Giving Up Tobacco & Anxiety

Stop Smoking

I know someone who is giving up smoking and they are getting mild anxiety attacks. They asked what can be done, and whether stopping smoking can cause high Vata and anxiety. Here is my response…

Yes it is possible that stopping tobacco brings on anxiety. Nicotine only temporarily lowers anxiety. The key thing to know about nicotine and anxiety is that nicotine only produces a temporary relief from anxiety, that also compromises overall physical health. Many people turn to cigarettes when they are anxious, and the physiological effects of the nicotine can create a calming sensation. However, this usually only works until the substance work through your system, meaning that on-going anxiety provoking situations will return the person to same level of anxiety as he/she had before the cigarette. So if you are now getting some anxiety, then you ought to find out why and treat that. Ayurveda would definitely suggest that Vata reducing treatments take first place and see how the situation pans out. The advice below should be useful.

The best way to give up tobacco is to find someone else who has done it and ask for their help! Otherwise, the most important ‘tool’ is awareness. Awareness has to be the first and the last word on giving up any addiction or habit. The habit of smoking can be given up only when you sincerely want to change the habit. The habit can be changed, but it takes time. Manas needs to be reprogrammed, and this requires awareness.

The clarity of your awareness depends on Sattva, so anything that increases Sattva has to be used as a support to giving up the habit. Especially important are therapies that target Prana Vayu including Nasya therapy (drops of Bramhi Oil in the nose daily for example) and Pranayama (breathing exercises).

Herbs can be used to support the coming-off of tobacco or other addictive substances. They help to (a) improve Sattva (b) remove toxins from the Srotas (c) rejuvenate damage done to Dhatus (such as lungs for smokers, Liver for drinkers). Herbs help to counteract transitory states of depression or anxiety. The most useful herbs are Maṇḍūkaparṇī  (Centella asiatica) and Sweet flag  (Acorus calamus). The dosage of both these plants are quite small – seek professional advice from a qualified herbalist if you want to use them. They can be used internally and also added in small amounts to the cigarette and smoked.

The following protocol is suggested as a starting point:

• In cigarette: add a pinch (500 mg maximum = ¼ level tsp) of Centella asiatica.
• Internally: 2 parts Centella Asiatica : 1 part Calamus. 750 mg / 2 x day.

The main Ayurvedic psychological approach with quitting smoking or other addictions is to not stop all of a sudden but to reduce in gradual steps. While this is being done, the act of smoking should be turned into a meditation, that is to say, full non-judgemental awareness should be directed to the total experience of the act of smoking. All five senses should be the subject of awareness, as well as any thoughts or emotions that come up. Increased attention to the act of smoking is the key. Analysis is not the point of this. The idea is to notice everything about the act, all sensations, sounds, smells etc. If this is practiced with total dedication, Consciousness will do the rest all by itself and Buddhi/Manas will function in favour of the change of habit.

One trick is to introduce something different to your routine of smoking – such as the hand you use to smoke with. This forces us to be more aware of the activity (which is otherwise a somewhat robot motion that we go through) essentially tricking you into becoming more aware. This has actually been tested scientifically (I heard about this while listening to a BBC Health Podcast).

Cheers, Alex.

Forget It And … Sleep On It

 

Next time you are disappointed about the way you have been treated by someone, instead of flying off the wall, sleep on it and see how you feel the next day.

Living in the present can apply to this sort of thing. Actually, try just totally forgetting an issue or conflict instead of rationalising it. Of course there is a place for thinking it through, but just for once, try your hardest to (a) totally accept the blip as just that – nothing worth worrying about – then (b) try to just let it go out of your mind, willingly, lovingly. As you do this, and it will be a repeated thing, because the thought will keep coming into awareness again and again, as you do this, use breath awareness (for example) to help you be in the present rather than the ‘past’ of the thought that is presently bugging you.

In this way, being forgetful is quite liberating and useful.

Cheers, Alex.

 

Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo and Ayurveda

Sometimes I get interesting questions from post graduate EIVS Ayurveda students. I usually post these on a separate blog http://ayuranswers.wordpress.com/ but have included this recent post because it might interest readers of my Ayurveda & Life Blog.

Student Question:

I have a client who had a bad reaction to a massage ten days ago and is still suffering, and I am unable to advise her…

She is a vata-pitta, in her 50s, menopausal. I did a Vata massage, plus facial massage. She was completely relaxed but as soon as she sat up was very dizzy. It seemed to start when the ears were massaged. She has low blood pressure and a history of poor balance and dizziness and says she is very sensitive to treatments. This is what she said the next day:

It was a lovely relaxing massage with you yesterday until I sat up. Since then I have spent the past 24 hours in bed so dizzy and nauseous that in certain positions when I open my eyes I get a kind of zig zag of dizziness in my eyesight and am finding it difficult to keep my balance. Together with extreme tiredness and slurring of speech. Strangely enough this all seems to be coming from the left side of my body and is worse when I turn to the right.

Has this ever happened before from giving massage? I have been known to have extreme effects from acupuncture before. This is also similar to allergy effects that I used to get more than 20 years ago and would spend 2-4 days in bed with dizziness.

