Inflammation

The heat is rising in Southern CA, and it’s so nice out that many of us are taking the opportunity to soak in the sun. For some of us, however, we already have signs of heat excess in our systems. This really applies to anyone that has a good amount of pitta in their constitution. One of the hallmarks of pitta excess is inflammation. (Check out other signs of pitta excess.)

I have a lot of clients whom, like myself, are showing signs of inflammation in their nervous and digestive systems. So let’s take some time to learn about inflamed guts and feelings. In ayurveda, the mind and digestive system are the first place you will see signs of imbalance. If left unchecked, imbalance, or doshic excess, then travels to deeper tissue systems. So if you are already seeing inflammation in your skin (acne or psoriasis) or joints, the issue has been accumulating for some time. By tuning into the first signs of inflammation in your being, you can begin pitta balancing sooner and prevent the heat from going into deeper tissues.

PLAYDOUGH POOP

My kids have this playdough fun factory and the way the playdough comes out of that thing is just like classic pitta-inflammation poop. It’s flattish, ribbon-like and much narrower than a nicely formed log. It also resembles soft-serve ice cream or frozen yogurt coming out of the dispenser–somewhat sludgy in consistency. As pitta rises in the digestive tract, the stool becomes more loose and soft.  When the walls of the colon are inflamed, the lumen narrows and the stool takes the shape of the narrowed intestines. Pitta excess in the colon, without inflammation, is more loose or like diarrhea and more frequent. If you are having more than 2 bowel movements a day, you likely have heat excess.

PEOPLE ARE OVERRATED

Usually concomitant with playdough poop is an easily incensed mind. So for those of us that are pitta predominant, this means being more reactive than usual (akin to the immune system’s reactivity in inflammation). More specifically, if you feel you are defending yourself more often, feeling like you need to confront others a bit more often, or finding yourself irritated at people not getting to the point or having to repeat yourself–these are all classic representations of inflamed pitta in the nervous system. Overall, like any inflamed tissue, the mind is less tolerant and more sensitive. This usually leads to a disgruntled attitude (people are overrated). Of course, on the physical level, heat in the nervous system could mean more tension in the jaw and neck, getting hot when asleep, and hot flashes for perimenopausal women.

So, as Dr. Lad would say,”what to do, what to do?” Well, all pitta reducing will help. This means cultivating the qualities of soothing and cooling in every way you can. Below are some examples of reducing pitta in the nervous and digestive systems.

• avoid confrontation
• aromatherapy with sweet cooling scents (rose, sandalwood)
• avoid over-working (e.g. evenings for relaxing)
• drink lemonade (agave and lemon decrease pitta and inflammation… a dash of rosewater is bonus)
• avoid alcohol
• avoid sour, tart, and pickled foods
• avoid spicy food
• avoid spicy people
• back off on sexual frequency (think once a week as a max)

In addition, anti-inflammatory herbs are wonderful. Turmeric is perhaps the most popularly recognized anti-inflammatory herb in ayurveda. Interestingly, it is heating in nature and I like to use this one at the end of summer/beginning of fall. At this junction of pitta and kapha season, the cooling bitters are perfect. Think dandelion, nettle, burdock, echinacea, goldenseal….these are also all liver/blood cleansers (alternatives). In ayurveda, the “house” of pitta is in the liver, so this makes sense. There are many others, but the above can be easily found in tea form at a Whole Foods or health food store.

Ultimately, the things that irritate us the most are those which reflect parts of ourselves we are uncomfortable with. See if you can dig deeper and make peace with these facets of yourself, and you’ll have less of a reaction when you encounter similar patterns externally.

Spring Kitchardi Cleanse

So springtime is a great time to detox and cleanse. “Spring cleaning” is for both our external and internal environs. Many of us can feel this intuitively and so many cultures have traditions based in fasting during this time. It’s balancing to cleanse the body because Springtime (kapha season) is naturally a time of accumulation. The only thing is that many of us also have lives that are not supportive of taking a few weeks off to cleanse. (If your life is conducive to that, then stop reading this and start looking for flights to India to do pancha karma for 3-4weeks!)

It can be really imbalancing to do a cleanse without giving yourself the appropriate container to do this work of releasing what no longer serves you. Your life has got to align with, and hopefully support, whatever you are trying to achieve within your body and mind; you are just a reflection of the energy in your life. This is why just eating organic won’t save someone with a high stress job and lack of emotional support from health issues. Your food is a big energy input, but so are your relationships, job, climate, stage of life, financial stability, etc.

