Reducing vata at the start of a cold…

Lowered immunity is primarily a vata imbalance, and a state of depletion, dryness and low digestive fire (agni). Below are various ayurvedic tools to reduce vata when you first start to feel sick:

• Oil enemas (Please don’t do this unless you have been instructed on how)
• Avoiding any cold or dry foods. That means nourishing, warm temperature, and moist foods diminish vata in the diet and help to maintain healthy digestive fire. This is one reason why kitchardi is great when you are fighting a bug and why soups and teas feel so good.
• Neti. Neti is not intended when you are so congested that there is occlusion of the sinuses/ nasal passageways–it’s painful. Utilize neti if you are at the stage of dry mucus membranes/ light runny nose/ but still breathing through the nose without any problem. (Nasal saline spray for kids…I like Little Tummies brand)
• Nasya. After netiing (allow me to create that word), I put two drops of warm sesame oil (or any vata reducing oil) in each nostril. I also put two drops in each ear. All before bed because, ideally, we are laying down to receive the oil in the ENT (that’s dr. shorthand for ear-nose-throat) passageways. Are you still going to benefit if you put some warm oil in at another time of the day? Of course.
• Kitchardi. Moong helps to detoxify and rejuvenate at the same time. That’s my kind of bean (lentil? bean?…it doesn’t matter how we classify it, what matters is what it does )
• Spices. Garlic, ginger, any kind of pepper = antimicrobial + reduce vata + maintain agni
• Rest. Be still. Snuggle.
• Humidify. Warm baths and humidifiers are great. If you don’t have a bathtub or humidifier, just put a big pot on the stove and put it on low for a few hours. It’s great to add essential oils or herbs to the pot as well. Some of my favorite are ginger, cardamom, eucalyptus, frankincense, and cinnamon (all have therapeutic properties that help with cold symptoms ). Warm and moist on the outside just like for the inside.
• Avoid foods that are too heavy… ice cream or fried foods, for example. This frees up more energy for healing instead of digesting, and also helps with maintaining healthy agni.  Most colds start with vata imbalance and end with a kapha imbalance (congestion, lethargy), so we want to balance vata without aggravating kapha.

Thanks for reading this! The first 5 people who email in on the contact form below will receive a free 4oz jar of my signature “cough and cold” tea to have on deck for flu season!

When you first start to feel sick…

Stay home!

The initial signs of a cold are usually:

• decreased appetite
• dry mucous membranes
• dry or raw sore throat
• Weakness
• Fatigue
• Gas
• Headache
• Changes in temperature (chills, hotspells, or both)

If you have 3/8 of the above symptoms, chances are you are fighting a bug–most likely viral. For some reason, our culture here is to “fight through it,” but we are only lining ourselves up for more suffering. By continuing to deplete ourselves, we increase the:

• duration of the cold
• the severity of symptoms
• the likelihood of a secondary bacterial infection that may require antibiotics (and the subsequent side effects thereof….ahem, yeast infections…)

If you actively enlist your tools to reduce vata, you may be able to “nip it in the bud.”

That means staying home, clearing your schedule, and taking care of yourself.

Yes, I’m serious.

Stay home. Clear your schedule. Take care of yourself = recover faster, spread less germs, suffer less.

Each song is a pattern…

The first 3 seconds of a song may not seem so, but after hearing the chorus looped a few times you can clearly recognize a pattern. Western medicine is like that 3 second clip; ayurveda is listening to the whole song.

Trying to kick caffeine?

Try tulsi tea!

Tulsi is an amazing herb in that it has the intelligence to determine what you need in the nervous system, and provide it (adaptogen). In this way, it can help stimulate the nervous system, while not overdoing it like caffeine. In addition, tulsi is a great herb for the digestive system, antimicrobial and helps to rid the body of toxins and bring out mucous from the lungs. (Nervine Stimulant; Anthelmintic; Antimicrobial; Diaphoretic; Dipana; Expectorant)

I’ve been drinking Organic India’s Tulsi Rose, and it is heavenly. You can find it at Vitamin City on Palo Verde/Spring if you are in Long Beach.

When someone isn’t meeting your needs…

It’s tough!

If someone you depend on isn’t able to be there for you in the way you need them to be, it’s time to reevaluate the relationship. By reevaluating the relationship, I don’t mean drop the person out of your life (at least for most cases).

Why is it that they cannot meet your needs?

In most cases, people will answer because “they don’t care,” or “they aren’t trying.”  Let’s take a closer look here. If someone really and truly doesn’t care to meet the needs of people that depend on them, then I would say they are at a level of consciousness that doesn’t allow them to be dependable.  If someone communicates that they care about your needs, but they are still unable to meet them, again they are at a place in their life where they are unable to do so (literally, or maybe just emotionally). In either case, the person is unable–whatever the reason may be.

So what should you do?

Well, most of us get frustrated, angry, and take it out on that person. That’s definitely not going to incentivize any positive change in the situation. So then what? Have compassion. Yes, compassion for the person that isn’t meeting your needs. Compassion because they are at a certain stage in their lives, or conscious evolution that does not allow them to. I’ve found when I can remember to do this, it melts away my anger and I am empowered to move forward. Moving forward is an important second step. It means either meeting your own needs, or finding another who is able to. This is easy to write, much harder to practice. But, hey, even love is a discipline. You can do it. While you are at it, have compassion for yourself too.

In sum, 1. accept the situation; 2. have compassion; 3. move forward.

After all, I think the Dalai Lama said this–Compassion is the great radicalism of our time.