Ayurvedic Tips For Summer Living
Ayurveda is really,
really old and the rishis (the "seers" who handed ayurveda down to us
mortals) came up with many sensible notions as well as some doozies,
especially to our modern-day American minds. One day I'll tell you
what the ancients say about the signs of imminent death. My sanskrit
class had a good giggle during my presentation of the subject.
Summer
is pitta (if you don't know what this means, you need a session with
me!) season in the ayurvedic system. Pitta, comprised of the fire and
water elements, tends to be hot, bright and sharp...like typical summer
weather. Here are some cooling suggestions for people of all
constitutions, particularly those who are pitta predominant or tend to
overheat easily:
ˇ Avoid hot, spicy, sour, fermented and salty foods. This includes alcohol and caffeine which are considered hot and sharp in ayurveda. Take herbs that support your liver if you're a regular user of alcohol and caffeine.
ˇ Wear cooling clothing in white, blue, green or purple. Avoid wearing black,
red and orange. Wear pearls, clear quartz, jade, emeralds and moonstones set in silver or white gold. All are cooling.
ˇ If you can stand it (I can't), use cilantro in your food or drink cilantro tea or juice.
ˇ Anoint yourself with sandalwood, khus (vetiver) and rose. Dr. Lad swears by a dab of sandalwood essential oil on the bellybutton. I'm a fan of the sandalwood-rose milk bath I recently invented. The rishis haven't evaluated it yet.
ˇ Massage your body and scalp daily with organic, virgin coconut oil before showering/bathing. Coconut oil is lightweight and has cooling properties.
ˇ Sleep on your right side to encourage breathing through the left
nostril. This is the lunar nostril and breathing through it helps cool
the system.
ˇ Keep company with agreeable people. When pitta gets out of balance, it's common for irritable, angry, critical, jealous and competitive feelings to arise.
ˇ Drink plenty of cool (not iced!) liquids. Freezing-cold liquids dampen the digestive fire...not a good thing. Pomegranate, cherry and grape juice are cooling. So is Cucumber Milk. It sounds gross but it's actually delicious.
Here's how you make it: Peel and seed half a cucumber and place it in the blender with 1 cup of organic milk and a pinch of sugar. Blend it, drink it, prepare to be cool as a cucumber.
ˇ Go moonbathing instead of sunbathing to calm pitta dosha. If you do this while wearing a garment of white linen and a strand of pearls or a garland of roses next to a lake with swans swimming in it while soothing music plays in the background and you're drinking milk out of a silver cup, you'll never feel the heat of summer!
JULY 2008 
