). During this time, we see the shoots, buds, tender greens, and early flowers of spring turning to the fully flowered, fully leafed and fruiting fullness of summer. This is the time to begin incorporating the full array of summer foods into our diet.
After kapha dosha comes pitta dosha which is a combination of fire and water. Fire has the qualities of heat, dryness, and lightness with a rapidly rising and spreading action. Water has the qualities of coolness, dampness, and heaviness with the downward and contracting action we noted with kapha dosha. Together, fire and water, as pitta dosha, have the qualities of heat, dampness and lightness with a rising yet contracted or intense action.
We can say that water helps to balance fire and that maintaining this balance of fire and water is central to maintaining good health in the same way that it is essential for maintaining all plant and animal life. For example, in gardening we need the right amount of sunlight and warmth (fire) and the right amount of water for each plant.
The ideal summer diet then is one that is cooling, moistening, nourishing and refreshing, with a balanced action. We find these qualities in abundance in the natural summer harvest which is rich in mature leafy greens, colorful flowers and fruits, and naturally complex carbohydrates. According to taste, summer foods should emphasize these naturally sweet foods, with the addition of bitter (cooling and clearing) and astringent (balancing & toning) foods.
After pitta dosha comes vata dosha which is a combination of air and ether. Vata has the qualities of coldness, dryness, and lightness. At the end of summer, it is time to transition back to a richer, more warming, oily and heavy diet for winter.
The Summer Diet
In the transition from spring to summer we can emphasize green leafy vegetables which are in abundance. They are bitter and astringent with a high chlorophyll content. They are detoxing, cooling, cleansing of the blood, the liver, and the skin. Choose tender or bitter greens and lettuces of all kinds along with handfuls of cilantro, parsley, dill and mint for generous salads. Also cook the more mature greens as they become available like kale, collards, chard and beet greens.
Flowers have a special affinity with pitta and help mark the transition from spring to summer. The bright colors correspond to the element of fire. Keep plenty of flowers around the house and garden and learn which flowers can be eaten. Try adding squash blossoms, rose petals, violets and borage flowers to your salads. Nasturtiums are delightful as well which exhibit a slightly pungent taste which shows its subtle fiery nature.
Some flowers are too strong and fiery, however, and can even be poisonous or narcotic. Take special note of the deadly nightshade (solonaceae) family such as belladonna, dulcamara, henbane, jimsonweed, and tobacco. Interestingly, when prepared homeopathically, these can be excellent remedies for excess fire, fever, redness, and delerium by the principle of like cures like. Please note the fruits of these plants can also be poisonous, like the brightly colored belladonna and dulcamara berries. Also, we have the cultivated nightshades, peppers, tomatoes, potatoes and eggplant, which can aggravate inflammatory conditions like arthritis or act as common allergens.
As summer comes into fullness, we can focus on the cool and refreshing juicy fruits of the summer harvest. Eat plenty of apricots, sweet cherries, grapes, peaches, nectarines, plums and melons of all kinds. Perhaps the epitome of the summer harvest is the magnificent watermelon which is deliciously sweet, cooling and refreshing.
We can also enjoy the generosity of nature’s harvest from the summery tropics. Consider eating more mangoes, sweet pineapple, papaya, avocado, coconut, dates, and figs as they come into seasonal abundance from May through October.
A special class of fruits are the berries. They are well noted for their medicinal use. Their rich colors show a special affinity to fire. The colors show the presence of rich pigments, flavonoids, and phytonutrients now being studied by modern science. In classic ayurveda, the Indian gooseberry, known as amla or amalaki, is considered one of the best rejuvenatives for pitta, with protective and nourishing actions for the blood, liver, heart, eyes, skin and small intestine. We can use bilberries and wolfberries for the eyes, elderberries for the immune system, hawthorn berries for the heart, blueberries for the pancreas, schizandra berries for the adrenals, cranberries for the urinary tract, and saw palmetto and chaste tree berries for the reproductive system. We can enjoy fresh raspberries, blackberries, mulberries and organic strawberries. (Please note that commercial strawberries are highly sprayed and not recommended.)
For vegetables we can enjoy generous amounts of the so-called fruits of the vine such as cucumbers, okra, summer squash, zucchini, bitter melon, peppers and tomatoes. And what would summer be without delicious fresh-picked sweet corn? We can continue with lots of salads and work in more cruciferous veges like kale, brocolli (especially the flower heads), cauliflower and cabbage towards fall. Other veges of note are artichokes from the desert and jerusalem artichokes which are native to the midwest. For the transition to fall, when the weather is cooler, work in parsnips, sweet potatoes, and rutabagas.
Remember that pitta is a combination of fire and water. Too much fire has a drying effect. Use unctuous grains like basmati rice, spelt, whole wheat, and oatmeal to counteract the dryness. Too much water leads to dampness, humidity, heaviness, swelling, bloating and oozing. Use drying grains like blue corn, barley, quinoa and amaranth to counteract dampness.
All beans and peas are excellent for pitta and summer use because of their natural astringency and protective effect against environmental toxins. Try soy milk, tofu spreads, tofu dogs and cold bean salads for convenience. But don’t forget the abundant variety of fresh beans, string beans, green beans, peas and snow peas. Furthermore, whole grain and bean combinations provide a rich source of plant-based protein.
Animal based proteins are generally more heating and should be used with care during the summer. Exceptions are fresh water fish, and, if desired, organic poultry. Eggs can be a reliable source of supplemental protein, but the best source for summer use may be fresh organic dairy products. Fresh dairy is considered to have a neutral to cool affect on the body. If you want to enjoy ice cream on occassion, summer is the time to do it!
Drink spring water, fresh vege and fruit juices, and green tea in the summer. Green tea combines well with the mints, crysanthemum and rose for sun tea. Crushed fennel, coriander and dill seeds make a fine digestive tea. And you can use passionflower, california poppy, or chamomile tea to relax.
Cold-pressed olive oil and organic ghee are the best oils for regular summer use. Sunflower oil can be used if there are no inflammatory disorders. For essential fatty acids, borage oil and evening primrose oils are specific for pitta. Borage flowers have a cooling blue color and attract bumble bees to the garden. The beautiful evening primrose blooms in the coolness of the evening in harmony with the moon. It can be used for its phytoestrogenic properties to help balance the feminine moon cycle. In fact, why not enjoy the cool evenings and refreshing moonlight yourself!
You can also enjoy the coolness of water, gardens and woods. Think cool while you practice summer yoga poses like the half moon, tree, cobra, grasshopper, half spinal twist, inverted lake and lotus. Wear cool colors like white, blues and light greens, wear silver against the skin, and use soothing apricot kernal oil, coconut oil or aloe vera on the skin. Use floral scents like rose, jasmine, lavender, geranium or neroli, or more grounding woody scents like sandal.
Rose holds a very special place in our summer repertoire. The rosaceae family includes not only the mighty rose itself, but also the afore-mentioned cherries, peaches, nectarines, apricots, plums, raspberries, blackberries, strawberries and hawthorn berries, all marked by their five-pointed sepals. The leaves and petals of the rose family are noted for their astringency. For example, rosewater is used as a topical astringent and raspberry leaf tea as an internal astringent and gentle diuretic. And last but not least, the rose family includes all the apples and pears which mark the end of summer and the transition to fall.
The transition from summer to fall is also noted by the glorious burst of autumnal colors. This colorful pittic display can be viewed as the last hurrah of summer. We call it Indian summer. This is the time to release the remnants of summer heat from the body. And this is the time to enjoy the late summer harvest of apples and pears, perfect cleansing and clearing foods to end the summer season.
Lesson #11: Springing Into Action: The Spring Kapha Diet
Springing into Action: The Spring Kapha Diet
by Gary Gran, CYT, D.Ay.