I thought the nausea could be toxins but she relates it to the dizziness. Because of the slurring speech I referred her to a doctor, but they found nothing wrong. (The speech is OK now.) She is often tired after the massage but it usually passes. This time she actually spent five days in bed, and has not been able to work or drive since (ten days ago). She is now wondering if it’s a trapped nerve and is seeing an osteo, but not till next week.

What do you think has happened? Have you seen this before? Is there anything I can advise? (Fortunately she is a regular client and doesn’t blame me at all! But we both want to understand more.)

Alex’s Answer:

I assume you have read a little about vertigo and that she has gone through thorough medical assessments to rule out any more serious underlying problems of the inner ear? Nausea and slurred speech can be due to the vertigo. Low blood pressure and menopause are both increased risk factors for vertigo so it is not surprising she has a history of dizziness.

I have found what I judge to be an excellent PDF* about the most common cause of Vertigo “Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo”, how it happens, and what can be done about it. You will see how the description of what happens fits perfectly with the Ayurvedic view of high Vata causing separation of tissue, and then that tissue finding its way into a channel that it then blocks or slows down normal movement. This internal inner ear desiccation, to my mind, is coherent with the ideas of Vata Vriddhi, and Sama Vata (hard crystalized particles that gum up the works!). If it were my patient, I would hand them the attached PDF and get them to meet their GP with it in their hand. The head movement exercises seem like a logical choice.

She obviously is not in a good underlying state of health, and her Doshas were balancing on the brink of aggravation. Vata is of course stimulated when we give massage, and yet at the same time Vata relaxes or lets-go. So tension in the Srotas is released and flow is encouraged. Ama and Kapha is also liquefied. I think that the combination of lying on her back for 1-2 hours, plus the stimulating yet relaxing effect on Vyana Vayu caused the calcium carbonate crystals called otoconia (ear stones) to break free from the utricle (a balance organ in the inner ear) and float into the semicircular canals, where they remain trapped and interfere with the normal function of the balance canals. However, even just relaxing and lying on ones back for a while could have brought on the release and movement of the ear stones into the posterior channels.

She is most likely suffering from a global Vata Vriddhi, signs of dryness etc? If this is the case, she should consider performing daily Snehana to her head via ears (drops of olive oil), nose (Nasya with e.g. Bramhi Taila) and mouth (Gandusha Snehana). She should also correct or compensate for any underlying Vata Vriddhi such as global dryness and deficiency with a Vata balancing diet and lifestyle. In particular, we would want to cleanse and increase her volume of Rasa Dhatu globally.

I would also recommend use of an appropriate but lower dose of either Ginkgo biloba or Valeriana officinalis (both are effective treatments for vertigo). Since treatment is for head, best time to take the herbs is before sleeping. Since the Dhatu medium is liquid / inner ear, we are targeting mainly Rasa Dhatu and Kledhaka Kapha, so we would consider a liquid preparation most effective (tea or decoction depending on the plants used). It may also be useful to use one of these plants in tincture form for 2-4 weeks for faster action. I would advise long term use (minimum 3 months) of Ginkgo along with other Dosha/Prakriti appropriate cerebral tonics. Vāta types should mix Ginkgo with Aśwagandhā (Withania somnifera) and Maṇḍukaparṇī (Centella asiatica) and Pitta and Kapha types with Maṇḍukaparṇī (Centella asiatica) for a brain tonic.

To summarise, assuming that the cause of dizziness or vertigo is Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo, or Ayurvedically speaking Sama Vata / Rasa Gata Vata / localised dryness and ear stones in the inner ear, then the following treatment I would consider useful:

1. Lifestyle to balance Vata in general and specific exercises to dislodge the ear stones (the canalith repositioning procedure (CRP) and the Semont liberatory maneuver).
2. Local snehana (oleation) to head via ears, nose and mouth to cleanse and nourish Rasa Dhatu.
3. Diet and herbs that reduce Vata, cleanse and nourish Rasa Dhatu, and treat vertigo.

Alex Duncan

*www.dbi.udel.edu/MichaelTeixidoMD/pdfs/BPPVhandout.pdf

Extract from the above PDF document

Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV) is a common type of dizziness caused by debris that has collected in the semicircular canals of the inner ear and that interferes with their normal function. This disorder increases in incidence with age, but may be seen in persons of any age.  In persons over the age of 50, about half of all dizziness symptoms are attributable to BPPV. In general, about 20% of dizziness is caused by BPPV and 9% of all older persons have BPPV.

The symptoms of BPPV include vertigo, light-headedness, disorientation, disequilibrium, imbalance and nausea. The most characteristic symptom of BPPV is a violent spinning which lasts for only 5 to 15 seconds. Activities which bring on symptoms will vary in each person but always involve movement or position changes of the head or body. A patient may be sensitive to certain position changes for days, weeks, or months. The strength of the symptoms tends to diminish before they disappear. Approximately 30% of patients experience recurrences of BPPV symptoms. The most characteristic provocative motions include rolling over in bed and tipping the head back to back to look up. Typical histories include severe bursts of vertigo which begin while using a hair dryer, when having hair washed in a beauty parlor, removing items from a top kitchen shelf or when looking up to change a ceiling-mounted light bulb. More constant non-episodic symptoms, such as chronic light-headedness or disequilibrium are also common, especially in individuals who carefully avoid all provocative movements and positions.

