To eat is human. To digest, divine. –Mark Twain
I took this way of life for granted until I came to the United States and realized how lucky I was to have experienced and lived this lifestyle of wholeness and balance. I have been joyfully sharing my passion for Ayurveda wisdom through my cooking classes, spice blends, cookbook, Turmeric & Spice, Indian Cuisine For Mind, Body and Spirit, and other teachings. I have infused my cookbook with my enthusiasm for the versatility of gourmet Indian food and my wisdom inherited by my lifestyle, rooted in Ayurvedic philosophy and its living traditions.
Ayurveda is rooted in the philosophical idea that everything in the world is composed of five elements: earth, water, air, space and fire, so-called Mahabhutas. The five elements combine themselves as triadic bio-intelligent forces or doshas (which are kapha, pitta and vata) that create a foundation for our physical, mental and spiritual world. The five elements form the world and all the food on this planet. And our food literally forms the physical body.
Through my everyday practice of Ayurveda, and my formal study, I have learned that, at its core, Ayurveda is about finding balance in your own unique circumstances with a constantly changing environment. This practice includes awareness of the choices you make about your lifestyle and diet; your relationships—your friends, family, nature, the world and the universe. More importantly, to find value, meaning and joy in our lives is the ultimate goal.
According to Ayurveda, there are six seasons in the year, late winter (Shishir), spring (Vasant), summer (Grishma), monsoon (Varsha), autumn (Sharad), early winter (Hemant). The transition between each season is called a Ritusandhi, the threshold. These transitions can have a subtle effect on our body, psyche and nervous system.
Today, I will be discussing the vata/kapha transition, late winter into spring, and how to bring balance when the lightness and movement of vata gives way to kapha's moisture, density and inertia. These two different textures of vata and kapha both carry the quality of coolness, but Vata is cold, light, dry, rough and catabolic while kapha is heavy, cool, dense, wet, slow and anabolic. One is depleting and the other one is nourishing and building.
When these two drift out of harmony, we feel sluggish, anxious, foggy and restless. We can bring balance between these two doshas—vata and kapha—through what we eat during this transition.
Vata is composed of two elements, ether and air.
Kapha is composed of the elements earth and water.
Ether and air are subtle elements which are unseen but felt. Earth and water are tactile, we can feel them. Ayurveda says that there are 10 pairs of opposite qualities that exist in nature and that everything is understood through these qualities, or gunas. The opposites are the language of balance. When something is excessive, we restore harmony by introducing its opposite.
That is the quiet genius of Ayurveda living—simple, intuitive and deeply practical.
The pairs of opposites are cold and hot, dry and oily, heavy and liquid, stable and mobile, soft and hard, clear and cloudy, smooth and rough, subtle and gross and dull and sharp. These are the 10 qualities.
Ayurveda is not about eliminating qualities. It's about striking the right balance for your unique constitution in order to bring in harmony.
When your mind is in harmony, the sattva guna is present. When you have too much kapha, you are tamasic and have a dull mind. When you have too much vata, you are rajasic and have an anxious and erratic mind. The sattva guna brings about clarity, balance and ease.
The sattva guna produces a state when the mind stops rushing. The inner waters become still. Reactive thoughts settle and the rajasic mind softens. The fog lifts from overthinking and clears all the cluttered thoughts. What remains is unfiltered presence, which is harmony. It is light. It is sattva and it's alignment with your truth.
To bring balance now, we can eat certain foods and spices that gently and gradually ignite agni, which is your digestion. Agni helps us to assimilate and digest all the food we take.
To soothe the dryness and the anxiety of vata, embrace the grounding from the kapha dosha by eating foods cooked with ghee, warm soups, stews and one pot meals (like the kitchidi presented here). Warm, freshly prepared foods, lightly spiced meals, Kapha reducing spices, (ginger, black pepper, cumin, coriander, mustard seeds) all reduce vata. Vata calming spices include fennel and aromatic chai, cardamom, black pepper, ginger and nutmeg.
It is recommended to eat foods that are not complicated. Choose simple foods that are in season where you live. I also recommend not to over-eat. It's easily done, but should be avoided.
Today, I will teach you how to make Kichdi, which will help you balance your vata and kapha doshas.
