Introduction To Ayurveda Part 3: Remedies For Kapha Dosha

Continuing on in my Introduction To Ayurveda Series, this talk explore lifestyle remedies for Kapha Dosha, including nutrition, herbal medicine, yoga and meditation and more to help us balance Kapha.

Transcript

Thank you for joining me for this talk on Lifestyle Remedies for Coughidosha. The Gunas or qualities of Kapha Dosha, Water and Earth. Are cold, Damp, Heavy. Dense, Smooth, Solid, And oily. It's a static force grounding and stabilizing us on the earthly plane. To balance excess kapha, We work with remedies that are opposite to kapha's qualities. So the qualities of our practices should be dry, Warm, Stimulating, Light, Reducing, And clearing, Bringing in more vata and pitta qualities to mitigate the heavy, Earthy, Damp qualities of kapha. With all the heavy, Sticky, Water and earth qualities, The kapha mind can be resistant, Complacent, And melancholic. When kapha accumulates in the mind, Slow perception, Lack of motivation, Lethargy, Depression, Excess sleeping, And holding on to people, Emotions, And possessions are common. Energizing and lightening up in your lifestyle practices are helpful and should be applied with consistency and determination, Whether it be in your exercise, Your food choices, Or your general daily rhythms. Kapha types can be slow to get started or even resistant to needed lifestyle change. But once the new routine is started and the positive health effects felt, It's easy to maintain the new rhythm. Getting up and moving with an active day and fairly vigorous and regular exercise is most helpful. Don't let yourself settle into the couch in the middle of the day or indulge in that nap. Take a walk outside, Hike or swim or bike, All with a good pace to stimulate and invigorate. Sleep no more than eight hours and get out of bed as soon as you wake. Avoid snoozing. Increase mental stimulation, Travel, Camping, Pilgrimage, And volunteering. Regular decluttering and rearranging in your home. Brings in space so energy can flow and encourages kapha to let go. Surround yourself with bright colors in your house and on your body or on your clothing, Gems or stones. Work with colors such as yellow, Orange, Red, And gold. When cough is accumulating in our body, It first shows up as low acne or digestive fire. And can lead to low or slow metabolism and a tendency to hold excess water and weight in the body. Kapha accumulation can also manifest as phlegm in the lungs, Throat, Sinuses, And stomach. The use of hot, Diaphoretic, And expectorant herbs like ginger, Eucalyptus, Sage, Peppermint, Horseradish, Mustard, Thyme, Or cinnamon can be used in their fresh or dried form as tea, Add it to your foods to bring flavour. Or use a few drops of the essential oil in the bath, Sauna or diffuser to support the movement of phlegm and mucus from the lungs and sinuses and invigorate the mind and body. Take walks daily, Even in the wind, Rain, And snow, To move and clear stuck mental or physical energy. Enjoy dry saunas and a cold plunge or alternating hot and cold showers and dry brushing to clear and invigorate mind and body. Strong dry massage or deep body work using light oils like jojoba and olive oil or even an alcohol base. With warming, Stimulating essential oils such as cinnamon, Lemon, Orange, Bergamot to uplift and invigorate. Consider yoga practices that build heat and strength such as sun salutations or other vinyasa or flow practices. Postures that open the chest such as back bends help to invigorate, Stimulate, And clear the chest, Head, And heart, Often areas of kapha accumulation. Standing poses, Balancing poses, And weight-bearing poses such as plank and side plank and inversions such as headstand are also helpful to move stuck energy and build heat and strength in body and mind. Pranayama like kapalabhati. Bring in the solar principle, Heat, Energy and oxygenation to the body and mind. In meditation practice, Kapha types are naturally drawn to devotion practices. And you can also incorporate practices that help cultivate focus and encourage a letting go of attachments. With a kapha diet, The approach is more lightening, Reducing, Clearing, And stimulating than it is with vata and pitta. Kaffa types do well eating two main meals per day and small snacks if you're hungry. Often, Kapha types do not wake hungry, So the first meal can be between 9 and 11 a. M. Intermittent fasting can be helpful to bring in the light quality and stimulate Agni, The digestive fire. Supporting hunger and metabolism. Avoid raw, Cold, Stale, And old foods. Process foods, Especially those with added salt. Avoid cold and ice-cold drinks. Food should be warm, Light, And dry, And prepared with warming spices like ginger, Turmeric, Chili, Onion, Garlic, And paprika. Do not use food as an emotional support. Do cook with and for others. Kaffa is most decreased by pungent, Bitter, And astringent tastes. Consider consuming foods that are steamed or baked or lightly cooked on the stovetop and bringing in more light, Hot, And dry foods to accommodate for these three tastes. Pungent or heating foods include ginger, Onion, Garlic. Chilies, Black pepper, Turmeric, Horseradish, Pickled foods like sauerkraut and kimchi or pickled beets. Bitter foods include rapini, Endive, Dandelion or beet greens, Bitter melon, And parsley. Astringent foods include okra, Asparagus, Green beans, And unripe banana. Consider warm cereals for breakfast using amaranth seed, Quinoa, Corn, Or a mix of all three. Use sour fruit or dried sour fruit to bring in that little bit of sweet and sour instead of sugar. Consume your grains during the day, Such as a grain bowl for lunch or a sandwich and soup. Consider a protein-rich dinner with healthy fats like avocado or coconut milk and vegetables for dinner or maybe a beef and barley soup. Tonic herbs for kapha dosha are generally pungent, Stimulating herbs like ginger, Cayenne, Elecampane, Garlic, Tricotin, And turmeric. A favorite Ayurvedic Rasayana or tonic formula for Kapha is Trichotill. A combination of equal parts ginger, Black pepper, And Indian long pepper. It's extremely spicy and you need only use a quarter teaspoon of the powder per cup of water. Tricotin is used to expel excess phlegm, Mucus, Weight, And water retention, Stimulates metabolism and acne, And invigorates the mind and body. Ginger and turmeric tea is another excellent support for kapha dosha. To make ginger turmeric tea, Use either a half a teaspoon of the powder mix per two cups of water, Or approximately one tablespoon of each of the fresh roots per two to three cups of water. The fresh turmeric gives the tea a beautiful orange color. Turmeric, Beloved root to many. Also helps the liver properly digest carbohydrates and fats, Which is an important support for Kapha Dosha, Which has a tendency to sluggish and slow carbohydrate metabolism in the liver. Kapha accumulates through winter and melts in spring. So kapha practices are helpful for everyone at this time of year. This brings me to the end of this talk. Thank you for joining me for this series of talks. My intention through this series has been to help people connect to the innate intuitive wisdom of what nourishes them through the lens of Ayurveda and the doshas. As you think of making changes in your health and lifestyle practices, Bring in this new understanding of your nature and its relationship to the elements in whatever way feels right to you. Be realistic. What do you feel you can do consistently? What feels like the right place to start when you check in with your inner knowing? And do keep in your life the things that are already supporting you, Whether they relate to the doshas or not. I hope that this talk was helpful in bringing some awareness as to how Ayurveda works holistically with many tools available within our lifestyle to support health and balance in our lives. Feel free to join me live on Insight Timer for ongoing classes on the doshas and lifestyle medicine to expand on these series of talks. Thank you for listening. Wishing you peace and ease in your day. Namaste.