So how are all of us going to cleanse without taking time off of our work and family responsibilities? My answer is kitchardi fasting. What is kitchardi? Well, it’s been called and ayurvedic “superfood” in the latest media push, and actually, I think it lives up to that name.

Kitchardi is a stew of mung bean, basmati rice, ghee and digestive spices. The completeness score (how complete a food is in all of the elements needed by the human body–vitamins, minerals, starches, fats and proteins) of the mung lentil alone is like 80/100 (this is super rare). The 20 missing elements (like vit ADE) are supplied by the other ingredients. So this means that kitchardi gives you everything your body needs without any other foods, and actually eating kitchardi is probably giving you more of the elements your regular diet is missing.

In ayurveda, mung is recognized for its detoxifying properties, while also being rejuvenative. This is really unique because most herbs and foods that detox strip down the body tissues instead of replenishing them. So this means I can eat kitchardi, cleanse my body (and mind) while not feeling like I’m going to faint or not have the energy to keep up with my family and business. In fact, I usually feel more energized, and eat less naturally because I feel so nourished.

How do you do it? Well, here’s how I do it and you can adapt for yourself:

• eat mung everyday, mostly in the form of different kitchardi variations
• cook mung with ghee and spices in every recipe
• eat fruits (at least thirty minutes away from other food) for snacks
• add various veggies to the mung dishes and eat some steamed and spiced veggies for alternate meals
• I still have chai and herbal teas and juice as I desire
• I don’t eat anything else (except my 3 pieces of chocolate a day)

Here’s a basic recipe for kitchardi from Pranaful Chef Meredith Klein. Get creative and search online for recipes, as mung is used in a lot of different ways all over India, China and SE Asia. Vietnamese mung pudding is one of my favorite dishes. I LOVE MUNG! (Can someone make me a T-shirt with that slogan already…:))

Kitchardi Recipe

This recipe is from my friend and incredible food engineer, Meredith Klein (Pranaful.com) Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1” piece of fresh ginger, peeled and grated

1/2 c. mung beans, soaked* and drained

4 c. water (use more for soupier kitchari)

Up to 2 c. chopped veggies (optional)

Heat ghee in a medium pot over medium-low heat. Add cumin seeds, black mustard
seeds, and ginger, and sauté for a couple minutes, until mustard seeds begin to pop. Stir
often to keep ginger from sticking to the bottom of the pot. Stir in the rice and drained
mung beans, and cook for 2 minutes.

Add water, and raise heat to high. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat back to medium low,
and stir in kombu, turmeric, hing and salt. Cover and cook 25-35 minutes, until rice and
mung beans are soft. Stir occasionally as needed to prevent sticking.

If using fresh veggies, add the heartier veggies (like root veggies) at the same time as the
kombu and spices. Add lighter veggies (like greens) in the last 10 minutes of cooking.

* If using whole mung beans, soak at least 6-8 hours; for split mung beans, 2-3 hours.

Learn more about “Kitchardi Cleansing”

Top Ten Ways to balance Kapha

Coming out of kapha imbalance takes a lot of motivation, so we can lower our expectations a bit and make the task more feasible. Let’s just say you incorporate 5 out of the 10…that’s still a great start (really, I mean this)!

1. Don’t sleep past 7am. Once kapha gets rich in the atmosphere, we feel it and we fall deeper into sleep. It’s really tough to wake up when you are in a kapha cloud. The earlier you can get out of bed in the morning, ideally rising with the sun, the less likely you are to have kapha-head-stay-in-bed syndrome. I’ve found that 7am is really the farthest most of us can push it before entering hit-the-snooze-button-land.

2. Sun salutations (surya namaskar) are great to keep our internal fire nice and stoked. Heat helps balance the cold quality of kapha. Surya namaskar also helps to get our circulation going, which counters the stagnant quality of kahpa.

3. Exercise in the morning. Being active helps to balance the passive and sedentary nature of the kapha time of day.

4. Avoid cold temperatures. Staying warm helps to counteract the cold quality of kapha dosha. Dry heat and saunas balance cold and damp inherent to kapha; saunas with eucalyptus essential oil are really nice.

5. Avoid cold dairy foods. So cold foods are only really balancing if you are in pitta imbalance. Most of us have a vata imbalance and should favor warmed food. Cold dairy foods are really high in kapha energy.

