The external world changes with the seasons, so you need to keep your internal systems in alignment with the external world.
Understand the profound effect that the shifting seasons have on the body. the more intrinsic rhythms of the body follow the seasons to keep your system running smoothly in every season.
Adapting your living patterns to harmonize with the rhythms of the natural world has become ever more difficult in this 24-hour culture. Urban life takes an especially heavy toll in terms of exposing you to the stress of crowds, pollution, and noise.
The effects of living in this advanced society include a variety of mental illnesses and deep-seated anxiety at the heart of everything. All medical authorities acknowledge that illnesses are affected by stress. It’s also becoming
clear that in addition to physical ailments, some mental disorders and psychosomatic problems have their origins in imbalances in the endocrine (hormonal) systems and in interruptions in the natural cycles of the body
known as circadian rhythms.
The human body is a miracle in its organization. Timing cycles in your body range from microseconds in your brain cells, minutes in your muscles, hours in your hormones to days in your blood cells. Your body is transformed from hour to hour, and your vital organs and metabolism fluctuate accordingly.
The two parts of the year: Adana and Visarga. The earth’s cycle around the sun divides into two major phases:
✓ Adana: The northerly phase, which comprises late winter, spring and summer. Adana, which means ‘seizing’, lasts from mid-January and culminates in mid-June.
✓ Visarga: The southerly phase is made up of early autumn, autumn, and early winter – essentially mid-June to mid-January. The word means ‘the sound that dies away’.
Adana is acknowledged to be linked to disease because of the absorbing effects of the sun and wind on the environment. This absorption and consequent drying during Adana leads to a corresponding increase in bitter, pungent and astringent tastes in vegetation. If that seems a bit far-fetched, just compare the sweet flavour of spring greens with that of their winter counterparts. Spring lettuces are sweet and aromatic; winter greens tend to be more
earthy and bitter.
In mid-June, the sun takes a southerly course through the sky. This period lasts until November and is known as the more generous time of year. Moisture returns to the earth, endowing it with strength and mitigating the harshness of the sun. The well-irrigated environment responds with the dominance of sweet, sour and salty tastes, which creates bulk and vigor in animal and plant life. The southerly phase consists of early autumn, autumn, and early winter.
The transitions between Visagara and Adana are important:
✓ During the transition between Visagara and Adana – the end of November and beginning of December – you need to make very careful choices in terms of your lifestyle and food to be sure you maintain the proper balances and rhythms. On a more positive note, it can be a time when deep transformation can take place. If your intention is pure, you can grow the seeds of change to encourage a psychological renovation.
✓ Adana gives way to Visarga between 8 and 24 June. According to Ayurveda, you need to supplement your body chemistry with the opposite tastes according to the predominance of Visarga or Adana. This leads to an optimization of your health.
You need to be aware of is that at the six seasonal junctions, the body is at its most vulnerable. These gaps are known as rtu sandhi (joints of the seasons), when disease can more easily enter the body. These sandhi points occur seven days either side of the intersection, so take extra care at these times by eating well, getting plenty of rest and attending to your daily routine.
During these transition periods, both Sushruta and Charaka, the most famous Ayurvedic physicians, recommend shodhana practices (cleansing processes) to remove the excess doshas (in the form of bile, mucus, and dryness) from
the body by a process known as panchakarma.
Adjusting Your Digestion in Autumn
In early autumn, the evenings are still long, your appetite is strong, and the weather is generally cold and damp. While the sun’s power is diminished by wind, rain, and clouds, the energies of the moon gain ascendancy.
This is the time to get some oil massages, preferably Ayurvedic ones, as well as herbal body scrubs. Warm baths with essential oils are always helpful to soothe away tension and increase Vata dosha.
Looking at the conditions
At the beginning of autumn, Vata starts to aggravate the accumulated pitta from the summer by acting like a bellows. As summer pitta leaves your body, you may develop symptoms such as conjunctivitis, gastritis, rashes, headaches
and irritability.
Vata-related problems, such as cracking joints, anxiety, irregular digestion and increased sensitivity to cold, can start to manifest themselves. To combat these conditions, adopt a leisurely and quiet lifestyle during this period so that your system can adjust to the change in seasonal energies.
This translates as follows:
✓ Don’t drink cold water or use ice.
✓ Don’t sleep during the day.
✓ Reduce sexual and physical activity.
These simple strategies also help you to adjust to the prevailing forces of nature. Vata characteristics are cold, light, dry and dispersing, and one of the main ways of pacifying these increased tendencies in the body is by increasing
foods that are naturally sweet, sour and salty in taste, served warm and in moderate quantities.
Warming Winter Foods
Now the weather is beginning to get really cold, but the good news is that if you paid attention to changing your diet in the autumn, your digestion is as strong as it gets during the whole year. In winter, eat lots of steaming casseroles with delicious root vegetables such as carrots, salsify, celeriac, turnips, and swede. Packed with energy from the ground, these tubers are filled with goodness that satisfies your increasing hunger at this time when your body craves calories to keep you warm. Peas and all the types of winter squash also provide heat and energy to the
system and taste so sweet.
