I get cranky when it’s too hot. It starts off with tiredness and generally feeling like everything’s too hard. Then something flips my switch and I’m off. Raging. Normal pre-schooler behaviour suddenly becomes an unbearable provocation and I find myself giving my 4 year old a roasting for the terrible crime of drawing on her little brothers hand with texta. So what happens to me when the temperature rises? And is there anything I can do to keep calm? The answers can be found in Ayurveda, yoga’s sister science (Ayurveda = ‘Science of Life”). I’ve mentioned before in this blog about the three doshas, or constitutions, from which all matter is made.
Pitta dosha is made up of fire and earth elements. It is this fire element that can get out of control during the summer and bring out the firey behaviour that my poor children have been witnessing! My constitution is mainly Pitta, but we all have a bit of Pitta in our make-up and these hot summer days can aggravate any of us if we find our Pitta dosha getting out of balance. Here’s a run-down of Pitta characteristics and some tips for keeping that fire in check during the hot weather!
Characteristics of Pitta
Pitta-dominant people are often of average or athletic physical build and have fine hair (often blonde or red) that tends to early grey. They have a strong, robust appetite and metabolism. A balanced Pitta is blessed with a sharp intelligence and an amazing ability to organise people and events. The Pitta dosha is made up of the elements of Fire and Earth and the fire side of Pitta can quickly get out of control if the dosha gets out of balance through poor diet or lifestyle choices. Flashes of anger and jealousy may flare up if Pitta dosha isn’t kept cool and balanced. You may not be Pitta-dominant, but in the hot weather, or if you live a lifestyle that aggravates Pitta, you can still experience the same symptoms.
Disease Patterns of Pitta
Pitta-dominant people are more likely to suffer from ‘heat’ related conditions – inflammatory diseases, fevers, rashes, burning sensations, ulceration, sore throat, and irritations such as conjunctivitis.
Lifestyle tips to keep Pitta dosha balanced
Things to avoid: Too much heat aggravates Pitta dosha, so avoid saunas and steam rooms and take special care during the summer months to stay cool. Make sure you exercise during the coolest part of the day (no jogging at lunchtime!) Strong, spicy, stimulating foods are not recommended (ie. Chillies, garlic, raw onion, coffee, salt) and oily food or acidic foods such as tomatoes and citrus fruit should be avoided. Pittas function best on a predominantly vegetarian diet, so keep consumption of red meat, chicken and eggs to a minimum.
Things that balance Pitta dosha: Try eating ‘cooling’ foods. This doesn’t mean ice-cream! In Ayurveda, cooling foods and spices include fresh vegetables and fruit, cinnamon, coriander, fennel and cardamom and coconut milk. Cooling yoga practices when you get overheated are extremely helpful - there are lots of poses and breathing techniques specifically designed to balance Pitta dosha. Try some seated forward bends and start to focus on gently lengthening your exhalation (always check with a qualified teacher before practising at home). Cooling pranayama practises such as Shitali (poke out your tongue, roll up the sides to form a tube, then inhale over the tongue as you raise your head to look up. At the top of the inhale, put your tongue back in, lower your chin and exhale through both nostrils) can also be very helpful when you notice heat symptoms.
Pitta dosha health check:
• Avoid excessive heat
• Exercise during the cooler part of the day
• Eat cooling foods and avoid spicy foods
• Try some gentle, cooling yoga poses such as seated forward bends and cooling pranayama
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Friday, January 2, 2009
New Year Revolution
New Year Revolution
Goal setting yoga-style.
What do you want? No, really. What do you really, truly, deeply, honestly want more than anything in the world? When I was about 14, I bought a record by Joe Jackson and one of the lyrics went “You can’t get what you want…. Till you know what you want”. There may be lots of things that you want, but what matters most? If you want to make some changes in your life, it’s time for some careful self-enquiry (Swadhyaya).
Goal setting is a very effective way of moving towards positive changes. If you’ve failed to reach goals in the past, it’s probably down to one of two things. 1. Lack of planning or 2. Setting the wrong goals. If you don’t plan out how you’re going to reach your goals, then it’s easy to get lost along the way. However, if you don’t set the right goals, it doesn’t matter how diligently you work towards them, things will never turn out quite how you’d hoped.
So, what is the ‘right’ goal? The goals worth reaching for and the ones that will make you truly happy are the ones that are in line with your deepest, most heartfelt values and desires. It’s time to go inwards and ask yourself what really matters most to you. When you understand your core values and desires you can start to set goals that are in line with your deepest needs. Those are the goals that, with some careful planning and focus, will bring you the greatest reward.
Here’s a simple 4 step plan to help you identify and work towards your goals in 2009:
1. ENQUIRY – You’ve got to know what you want before you can set goals and sometimes, you have to dig a bit deeper to find out what that really is. Meditation is very helpful here. Rather than just thinking about what goals to set, meditation allows you to access the space between your thoughts where your true feelings, inspiration and wisdom come from. Meditation helps you to work out what matters most so you can set goals that are in line with your true values and desires.
2. PLAN – This is where you get it out of your head and on to paper. Firstly, set your goals according to the deepest values and needs that you discovered through meditation. Write them down so that they are clear, concrete and unambiguous, then set a timeframe for each of them. Now, what do you have to do in order to be, have, do and experience the goals you have written down? For each of your goals, write down what it would take to make them happen.