6. Spice your food. This is the time to heat up your food. Most all of the warming spices are natural decongestants–this is not a coincidence. I love how eating seasonally really is the best prevention for disease. My favorites this time of year are cinnamon, cardamom (ok i love cardamom every time of year), clove, turmeric, cumin, ajwain and black pepper.

7. Brush your skin. “What the ___ is that?” was what I thought the first time I heard of this. And here I am today a devoted fan of skin-brushing. So the women in my family use the eco foot brushes. There are several brands of wooden/bamboo foot brushes out there (and for all you Ross/TJMaxx fans, they usually carry them for around $5). We use the brush side as a body brush instead of foot brush, brushing the skin all over moving from the perifery towards the heart. It promotes healthy circulation and help to stimulate the body to access remote fat stores, aiding in toning and discouraging cellulite (anti-kapha).

8. “Breath of fire” (kapalabhati) helps to balance kapha energy. The translation of the kapalabhati is “shiny forehead” because you get a little sweat going from the heat you build. Here’s a video I like demonstrating the pranayam practice.

9. Try new activities. Stepping a bit out of our comfort zone balances the immobile, sluggish or stubborn sort of feel to kapha imbalance. This is a good time to finally try things you have been meaning to do.

10. Cultivate new friendships. Getting to know the people around you is a great way to step out of your own life and

11. (BONUS POINT FOR THIS ONE) Try on new perspectives. This one doesn’t need explanation

Welcome Kapha

Ahhh, I love kapha season. For those of us  pitta predominant nature, and most of us that have a standing vata imbalance, the damp coolness of kapha is a welcome experience.

For others of us (especially if you have been running high in the vata department and are more vulnerable), kapha season can bring some unwelcome experiences.

Signs of kapha imbalance include:

MIND: heavy, sluggish, dull, sleepy, tired, stubborn, too much psychological baggage, holding on to grudges, melancholy/ depression, crying, unmotivated, tough am wake

BODY: heavy, sluggish digestion, swollen, congested, bloated, low appetite especially in the morning, pale skin, increased sweating, longer/heavier menses, cysts, rheumatic nodules, cold, increased ama, weight gain

If you are relating to the pattern above, then here are Ten Ways to Balance Kapha. Where most of us is at is acutally a state of Vata and Kapha imbalance (Ten Ways to Balance Vata). We are just leaving vata season and entering kapha season, so this makes sense. So, whenever there are two doshas out of balance (in excess) at the same time, the goal is to emphasize qualities of energy that are balancing for both of the vitiated doshas. So, for both vata and kapha, heat is balancing.

• This is an important time of year to stay warm. The damp with the chill can really get into your core and I’m seeing lots of people with longstanding sinusitis and cold symptoms. So that means being warmly dressed, but can also mean bringing in heat in other ways.
• Eating warmly spiced foods is great now. Avoiding cold foods, especially cold dairy is a good seasonal adjustment in diet as well.
• Supporting your digestive fire with routine eating times and healthy eating habits will help pacify VK imbalance;
• Avoid overeating this season, because the body is storing everything extra.
• In addition to diet, physical activity is a great way to build heat.

You always have to listen to your body to feel for the subtle boundaries on these approaches. So, for example, I may increase my exercise and thereby also increase movement and disruption of my usual routine, which would end up aggravating my vata symptoms. To avoid this, I  will be conscious of limiting vata energy in how I increase my physical activity.  For example, I could choose to exercise in nature (kapha)  during the mornings (kapha) in a regular routine (kapha), building up to my ideal frequency and intensity (slow transition to appease vata). I could also choose to walk at a moderate pace or do a gentle hatha yoga class, and those would be more soothing to vata than a spin class or surfing (cold and wind and wet). You get the idea…

• Increasing the passion in your life–yes, Valentine’s Day is actually seasonally appropriate ; however, don’t overdo it or  vata imbalance will be aggravated.
• Go to bed early (like 9p) and wake up early (before 7a)

All the above is a lot! What’s great is that feeling in balance is such a rewarding feeling. Kapha season is the best time to cultivate, especially feelings of contentment and bliss.

Top 10 Balancing Tips for Vata Season

1. Oil every orifice! (I’m serious.) We are oil-pulling (mouth); doing nasya (nose and ears), and basti (colorectum) in my house. Vata is dry, dry, dry. We may notice drier nasal passages and lips, but we don’t do anything about it. In ayurveda, oiling helps to fortify the epithelium that lines the orifices and prevents against vata imbalance in these areas (e.g. prevents upper respiratory infections, earaches/tinnitis/infections, constipation/diverticuli, etc.)

