Ayurveda 101: What Is Ayurveda?

In one of my recent posts, I touched on how understanding the dosha’s helped me keep my skin clear. I believe that understanding ancient healing systems can be helpful in managing our health. Ultimately, preventative care is about balance. I learned a lot about Ayurveda in my health coach training, but I found it difficult to apply to my own life at first. My goal with this post is to breakdown the concepts of Ayurveda and teach you how you can use this system to feel healthier and stronger. So what is Ayurveda exactly??

The Foundations of Ayurveda:

1. Balance:

Ayurveda is an ancient medical system that focuses on achieving balance in the body and the mind to achieve life long mental, emotional, and spiritual health.

Definition Breakdown: Ayur (life) veda (knowledge) or knowledge of life!

When it comes to health, we typically refer to our physical body, but the importance of our spiritual and mental health is essential. Everything is inter-connected, and I love that Ayurveda believes that these 3 areas all matter. This ideology encourages true BALANCE.

“A balanced lifestyle is much more difficult than taking a pill, but it is far more effective.”- Sahara Rose from Idiots Guide to Ayurveda

2. Personalized Approach:

Ayurveda bases their system on 3 doshas or energy types. These energies are all inside us all at different levels. When we have too much of this energy, we experience an imbalance which leads to disease. This belief further installs that health cannot be “one size fits all”. We all have different bodies, genetics, experiences, lifestyles, thoughts, and dietary needs. With our current health crisis, it is obvious that what we have been doing isn’t working and we need to take a customized approach.

3. Digestion:

Not surprisingly, Ayurveda believes a strong digestive system is the secret to health. It is the fire responsible for taking our food and metabolizing, absorbing, and eliminating it. We want to keep the “fire” hot, but not too hot so our digestion will run smoothly. Even the “minor” annoyances like acid reflux, heart burn, bloating, sticky stools, constipation, and excessive gas are a sign that the body is moving towards imbalance.

The 3 Doshas:

In Ayurveda, there are 3 doshas used to describe the different energies in our body and mind.

Vata:
The first dosha is Vata which is airy and light. Vata feels dry, light, cold and moves energies through the body. (like a cloud of air) Vata energy manages blood circulation, elimination, respiration, ingestion, communication, heart, menstruation, touch, hearing, creativity, emotions, and all physical movement.
When Vata is out of balance, you experience symptoms in these specific areas of the body. These symptoms may include: feeling excessively cold, hearing problems, arthritis, lack of menstruation, anxiety, flakiness, dementia, lack of creativity, and fatigue.

Pitta:
The next dosha is Pitta which is made of fire and water. It feels hot, dry, oily, liquid, and light and oversees digestion (hello, fire!)! Pitta energy manages metabolism, digestion, appetite, thirst, taste, food sensitivities, body temp, intelligence, and ambition. When pitta is out of balance, symptoms include: stinky body odor, poor eyesight, light sensitivity, diarrhea, heartburn, acid reflux, anger, stress, burnout, and irritability.

Kapha:
The last dosha is Kapha which is made of earth and water. Kapha feels heavy, cold, oily, soft, dense, and liquid. Kapha oversees bone density, fat regulation, strength, and stamina. It provides support to the body and holds everything together. When out of balance, kapha symptoms include: feeling cold, clammy, weigh gain, swelling, lethargy, excessive mucus, sticky stools, bloating, slow metabolism, lazyiness, loneliness, sadness, and jealousy.

We all have these energies inside of us, but most of us have 1 predominate dosha. If you are curious what your current mind-body type is – I suggest you take this quiz here created by Joyful Belly.

The quiz will help you identify the imbalances in your body and which dosha your body’s state is currently in.

Balancing your Dosha Imbalance through Food:

Vata Balancing Foods – As I mentioned above, vata energy is very cold and dry. When you think of these qualities, what kind of foods do you think of? Salads. Salads just add in more vata energy and worsen the imbalance. Warm salads with cooked foods are a better option. You also need lots of fat in your meals to hydrate the body. Vata’s should focus on eating sweet, sour, and salty foods. Avoid pungent, astringent, and bitter foods. Vata’s are the best energy type to eat meat.

