Tag: ayurveda

Demystify Ayurveda for Digestion Discomfort: The imperfection of the Perfectionist, Agni (Digestive Fire) and Pitta Imbalances

.Reading time 7 minutes.

Your gut is your second brain. How healthy your gut is determines how balanced you are with your attitudes towards life. Accordingly to Ayurveda, any indigestion in the gut is caused by Agni (digestive fire) derangement.

When we address Agni, we will not forget about the key Pitta dosha as basis of Ayurveda principle. What is Pitta in Ayurveda? Pitta is an invisible energetic source as part of the key 3 doshas in Ayurveda. A combination of fire and water creates Pitta dosha. Pitta governs our metabolism process, regulating our digestion and our lifestyle. If we look at the life spams of a human being, Pitta is our peak time after young adults to mid-age. In our body, we also have Pitta sitting in different organs that is in charge of our digestion called Agni. Agni is the fire in our body if you like to call it in a simpler term. In total, we have 13 Agnis in our body. In our digestive tract, it is called Jathara-Agni. In the digestive track, this particular type of Agni meets with tri-doshas, as a result, they form 4 special types of Agni. When Agni is weak, the internal wastes will aggravate and eventually manifest in diseases. To keep it simple and short, these are 4 types of Jathara-sub-Agni below:

  1. Vata: Vishamagni – when it’s deranged, it creates bloating, constipation, intestinal cramps, gas, diverticulitis,
  2. Pitta: Tikshnagni – When it’s deranged, it creates heartburns, excessive thirst, loose stool, burning sensations in intestines, hypoglycaemia
  3. Kapha: Mandagni- when it’s deranged, it creates heaviness after meals, stagnant in stomach, chest, lungs and nasal areas, sluggish and sticky bowels, bulky stools, excessive mucous, slow digestion and excessive craving for sugar, diary and breads
  4. Balanced: Samaagni – smooth bowels, regular and good appetite and good digestion with a clear head

When we assess a client, Agni is one of the key parameters to understand the root of the cause. In Ayurveda, all diseases are caused due to indigestion of food or life experiences. Agni doesn’t only help us break down the food but also assimilate our mental emotions. Treatment of the symptoms is incomplete unless we address the mental imbalances that facilitate its development. The best medication to cure any bowel disease is a calm mind and relaxation.

Also as Agni shares similar quality of Pitta – a very Rajastic (action-oriented) attitudes towards life. When we are nervous and stressed, we sometimes contract the abdominal muscles unconsciously, like holding the breaths. When we are over disciplined and setting a high expectation of ourselves, excessive Pitta will result in excessive Tikshnagni in our digestive tract. Acid reflex and its bi-products of heart burns and dizziness may come along. This world nowadays is over pricing Pitta attitudes, do it all and do it fast, that has created an unhealthy environment to over compete. When we are not living up to the idealistic standard we have set forth for our selves or others, we become over-critical and controlling. This will create a lot of digestive issues and ulcer symptoms.

The sensation of burning is a sign of excessive Pitta. When you are over burning your body and digestion tract, you are prone to burn out. When the demand of the society is going out of control and exceeding our mental capability, your gut will show you it’s time to “slow down.”

What will help?

Start “deep belly breath” 3 times before each meal. Chew your food. In Ayurveda, we save 1/3 of empty space in the stomach, 1/3 for solid food and 1/3 for liquid. Eating moderately and snack lightly.

Remove 20% of your daily to-do list. Stop self-blame when you are not achieving your goals. And it is okay not to be BUSY or Productive all the time.

Slow down and relaxation is the panacea for Pitta imbalances. Cultivate a balanced life style to make space in your life. When we are empty, we then can receive. And if we are always on the go, our mind is too busy consuming and digesting a hundred of things – when can you make head space so the digestion can resume to normal? Fasting is also a great way to reset and rekindle your Agni if you are a Pitta or Kapha dominant body type. In Autumn, a Vata season, it’s best not to over fast fully. Easy 24 hours fast 1-2 times a month on weak ginger tea or juice will be a great way to detox. (please consult with an experienced Ayurvedic practitioner or a certified nutrients)

As for the Psychology, an unwillingness of expressing vulnerability and asking for help will also increase Pitta imbalances. Perhaps it’s time to ask for help now. Sometimes we worry about over burden people with our challenges and difficulties. However, now is the best time to ask and receive help from people around us. A time during the pandemic is the time to really break our old patterns to build resilience to deal with the unknowns.