2. Oil your skin. This is the largest organ of the body, and a digestive organ. Medicinal oils are so important this time of year. Although traditional abhyangha (daily self massage) is recommended before bathing, I recommend oiling yourself after bathing in place of a lotion or sheabutter. 20 minutes on your skin is all it takes for something to be seen in your blood stream! So medicinal oils are a great way to take in herbs that are balancing and reduce dryness from the outside in.

3. Cook with ghee. Ghee, to me, is clarified life-force from breastmilk–minus the lactose sugars and waxes/debris in butter that clog arteries. It nourishes all tissues, is known to help rejuvenate deeper tissues, and pacifies vata and pitta. Ghee reduces dryness and increasing the quality of tissues from the inside-out. On this note, avoid dry and cold foods!

4. Lock into some kind of routine. Routine is rhythm and that rhythm is what our internal clocks (e.g. circadian rhythms) will set to. With routine to anchor your mind and body, there is greater harmony amongst the millions of processes taking place inside your miraculous self. This synchrony helps prevent against imbalance.

5. Spend quality time with supportive people in your life. AKA bring in healthy kapha. Really plug into the people that ground you. Maybe instead of going to get a drink in a noisy bar, you go for a walk together; instead of watching a movie, prepare a meal together. You get the idea, it’s about feeling present during your time together.

6. Move around less (that means stay at home more) Constant movement is the hallmark of vata. Stay still. Leave space in your schedule. Lie on the floor, stare at the trees out of the window, meditate…just be. After all, we are human BEings, not human DOings.

7. Go to bed before 9pm. I know, that is a G rated bedtime…and almost impossible during holiday festivities. But really, this is when vata time of night really kicks in, so as many days as possible that you can accomplish this (or closer to this than you are now), you will reduce the vata you take in.

8. Spend less time around electronics. All EMR is movement–TV and laptops screens are moving so fast. And that movement is stimulating to our brains. Less stimulation=less vata.

9.Get massaged (with oil of course). Human touch is grounding. Massages reduce tension, and soften the body. Soft, supple, warm and oily are all qualities that balance vata.

10.Flame-gaze. This is so great when you are feeling scattered and having trouble focusing. So many holidays this time of year incorporate candles and light (Hannukah, Diwali, Kwanza…), so take advantage. Just stare at the flickering flame and allow yourself to become fully immersed in it’s dance and nature. That’s it! It also calms the nervous system.

Vata Imbalance

Vata Season

Pitta pushing Kapha Imbalance

Summer craziness coming to a close…back to school means back to a schedule. I’m thankful! Hopefuly you all are also revisiting your schedules and planning a rhythm for the end of the year (imagine a bass drum sound of heartbeat here)…

At this point in the summer, many of us have run a bit on the pitta side for several weeks and may now be feeling some secondary kaphic signs in our bodies and lives. A primary pitta imbalance (and for most of us combined with some vata imbalance from summer travel), encouraging a secondary kaphic imbalance (“pitta pushing kapha”) may look like:

• waking up between midnight and 3am and feeling tired when waking in the morning
• being easily irritated, but keeping it to yourself
• yeast yeast yeast
• swollen inflamed joints
• sinusitis
• acne (especially along areas of sweat)
• a coated tongue with red margins and white in center/posterior tongue
• to do lists accumulating

As Dr. Lad would say, “What to do? What to do? (in Indian accent)” Well, personally, I load on the bitter herbs (guduchi, musta, neem) this time of year. I have to check my time in the hot sun and overworking tendencies. Diet wise, I favor light food that is well spiced (with non-spicey spices like coriander, cumin, etc.). Kitchardi cleanses are great now, as are green foods (which are mostly bitter in taste anyways).  Basically, focus on pitta reduction but less through sweet than through bitter in your life. I’m neti-ing a good deal this time of year, and forcing myself to move (but moderating the intensity). Oh, and of course, triphala to keep it all flowing in the right direction…

What do you do to keep your P–>K imbalance in check? Feel free to share!

Addressing acne with ayurveda

I personally overcame (it’s an ongoing process) my acne with ayurveda. I had years of antibiotics, RetinA, benzoyl peroxide and even accutane–a super frustrating issue because it’s on your face. When I first looked into ayurveda for acne, I was pretty disappointed. All I could find were some recipes for masks and pitta reducing diets…none of these yielded immediate results for me, and so I gave up on them prematurely.

