Doshas and Yoga
When I establish a rapport with clients / students, I expand into the wisdom of Ayurveda and herbalism for healthy daily living and how it enhances the yoga therapy and thai yoga therapy given. Many individuals can feel wonderful after receiving a massage or yoga but they lose their equilibrium quickly due lack of appropriate choices with exercise, homework given, diet, and definitely externally influences from business or society / family. Folk need to hone in on their individual constitution. If done right, yoga therapy and herbalism can do just that. One's diet can do just that too. When I give homework suggestions with asana, pranayama, shatkarma/kriya, diet, herbalism; I am encouraging the client / student to truly shift and evolve with their constitution. Keep in mind, as we grow older our constitution can demand changes with life / diet / exercise / etc.
For example, I have been a vegan most of my life. I am 45 years old going through changes. My body demands more joint care with yoga therapy and things like abhyanga. I am maintaining my pranayama but with some of the stressful times I have to push my self harder to keep up with pranayama practice because I know my breath practice helps with so many things like balancing the parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous system. My diet is changing. Food is medicine. I discovered that this body I live in now requires bone broth, salmon, tuna (wild caught), yoga for joint care and extra emphasis on my pelvis strength. My constitution , age, and where I live is asking me to listen to changes needed. One can eat meat if the body needs it. There are plenty of ways to do this spiritually. For instance, getting wild caught salmon and tuna is safest. Growing your own chickens and treating them with respect. Moderation is everything and truly embracing the animal medicine respectfully that you consume for health is everything. What have I noticed with respecting what my body asked of me medicinally? the perimenopausal headaches / migraines are starting to shift that my body has suffered from for 7 years on a monthly and weekly basis. If we listen to our bodies, we can heal our bodies. I know what my plant allies are based on my constitution dominance of Vata /Pitta.
When I decided to become devoted to yoga sadhana, which includes my immersing into ITTM (indigenous traditional thai medicine and yoga therapy), I delved into a journey of not only getting to know my True Self, I began the journey of truly understanding the medicine of maintaining this temple we live in to serve our life purpose.
As a practitioner, I provide simple and clear communications on home yoga practice, diet, herbal, and lifestyle because I know it is everything. One needs to be and create the change with responsibility. This is my way of having some selfless service but also this maintains I feel a stronger therapeutic connection to those I help.
Yoga For Vatas (including thai yoga therapy givings)
approach to yoga practice is best to be meditative, strengthening, and balancing.
vayus (wind) to awaken are prana, apana, vyana, and samana. There are postures for these vayus.ie. forward bends offer relief to vata dosha
Long easy holds of asana are best
Vata areas in the body to hone in on are: large intestine, but also spine, back, pelvis, thighs, kidney, ear, bone, hollow cavities
the nervous system needs attention, and observe potential mental disorders, arthritis, pain, and constipation due to the large intestine
yoga for Pitta
cooling, relaxing diffusive practice.
samana, apana, prana vayu
Best postures and practice need to assert with a noncompetitive attitude and avoid overheating. An example of postures good for pitta are cooling bound sitting postures to stabilize the mid-abdomen towards samana vayu
moderate holding of yoga asana is best
pitta types accumulate towards their small intestine so tending to this organ is important, as well as mid-abdomen, upper hips, liver, spleen, and eyes
disease tendency is with feverish ones, infections, inflammatory, and diarrhea
yoga for kapha
stimulating, energizing, and having a fiery practice is helpful with releasing
udana and vyana vayu are important and all poses that assist their movement
yoga asana need to promote exertion and sweating for kapha. for example, backbends heat up the body, open the chest, and increase circulation to the head
longer holds on postures is best
kapha types accumulate in the stomach and is best to also tend to the chest, lungs, sinus, nose, throat, head, joints, pancreas, lymph, and synovial fluids
disease tendency is with the respiratory system, congestion, and edema
Now we all overlap with these elements from nature: earth, water, fire, earth, and ether. But I bet if you look around in your family you can agree they all have tendencies to certain imbalances. We all crave unity and harmony. The true goal is to balance these hidden gems called vayus in our yoga practice and see how we can utilise the knowedge withing yoga therapies, diet, herbalism, and make lifestyle changes needed to be truly at ONE
until next time,
Lotus Anwen Wachiwi Sagebrush (satya)