BPPV is caused by a displacement of tiny calcium carbonate crystals called otoconia (ear stones) from the utricle (a balance organ in the inner ear) into the semi-circular canals, where they remain trapped and interfere with the normal function of the balance canals. After otoconia are loosened, they are normally absorbed by special cells (dark cells) around the utricle where they arise. If too many otoconia fall off at once, they may find their way into the semi-circular canals before they can be absorbed. This typically occurs while the patient is lying down. The trapped particles continue

to move within the semi-circular canals after the head changes position, and cause the canals to send the brain inaccurate signals that the head is still moving. The result is bursts of severe vertigo brought on by changes in head position.

For BPPV to occur, otoconia have to be displaced from the utricle into the semicircular canals. More otoconia tend to fall off of the utricle as we age and off of a utricle which has been injured by a virus or migraine. BPPV is 3 times more common among patients with migraine. Otoconia are commonly shaken from the utricles in head trauma and even in high-impact fitness activities.

The most common form of BPPV comes from debris trapped in the posterior semicircular canal. This is the form illustrated above and in the animation below. Approximately 5% of patients may also have symptoms of BPPV from debris trapped in the horizontal semicircular canal. Even fewer patients have debris trapped in the superior semicircular canal. Most commonly, the horizontal or superior canals are affected in addition to the posterior canal.

Because BPPV is more likely to occur in a sick ear which may be causing symptoms of dizziness, the straightforward positioning symptoms of BPPV may not be easily recognized. Similarly, BPPV may continue to recur if the underlying trauma (e.g. migraine, high-impact exercise) is not recognized and treated or prevented. In cases with atypical findings and in which multiple balance system pathologies co-exist, a full diagnostic work up may be required in order to distinguish pathologies which will require different forms of therapy.

Also, this website gives a thorough treatment of the subject: http://www.dizziness-and-balance.com/disorders/bppv/bppv.html

Food Intolerances & Allergies

Food allergies (more correctly termed intolerances) can take time to heal. They are a dysfunction of Prana Vayu, which is the most intelligent principle of Ayurvedic physiology. It is also the most sensitive to all aspects of modern life, such as sensory overstimulation and refined, denatured foods.

Food allergies if untreated can lead to autoimmune diseases. There are two types of allergies: acquired and inherited (genetic/congenital). The latter we can only support by avoiding the cause (peanut allergy for example). acquired allergies can be healed.

Ayurvedic Pathology

Food becomes poorly tolerated due to :

• Doshic incompatibly (relative to your Prakriti etc)
• Excess quantity consumed
• Food used too early in life
• Poor food combinations

Agni (digestive fire i.e. enzymes etc) fails to digest food entirely. This leads to a gradual accumulation of undigested food residue called Ama in the intestines. This Ama is specific to the type of food that is poorly digested.

Now the body is in a state of emergency. Dosha tries to eliminate the Ama or the food eaten as it will identify it as problematic. Thus causing diarrhoea, vomiting etc. With time, Agni is employed to try to neutralise/destroy the Ama. In doing so, some inflammation will be produced, as well as other Dosha specific symptoms. With time, this situation weakens the immune system that is fighting all the time.

The longer the Ama is allowed to accumulate, the ‘deeper’ the pathology becomes. After time, Dosha/Agni fails to distinguish between Ama and Dhatu (tissue). This is where Auto-immune disease begins, where the body’s own immune system attacks its own tissues.

Ayurvedic Treatment

• Identify and remove cause (foods, drinks)
• Evaluate and treat Dosha imbalances (mainly via diet and lifestyle)
• Stabilize Agni (may need to re-educate Agni) using Ayurvedic spices
• Remove Ama (certain plants, food supplements, fasting etc)
• Improve the function of Prana Vayu (nasya and pranayama are useful)
• Support immunity (use herbs that build Ojas and boost immunity)
• Repair Dhatu damage (depends on how far the pathology has gone)

Herbs can be useful in achieving some of the above goals. Usually, a unique mixture of herbs are formulated for each individual case. This is the traditional Ayurvedic method.

Once a Week Day-long Fasting Beats Ongoing Low Calorie Diets

Ayurveda believes that a day-long fast on a weekly basis is a healthy lifestyle habit. Recent research confirms this with an interesting twist.

The study shows that a 2 day fast is more effective than a week long low calorie diet. You lose more weight by fasting for 2 days, followed by 5 days of normal eating than compared to eating 7 days on a moderately calorie restricted diet*.

This makes sense from an Ayurvedic point of view. When you eat as little as possible for a day or two, your Agni (digestive enzymes) burns up Ama (undigested food residue in the gut). By removing Ama, your entire digestive system and metabolism operates more efficiently. If practiced on a regular basis, the Ama in the gut is significantly reduced. Subsequently, Agni will burn off excess tissues including fat.