Now that spring is here we have said good-bye to winter for another year. Or have we? It is possible that we are still carrying around the effects of winter even though the calendar pages tell us it is over. Ayurveda tells us that the effects of winter accumulate in the body over the course of the winter to the point of possible aggravation in the spring. This is termed aggravated kapha. Kapha has the qualities of earth and water which together are cold, damp, heavy, slow, downward-moving and contracted. When in balance with the other elements, earth and water provide stability, nourishment, and insulation from the cold of winter. However, when in excess, we can feel overly heavy, sluggish, dull and congested. If you are feeling heavy in this way, it may be time to do some spring cleansing and change your diet according to the change in season.
It is important to eat warm nourishing foods that have adequate amounts of proteins, fats, and carbs during the winter months. We can think of good winter foods as those that store easily, like nuts, seeds, beans, whole grains and roots. These are foods that are harvested late in the year and are traditionally stored for winter use. They are dense and known as heavy or building foods. In the winter it is sensible to take more of the heavy foods, but in spring time we need to change our diet to favor the lighter foods like vegetables, fruits, herbs and spices. If we do this, we can avoid carrying around winter longer than we need to!
These days in America we can eat almost any food we want whenever we want due to availability. But it can be most instructive and helpful to consider what foods are naturally in season. Nature has a way of maintaining balance and providing just the right types of foods at the right time, if only we pay attention. There is an old saying that to go against nature is unwise.
In early spring it can be helpful to gradually lighten the diet. This means eat less and chew more. If we had to rely on stored provisions, we may have to stretch out our remaining food reserves until the spring harvest. As the weather turns a little warmer we can consider some light fasting and more exercise. We can sleep less and get outside more often to experience the miracle of spring. We can notice how the earth stirs and new life begins to literally spring up from the ground.
The long dormancy of winter is over and nature wakes up refreshed and renewed. We see the green mantle of the earth returning. Migrating birds pass through and buds form. The animals forage for rhizomes, shoots and sprouts. Sap rises in the trees. If you want to know what is meant by kundalini rising just walk outside on the ground in the springtime!
The seasonal spring diet is a natural antidote to the heaviness of winter. If our winter diet leaves us feeling cold, damp, and heavy, then a true spring diet brings us warmth, dryness, and lightness. Spring foods have an upward-moving and expanded energy.
First of all it is time to reduce the amount of fats and oils in the diet. Consider a vegetarian diet or use only low-fat animal foods. Especially consider eliminating or restricting dairy to low-fat or fermented forms like yogurt. And forget about ice cream until the full heat of summer! By all means get the junk oils and saturated fats out of your diet.
Change your cooking methods. Eat more raw foods, especially salads. Consider steaming and using lighter pots and pans. Put away the heavy pots used for hearty winter soups and stews. On windy days you can take more liquids or prepare light brothy soups.
Definitely favor all the spring vegetables and herbs, especially greens.You can easily identify the best spring foods as shoots, sprouts and tender greens. Shoots include scallions, chives, asparagus and celery. Notice the upward-moving energy.
Sprouts are most excellent in spring. Consider how whole seeds, grains, beans, and even nuts can lie dormant all winter to sprout in the spring! The germination begins as the ground softens and becomes moist from the spring rains. But growth really takes off after the first thunder and lightning of spring! The lightning serves to wake up the life force and hasten new growth.
If we follow nature, we also need to wake up our foods. Soaking and sprouting is the best method. Consider sprouting seeds like alfalfa, clover, radish and fenugreek. Then there are sprouted beans like lentils, garbanzos, peas, and mung. Whole grains can be sprouted like barley, wheat and rye. You can even sprout almonds. A classic ayurvedic tonic is to soak 10 almonds overnight. In the morning slip off the peels and eat or blend with water into nut milk.
Spring greens are a must. Young and tender greens are perhaps best, but be sure to eat more lettuces, radicchio, arugala, endive, kale, collards, chard, mustards, spinach, brocolli, Brussels sprouts and cabbages of all kinds. You can even get out and forage for wild greens and early perennials in your garden. Look for dandelions, nettles, parsley, sage, raspberry leaf, chicory, sorrel and thyme. In fact, a classic spring tonic of the yogi’s is to collect and boil nettles. Just be careful to wear gloves because nettles can have quite a sting before they are boiled. And be sure to throw out the boiling water and rinse the nettles before eating.
And don’t forget those sprouts as a source for spring greens! When the tips turn green they are ready for eating and are full of chlorophyll. Wheat and barley sprouts can be grown into wheat and barley grass and then juiced. The juices are excellent tonics, cleansers, and health builders - just the thing to chase away the remnants of winter.
Also consider eating more rhizomes, bulbs, budding flowers, and bitter and pungent roots. Ginger, turmeric, onion, garlic, forsythia and honeysuckle flowers, dandelion root, chicory root, burdock root, gentian root, radish and turnip are excellent spring foods to break up and dispell kapha. Also consider hot chilies, peppers and spices to help burn off kapha. And be sure to include saffron which is collected from crocus flowers. The only seasoning not recommended is salt. A classic ayurvedic springtime fast is to give up salt for ten days.
A special herb used in ayurveda for rejuvenation and to reduce kapha is called punarnava, which means to make new again. The plant ,also known as spreading hogweed, can lie dormant for long periods of time before suddenly springing back to life!
Early in spring we can rely on dried fruits, lemons and the spring grapefruit harvest for fruit. We can reduce some of the heavier, sweeter fruits like bananas, oranges, figs, dates and avocados. As spring progresses, we can enjoy all the wonderful berries, strawberries, blackberries, raspberries and later blueberries and others. Please note that commercial strawberries are highly sprayed and best avoided. Look for organic strawberries which are much more delicious as well.
As for grains, we can reduce the amounts we eat in the spring or we can sprout our grains which give them a lighter, more alkaline effect. We can also eat dried grains like crackers, and decrease or avoid breads and pastries, which are heavy and mucus-forming. Certain grains have more of a warming and drying effect and are especially favored in ayurveda for spring use. They are buckwheat, corn, rye, millet and barley. By all means consider limiting or avoiding all the simple carbs like refined sugars, refined flours, and junk food for your spring diet.
Eating a seasonal springtime diet is cleansing, refreshing and invigorating. In general, favor fresh foods with lots of prana, eat light and eat lighter foods, increase the amount of raw foods and salads, flush out your system with fluids and herbal teas, and decrease the richer, heavier winter fare. Exercise more, get out and enjoy nature, and break up any old habits, attachments and routines. Try something new.
In yoga class favor asanas that are upward moving with lots of arm extensions, and practice the invigorating breathing practices like kapalabhati and bhastrika. For meditation, draw the vitality of the earth upwards using mula bandha and uddiyana bandha. Lift your heart and draw your awareness up the spine. Lift your spirits and soar to the spiritual heights like a flower reaching up out of the earth for the sun. Throw off the shackles of winter. Then raise your voice in song and share the life and joy of springtime with all.
by Gary Gran, CYT, D.Ay.
Now that spring is here we have said good-bye to winter for another year. Or have we? It is possible that we are still carrying around the effects of winter even though the calendar pages tell us it is over. Ayurveda tells us that the effects of winter accumulate in the body over the course of the winter to the point of possible aggravation in the spring. This is termed aggravated kapha. Kapha has the qualities of earth and water which together are cold, damp, heavy, slow, downward-moving and contracted. When in balance with the other elements, earth and water provide stability, nourishment, and insulation from the cold of winter. However, when in excess, we can feel overly heavy, sluggish, dull and congested. If you are feeling heavy in this way, it may be time to do some spring cleansing and change your diet according to the change in season.
It is important to eat warm nourishing foods that have adequate amounts of proteins, fats, and carbs during the winter months. We can think of good winter foods as those that store easily, like nuts, seeds, beans, whole grains and roots. These are foods that are harvested late in the year and are traditionally stored for winter use. They are dense and known as heavy or building foods. In the winter it is sensible to take more of the heavy foods, but in spring time we need to change our diet to favor the lighter foods like vegetables, fruits, herbs and spices. If we do this, we can avoid carrying around winter longer than we need to!
These days in America we can eat almost any food we want whenever we want due to availability. But it can be most instructive and helpful to consider what foods are naturally in season. Nature has a way of maintaining balance and providing just the right types of foods at the right time, if only we pay attention. There is an old saying that to go against nature is unwise.