So pick up the phone, call someone who can listen to your difficulties and ask for help.

It’s okay not to be perfect. It’s okay to make mistakes and that’s how we learn.

Additional tools to help rekindle the Agni is to also learn to relax and let its function to normalize by taking advantages of Yoga Nidra (Yogi Sleep Meditation), Yin Yoga, Ayurveda Yoga Therapy for Vata/ Pitta, and Meditation. Stomach, liver, gallbladder Chinese meridians are targeted ones to stimulate as well. Below is a video I created to demonstrate few Yoga poses that focus on these meridians to help you release digestive pains or discomforts. Practice with care and patience.

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Demystify Ayurveda: Rheumatoid Diseases – oppression of emotions, a Vata caused illness

.Reading time 8 minutes.

In Ayurveda, immunity is vyadhikshamatva in Sanskrit, meaning “forgiveness of disease.” The essence of motherly love is forgiveness.

With the increased measures taking place in Hong Kong these days, I’ve decided to use this down time to study Seth’s Materials by Jane Roberts after my first encounter to Seth’s Materials series 8 years ago. I bought the last Seth’s book called “The Way Toward Health.” To my surprise, Jane Roberts, the medium and author, died from severe Arthritis in her mid 50s in 1984. Another trigger to write about this specific topic is that I’ve consulted many people who currently suffer from various Rheumatoid symptoms. I am suddenly surrounded myself with different severity of rheumatoid diseases and clients that I have gone much deeper than ever on this typical Vata aggravated illness.

In Chinese, Rheumatoid is written as “Wind + Wetness” （written as 風濕 in Traditional Chinese characters), which is alike Ayurveda that also addresses Rheumatoid diseases to Vata caused diseases. When we look at the quality of Vata, which is the combination of Ether & Air, cold, pain, irregular, mobile, dry and cracking manifest themselves in rheumatoid diseases.

Rheumatoid disease like rheumatic fever, rheumatism and rheumatoid arthritis are auto-immune conditions. The Ama (toxins) in the body is tightly wedged into you that some of your own tissues are destroyed by immune reactions. A typical result is that synovial fluid gets clogged and becomes harder to lead to immobility of the body and affect the body functions. The pains are around the joints, like fingers, toes, knees, and ankles that may last few hours to longer to impair the body movements. And rheumatoid arthritis can affect the heart and eventually kill. It has to be treated immediately.

Physiologically, Rheumatoid is called “Ama-Vata” in Sanskrit, which when Vata circulates Ama all throughout the body via Vyana Vayu. (Ama means half-digested food wastes or toxins) The most important initiating cause seems to be improper diet, which creates Ama. Other causes will be overwork exhaustion, excessive exercise, frequent sex, intense worry and strong emotions such as grief. Any Vata aggravated attitudes and lifestyle will worsen the conditions and eventually Kapha imbalances will kick in if initial cause is not uprooted. The sticky, opaque and dense Ama can be found in joints of every sufferer of rheumatoid arthritis. This is different from osteoarthritis, which is due to aging process. In rheumatoid arthritis, the synovial fluid fails to lubricate the joints and clots. Synovial fluid is one of the body’s reservoir of Kapha force. Kapha has a similar caramel characteristic as Ama, which is accumulated in the joints and immobile them.

Vata = Ether + Wind

Psychologically, Rheumatoid is manifested from improper digestion of life experiences. Oppression of strong emotions of griefs, sadness, fears and insecurities and use over-work exhaustion as an escape to “empty the mind” will lead to illness. The avoidance of any strong emotions will lead to physical illness as our cells don’t work with oppression but expansion. And another interesting sign is no desire for food as the emotions will decrease the appetite and the sufferers end up improperly consume food at irregular hours, or eating without appetite, all these behaviours lead to more Ama in the body. Another explanation of psychosis arthritis is that taking a sick leave from work is more widely accepted to the public when the body is down with Rheumatoid diseases than mental disease. It’s a way of coping mechanism in the body to immobilise and condition the extremities without totally disrupting its balance of the mind.

Questions to ask yourself: What is it we are making ourselves unable to move freely? What is it outside that is threatening our identity and security?