However, if you fast for longer periods, or eat a calorie restricted diet for days on end, your body actually begins to rev down you entire metabolism into survival mode. Your body’s innate intelligence thinks that the consistently low-nutrient diet is due to a period of famine. As a result, your Agni actually pares down. You will become less hungry, and adapt to lower energy use. You might even become more tired or listless. You will lose weight, but slowly. Your metabolism slows down and your fat cells are slowly depleted of their content to provide you with extra calories. However, if you return to your previous diet of excess, your body will quickly rebuild your fat cells to their original store potential. The consequence is that you put back all those pounds you just lost!

Keeping Agni strong while eating a calorie restrictive diet is not easy. We have to trick the body into thinking that there is plenty of food to digest when there isn’t. When a low calorie diet is combined with moderate physical exercise, Agni is stimulated and the body’s intelligence allows fat cells to be used as fuel. Not only this, but fat cells are transformed into muscle cells, which require more energy to sustain their inherent heat thus helping to shift the body’s energy resources away from storage (fat) to heat (muscle).

Eating a restrictive diet for long periods without combined physical exercise will only cause fat cells to reduce slowly in size, whereas combining this diet with moderate exercise will permit fat cells to convert into muscle cells. So when you return to a less restrictive diet, your fat cells will fill, but there will be less of them, so you return to a healthier weight instead of rebounding back to the old heavy you.

Restrictive diets are hard to stick to for obvious reasons. Ayurveda uses regular day long fasts as a solution to the above dilemmas. Depending on your health needs, and your body type, the frequency and severity of day fasts should vary between 1 day per week to 1 day per month:

Kapha types (heavy build) and people who are overweight can opt for a 1-day-long fast on a weekly basis. This will help to stimulate Agni (digestive enzymes and catabolic metabolism), remove Ama (toxins) from the gut, and reduce excess tissue mass (water retention, excess fat tissue etc). Best is to avoid foods altogether and just consume warm liquids. Some people do well just drinking hot water, with a dash of lemon; others prefer ginger tea. If you can’t handle one day with no foods at all, try a thin vegetable soup, or soup stock.

Pitta types (medium build, tendency to heat related problem like acidity, burning, skin rashes, excess hunger and sweating) can benefit from a 1-day-long fast every two weeks. Fast on warm liquids in the winter and non-acidic fruit juices or carrot juice in the summer. This will help keep Agni strong and the gut clean from Ama build up.

Vata types (skiny build, tendency to suffer from deficiencies, coldness and dryness, nervous system problems) can fast for 1 day every month to keep their Agni strong and guts clean from Ama build up. Best to use hot water with a dash of lemon, or thin soups.

*See the full news article.

Time to fix your sugar fix

Ayurveda states that Vata Prakriti people should favour foods that contain the Madhura (neutral / sweet), Amla (sour) and Lavana (salty) tastes. Conversely, Tikta (bitter), Kashaya (astringent) and Katu (pungent / spicy) items should be used in lesser amounts.

Many people new to Ayurveda interpret this literally. However, in most examples of a modern Western diet, excessive amounts of overly-sweet, sour and salty foods are consumed on a daily basis. This means that even for Vata types, the diet should be changed by reducing foods that are overly sweet or sour in nature, as well as reducing overall salt consumption. This may come as a surprise to some readers.

According to Ayurveda, when we consume more sweet tasting food than we can metabolise, our body transforms it into Ama (toxins) which pollute our blood, tissues and vital organs resulting overall poor health, weakened immunity, increasing our chances of producing many nasty health conditions and chronic diseases. The first signs of over use of Madhura Rasa foods are digestive weakness, intestinal flora imbalances, and low energy and elimination problems. No matter what you Ayurvedic type, you will almost definitely benefit by reducing to a bare minimum your use of concentrated sweet foods as well as over use of refined carbohydrates (white flour products especially). Here is a list of ingredients that are basically concentrated sweet taste that should be removed from the diet:

• Evaporated Cane Juice
• Malt
• Maple Syrup
• Corn Syrup
• Malt Syrup
• Brown Rice Syrup
• Corn Sweeteners
• Barley Malt Syrup
• Beet Juice
• High Fructose Corn Syrup
• Barley Malt Extract
• Muscovato
• Crystalline Fructose
• Maltose Succanat
• Fructose Maltodextrin
• Turbinado Sugar
• Sucrose
• Dextrose
• Invert Sugar

By cutting out or drastically reducing your consumption of sugary foods and foods high in refined carbohydrates, you will almost certainly notice an improvement in energy, immunity and overall health. Now, I don’t want to put the willies up you, but here is an excerpt from an excellent nutrition book called Deep Nutrition by Catherine Shanahan which I strongly recommend especially for its treatment of the subject of refined foods on our health:

As [excess] sugar seeps into your tissues, it coats the surface of cell membranes, with life-changing consequences. This phenomenon may be directly related to the biochemical effects of sugar binding to hormone receptors, jamming them, and rendering us insensitive to the hormone insulin. Once you are insulin resistant, blood sugar levels rise higher still, leading to diabetes and all its related disorders, including weight gain circulatory and sexual dysfunction. For the same reasons sugar jams hormone signals. It also clogs nutrient channels, weakening bone and muscle and slowing neural communication, which can impair mood and memory and lead to dementia. While all this is going on, sugar stiffens the collagen in your tendons, joints, and skin, causing arthritis and premature wrinkling, while interfering with the production of new collagen throughout your entire body. And because sugar changes the surface markers your white blood cells need to distinguish between indigenous cells from invaders, it opens the door to cancer and infection.