3. ACT – You know what your goals are and what it will take to reach them. Now you’re ready to take action and start living your life in a way that is in harmony with the deepest values and desires that you identified in Step 1. For each of your goals, write down three things that you can do this week to achieve the things you wrote down in Step 2. You can use asana to help you with this. When you feel stuck or unsure how to act, get up and move your body. The flow of energy will help bring clarity and momentum to your plans.
4. START AGAIN! To stay on track, keep tapping in to your innate wisdom through meditation, redefining your goals according to what matters most. Use your asana practise to help you move forward by conjouring the energy, awareness and effort required to reach those goals.
Yoga teaches us about the concept of Bhavana. It’s kind of like yogic goal setting in and is a tool to help us develop, realise or manifest something positive. We can also use Sankalpa (Intention) to give us focus. When you’ve worked out your deepest needs and values, create a short, positive phrase that encapsulates what you’re working towards. This needn’t be a concrete ‘goal’. An intention is a more universal concept, a feeling or direction that underpins every goal, action and choice you make. An example might be “I experience joy and success in everything I do” or “My relationships are filled with happiness and compassion”. Use your Sankalpa in your meditation, as a daily affirmation or during Savasana (Corpse Pose) at the end of your asana practise.
One very important difference with goal setting yoga-style is your attitude towards the outcome. Yoga asks us to surrender, let go and live in the present moment. Even though we set goals that help us to move in a certain direction, we need to learn to let go of our attachment to the outcome. Sometimes, when things don’t go exactly to plan, they have a strange way of turning out for the better. Go with the flow!
Make 2009 the year that you use these simple yoga practises to help you set and work towards the goals that will take you where your heart truly desires to go (and that may not always be where your conscious mind thinks it should be!)
www.adoreyoga.com
Copyright Nikola Ellis 2009
Goal setting yoga-style.
What do you want? No, really. What do you really, truly, deeply, honestly want more than anything in the world? When I was about 14, I bought a record by Joe Jackson and one of the lyrics went “You can’t get what you want…. Till you know what you want”. There may be lots of things that you want, but what matters most? If you want to make some changes in your life, it’s time for some careful self-enquiry (Swadhyaya).
Goal setting is a very effective way of moving towards positive changes. If you’ve failed to reach goals in the past, it’s probably down to one of two things. 1. Lack of planning or 2. Setting the wrong goals. If you don’t plan out how you’re going to reach your goals, then it’s easy to get lost along the way. However, if you don’t set the right goals, it doesn’t matter how diligently you work towards them, things will never turn out quite how you’d hoped.
So, what is the ‘right’ goal? The goals worth reaching for and the ones that will make you truly happy are the ones that are in line with your deepest, most heartfelt values and desires. It’s time to go inwards and ask yourself what really matters most to you. When you understand your core values and desires you can start to set goals that are in line with your deepest needs. Those are the goals that, with some careful planning and focus, will bring you the greatest reward.
Here’s a simple 4 step plan to help you identify and work towards your goals in 2009:
1. ENQUIRY – You’ve got to know what you want before you can set goals and sometimes, you have to dig a bit deeper to find out what that really is. Meditation is very helpful here. Rather than just thinking about what goals to set, meditation allows you to access the space between your thoughts where your true feelings, inspiration and wisdom come from. Meditation helps you to work out what matters most so you can set goals that are in line with your true values and desires.
2. PLAN – This is where you get it out of your head and on to paper. Firstly, set your goals according to the deepest values and needs that you discovered through meditation. Write them down so that they are clear, concrete and unambiguous, then set a timeframe for each of them. Now, what do you have to do in order to be, have, do and experience the goals you have written down? For each of your goals, write down what it would take to make them happen.
3. ACT – You know what your goals are and what it will take to reach them. Now you’re ready to take action and start living your life in a way that is in harmony with the deepest values and desires that you identified in Step 1. For each of your goals, write down three things that you can do this week to achieve the things you wrote down in Step 2. You can use asana to help you with this. When you feel stuck or unsure how to act, get up and move your body. The flow of energy will help bring clarity and momentum to your plans.
4. START AGAIN! To stay on track, keep tapping in to your innate wisdom through meditation, redefining your goals according to what matters most. Use your asana practise to help you move forward by conjouring the energy, awareness and effort required to reach those goals.
Yoga teaches us about the concept of Bhavana. It’s kind of like yogic goal setting in and is a tool to help us develop, realise or manifest something positive. We can also use Sankalpa (Intention) to give us focus. When you’ve worked out your deepest needs and values, create a short, positive phrase that encapsulates what you’re working towards. This needn’t be a concrete ‘goal’. An intention is a more universal concept, a feeling or direction that underpins every goal, action and choice you make. An example might be “I experience joy and success in everything I do” or “My relationships are filled with happiness and compassion”. Use your Sankalpa in your meditation, as a daily affirmation or during Savasana (Corpse Pose) at the end of your asana practise.
One very important difference with goal setting yoga-style is your attitude towards the outcome. Yoga asks us to surrender, let go and live in the present moment. Even though we set goals that help us to move in a certain direction, we need to learn to let go of our attachment to the outcome. Sometimes, when things don’t go exactly to plan, they have a strange way of turning out for the better. Go with the flow!
Make 2009 the year that you use these simple yoga practises to help you set and work towards the goals that will take you where your heart truly desires to go (and that may not always be where your conscious mind thinks it should be!)
www.adoreyoga.com
Copyright Nikola Ellis 2009
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