Here would be a simple meal idea to make for Vata’s. Keema Mater by the Domestic Man
The goal is to eat grounding foods like grass-fed beef and starchy carbs.

Balancing Vata Energy in My Own Life:
When I was focused on eating less food, I struggled with excess Vata energy. I used to feel very cold all the time, light-headed, dizzy, exhausted (adrenal fatigue), and had a missing period. These are all signs of vata imbalance. To go back to my natural nourished state, I started adding extra sea salt to my food and water, eating 3 full meals a day, adding in more fat (1 serving a day isn’t enough), and drinking less coffee. Once I started eating more food, I stopped feeling so cold and the fat helped my digestion run faster. Every day, I ate a big sweet potato with fat sprinkled with sea salt. Eventually, I got my period back and stopped feeling so dizzy all the time!

Pitta Balancing Foods – Pitta energy is excess heat. You want to avoid hot, oily, and spicy foods (pungent). Pitta’s want to eat salads! Salads are a great way to fit in the 3 tastes of bitter, astringent, and sweet. Generally, pitta’s should avoid caffeine and aged cheeses with sharp flavors. Avoid sour, salty, and pungent(spicy) foods.

Here would be a simple meal idea to make for Pitta’s. Roasted Cauliflower Chickpeas with Lemon Tahini Dressing by Budget Bytes

I find that chickpeas (astringent flavor) are the perfect meal base to balance out pitta energy.

Balancing Pitta Energy In My Own Life:
Of all the dosha’s, I believe I am a pitta body type. Luckily, I don’t struggle with too many pitta imbalances, but when I do it is acne and rosacea. I have always had oily skin and thick hair (both pitta qualities). I am also very motivated which is why I LOVE coffee, but coffee is not recommended pitta imbalances. When I struggle with feeling overly hot, red, and inflamed, I love to eat chickpeas, salads, and focus on sweet and cooling foods. When I add these foods in more, I have noticed a BIG difference in my skin! I have also seen how too much coffee can flush my skin and make my cheeks redder. I drink coffee moderately now and drink more green tea which helps. Overall eating this way has really helped me to balance out any excess pitta.

Kapha Balancing Foods – Kapha energy is earth. This is the best energy type to drink caffeine. You want to focus on eating light foods because kapha is a very heavy energy. Eat rough, warm, and dry foods. This dosha is most prone to weight gain so you want to fill up on vegetables to add in more fiber. Avoid oily foods which add more heaviness to the body. The best flavors for this dosha are pungent (spicy), bitter, and astringent. Pungents helps to bring heat to the body and boost the metabolism. Bitter foods are very cleansing and drying. Astringents are dry and rough. Kaphas want to avoid sweet, sour, and salty. These flavors are heavy and can cause swelling.

Here is a simple meal for Kapha:

Curry Kale Cauliflower Soup. This soup is high in fiber, filling, and has kale which provides bitter flavor.

Balancing Kapha Energy in My Own Life:
This one has been harder for me to identify with but at the same time I do. I have felt heaviness, toxicity, depression, lack of motivation, and feelings of “stuck” which are all kapha. Kapha needs more bitter foods to help cleanse, rid the body of toxins, and energize. I make sure to eat lots of greens, to cleanse the body. Coffee is also recommended for kapha’s so enjoy it from time to time to avoid kapha. I also know that lack of motivation can be due to being stuck in indecision, so I push myself to make a decisions quickly and move on!

If you have difficultly identifying with one dosha, do not worry because all these energy types are inside. Together they create balance so we can live in our healthiest body!

I like Ayurveda because it helps explain why you still feel like crap when you are eating so many salads. It provides an idea of why coffee works for some and not others and so many other examples. I find that understanding the basics of this beautiful life science gives us more power to know what food to fuel our body with. We can find and maintain our vitality when we naturally eat in this way.

How Else Can you Practice Ayurveda?