The process by which sugar sticks to stuff is called glycation. Glycation reactions are reversible, but with enough heat or time, the temporary bonds become permanent due to oxidation reactions. The products of these later oxidation reactions are called advanced glycation end products, or AGEs. And that’s a useful acronym, because AGEs make you age unnaturally fast. When you toast bread, oxidation reactions generate AGEs in the proteins and sugars present in wheat. These AGEs change the bread from soft, pliable, and pale to hard, stiff, and brown because the proteins and sugars form cross-links that stiffen the bread. The same thing happens inside your body as AGEs cross-link normally mobile proteins. This hardens your cells and tissues, making them brittle and stiff.

Fortunately, at normal blood sugar levels, the reactions occur so slowly that clean-up crews of white blood cells keep them under control by breaking them down. The kidney cleans these AGEs from the blood and excretes them from the body. It is these waste chemicals that give urine its characteristic yellow colour. The clinical implications of having your tissues hardened by sugar protein cross-links are vast and far-reaching. Cross-links turn the semipermeable surfaces of arteries into impervious walls, preventing nutrients from exiting the bloodstream. When trapped nutrients can’t escape your bloodstream, where do you think they end up? Lining your arteries; when lipoproteins deposit on the arterial lining, they attract white blood cells, and can cause blood clots and/or atherosclerotic plaques. A few cross-links on your white blood cells slows them down, making infections more likely and more serious, enabling nascent cancer cells to grow under the radar unchallenged. Are your joints creaking and stiff? AGEs can form in them too. AGEs (primarily from high blood sugar) are one of two major biochemical phenomena that make us look and feel old (the other being free radicals, primarily from vegetable oils).

While you are cutting out sugary stuff from your diet, it is useful to use some mildly pungent and bitter tasting foods or teas. These tastes help remove toxins, as well as correcting blood-sugar imbalances. Another bonus is that they actually reduce our craving for the sweet taste. Try adding 1/4 – 1/2 a seaspoon of turmeric powder to cooking and drink some fresh ginger root tea (spicy as you like it without causing a burning feeling in your tummy).

Finally, remember that if you can’t kick the sugar fix, you are probably using the sweetness of food as a replacement for other sources of sweetness such as love or pleasure derived from relationships and your vocation.

Cheers, Alex.

Ayurvedic Split Mung Dhal

This dish is more or less balanced for all three Doshas. Coconut milk increase Kapha so use less or none if you are a Kapha type or working to balance Kapha.

Makes 2 cups = 500 ml (serves 2 people as a starter soup, or 1 person as a main soup)

½ t ghee or sesame oil

1/8 tsp each of hing, coriander, cumin, fennel, turmeric

Make a varga

80 grams pre-soaked split mung dhal

Add the dhal and sauté for a moment

500 ml water

10 ml lemon juice

1/3 of a piece of dried mango slice (optional)

Add the above, bring to boil

Simmer uncovered for 3 minutes

Cover and simmer until dhal is soft

Add more water to bring back to same volume as started with then blend in a liquidiser then return to the pan and bring to a boil then remove from heat and add:

30 ml coconut milk

¼ tsp salt

1 tsp sugar (or equivalent sweetener)

A little chopped cilantro (coriander leaf) or mint

Vata Season is a coming

People keep subscribing to this blog so I feel I owe it to you to write something new. Here goes:

Vata Dosha will become excited as soon as the colder, changeable weather kicks in. This year in France we are blessed with a long summer. But any day now, the weather is likely to change. When that cold snap comes, Vata Dosha will have to work overtime to help our physiology adapt to the change in temperature, light, etc.

Ayurveda suggests that we stay one step ahead of predictable seasonal changes and take preventative measures several weeks prior to the season change. So if autumn kicks in round about mid October where you live, think about making some Vata balancing changes to your life towards the later part of September.

Here is a “10 step Vata rescue regime” that I created a while back for my own use:

Use this regime for ‘emergency’ situations when there is high Vāta Vikṛti that needs immediate attention (i.e. you are in moderate to severe discomfort and cannot go about your normal daily life). Symptoms. If you have several or more of these symptoms you probably have an acute or chronic excess of Vāta Doṣa : Severe abdominal bloating, any moderate to severe pain of recent onset, loss of sensation, recent loss of strength and lack of enthusiasm, shaking & tremors, muscle spasm, bad back, severe constipation, persistent insomnia, emaciation, stricken with fear, grief or worry. Use of regime. Introduce these tools in the following order. The more you can do the better, but only do what you can comfortably manage with your current energy and constraints. The sooner you can implement this regime the better. Get help. In addition to this regime, go and see an Āyurvedic educator (or similar health expert) to deal with the specifics of the complaint you are suffering from.