There are still many ways to explain how the Rheumatoid disease come about and how to treat accordingly to different medical systems. In Ayurveda, the initial phases before the fluids clogged and impairing the movement ability, Vata is the primary causation to treat. In any Ayurveda consultation, I ask my clients to be 100% honest with themselves if they wish to uproot their causation. It is definitely not easy for Rheumatoid sufferers to face and deal with past hurts as that’s one of the reason that initiates the diseases. The psychological check-in questions I will normally ask, if they are ready, whether if they are escaping a certain role to play in the society or any oppressed strong emotions due to separations (real or potential). The auto-immune system is your war against yourself, there is no intruders from outside. If we can recognise this and start asking the right questions, the healing will begin.

Therefore treating Vata and maybe a combination of Kapha are the common practice according to the severity of the diseases. Ayurveda is working best side by side with modern medicines as you should never replace your acute medical treatment with Ayurveda. Rheumatoid diseases can vary from minor to severe. You should always find an experienced practitioner to understand your imbalances to change your lifestyle and attitudes. My teacher always said if the clients are not doing their homework, please ask them not to come back. It takes 21 days to form a habit, so set your expectation when it comes to treat your diseases as it’s a life-long habit not just present.

Please note that my point of view can vary from other Ayurveda practitioner depending on what their specialities are. If you like my sharing, feel free to re-share (quote the source) and subscribe my blog post. Stay healthy and safe.

Thanks for reading!

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Demystify Ayurveda: Love vs Attachment, a Kapha dosha imbalance.

.Reading time 8 minutes.

Love and Freedom are the foundation of our joys. True-love is to offer true freedom to someone you love, including yourself. What happens when your love is going out of whack?

I’ve been wanting to discuss about Love in the realm of Ayurveda. Like many of us, I have been searching for love all my life and only until recent years I began to understand what “True-Love” really means. Love is never limited to romantic kind of love; it includes all, from our national heroic kind of love to having empathy of every living down to the molecules beneath us. And the most important love is Self-Love, what you feed your body and mind will always return to you the way you give out. We cannot truly love anyone unless we start to love ourselves.

We cannot truly love anyone unless we start to love ourselves.

And what happens when our love is getting a little out of whack? What are the signs when our body is not digesting our Love experiences well? How do we manifest these in Ayurveda?

I want to use this opportunity to address a specific dosha imbalance called Kapha when it comes to Love. Kapha is the combination of Water and Earth. Visualise a clay-like, dense and heavy mixtures in your body that pulls you down to the ground, that is Kapha. Physiologically, Kapha is cold and wet. The flavor is “sweet.” Its animal symbol is Elephant. It sits in lungs and stomach. It moves slow and accumulate. Do you have a tendency to hoard? Do you feel heavy on your legs? And do you feel lazy these days with very little desire to do things? These are the manifestation of excessive Kapha dosha in you, as the first layer.

When we have too much Kapha dosha in our body and mind, it tells us one thing: we are unable to digest efficiently our current life experiences and food. When we have a separation from our loved one, a divorce, a break-up, a death, a job loss or a personal identity loss – Vata dosha increased then followed with Kapha dosah imbalances. Vata dosha is increased due to the trigger event but Kapha dosha is stored as grief, sadness, inertia and attachments. The inkling between psychological and physical is admitted by Ayurveda and Vedas. We must examine the 3 Gunas in all beings to pivot the human personalities: Rajas, Tamas and Sattva. Rajas means actions. Tamas means Inertia. And Sattva means harmony/ peace. Kapha is a form of Tamas, a manifested bi-product in the body from the mind. When we are going through a loss of relationship, our mind slows down to cope and our body craves for sweetness.

If you are reading this, you may have or know someone who have challenges with Love. It’s a good time to take a score on where you are if you have below symptoms during the past 2-4 weeks. Assess with true honesty to see if your Love event is causing you any degree of Kapha dosha imbalances:

  • Recent new craving towards sweetness, pastry, diary and bread
  • Start to eat more root food (potatoes, pumpkins, taros)
  • Enjoy snacking more than proper meals
  • Over sleep (more than 8 hours a day)
  • Thoughts are more cloudy, unclear and most related to past memories
  • Hard time to throw things away and start to hoard
  • De-motivate to move, exercise and go out
  • Cry for no reason
  • Dwell to past memories – with regrets
  • Feel more greedy towards money and affections
  • Become more needy towards family and friends
  • No desire towards sex, physical intimacy
  • Feel heavier on lower body, especially joints
  • Lower back pains increased
  • No motivation to make any change in life