In early spring it can be helpful to gradually lighten the diet. This means eat less and chew more. If we had to rely on stored provisions, we may have to stretch out our remaining food reserves until the spring harvest. As the weather turns a little warmer we can consider some light fasting and more exercise. We can sleep less and get outside more often to experience the miracle of spring. We can notice how the earth stirs and new life begins to literally spring up from the ground.
The long dormancy of winter is over and nature wakes up refreshed and renewed. We see the green mantle of the earth returning. Migrating birds pass through and buds form. The animals forage for rhizomes, shoots and sprouts. Sap rises in the trees. If you want to know what is meant by kundalini rising just walk outside on the ground in the springtime!
The seasonal spring diet is a natural antidote to the heaviness of winter. If our winter diet leaves us feeling cold, damp, and heavy, then a true spring diet brings us warmth, dryness, and lightness. Spring foods have an upward-moving and expanded energy.
First of all it is time to reduce the amount of fats and oils in the diet. Consider a vegetarian diet or use only low-fat animal foods. Especially consider eliminating or restricting dairy to low-fat or fermented forms like yogurt. And forget about ice cream until the full heat of summer! By all means get the junk oils and saturated fats out of your diet.
Change your cooking methods. Eat more raw foods, especially salads. Consider steaming and using lighter pots and pans. Put away the heavy pots used for hearty winter soups and stews. On windy days you can take more liquids or prepare light brothy soups.
Definitely favor all the spring vegetables and herbs, especially greens.You can easily identify the best spring foods as shoots, sprouts and tender greens. Shoots include scallions, chives, asparagus and celery. Notice the upward-moving energy.
Sprouts are most excellent in spring. Consider how whole seeds, grains, beans, and even nuts can lie dormant all winter to sprout in the spring! The germination begins as the ground softens and becomes moist from the spring rains. But growth really takes off after the first thunder and lightning of spring! The lightning serves to wake up the life force and hasten new growth.
If we follow nature, we also need to wake up our foods. Soaking and sprouting is the best method. Consider sprouting seeds like alfalfa, clover, radish and fenugreek. Then there are sprouted beans like lentils, garbanzos, peas, and mung. Whole grains can be sprouted like barley, wheat and rye. You can even sprout almonds. A classic ayurvedic tonic is to soak 10 almonds overnight. In the morning slip off the peels and eat or blend with water into nut milk.
Spring greens are a must. Young and tender greens are perhaps best, but be sure to eat more lettuces, radicchio, arugala, endive, kale, collards, chard, mustards, spinach, brocolli, Brussels sprouts and cabbages of all kinds. You can even get out and forage for wild greens and early perennials in your garden. Look for dandelions, nettles, parsley, sage, raspberry leaf, chicory, sorrel and thyme. In fact, a classic spring tonic of the yogi’s is to collect and boil nettles. Just be careful to wear gloves because nettles can have quite a sting before they are boiled. And be sure to throw out the boiling water and rinse the nettles before eating.
And don’t forget those sprouts as a source for spring greens! When the tips turn green they are ready for eating and are full of chlorophyll. Wheat and barley sprouts can be grown into wheat and barley grass and then juiced. The juices are excellent tonics, cleansers, and health builders - just the thing to chase away the remnants of winter.
Also consider eating more rhizomes, bulbs, budding flowers, and bitter and pungent roots. Ginger, turmeric, onion, garlic, forsythia and honeysuckle flowers, dandelion root, chicory root, burdock root, gentian root, radish and turnip are excellent spring foods to break up and dispell kapha. Also consider hot chilies, peppers and spices to help burn off kapha. And be sure to include saffron which is collected from crocus flowers. The only seasoning not recommended is salt. A classic ayurvedic springtime fast is to give up salt for ten days.
A special herb used in ayurveda for rejuvenation and to reduce kapha is called punarnava, which means to make new again. The plant ,also known as spreading hogweed, can lie dormant for long periods of time before suddenly springing back to life!
Early in spring we can rely on dried fruits, lemons and the spring grapefruit harvest for fruit. We can reduce some of the heavier, sweeter fruits like bananas, oranges, figs, dates and avocados. As spring progresses, we can enjoy all the wonderful berries, strawberries, blackberries, raspberries and later blueberries and others. Please note that commercial strawberries are highly sprayed and best avoided. Look for organic strawberries which are much more delicious as well.
As for grains, we can reduce the amounts we eat in the spring or we can sprout our grains which give them a lighter, more alkaline effect. We can also eat dried grains like crackers, and decrease or avoid breads and pastries, which are heavy and mucus-forming. Certain grains have more of a warming and drying effect and are especially favored in ayurveda for spring use. They are buckwheat, corn, rye, millet and barley. By all means consider limiting or avoiding all the simple carbs like refined sugars, refined flours, and junk food for your spring diet.
Eating a seasonal springtime diet is cleansing, refreshing and invigorating. In general, favor fresh foods with lots of prana, eat light and eat lighter foods, increase the amount of raw foods and salads, flush out your system with fluids and herbal teas, and decrease the richer, heavier winter fare. Exercise more, get out and enjoy nature, and break up any old habits, attachments and routines. Try something new.
In yoga class favor asanas that are upward moving with lots of arm extensions, and practice the invigorating breathing practices like kapalabhati and bhastrika. For meditation, draw the vitality of the earth upwards using mula bandha and uddiyana bandha. Lift your heart and draw your awareness up the spine. Lift your spirits and soar to the spiritual heights like a flower reaching up out of the earth for the sun. Throw off the shackles of winter. Then raise your voice in song and share the life and joy of springtime with all.
Friday, December 4, 2009
Lesson #10: Variety, The Spice of Life
Variety, the Spice of Life: More on Balancing the Diet & Lifestyle
by Gary Gran, CYT, D.Ay
We’ve all heard the expression variety is the spice of life. Indeed, life would be quite boring if we were all the same! And imagine eating the same foods over and over and over again... Yet the American diet has been criticized for lacking variety. The acronym for what is known as the Standard American Diet says it all (SAD). Sometimes the American diet is characterized as the ‘meat and potato’ diet or the ‘white on white’ diet (white flour, white sugar, etc.).
Those of us who are health conscious are well aware of the nutritional deficiencies of a limited diet. We ‘strive for five’ servings of vegetables a day, and look for wholesome foods with their natural nutrients left intact, not refined out. We even look to the health of the soil and organic farming practices to insure we are getting healthy foods with a variety of micro-nutrients.
In ayurvedic practice we look to the major food groups to make sure we are eating a good balance of whole grains, beans, cooked veges, raw fruits and veges, supplemental proteins and essential fats. In ayurvedic cooking we look to the six tastes to insure we are getting a fully balanced meal. Naturally sweet tasting and bland foods are complemented with good quality sour, salty, pungent, bitter and astringent tastes for good digestion and absorption.
In this article however we are going to look at two other methods of insuring good variety in our diet. One method is modern and the other traditional. The modern method is based on the idea of phyto-nutrients as found in different botanical families.
The health protective benefits of various plant compounds have been well studied. So how can we insure that we are getting all the nutritional benefits we need? For example, most of our vegetables come from nine distinct botanic families. If we eat veges from all of these families, we will get a full range of phyto (plant)-nutrients. Let’s familiarize ourselves with these different families.
Brassicaceae: The brassicas are also known as Cruciferae or the Mustard family. They include cabbages, brocolli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, kale, collards, turnips, radishes, kohlrabi, rutabagas, watercress, horseradish, and, of course, mustard! Some people will find them a little too rough and hard to digest, especially raw. But don’t give up! Cook them well. They are nutritional powerhouses.
They are also known as goitrogenic. This means they contain a chemical that can interfere with thyroid function and cause goiters. This can be de-activated by careful cooking. Interestingly, horseradish and mustard are used as digestive stimulants which improve digestion.
Asteraceae: The asters are also known as the Compositae or Aster family. There are two main sub-families, the dandelion sub-family or salad group and the aster sub-family which has nine tribes including the artichoke tribe or thistle group and the sunflower tribe. The asters are considered to be botanically and chemically complex. So eat plenty of lettuces, chicory, dandelions, endive, escarole, radicchio and salsify from the salad group. Eat globe artichokes, burdock root and thistle seeds from the thistle group and sunflower seeds and Jerusalem artichokes from the sunflower group.