1. Early to bed, early to rise. Go to bed early. 9 pm ideally. Do not read in bed. Set the alarm for 6 – 7 am.

2. Early morning drink. Drink 3 cups of hot water as soon as you get up (warm water if you are Pitta). Go the toilet before breakfast even if the urge is not there. Be patient and do not force.

3. Warm oil massage then a warm shower or bath. Do the Vāta Abhyaṅga (see separate sheet). If you don’t have the energy, try to receive a full body warm oil massage 3 times a week (twice per week is a minimum).

4. Cooked food only. Eat at regular times (15 minutes leniency). Eliminate completely: raw foods, dry foods, cold foods. Best: Porridge for breakfast. Cooked unctuous soups & stews for meals. Mild curries are perfect. A little heavy food each meal is needed (dairy, etc.), not too much in quantity.

5. Hot drinks only. Eliminate completely: cold drinks, coffee. Limit: Tea (1 cup). Red wine (1 glass). Best: Drink 1 litre of fresh ginger root tea (1 tsp per litre) during the day, plus warm water as per thirst.

6. Little or no physical activity. Little or no physical activity is best. Light Yoga OK. Short (15-30) minute walks in nature (not up hill) provided you are protected from cold weather.

7. Afternoon rest. Take a nap (up to 1 hour) between 4-5 pm. If not have a tea 30 minute brake nonetheless.

8. Alternate nostril breathing. 10 minutes twice daily morning and evening.

9. Think and work less. If at all possible reduce your intellectual burden. Ideally take time off work or go away to a quite place where people can look after you (cook for you etc).

10. Bedtime routine. At 8-9 pm stop you daily activities and go somewhere to unwind. Take a warm bath. Put some Lavender essential oil in it (a few drops). Light candles and play relaxing music. Before going to sleep, massage your feet for 5-10 minutes with warm sesame oil.

Ayurvedic soup for chronic dry cough

Chronic dry cough is due to an aggravation of Vata Dosha. If Vata cannot move downwards properly, it moves up towards the chest and head causing dry cough. Vagabata, the author of the Asthanga Hridayam advises the following protocol for treating Vataja (Vata-caused) cough (AH.CS.III.1-3):

• Medicated oils and ghee made with Vata pacifying drugs
• Thin gruel and soup
• Meat soup (stock)
• Confections
• Inhalations
• Oil massage
• Sudation
• Pouring warm decoction over body
• Bath
• Basti (if there is obstruction to stool and flatus)

Here is a soup recipe for Vataja cough

The Ayurvedic texts explain that for Vataja cough, soup should be prepared with medicines that are Vata reducing, treat cough; as well as fats, sour and salty ingredients, barely, meat essence (i.e. stock). Here is an recipe based on this logic:

Pre-mix a jar of these spices for convenient use in cooking of this recipe. If you cannot access all of the ingredients, a few can be omitted:

1 tablespoon cinnamon powder

1 tablespoon fenugreek powder*

1 tablespoon turmeric powder*

1 tablespoon fennel powder

1 tablespoon cardamom powder or 2 pods*

1 tablespoon thyme*

1 tsp nutmeg powder

Gently sauté for 1 minute or until begins to smell the odor of the spices:

2 tsp ghee or sesame oil

2 tsp of the above spice mix

1 tsp fresh ginger root grated

1 garlic clove crushed

Add:

Handful of barley*

1 Chicken leg

1 bowl of chopped vegetables (carrots, onions*, sweat potato*)

1 litre of water (or so there is about 3 x volume of the solids)

2 whole pippalis (long pepper corns – optional)*

1 tablespoon of Marshmallow root pieces (comfrey root is a substitute)*

1 tomato

 

Bring to boil them simmer, covered, for at least 1 hour (ideally 2-3 hours on very low)

Remove the chicken meat from the soup and feed it to the cats or a friend!

Add:

Salt to taste

Lemon or lime juice (1-2 tsp)

1 tablespoon of flax seeds*

Cook for 15 minutes more then remove from heat

Optionally blend the mixture to a smooth consistency

Eat this as main meal 2-3 times per day. It is possible to cook this soup with no vegetables and chicken and just drink the stock. This is useful if appetite is very low.

*These are all specific for cough or adapted to dry (vataja) cough in particular.

A “Dinacharya” Day in the Life of Alex

A “Dinacharya” Day in the Life of Alex

Note: Dinacharya is an Ayurvedic word which means “daily routine”. Dinacharya is collection of general preventative and maintenance lifestyle guidelines which cover most aspects of daily life including self-hygiene, exercise, diet, sleep and sexual behaviour.

One of my E-learning students asked me recently:

“What type of Dinacharya do you follow regularly and how has the implementation of this daily routine affected your overall health, well-being and/or management of Doshas? Would be really nice to hear your testimonies in this area.”