Just notice how many ticks you have recently – this exercise is to assess any of your recent love & relationship event triggered your Kapha imbalances

Kapha imbalances manifest when we are having challenges with people relationship. And what we over look is those with Ourselves. Self-love is the most important loving relationship we have to develop in our life time as human beings. If we are too busy nourishing others, we easily forget about ourselves. This is very common in any motherly love to children relationship, which the mother gives it all to her children and family and eventually dismisses herself. When we neglect ourselves, Kapha also increases and manifests into the 2nd layer, diseases.

Why are we making ourselves immobile with pains?

Diabetes, arthritis, gouts, rheumatic disease, asthma, tumors, cancer, eating disorder (anorexia, obesity), to name a few. These are manifested for different purpose to serve our psychological and even spiritual needs. When we have too much Kapha, we become less mobile. It takes years of suppression emotions to confront of your true needs as an individual to manifest any above diseases. The single event triggered Kapha imbalances can be treated by creating a better life style habits and diet. A disease driven by Kapha that is a sign to go deep into your root of cause, that is your “heart.” Without tracing back to the original event historically, the experiences coming with it and the responded behaviours dealt with – you can only treat the symptoms not the whole.

We must be brave to start asking ourselves this important question: am I happy? if not, what is causing my unhappiness?

We must be brave to start asking ourselves this important question: am I happy? if not, what is causing my unhappiness?

And when Kapha is balanced. We are cultivating warmth, compassion, empathy, social work, charity and nourishment. Kapha has a quality of calming, security, rooting down and love. Kapha is like Moon, the gentle and unconditional love.

How do we shake Kapha off when we don’t need them?

Exercise, exercise and exercise. Sweating will do us good to pacify the heaviness muds.

Give-back. Helping other people will make us feel good, which also pacify Kapha.

Our body is a wonder and serves us with no exception. Pay attention on how your body feels today. Close your eyes, ask your heart: what do I need to heal today?

Your happiness starts when you start to love with freedom. Your love to yourself will be the greatest treasure.

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Thank you!

How to use Ayurveda during COVID-19?

.Reading time 10 minutes.

I have practiced Ayurveda since 2016 after my 200-hour Ayurveda Yoga Therapist training with ThaiVedic in Bali, Indonesia. I started it as my personal routine and it has worked very well for me after experimenting different healing modalities. Ayurveda is a new life style that preserves the longevity of life. It has helped me grow mentally and physically to where I want to be. I have benefited so much with my new Ayurveda life style and I noticed myself being less sick, less fatigues, more grounded and more resilient. I was working a 9-6 corporate hectic job and teaching Yoga simultaneously for 3 years and my Ayurveda habit supported me with the energy and strengths I needed to manage many tasks on my plate. And I am reaching my 40s now but never feeling so young, rejuvenated, and centered.

How to survive COVID-19 with Ayurveda? I prefer to replace the word “survive” with “thrive” and “out-grow.” Every crisis is an opportunity of personal growth. We do not grow when we stay in our comfort zones. If we observe and pay careful attentions to COVID-19, the virus itself is able to co-exist in human body peacefully without causing disturbances nor doing harms. Yes, we are seeing a lot of deaths but we are also seeing a lot of people infected without showing any symptoms. This perfectly explained that virus is part of nature and we are also part of nature. If we are all part of nature, then we can be one. Ayurveda’s core value is to bring harmony between us to Nature, Mother Earth. “Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me,” Ayurveda teaches us to embody a life style to create true peace with the Nature. All healings come from Nature, including us. All healings come from within, from us.

In Ayurveda’s term, AHAMKARA means Mother Nature aka Immune System Governor. AHAMKARA originates from Spirits, Mind and Sense Organs, enabling us to express, to feel and to experience the worldly events. When AHAMKARA is imbalanced, damaged and collapsed, they manifest in diseases. Good spiritual health is the pre-requisite for good physical and mental health; therefore, we must cultivate spiritual health first to develop a good immune system to defend COVID-19.