Apiaceae: This is known as the Parsley family or Umbelliferae. Many of our culinary herbs and spices belong to this family, including anise, celery, chervil, coriander, caraway, dill, fennel, lovage and of course, parsley We also see many important medicinal herbs in this family, including the angelicas, bupleurum, gotu kola and osha. Common foods include carrots, parsnips, celery and celeriac.
Chenopodaceae: The goosefoot family derives from the seashore and often grows on disturbed soils. The greens from this group can be high in calcium but ironically are also high in oxalic acid which can block calcium absorption. These greens are best for occasional use or can be cooked to help reduce the oxalic acid. Important foods include beets, spinach, chard and lamb’s quarters.
Cucurbetaceae: This is the gourd family distinguished by the cucumbers, squashes, pumpkins, zucchinis and melons. They hold a special place in ayurvedic as well as in Native American lore where they are called one of the Three Sisters along with corn and beans.
Fabaceae: And speaking of beans, the Pea family is also known as Leguminosae. Aside from the wide variety of edible peas and beans, this family includes alfalfa, clover, astragalus, licorice root and kudzu.
Lamiaceae: The mint family is also called Labiatae. There are many other important families of herbs worth studying, but the mint family is known for its culinary herbs such as basil, rosemary, sage, marjoram, thyme and savory along with all the mints. Other important members are lavender, germander, horehound, hyssop, motherwort, catnip, coleus and skullcap.
Liliaceae: The lily family has many sub-families which include the onion, asparagus, agave and aloe groups. For onions eat your onions, garlic, leeks, scallions, and chives. The asparagus group includes common asparagus, sarsaparilla, solomon’s seal, and wild asparagus (aka shatavari). Agaves, yucca, and aloe vera round out the family.
Solanaceae: This is the nightshade family from the tropics. Members are the potatoes, tomatoes, tomatillo, paprika, peppers, eggplants, chilis and tobacco. Please note that over-use of nightshades can lead to allergies and inflammation in some people.
In fact, one of the reasons to study food families is to avoid creating dependencies and potential allergies from overuse. A standard technique for managing food allergies is to practice a rotation diet, rotating food groups in and out of the diet and noting their effects. Other botanical and animal families can be studied for this purpose as well.
For now, consider the families above and see if you are over-relying on any of them. Then try adding in an agreeable member of any missing family. Of course other standard considerations such as time of year, availability, and method of preparation should also be considered. And by all means, enjoy getting to know your foods!
The traditional ayurvedic method of rotating foods is to practice the colors associated with each day of the week. The colors are derived from the planetary association for each day. This is a very soul-satisfying method as the soul reflects the light of pure spirit. Try it!
Sunday: Sunday represents the Sun. The main colors are gold and brown, but any sunny color like red, yellow or orange can be featured. The traditional food offering is wheat. Brown rice, oats and buckwheat are other good choices Try eating yellow and red foods like split mung and an assortment of yellow and red fruits and veges. Ginger, cardamon, saffron and cinnamon are said to enhance the solar energy. One tradition is to avoid cooking with oil on sundays.
Monday: Monday is for the Moon. The main color is milky white. Other colors are white or pale shades of blue, green and pink. The traditional food offering is rice, especially white basmati rice. Barley is another choice. Think of foods like milk, cauliflower, white potatoes, white onions, or white poppy seeds Also consider watery foods like squash and cucumber as the moon is considered to be watery.
Tuesday: Tuesday represents Mars. The main color is bright red. Other colors are jet black and bright shades of orange and pink. The traditional food offering is red lentils. Think of red rice, carrots, strawberries, red apples, red beets, tomatoes, red cabbage, red pepper, black pepper and turmeric. Please note that the idea is not to eat only red foods but to accentuate or feature red foods. This applies to every day of the week.
Wednesday: Wednesday represents Mercury. The main color is green, especially pear green. Other colors are neutral or mild tones of blues, grays and browns. The traditional food offering is whole mung beans. Be sure to eat your greens on Wednesday! Also consider brocolli, green beans, Brussels sprouts, peas, green cabbage and asparagus. Of course pears and green apples fit here as do the herbs cilantro, mint, basil and gotu kola. Good grains are brown rice, wheat, and oats.
Thursday: Thursday is Jupiter’s day. The main color is yellow. You can also feature orange, gold, or bright colors in general. The traditional food offering is chickpeas so it’s a great day for your hummus recipe! Other traditional Thursday foods are nuts and fruits (especially yellow fruits) and yellow veges. Yellow corn or millet are the grains of choice. Like Sunday, one tradition is to refrain from cooking with oils. Some practitioners will stop using oil topically on Sundays and Thursdays as well.
Friday: Friday belongs to Venus, the planet of beauty. The main color is radiant white which contains all colors within itself. You can use an assortment of colors on Friday, especially pastels and flowery tones. The traditional food offering is lima beans or any white bean. Basmati rice, barley, coconut, sweets made with dairy and lotus root are a few white choices. Combinations of different colors work well. And don’t forget the edible flowers! One practice is to avoid citrus fruit or sour foods on Friday.
Saturday: Saturday belongs to Saturn. The main color is black or dark blue. Any dark color will do, including dark browns and grays. The traditional food offering is sesame seeds or black gram (urud). Think of black beans, blue corn, black-eyed peas, eggplant, plums, blackberries, blueberries and black seeds. A special practice is to use plenty of good quality oil in cooking, on salads, or for massage as Saturn is said to be drying.
The main point is to be creative, have fun, and realize that the colors of food do indicate the presence of different phyto-nutrients in a very direct way. And, by the way, the daily colors are a fantastic way of organizing your wardrobe! If you’ve ever changed clothes several times not sure of what to wear, or if the clothes you are wearing just don’t feel right, try spicing up your wardrobe with the colors of the day. You’ll feel great and will begin to notice a subtle harmony with the quality of the day. The goal is not just variety but variety with harmony.
by Gary Gran, CYT, D.Ay
We’ve all heard the expression variety is the spice of life. Indeed, life would be quite boring if we were all the same! And imagine eating the same foods over and over and over again... Yet the American diet has been criticized for lacking variety. The acronym for what is known as the Standard American Diet says it all (SAD). Sometimes the American diet is characterized as the ‘meat and potato’ diet or the ‘white on white’ diet (white flour, white sugar, etc.).
Those of us who are health conscious are well aware of the nutritional deficiencies of a limited diet. We ‘strive for five’ servings of vegetables a day, and look for wholesome foods with their natural nutrients left intact, not refined out. We even look to the health of the soil and organic farming practices to insure we are getting healthy foods with a variety of micro-nutrients.
In ayurvedic practice we look to the major food groups to make sure we are eating a good balance of whole grains, beans, cooked veges, raw fruits and veges, supplemental proteins and essential fats. In ayurvedic cooking we look to the six tastes to insure we are getting a fully balanced meal. Naturally sweet tasting and bland foods are complemented with good quality sour, salty, pungent, bitter and astringent tastes for good digestion and absorption.
In this article however we are going to look at two other methods of insuring good variety in our diet. One method is modern and the other traditional. The modern method is based on the idea of phyto-nutrients as found in different botanical families.
The health protective benefits of various plant compounds have been well studied. So how can we insure that we are getting all the nutritional benefits we need? For example, most of our vegetables come from nine distinct botanic families. If we eat veges from all of these families, we will get a full range of phyto (plant)-nutrients. Let’s familiarize ourselves with these different families.
Brassicaceae: The brassicas are also known as Cruciferae or the Mustard family. They include cabbages, brocolli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, kale, collards, turnips, radishes, kohlrabi, rutabagas, watercress, horseradish, and, of course, mustard! Some people will find them a little too rough and hard to digest, especially raw. But don’t give up! Cook them well. They are nutritional powerhouses.