Here is my answer:

I wake up naturally early, I always have done. I would say at about 6-7 am depending on how late I have gone to bed. First of all I will put the kettle on, then I’ll do a few ablutions: wash my face, gargle some warm water, scrape my tongue. I put some sesame oil or ghee into my nose. Then I’ll drink a large glass of hot water with a dash of lemon in it. I’ll follow this, a few minutes later with a few rounds of Surya Namaskar (sun salute Yoga sequence). Then I’ll have some more hot water. I am not that strict on myself and not much into physical exercise, so a few rounds is all I manage. I don’t always shower every day, it depends on what time of year it is. If I do shower, or take a bath, I usually apply some oil to my skin and rub it in. Sometimes before bathing (and I’ll longer over this, 15 minutes or so) and sometimes after bathing (then I’ll use less oil and spend less time). I go through phases where I slacken up my self-oiling, like when I am feeling more balanced, or in the spring and early summer (since this is when my dominant Dosha, Vata, is naturally protected by the season). As soon as I notice increasing dryness or itching in my skin, or a stiff back, I do some oiling on a more regular basis. You have to realise, I live a fairly sheltered life in the countryside, and this goes a long way (I feel) to keeping my Vata in check). I reckon that if I was still living in Glasgow, and leading a typical city life, I would do a more self-massage and restorative exercise.

On school days I will help get the girls fed and off to school. One thing I am fairly disciplined about is trying to stick to regular meals times. I feel it is one of the most useful and simple ways to keep Vata ticking over smoothly. Of course, I am not fanatical about this. For breakfast and dinner, I would say I respect a 30-45 minute slip in the time I actually eat. For lunch I am stricter. I am the timekeeper in the house, so my family also benefit from this little Ayurvedic routine. I have noticed that the more regularity I structure into meal times, sleep times and activities in general, the more my Agni gets regular (I know because I can tell the time by my hunger). On the other hand, if I start to eat and sleep less regularly, my appetite begins to fluctuate, as well as elimination and energy levels.

The food I choose to eat for meals is based on several factors such as personal preference (taste), convenience (what’s left in the cupboard etc.), the appropriateness of the food to my prakriti and the season etc. I used to be more fanatical about food, but have relaxed in more recent years, paying more attention to basic dietary Dinacharya and less attention to the fine detail.

One thing I do is keep a personal health journal, and as part of the commitment to ayurveda, I keep a reasonable eye on my dosha functions and try to correlate that with my diet and lifestyle. I am careful not to change many factors at once. For example, I will ‘experiment’ by not drinking any milk for 3-6 months, and then see what effect it has. I won’t go into detail about my diet because it would is individualised to my prakriti and unique nature, activities etc. But in a nutshell, I eat a simple wholefoods diet, mainly plant based, with small amounts of dairy (butter, ghee, cheese and egg) as well as occasional servings of meat (mainly chicken). One thing I don’t do is drink tea or coffee, I never have, but I know that when I do (I have tried!) they dry me out a bit and leave me feeling tired and rough around the edges. I prefer to drink hot water with a dash of lemon, or ginger root tea. As far as alcohol is concerned, I’m a lightweight and don’t enjoy being drunk (neither does my stomach the next morning). But I do like the taste and mild inebriating effect of drinking a beer or two once in a while, especially with friends or if I want to let my hair down a bit (not that there is much of that left!)

Once I have eaten my breakfast, I brush my teeth then do Gandusha Snehana (oil-in-mouth) providing I have remembered to fill up my bathroom jar of sesame oil. I have quite dodgy teeth (positioning wise) so I like to use a good electric toothbrush and a Waterpik device which helps gently remove the food from between teeth and gums. The main problem I have with doing these daily hygiene practices is keeping all of the paraphernalia available and in stock!

As far as daily activity and scheduling is concerned, I do follow a few Dinacharya guidelines, such as:

• No computer use after dinner (it is over stimulating for my Vata/Pitta nature).
• Any heavy physical work or sport (I occasionally take a mountain bike up the hills) I try to schedule for the morning when Kapha is abundant.
• I try to avoid long days in the office, trying spreading my work duties to incorporate a mix of intellectual and physical tasks.
• After lunch I like to go for a short stroll, and then lie down on my left hand side for 5-10 minutes.

There are no doubt other things that I do as part of Dinacharya, but can’t think of them at this time. However, there are certainly ‘weak points’ in my daily regime. For example, though I do often feel tired around 10 pm, I often stay awake until midnight in order to be with my wife who is more of a night owl and likes to watch a film. But I don’t let this come a routine, and intersperse late nights with earlier nights preceded by a warm bath and a self-oil massage.

Another thing that I am aware of as a weakness in my lifestyle is the lack of regular daily exercise. This has ebbed somewhat since my daughters were born, but is now beginning to flow again for various reasons. The main thing that I realise is that I do not have an innate attraction towards sport, though I am highly active creatively. This is no doubt in part conditioning; neither parent was remotely sportive. So what I have realised is that I have to trick myself into regular exercise through combining it with creativity or social activity or responsibility (we have two donkeys, and a large garden that needs moving).

Another thing I am not making use of is fasting. Ayurveda recommends a one-day fast once a week to once a month depending on prakriti and other factors. The benefit is to give Agni a chance to digest the Ama (improperly digested food and resultant substances) that accumulates in the GI tract of all people irrespective of their wishes. My reasons for not doing this kind of fast are somewhat nonsensical, mainly it is that I haven’t got round to it.