It’s often not a simple issue of pitta reduction.

The type of acne you have will reveal more about the doshas involved. More dry and hard feeling blackheads (vata)? That’s different from those painful lumps deep down that may never even surface (kapha). Also, the acne can be a secondary issue to another root issue.  Reducing pitta in your life (not just your diet) will help with any inflammation and ulceration. Reducing vata will help with reducing scaring. Reducing kapha will help with oiliness and swelling/ pus. So, you can see that all of the doshas may be involved, and figuring out which approach to take will depend on your individual experience.

In any case, reducing acne means cleaning the blood and circulating lymph (rasa dhatu).

If you have “nodulocystic” acne, the doshic imbalances are down into the level of the ayurvedic muscle tissue correlate, the mamsa dhatu. To reduce the level of the imbalance, start first with the digestive system and the blood–clean up your diet, hydrate, and detox. This means:

• no weird chemicals (cigarettes/ skin products/ household products),
• no processed stuff (e.g. diet coke)
• lots and lots of water
• alterative herbs (burdock, neem, dandelion are all cooling alteratives) cool and cleanse the blood.
• herbs that are rejuvinatives to the skin are helpful, as are those which build healthy hormonal flow.
• triphala helps balance all the doshas and clean up the digestive system
• follow the dosha balancing approach to your diet depending on your type of acne
• heavy foods tend to congest/ build ama, and worsen acne.
• alcohol is a big load of toxins and pitta and dehydrates, so it really worsens acne.
• maintain healthy digestive fire to decrease ama–there are herbs to help with this (dipanas, digestive teas).
• I DONT recommend any radical cleanses. Pancha Karma is helpful, but expensive and not necessary.

Reducing doshic imbalances: look at your prakruti AND your vikruti to change your lifestyle and habits

For me this means looking at you and your patterns since before the acne began, and through the experience. Someone with a predominantly kapha constitution is just as likely to have acne just as a predominantly vata constitution, especially in the pitta time of life. In other words, anyone can get acne.  Your constitution is helpful when fine-tuning an ayurvedic treatment, but what has been coming into your life in the time of the acne is more important in my opinion (vikruti).  This means looking at your relationships, routine, climate, etc. Herbs and diet can greatly help and even resolve acne, but ultimately the imbalance came from a lifestyle and habits that are imbalancing for you. If you want long-term acne clearance, likely your lifestyle and habits will have to change.

Your skin is a digestive system. What is it eating?

Switch out chemicals for natural options: shampoo, soap, laundry detergent, drycleaners, etc. Use natural oils instead of lotions…medicinal oils are great tools. Herbal face packs and scrubs help to address the doshic imbalance from the “outside in.” Clean your sheets and towels often. Think of what you hear and feel in your day–toxic words are absorbed too.

Now do all of that for at least a month…not easy! but not impossible either. I did it…you can too:).

What to do at the start of a yeast infection

Late springtime is a common time for yeast infections as both pitta and kapha are elevated this time of year. Many of us do not want to have to use conventional yeast products because they have side effects; or because we want to come back into balance so the yeast stays gone (instead of coming back 2-3 weeks after taking diflucan or monistat… ). Below is my suggestion for what to implement at the very start of a yeast infection:

DIET

• decrease kapha in the diet (especially simple sugars)
• decrease pitta in the diet (especially fermented things….fermented sugar=alcohol, so that’s out too)
• increase the use of coconut in your diet in every way…naturally fights yeast and helps to soothe inflammation
• watch out for kefirs and “probiotic” products that have a lot of simple sugars

HERBS (we carry all of these, by the way…)

• shardinuka/ gurmar helps to decrease sugar cravings and reduce kapha
• licorice tea is great for douching because it cools and soothes and helps counteract yeast
• ginger is a natural antimicrobial and reduces kapha
• turmeric is also a natural antimicrobial and reduces kapha
• echinacea is another great immune support and balances both kapha and pitta
• triphala–(of course…everyone knows why, right?)

SUPPLEMENTS

• Candex- This approach is to disable fungal cell wall synthesis so yeast cannot grow. It’s noticeably effective within a few days. (Thanks to Aleks at The Birth Sanctuary for introducing me to this product.)
• Probiotics-You don’t need a super expensive one. Homemade yogurt is the best. The important aspect is consistent use.
• Ampachakvati-reduces ama and restores healthy digestive fire

OTHER

• Comfortable, loose fitting clothing or being naked
• Routine!

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!