They are also known as goitrogenic. This means they contain a chemical that can interfere with thyroid function and cause goiters. This can be de-activated by careful cooking. Interestingly, horseradish and mustard are used as digestive stimulants which improve digestion.
Asteraceae: The asters are also known as the Compositae or Aster family. There are two main sub-families, the dandelion sub-family or salad group and the aster sub-family which has nine tribes including the artichoke tribe or thistle group and the sunflower tribe. The asters are considered to be botanically and chemically complex. So eat plenty of lettuces, chicory, dandelions, endive, escarole, radicchio and salsify from the salad group. Eat globe artichokes, burdock root and thistle seeds from the thistle group and sunflower seeds and Jerusalem artichokes from the sunflower group.
Apiaceae: This is known as the Parsley family or Umbelliferae. Many of our culinary herbs and spices belong to this family, including anise, celery, chervil, coriander, caraway, dill, fennel, lovage and of course, parsley We also see many important medicinal herbs in this family, including the angelicas, bupleurum, gotu kola and osha. Common foods include carrots, parsnips, celery and celeriac.
Chenopodaceae: The goosefoot family derives from the seashore and often grows on disturbed soils. The greens from this group can be high in calcium but ironically are also high in oxalic acid which can block calcium absorption. These greens are best for occasional use or can be cooked to help reduce the oxalic acid. Important foods include beets, spinach, chard and lamb’s quarters.
Cucurbetaceae: This is the gourd family distinguished by the cucumbers, squashes, pumpkins, zucchinis and melons. They hold a special place in ayurvedic as well as in Native American lore where they are called one of the Three Sisters along with corn and beans.
Fabaceae: And speaking of beans, the Pea family is also known as Leguminosae. Aside from the wide variety of edible peas and beans, this family includes alfalfa, clover, astragalus, licorice root and kudzu.
Lamiaceae: The mint family is also called Labiatae. There are many other important families of herbs worth studying, but the mint family is known for its culinary herbs such as basil, rosemary, sage, marjoram, thyme and savory along with all the mints. Other important members are lavender, germander, horehound, hyssop, motherwort, catnip, coleus and skullcap.
Liliaceae: The lily family has many sub-families which include the onion, asparagus, agave and aloe groups. For onions eat your onions, garlic, leeks, scallions, and chives. The asparagus group includes common asparagus, sarsaparilla, solomon’s seal, and wild asparagus (aka shatavari). Agaves, yucca, and aloe vera round out the family.
Solanaceae: This is the nightshade family from the tropics. Members are the potatoes, tomatoes, tomatillo, paprika, peppers, eggplants, chilis and tobacco. Please note that over-use of nightshades can lead to allergies and inflammation in some people.
In fact, one of the reasons to study food families is to avoid creating dependencies and potential allergies from overuse. A standard technique for managing food allergies is to practice a rotation diet, rotating food groups in and out of the diet and noting their effects. Other botanical and animal families can be studied for this purpose as well.
For now, consider the families above and see if you are over-relying on any of them. Then try adding in an agreeable member of any missing family. Of course other standard considerations such as time of year, availability, and method of preparation should also be considered. And by all means, enjoy getting to know your foods!
The traditional ayurvedic method of rotating foods is to practice the colors associated with each day of the week. The colors are derived from the planetary association for each day. This is a very soul-satisfying method as the soul reflects the light of pure spirit. Try it!
Sunday: Sunday represents the Sun. The main colors are gold and brown, but any sunny color like red, yellow or orange can be featured. The traditional food offering is wheat. Brown rice, oats and buckwheat are other good choices Try eating yellow and red foods like split mung and an assortment of yellow and red fruits and veges. Ginger, cardamon, saffron and cinnamon are said to enhance the solar energy. One tradition is to avoid cooking with oil on sundays.
Monday: Monday is for the Moon. The main color is milky white. Other colors are white or pale shades of blue, green and pink. The traditional food offering is rice, especially white basmati rice. Barley is another choice. Think of foods like milk, cauliflower, white potatoes, white onions, or white poppy seeds Also consider watery foods like squash and cucumber as the moon is considered to be watery.
Tuesday: Tuesday represents Mars. The main color is bright red. Other colors are jet black and bright shades of orange and pink. The traditional food offering is red lentils. Think of red rice, carrots, strawberries, red apples, red beets, tomatoes, red cabbage, red pepper, black pepper and turmeric. Please note that the idea is not to eat only red foods but to accentuate or feature red foods. This applies to every day of the week.
Wednesday: Wednesday represents Mercury. The main color is green, especially pear green. Other colors are neutral or mild tones of blues, grays and browns. The traditional food offering is whole mung beans. Be sure to eat your greens on Wednesday! Also consider brocolli, green beans, Brussels sprouts, peas, green cabbage and asparagus. Of course pears and green apples fit here as do the herbs cilantro, mint, basil and gotu kola. Good grains are brown rice, wheat, and oats.
Thursday: Thursday is Jupiter’s day. The main color is yellow. You can also feature orange, gold, or bright colors in general. The traditional food offering is chickpeas so it’s a great day for your hummus recipe! Other traditional Thursday foods are nuts and fruits (especially yellow fruits) and yellow veges. Yellow corn or millet are the grains of choice. Like Sunday, one tradition is to refrain from cooking with oils. Some practitioners will stop using oil topically on Sundays and Thursdays as well.
Friday: Friday belongs to Venus, the planet of beauty. The main color is radiant white which contains all colors within itself. You can use an assortment of colors on Friday, especially pastels and flowery tones. The traditional food offering is lima beans or any white bean. Basmati rice, barley, coconut, sweets made with dairy and lotus root are a few white choices. Combinations of different colors work well. And don’t forget the edible flowers! One practice is to avoid citrus fruit or sour foods on Friday.
Saturday: Saturday belongs to Saturn. The main color is black or dark blue. Any dark color will do, including dark browns and grays. The traditional food offering is sesame seeds or black gram (urud). Think of black beans, blue corn, black-eyed peas, eggplant, plums, blackberries, blueberries and black seeds. A special practice is to use plenty of good quality oil in cooking, on salads, or for massage as Saturn is said to be drying.
The main point is to be creative, have fun, and realize that the colors of food do indicate the presence of different phyto-nutrients in a very direct way. And, by the way, the daily colors are a fantastic way of organizing your wardrobe! If you’ve ever changed clothes several times not sure of what to wear, or if the clothes you are wearing just don’t feel right, try spicing up your wardrobe with the colors of the day. You’ll feel great and will begin to notice a subtle harmony with the quality of the day. The goal is not just variety but variety with harmony.
Friday, October 30, 2009
Lesson #4: Speaking of Time
Speaking of Time
by Gary Gran, CYT, DAy.
“You there, wake up!” the teacher exclaimed. “It’s about time!”
I suppose I had been daydreaming. My mind had drifted away from the present moment to other times, other places. Now I was fully awake. Or was I?
What does it mean to “wake up?”
How much time do we spend “dreaming?”
How often do we “lose” ourselves?
We tend to go about our daily activities in a dull mechanical way, perhaps never fully aware of the incredible mystery and majesty of life all around.
Now it is true that some of us are “thrill-seekers”. In ayurveda, the ancient science of life, this quality falls into the fire or “pitta” group. There is a marked tendency to push to the edge, to explore new territory, to feel the intensity of life, even to the point of being reckless.
In yoga practice, for example, this attitude can at times feel liberating, but can also lead to injury. One injury should be enough to help us listen to the advice “cool down, moderate your actions, look before you leap...” You see, fire can burn out of control. Many fire types blow right past their internal cues, push way too hard, and risk injury, all for the sake of that intensity, that feeling of being alive.
But most of us go with the crowd. We get lulled to sleep by the monotony of our everyday routines. We are creatures of habit. We don’t examine our attitudes until we are out of balance (if then!). In fact, sometimes it takes an illness, or a crisis, or a teacher saying “you there, wake up!” to break us from our slumber.
But there is a paradox here! Perhaps you’ve read about the importance of cultivating good daily habits. Brush your teeth, maintain cleanliness, eat regular meals, exercise regularly, and don’t burn the candle at both ends, etc, etc.