Being a Vata/Pitta type, mainly with a Vata physical tendency, I notice the benefits of Dinacharya almost immediately. If I let this stuff slip, or if I get carried away with various activities and spend too much energy, I notice quickly a feeling of being rough around the edges, a little tired, less stable emotionally. These are signs of Vata accumulating. When I notice this, I put the brakes on and love myself up with early nights and oiling. This quickly brings me back into balance. This balance is, I should say, subjective and by no means perfect! But then I let that concept of perfect health go a good few years back. In terms of Kriya Kala (level of disease process), I would say that with the above daily routine, I keep my Doshas hovering at around about level 1, the accumulation stage.

 

I judge the results of these preventative and maintenance efforts by keeping an eye on my emotional and mental balance, energy levels and elimination pattern. Any ailments that come along, I log these in my journal and look back over this from time to time and draw conclusions about trends. How can I be sure Dinacharya is helping? I know from personal experience, from day to day, that it helps. Will it prevent me from aging so quickly? How will I ever know for sure, I cannot? It is a lifestyle choice based on what I feel is good logic and an increasing body of modern scientific population study that corroborates the Ayurvedic direction of thinking.

Though it may have nothing to do with any of the Ayurvedic Dinacharya stuff that I do, I have noticed an improvement in numerous mild health niggles mainly:

• Digestive complaints (malodorous flatulence and constipation)
• Itchy scalp
• Tendency to chronic congestion following a head cold
• Cracking joints
• Skin rash on my back
• Stiff lower back

I also do get a lot of feedback from students who are given homework assignments which include using the Dinacharya methods. I also have a small clinical practice which also confirms the results of Dinacharya. I am often so surprised by the positive results that I don’t ever get close to using more advanced Ayurvedic therapeutics because people just get better, or better enough for their own motivations.

Something that I would like to say in closing up is that taken as a whole, the Ayurvedic Dinacharya protocols can appear daunting and unrealisable in terms of time commitment and motivation. This is because they are! No normal human has the time and motivation to do all of this stuff to the letter, day in and day out. I have thought about this dilemma quite a lot on and off over the last 10 years and come to the following tentative conclusions.

First of all, each person needs to learn to respect their own inclination towards self-care and learn to accept that of others. There is no point in comparing yourself to your friends or loved ones and then either feeling superior or inferior. Accept yourself for who you are today. If you do find that you want to do more to care for yourself, realise that you may be up against some inner resistance to change thanks to the strength of the habit patterns you are carrying around with you. Know that there are many methods of pro-action that can help you un-learn old habits and replace them with healthier new ones. But the main thing here is that you need to go slow and steady and be patient and loving towards yourself and others in the process.

Second: prevention is better than cure, but we are only human. Intellect is often overridden by instinct or habit. Try telling a healthy young child that they should be cleaning their teeth twice a day and see how they forget every day to brush their teeth. Compare this to an adult who has got to have major dental interventions and been told by their dentist to floss and brush after every meal. See how the behaviour differs. I believe that the younger and healthier we are, the less we are likely to pay attention to caring for our bodies. It is only when we become ill that we begin to take notice and make more of an effort. Of course there are many exceptions. Health care professionals have known about this dilemma for ages, which is why they are always looking for tactics to help people get doing these dumb, simple daily self-care chores from an early age. Some examples would be the many religious rights that have a medical justification behind them (praying, fasting etc.) as well as perhaps the teaching of over-exaggerated benefits touted by authoritative scriptures (just look at the claims being made in the Ayurvedic and Yogic texts; “cures all known diseases” etc.). The solution to this dilemma is complex, but here are some tricks that can be used to get these daily self-care treatments in to place:

• Strength in numbers: the people you know who are doing it the more chance that you will do it also. Make friends with people who take care of themselves and get on the same wavelength.
• Little by little. Introduce things one at a time until they become a habit and you are not likely to forget about them because they are now automatic.
• Get a foot in the door. If you are a parent, start your kids off as young as possible with Dinacharya, making it part of their life is the best way to train them in these habits so that when they do leave home, they have that foundation in place.
• Re-enforce your resolve. Read about the benefits, keep a journal to record your successes and failings, you would be surprised how much this helps. Talk about this stuff with friend to help make it real. You do have to trick yourself somewhat from time to time.
• Love love me do! Finally, do nothing without first honouring the miracle of life and feeling love towards your body and mind. There is a sutra in the charaka samhita (the oldest Ayurvedic text) that says that non-violence is one of the pre-requisites for a long healthy life. No matter what you do in the name of ayurveda and in the name of health, it will backfire on you if you harbour the slightest resentment or contempt towards it (or whoever twisted your arm into doing it in the first place).

One thing is sure. There is no free lunch in life. Miracle cures do not exist, and if they do, they are few and far between and require exceptional circumstances. Ayurveda can go a long way to making people’s lives happier and healthier. The basic for all Ayurvedic treatments is Dinacharya: diet and lifestyle. Without this in place, Ayurvedic medical interventions are less effective and may only provide temporary relief. This is why Dinacharya is so important. They say that “medicine is useless without proper diet” then “when diet is correct, medicine is not necessary”. Food for thought!

Take care,

Alex.