Let’s take a closer look at COVID-19 itself based on Ayurveda. Virus is Pitta dominated according to its physiological symptoms such as temperatures, heat, sweat, eye sights, inflammation and mental imbalances such as agitations, aggression, resentments and impatiences towards the politics, government policies and unplanned events. Also the COVID-19 is creating a lot of Vata imbalances such as dry cough, pneumonia, respiratory sickness, fears, uncertainty about future, sleeping problems, anxiety, depressions, frustrations and loss of weight, loss of hair and body liquid, dry skins, slower bowl movement..,etc. Thus, I have created a simple and easy-to-adapt routine for modern people who are currently working from home, staying at home and under quarantine to treat mainly Vata and Pitta.

COVID-19 Ayurveda 14 Day Simple Routine to Treat Pitta & Vata Imbalances:

(The best time to wake up for Ayurveda is before sunrise at 4-5AM but if you cannot try below)

6-7 AM Wake up, gentle tongue scrap (with brass scrapper or a small tea spoon), oil purging 5 mins (best with coconut or flex seed, or any vegetable oils like olive), brush teeth and wash your face

7 AM Drink warm water with lemon or turmeric/ ginger tea (fresh or tea bags) to help warm up your digestive fires

7-8 AM Morning Exercise (Keep it moderate up to 1 hour, do not over exhaust, build sufficient energy and chi for the day but not to crush yourself!)

i) Practice simple breathing exercise (Calming Breaths: Inhale from both nostrils x 6, hold x 3 and exhale x6 for 5 rounds with eyes closed), Set 1 positive intention for the day, say a prayer to yourself and anyone

ii) Start with easy stretch and circular movements, Tai Chi, Yoga Sun Salutation

iii) Include 1-2 strengthening exercise: prank, push ups, balancing pose, inversions

iiii) End your exercise with long hold stretches, twist and supine poses to cool down

Practice a short sitting meditation up to 15 mins by closing your eyes. You can listen to Pitta meditation I created here

8:15 AM Shower and spray some natural aromatic scent to cheer yourself

8:30 AM Light breakfast – include cooked grains (muslins, granolas), soft fruit, juice and warm tea, main consumption on easy-to-digest food for morning

9AM Work, check your to-do list, prioritize your tasks

10-12PM Pitta time – a good time to go out, have meetings, sales visits and complete difficult long due tasks

12PM Biggest meal of the day, Pitta – less spices, less oils, less deep fried food, less processed food, and less overly seasoned food

2-4PM Vata time – a good time to be creative, brain storming, writing proposals, creating new things and projects, create to-do list for next day

5PM Prepare dinner

6PM (the best time to have dinner for Ayurveda is 5pm) Dinner

Keep it light and fresh, with lots of green and fruit, less raw food (Vata)

8PM Kapha time: cultivate love and family time, nurture yourself with a nice bath, slow music, aroma therapy and self massage

9PM Yoga Nidra Meditation (Deep Relaxation) or Yin Yoga, Sitting Meditation before getting ready to sleep

Before 10PM Bed time

To treat excessive Pitta: try to plan less and less far ahead, because we are now living in an extremely unpredictable world with COVID-19. We only frustrate ourselves if we cannot keep our promises to ourselves when we cannot control. To learn when to let go of control and understand it’s okay not to have a big goal right now. To develop patiences in this difficult time for Pitta people is the best asset for future.

To treat excessive Vata: to mediate more, to create a routine (new or old) and commit to the routine for 21 days to make it a habit to stay centered. To develop and deep dive into a new skill to help maintain focus and train your mind.

Take a lot of water, wash your hands, lubricate your body with oils (coconut oils) and keep your simple exercise at home. Join a virtual community if you need that friendly push! Ask your friends/ colleagues to attend online Yoga, Fitness and Meditation classes. Create a self-healing tool to strengthen your AHAMKARA aka immune system. Take your power back. Honour your body. Love yourself. Start today!

“Living equally for yourself, another and the world. Without preference based on past attachment or future desires, we choose because in that moment, it is the most balanced and ideal action to serve all 3 aspects of our true self,”Purpose of Being-Alive. And this equates to the principle of Karma Yoga, we don’t cease to work because we should work continuously without attaching to the outcomes. The each action (Karma) we choose should base on 1/3 the benefit of me, 1/3 the benefit of all living things and 1/3 the benefit of process of action itself. “Health is a direction not the destination,” by Ayurveda.

Sending you love and peace.

A-shanti, shanti, shantihi…