Ayurveda tells us that most illnesses are caused by a disturbance of the life-force, our prana. A disturbed life-force throws all the elements of the body/mind out of balance, that is, out of rhythm, or out of harmony. A disturbed life force disturbs the mind, the senses, the breathing patterns, and the nerves. Our digestion and assimilation are disrupted, and we feel ill-at-ease, “off”, disturbed, sick.
The key advice for correcting disturbances in our life-force is to practice routine, to create regular activites. Set times especially for sleeping, eating, exercising, and relaxing. How boring! Isn’t this the type of thing which lulls us to sleep! How dull! Maybe I’d rather be a dare-devil fire type living on the edge.
So what is the way out of this mess?
The word for “routine” in Sanskrit, the language of the Vedas, is “ritam”. Another translation of “ritam” is “rhythm”. Most people think of “routine” as dull and boring. But “rhythm”! Rhythm means music. Rhythm has a tempo, a beat, a pulse. Rhythm is alive.
When our life has no rhythm it becomes noisy, chaotic, discordant, out of step. But when our life has rhythm we are making music. Add some harmony and a melody and we have beautiful music.
So how do we make music out of our everyday routines? First we must wake ourselves up a little. Pay attention. Practice listening. Be mindful of even the most mundane tasks. Try to make little variations in your habits to avoid falling asleep. Watch your breath. Sing! Try to see through the ordinary and reflect on the extraordinary.
This is called spiritual practice. It requires constant effort. It never becomes habitual, for anything that becomes automatic lacks awareness. In yoga, this constant effort is known as “abhyanga”, or “practice.” Thus we are encouraged to “practice, practice, practice”.
At the same time we must remain impartial, non-judgemental. We try to be fully present to each moment however mundane, painful or pleasurable it may be. In yoga this impartiality is known as “vairagya”, meaning “uncolored”. When we are uncolored or non-biased in our actions we are seeing clearly, we are awake to the situation at hand, and we are acting lovingly and skillfully. There is no sense of “good” or “bad”, or of “likes” or “dislikes”. It is when we love our duties unconditionally and infuse all our actions with mindfulness and spirit that our routines become “ritam”.
The practice of awakening then is to lift our consciousness just a little, to rouse ourselves awake, to unite (yoga) our bodily presence, our breath, and our mental awareness with the world around us. Instead of simply seeing the surface of the world in a dull, “routine”, manner, we begin to see, feel and hear the amazing “rhythm” of life which pulses deep behind the surface.
Of course, we get tired, we fall asleep, we fall into our old routine habits, the old grooves of the mind known as “samskaras”, and we feel absent, dull, empty. This too is only natural. Remember it requires constant effort (practice, practice, practice) to remain alert and loving. There are bound to be gaps in our awareness. Sometimes we must sleep.
So the practice is to meditate on our daily activities. In meditation practice we try to maintain a one-pointed mind, knowing that the mind will jump or fall from the chosen object of meditation. When we notice that our awareness has jumped or that we have fallen asleep the instruction is “no judgement, no big deal, simply go back to the chosen object of meditation and continue.” When we apply these instructions to our daily routines we call it meditation in action or mindfulness practice.
Practice mindfulness while eating, doing the dishes, walking and talking. “When you walk, dance. When you talk, sing...” Maybe life becomes like an MGM musical!
So we can regulate our daily habits, set up some healthy routines, and practice mindfulness. We can keep our bodies regular by keeping the lungs moving, the bowels moving, and the feet moving. We can create rhythm directly with the breath by making it slow, smooth, and even. And we can harmonize the mind with regular use of a rhythmic affirmation, mantra, or prayer. This steadies the mind and enlivens the spirit.
But the real secret of yoga practice is to be mindful of the transition points between activities. For example, learn to watch your transition from sleeping to waking, when taking your first bite of food, when arriving at work, and when returning home. Mark these transitions with special practices or prayers, and observe the effects of each change. In yoga practice, tune in to the effects of each posture as you release and relax the pose before beginning the next pose. Especially mark the transition from the end of your yoga session back to your daily activities. Be mindful as you fall asleep at night.
In breath work we can watch the inhalations and the exhalations, but the key is to watch the transitions between the inhalations and exhalations. The most important practice is to eliminate any pause or holding of the breath during these transitions to make the breath as smooth and continuous as possible. “No bumps, no breaks, no pauses.” “Slow, smooth, flowing, continuous breath.”
With mantra, the effort is to merge each sound into the next in order to close the gap between sounds. This continuous sound creates a steady harmonizing rhythm deep in the mind-field.
Even when the entire world becomes stressful and chaotic, we can keep our inner rhythm strong, thus living in the world yet remaining undisturbed. Our song, our rhythm, becomes stronger than the crazy noise of the world. The world may even begin to hear our song and join in, harmonizing. This is yoga practice. This is healing.
So “you there, wake up!”. Wake up and begin singing.
by Gary Gran, CYT, DAy.
“You there, wake up!” the teacher exclaimed. “It’s about time!”
I suppose I had been daydreaming. My mind had drifted away from the present moment to other times, other places. Now I was fully awake. Or was I?
What does it mean to “wake up?”
How much time do we spend “dreaming?”
How often do we “lose” ourselves?
We tend to go about our daily activities in a dull mechanical way, perhaps never fully aware of the incredible mystery and majesty of life all around.
Now it is true that some of us are “thrill-seekers”. In ayurveda, the ancient science of life, this quality falls into the fire or “pitta” group. There is a marked tendency to push to the edge, to explore new territory, to feel the intensity of life, even to the point of being reckless.
In yoga practice, for example, this attitude can at times feel liberating, but can also lead to injury. One injury should be enough to help us listen to the advice “cool down, moderate your actions, look before you leap...” You see, fire can burn out of control. Many fire types blow right past their internal cues, push way too hard, and risk injury, all for the sake of that intensity, that feeling of being alive.
But most of us go with the crowd. We get lulled to sleep by the monotony of our everyday routines. We are creatures of habit. We don’t examine our attitudes until we are out of balance (if then!). In fact, sometimes it takes an illness, or a crisis, or a teacher saying “you there, wake up!” to break us from our slumber.
But there is a paradox here! Perhaps you’ve read about the importance of cultivating good daily habits. Brush your teeth, maintain cleanliness, eat regular meals, exercise regularly, and don’t burn the candle at both ends, etc, etc.
Ayurveda tells us that most illnesses are caused by a disturbance of the life-force, our prana. A disturbed life-force throws all the elements of the body/mind out of balance, that is, out of rhythm, or out of harmony. A disturbed life force disturbs the mind, the senses, the breathing patterns, and the nerves. Our digestion and assimilation are disrupted, and we feel ill-at-ease, “off”, disturbed, sick.
The key advice for correcting disturbances in our life-force is to practice routine, to create regular activites. Set times especially for sleeping, eating, exercising, and relaxing. How boring! Isn’t this the type of thing which lulls us to sleep! How dull! Maybe I’d rather be a dare-devil fire type living on the edge.
So what is the way out of this mess?
The word for “routine” in Sanskrit, the language of the Vedas, is “ritam”. Another translation of “ritam” is “rhythm”. Most people think of “routine” as dull and boring. But “rhythm”! Rhythm means music. Rhythm has a tempo, a beat, a pulse. Rhythm is alive.
When our life has no rhythm it becomes noisy, chaotic, discordant, out of step. But when our life has rhythm we are making music. Add some harmony and a melody and we have beautiful music.
So how do we make music out of our everyday routines? First we must wake ourselves up a little. Pay attention. Practice listening. Be mindful of even the most mundane tasks. Try to make little variations in your habits to avoid falling asleep. Watch your breath. Sing! Try to see through the ordinary and reflect on the extraordinary.
This is called spiritual practice. It requires constant effort. It never becomes habitual, for anything that becomes automatic lacks awareness. In yoga, this constant effort is known as “abhyanga”, or “practice.” Thus we are encouraged to “practice, practice, practice”.