There are many ways to practice Ayurveda, here are 3 of my favorite ways that don’t include food:

1. Yoga – If you read in my latest obsessions post, I share how I am obsessed with yoga! Yoga is a sister science of Ayurveda to balance our body and connect with our spirituality. I love yoga because it feels loving. It is a set amount of time to care for your body by sweating, stretching, and soothing our body’s aches and pains. The yogas poses were designed to stir the blood, lymph and allow toxins to sweat out. Our body’s require movement and yoga is such a beautiful way to incorporate daily movement.

2. Tongue Scraping – If you have never tried a tongue scraper, you need to get yourself one and try it out! Here is the one I have. I love how my mouth feels so fresh after scraping. It is important to keep the tongue clean as this is the first place where digestion starts and specific enzymes are released depending on food you eat. Also, a cleaner tongue helps you to taste your food better which in turns has you satisfied with less food. #winwin

3. Drinking Hot Water – This is one of my favorites practices because I rarely drink cold water anymore. Most people order a large glass of ice water and drink it during their meal. But this practice is slowing their digestive fire and leading to bloat and constipation. Heated water helps to soften the body and promotes digestion, hydrates the body, and flushes the lymphatic system. If hot water sounds unappetizing, start slow and try to begin your morning with a cup of hot water and some fresh squeezed lemon.

Ayurveda Digestion Rules:

A strong digestive fire or Agni is the foundation to a healthy body. If something is off, we need to pay attention and work to bring it back to balance. It is SO easy to ignore minor digestion distress, but these issues build up over time and can lead to worse health issues. Here are a few of the basic rules to optimize your digestion accordingly to Ayurveda.

Minimal Snacking. – I love myself a good snack, but eating every 1-2 hours means that your digestion is constantly working. The ideal is to eat 3 filling meals and to wait 4-6 hours between meals to ensure complete digestion.
Eat all 6 Tastes – The 6 tastes include: sweet, sour, pungent, bitter, astringent, and salty. To feel satisfied for your meals, you should include variety of foods and different tastes to avoid cravings later on. Think about this goal when building your next meal! Here would be an example of a meal including all 6 tastes: sweet potatoes (sweet) lemon (sour) cayenne (pungent) kale (bitter) chickpeas (astringent) sea salt (salty)
Eat for your Dosha – We all have different bodies and following your general dosha recommendations will help your digestion run best. For example, I am a pitta. I feel best eating 3 meals a day otherwise I get irritable. Vata’s prefer to snack, but they need to eat full meals with lots of fat to keep them grounded and to keep digestion running. Kapha’s are the least hungry but tend to emotionally eat more. They should wait until they are fully hungry to eat to avoid weight gain and sluggishness.
Lunch Should Be the Biggest Meal – You likely have heard of this tip before. But the reality is this isn’t easy to do! Our digestion has the most fire during the middle of the day and this is the best time to eat a big meal. By the end of the day, we are winding down and getting ready for the bed. The least thing we want is our body trying to digest a meal while we are sleeping.
Enjoy your Meal Slowly– Eating in a hurry, eating stressed, or eating on the go are all bad for digestion. We might live busy lives, but if you are too busy to eat and enjoy a meal – it might be time to look over your priorities. I am guilty of this because I hate slowing down. Lately, I made a rule of no eating in the car and that rule in itself has helped my digestion.

These are some of the basic principles of Ayurveda. If you want to learn more about this ancient healing system – I highly recommend the Idiots Guide to Ayurveda. This book has EVERYTHING you could want to know about Ayurveda. If you have never heard of Ayurveda before, I hope this post gave you some basic understanding.

I would love to hear – what Dosha are you?! Comment below and share! And if you are confused on which one – let me know and I can try to help you out! 🙂

Want to Balance your Dosha? Download the Free Ultimate List of what to Eat for each Dosha! Click Here!

xoxo
Chelsea Jolene

PS! If you are looking for personalized support on your healing journey, I am now accepting 1:1 clients! I support my clients through specialty lab testing to find EXACTLY what their body needs and use my detective skills to connect the dots on their unique past and develop a simple to follow plan to get them back to feeling amazing! Just click here to apply (so I know a bit more of what is going on) and we can chat about exactly how we can restore your health! yay!

Questions? Email me at chelsea@cjwellness.com . xx