At the same time we must remain impartial, non-judgemental. We try to be fully present to each moment however mundane, painful or pleasurable it may be. In yoga this impartiality is known as “vairagya”, meaning “uncolored”. When we are uncolored or non-biased in our actions we are seeing clearly, we are awake to the situation at hand, and we are acting lovingly and skillfully. There is no sense of “good” or “bad”, or of “likes” or “dislikes”. It is when we love our duties unconditionally and infuse all our actions with mindfulness and spirit that our routines become “ritam”.
The practice of awakening then is to lift our consciousness just a little, to rouse ourselves awake, to unite (yoga) our bodily presence, our breath, and our mental awareness with the world around us. Instead of simply seeing the surface of the world in a dull, “routine”, manner, we begin to see, feel and hear the amazing “rhythm” of life which pulses deep behind the surface.
Of course, we get tired, we fall asleep, we fall into our old routine habits, the old grooves of the mind known as “samskaras”, and we feel absent, dull, empty. This too is only natural. Remember it requires constant effort (practice, practice, practice) to remain alert and loving. There are bound to be gaps in our awareness. Sometimes we must sleep.
So the practice is to meditate on our daily activities. In meditation practice we try to maintain a one-pointed mind, knowing that the mind will jump or fall from the chosen object of meditation. When we notice that our awareness has jumped or that we have fallen asleep the instruction is “no judgement, no big deal, simply go back to the chosen object of meditation and continue.” When we apply these instructions to our daily routines we call it meditation in action or mindfulness practice.
Practice mindfulness while eating, doing the dishes, walking and talking. “When you walk, dance. When you talk, sing...” Maybe life becomes like an MGM musical!
So we can regulate our daily habits, set up some healthy routines, and practice mindfulness. We can keep our bodies regular by keeping the lungs moving, the bowels moving, and the feet moving. We can create rhythm directly with the breath by making it slow, smooth, and even. And we can harmonize the mind with regular use of a rhythmic affirmation, mantra, or prayer. This steadies the mind and enlivens the spirit.
But the real secret of yoga practice is to be mindful of the transition points between activities. For example, learn to watch your transition from sleeping to waking, when taking your first bite of food, when arriving at work, and when returning home. Mark these transitions with special practices or prayers, and observe the effects of each change. In yoga practice, tune in to the effects of each posture as you release and relax the pose before beginning the next pose. Especially mark the transition from the end of your yoga session back to your daily activities. Be mindful as you fall asleep at night.
In breath work we can watch the inhalations and the exhalations, but the key is to watch the transitions between the inhalations and exhalations. The most important practice is to eliminate any pause or holding of the breath during these transitions to make the breath as smooth and continuous as possible. “No bumps, no breaks, no pauses.” “Slow, smooth, flowing, continuous breath.”
With mantra, the effort is to merge each sound into the next in order to close the gap between sounds. This continuous sound creates a steady harmonizing rhythm deep in the mind-field.
Even when the entire world becomes stressful and chaotic, we can keep our inner rhythm strong, thus living in the world yet remaining undisturbed. Our song, our rhythm, becomes stronger than the crazy noise of the world. The world may even begin to hear our song and join in, harmonizing. This is yoga practice. This is healing.
So “you there, wake up!”. Wake up and begin singing.
Lesson #3: Same Time, Same Place
Same Time, Same Place
by Gary Gran, CYT, D.Ay.
“Practicing at the same time, same place is most important” the teacher was saying, but I don’t think I really heard it. It was in one ear and out the other. But then every time I listened to instructions on how to establish your practice, I heard “same time, same place”. To practice hatha yoga, “same time, same place”, to practice meditation, “same time, same place”, to practice ayurveda, “same time, same place”.
Finally it began to sink in. This is one of the “root instructions.” The Vedic sciences are an oral tradition, passed down from teacher to student. Being an oral tradition, the teachings are condensed into short phrases or sutras. These “root instructions” are like “seeds”. If properly nourished and attended they will sprout and grow.
Learning in the oral tradition is not like modern academic learning. In modern learning we strive to define each word and phrase precisely. The oral tradition is more like poetry. It uses a symbolic language. Each word or each phrase can have more than one meaning. The meanings can refer to all levels from gross to subtle to super-subtle. There can be personal meanings, cultural meanings, and universal meanings.
Often times in the oral tradition the teacher will give a commentary on one of the root instructions or sutras. Many of these are now written. But we must understand that these commentaries are not the beginning and the end. The sutras have a life of their own and it is the job of each student to contemplate their meaning. As we gain practice and experience the meanings will grow and change. As we move from one era to the next or one culture to the next the relative context and meaning will grow and change. The teachings are “organic”. They must be chewed, digested, and assimilated by each student and each generation of students. We must develop our own commentaries based on our own “time” and our own “place”.
So “same time, same place”. Where do we begin? I remember some early discussions among students. “This means you must pick out a time and a place by the clock.” “No,” someone else would say, “this means a relative time and place. It can shift relative to what else is going on in your life.” Someone else agreed, “yes, consider if you are travelling. How can you maintain the same place? Besides, you may change time zones or go onto daylight savings time or some such thing. It has to be relative time.” “How about organic time, or local mean time,” said another student. “No matter where you are, try to use the same local time.”
So you can begin to see we have two very big subjects here - no less than the nature of time and the nature of space! And we thought this was an easy instruction. Let’s consider what else yoga and ayurveda have to say on these two important subjects.
Perhaps you have heard some of the stories about yogis or vedic sages who made a determination to complete a certain ayurvedic healing practice or yogic spiritual practice. They would go on “retreat” to some suitable place and maintain their practice at the same time and same place until completed. If interrupted in their practice, the “fruit” of the practice would be lost, and they would have to begin again.
Perhaps we can emulate them. Set yourself a modest goal. First decide on your practice. Good choices are a hatha yoga practice, a meditation practice, cooking , getting to bed “on time”, or an aerobic exercise routine. Next “fix up a time” as one teacher used to say. You may need to make arrangements with your everyday duties and responsibilities involving others. Pick a frequency, once a day, twice a day, once a week, once a month. Then pick a duration. “I’ll practice once a day in the morning before breakfast for 30 minutes for one week.” Start small and slowly build your willpower and sense of accomplishment. Remember it doesn’t matter how many times we lose our concentration. No judgement. Simply try again.
Ayurveda gives us a related saying, “the greatest medicines are punctuality and regularity in good habits.” Ayurveda also gives us the advice, “no two people are alike.”
The so-called “air” types love variety and hate to miss anything new and exciting. It can be especially hard for them to maintain a practice or routine. “How boring!”. Yet for health reasons, slowing down and following healthy routines are highly recommended. What gives? The real danger for air types is to lose their center, to be so dispersed that they become ungrounded and lose their bearings. They become lost and can’t find their way home. It is important to have an idea of “this is when I go to bed, this is when I take my meals, this is when I relax, and this is when I exercise.” This becomes sort of an “ideal” and even if we don’t live up to our ideal, when we start to feel unbalanced at least we know how to get back “home.” Slow down, go to bed on time, take regular meals, etc, etc.
The so-called “water” and “earth” types, known as “kaphas”, know routine only too well! They love when things are homey and predictable. They enjoy the same foods, the same places, the same activities, over and over. Why try anything new? The real danger for kaphas is to “get stuck in a rut”. They are advised to break up their routines, to try something new, to practice variety, or to practice a little longer or more vigourously. Keep it fresh. No stagnation.
“Fire” types can be more than willing to take a risk or push themselves. They can be a little too driven or intense for their own good. They may enjoy setting themselves difficult goals, pushing aside any resistance, and moving forward. Their advice is to practice moderation. “Chill out a bit.” Try to lessen that intensity and pay attention to what you’ve been “pushing aside.” It could be your loved ones! Or your body! Fire types make good leaders only if they stop to consider the impact of their ideas on everyone. Of course this can be frustrating to them because they prefer driving “full speed ahead.”
We are beginning to see that “same time, same place” can have very different implications for different people. But what about the universal aspect of “same time, same place?”
Place indicates where we are. We can distinguish seven measures of space. First is our center. “Same place” could mean returning to our center.Second is the inner space of our body. The cliche says “wherever we go, there we are.” Third is the space around us, our field of action. This also travels with us as we expand the field of our actions. Fourth is the whole world. Same place is easy at this level unless you are an astronaut! Fifth is the solar system, sixth the galaxy, and seventh the universe. We are always home. We live in the lap of the divine.
Time can also be seen to have seven measures. The first measure is the pulse, the rhythm of the heart. The heart beat is primary. Perhaps practicing “same time, same place” could mean returning to your heart center. The second measure is the breath. “Same time, same place” could mean returning to the gentle rhythm of diapragmatic breathing. These first two are the inner keys to successful practice.
The third measure of time is the time of day which is the most obvious. Fourth is the time of month. Fifth is the time of year. Yoga and ayurveda distinguish between what are known as daily practices and occasional practices which are done only as needed, perhaps monthly or seasonally. For example it may be important for you to exercise every day (or every other day), but you may only need to fast once a year.
The sixth measure of time is the time of life. Our practices when we are young are different from middle age and from old age. Young people need more of a dynamic approach to support their growth, confidence and skill, middle age people need more moderation to help balance the stress and strain of multiple responsibilities, and older folks need a slower, more mindful pace with plenty of restful, nourishing routines.
And what is the seventh measure of time you ask? This is all lives. This is our place in history. What are the kinds of practices that are needed at this point of time? What are the kinds of practices that will help all beings, in all places? Perhaps “same time, same place” could mean “all times, all places.” You see, it is always time to wake up to the big picture and begin working to make the world a better place, to act more lovingly and skillfully, and to give up the fruits of our actions for the benefit of all.
by Gary Gran, CYT, D.Ay.
“Practicing at the same time, same place is most important” the teacher was saying, but I don’t think I really heard it. It was in one ear and out the other. But then every time I listened to instructions on how to establish your practice, I heard “same time, same place”. To practice hatha yoga, “same time, same place”, to practice meditation, “same time, same place”, to practice ayurveda, “same time, same place”.
Finally it began to sink in. This is one of the “root instructions.” The Vedic sciences are an oral tradition, passed down from teacher to student. Being an oral tradition, the teachings are condensed into short phrases or sutras. These “root instructions” are like “seeds”. If properly nourished and attended they will sprout and grow.
Learning in the oral tradition is not like modern academic learning. In modern learning we strive to define each word and phrase precisely. The oral tradition is more like poetry. It uses a symbolic language. Each word or each phrase can have more than one meaning. The meanings can refer to all levels from gross to subtle to super-subtle. There can be personal meanings, cultural meanings, and universal meanings.
Often times in the oral tradition the teacher will give a commentary on one of the root instructions or sutras. Many of these are now written. But we must understand that these commentaries are not the beginning and the end. The sutras have a life of their own and it is the job of each student to contemplate their meaning. As we gain practice and experience the meanings will grow and change. As we move from one era to the next or one culture to the next the relative context and meaning will grow and change. The teachings are “organic”. They must be chewed, digested, and assimilated by each student and each generation of students. We must develop our own commentaries based on our own “time” and our own “place”.
So “same time, same place”. Where do we begin? I remember some early discussions among students. “This means you must pick out a time and a place by the clock.” “No,” someone else would say, “this means a relative time and place. It can shift relative to what else is going on in your life.” Someone else agreed, “yes, consider if you are travelling. How can you maintain the same place? Besides, you may change time zones or go onto daylight savings time or some such thing. It has to be relative time.” “How about organic time, or local mean time,” said another student. “No matter where you are, try to use the same local time.”
So you can begin to see we have two very big subjects here - no less than the nature of time and the nature of space! And we thought this was an easy instruction. Let’s consider what else yoga and ayurveda have to say on these two important subjects.
Perhaps you have heard some of the stories about yogis or vedic sages who made a determination to complete a certain ayurvedic healing practice or yogic spiritual practice. They would go on “retreat” to some suitable place and maintain their practice at the same time and same place until completed. If interrupted in their practice, the “fruit” of the practice would be lost, and they would have to begin again.
Perhaps we can emulate them. Set yourself a modest goal. First decide on your practice. Good choices are a hatha yoga practice, a meditation practice, cooking , getting to bed “on time”, or an aerobic exercise routine. Next “fix up a time” as one teacher used to say. You may need to make arrangements with your everyday duties and responsibilities involving others. Pick a frequency, once a day, twice a day, once a week, once a month. Then pick a duration. “I’ll practice once a day in the morning before breakfast for 30 minutes for one week.” Start small and slowly build your willpower and sense of accomplishment. Remember it doesn’t matter how many times we lose our concentration. No judgement. Simply try again.
Ayurveda gives us a related saying, “the greatest medicines are punctuality and regularity in good habits.” Ayurveda also gives us the advice, “no two people are alike.”
The so-called “air” types love variety and hate to miss anything new and exciting. It can be especially hard for them to maintain a practice or routine. “How boring!”. Yet for health reasons, slowing down and following healthy routines are highly recommended. What gives? The real danger for air types is to lose their center, to be so dispersed that they become ungrounded and lose their bearings. They become lost and can’t find their way home. It is important to have an idea of “this is when I go to bed, this is when I take my meals, this is when I relax, and this is when I exercise.” This becomes sort of an “ideal” and even if we don’t live up to our ideal, when we start to feel unbalanced at least we know how to get back “home.” Slow down, go to bed on time, take regular meals, etc, etc.
The so-called “water” and “earth” types, known as “kaphas”, know routine only too well! They love when things are homey and predictable. They enjoy the same foods, the same places, the same activities, over and over. Why try anything new? The real danger for kaphas is to “get stuck in a rut”. They are advised to break up their routines, to try something new, to practice variety, or to practice a little longer or more vigourously. Keep it fresh. No stagnation.
“Fire” types can be more than willing to take a risk or push themselves. They can be a little too driven or intense for their own good. They may enjoy setting themselves difficult goals, pushing aside any resistance, and moving forward. Their advice is to practice moderation. “Chill out a bit.” Try to lessen that intensity and pay attention to what you’ve been “pushing aside.” It could be your loved ones! Or your body! Fire types make good leaders only if they stop to consider the impact of their ideas on everyone. Of course this can be frustrating to them because they prefer driving “full speed ahead.”
We are beginning to see that “same time, same place” can have very different implications for different people. But what about the universal aspect of “same time, same place?”
Place indicates where we are. We can distinguish seven measures of space. First is our center. “Same place” could mean returning to our center.Second is the inner space of our body. The cliche says “wherever we go, there we are.” Third is the space around us, our field of action. This also travels with us as we expand the field of our actions. Fourth is the whole world. Same place is easy at this level unless you are an astronaut! Fifth is the solar system, sixth the galaxy, and seventh the universe. We are always home. We live in the lap of the divine.
Time can also be seen to have seven measures. The first measure is the pulse, the rhythm of the heart. The heart beat is primary. Perhaps practicing “same time, same place” could mean returning to your heart center. The second measure is the breath. “Same time, same place” could mean returning to the gentle rhythm of diapragmatic breathing. These first two are the inner keys to successful practice.
The third measure of time is the time of day which is the most obvious. Fourth is the time of month. Fifth is the time of year. Yoga and ayurveda distinguish between what are known as daily practices and occasional practices which are done only as needed, perhaps monthly or seasonally. For example it may be important for you to exercise every day (or every other day), but you may only need to fast once a year.
The sixth measure of time is the time of life. Our practices when we are young are different from middle age and from old age. Young people need more of a dynamic approach to support their growth, confidence and skill, middle age people need more moderation to help balance the stress and strain of multiple responsibilities, and older folks need a slower, more mindful pace with plenty of restful, nourishing routines.
And what is the seventh measure of time you ask? This is all lives. This is our place in history. What are the kinds of practices that are needed at this point of time? What are the kinds of practices that will help all beings, in all places? Perhaps “same time, same place” could mean “all times, all places.” You see, it is always time to wake up to the big picture and begin working to make the world a better place, to act more lovingly and skillfully, and to give up the fruits of our actions for the benefit of all.
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