A note about vegetarianism
Embedded in the practice of Ayurveda are the sage Patanjali’s sutras, where the notion of ahimsa (non-violence) lies. The industrial slaughter of creatures today produces meat that’s filled with adrenalin caused by the fear the animal felt on the way to the abattoir; this adrenalin is held in the musculature, making the meat tough and chewy.
Winter is the period to reintroduce porridge into your life. Follow this recipe for an Ayurvedic slant on porridge:
1. Place a pint of water, a little salt, four cloves, one cardamom pod and a piece of cinnamon bark in a small pan. I bite the cardamom pod first to liberate the heavenly aromas.
2. Boil for five minutes, then add 2 to 4 cups of oats or spelled porridge, depending on how thick you like your porridge, and cook for four more minutes.
An added delight to my porridge is the addition of my neighbor’s walnuts, collected from her tree in October, and then a dash of organic maple syrup. This power breakfast keeps me going all morning. As winter progresses, Kapha dosha is on the rise, and with it comes heavy, moist, sticky and cold properties. To stay in balance, you need to counter these tendencies by including warm, light and tangy foods in your culinary choices.
Nuts abound at this time and can comprise part of your daily intake of protein. They’re generally hard to digest, but roasting makes them lighter on the stomach. Almonds are best soaked overnight and peeled. They’re a very good source of calcium.
Try some sea vegetables at this time of year. Samphire, also known as sea asparagus, has a delicate flavour. On the same lines, add kelp and dulse to cooking rice, mix arami with carrots and put nori in casseroles. Sea vegetables are filled with mineral salts and iodine, which are becoming rare commodities in the modern diet.
The energetics of the Sisira period, or late winter, are much the same as winter proper. Your diet needs to be free from cold drinks and raw foods. Heat any of the abundance of leafy green vegetables available at this time of the year, such as cabbage, Brussels sprouts, and kale. These vegetables are all loaded with antioxidants and vitamin U (yes, U!), which is said to heal ulcers in the stomach – something that bitter/astringent substances are said to be able to do in Ayurveda. Try adding warming spices such as caraway or cumin to encourage digestion. And instead of tossing steamed vegetables in butter, use clarified butter in the form of ghee to help make the veggies more digestible. A slice of good-quality wholegrain bread gives you plenty of the amino acids you require to sustain a healthy body.
Beans are notoriously difficult to digest, but you can handle them in winter, and they provide a great boost of body-building protein. They’re slightly astringent, and that makes them useful for breaking down the Kapha, which is starting to increase in your system now. The varieties of beans are endless, but a few favourites are chickpeas, pinto beans, and lima beans. Mung beans and aduki beans are filled with nutrients and are tridoshic, which means they’re suitable for all constitutions. To eliminate the gas-producing effect of beans, cook them with a very small pinch of asafoetida, Also known as hing.
Cleansing Spring Foods
During spring, your body follows the cycle of the natural world and is subject to a sort of thawing. Kapha, the energy that invests itself in mucus-like secretions in your body, starts to liquefy and move to the surface. This situation
can cause many problems, such as sinusitis (inflammation of the sinuses) and a feeling of heaviness.
Implement a diet that eliminates heavy, sour, sweet and oily products. You can bring in more bitter and tangy foods and take herbal wines like draksharishta before meals to help with poor digestion. During spring, you’re more susceptible to colds, so give your system all the help it can get. One way to protect yourself is to take Swedish bitters before food (as directed by the manufacturer) in a little water. The original recipe for this blend of herbs such as aloe, myrrh, angelica, and rhubarb is said to come from the great European physician Paracelsus. You can also avail yourself of what you can pick from the hedgerows: tender young shoots of dandelion leaves, and roots, birch leaves, blackberry leaves, and small plantain shoots. Make a tea of equal proportions of these herbs and drink it daily. Also, try making a daily tonic by brewing elderflowers collected and dried in the summer. The great Ayurvedic physician Charaka points out that spring is a time to savour youth, beauty, and the woods. Replace citrus and dairy in the springtime with lots of cleansing hot drinks such as herbal teas and honey water with black pepper. Many commercially available herb teas contain ginger. Keep a supply and use it often to flush your system of accumulated toxins. You can make your own brew using freshly chopped ginger, fenugreek seeds, black peppercorns, and black tea. Use herbs that warm the body and increase your metabolism. Garlic is good, although don’t use too much if you’re on a celibate spiritual path, because it can stimulate passion! Add cayenne pepper, mustard seed, paprika, onion and horseradish to your diet. Try smoked paprika for a real treat. Sleeping during the day is strongly discouraged during spring.
Cooling Summer Foods
The summer sun now reaches its zenith and with it your appetite reduces and your digestive capacity is at its lowest point, simply because your body needs to metabolize fewer calories to keep you warm. Many of us eat the same amount of food all year round, but you need less in the warmer months – so give your stomach a bit of a rest at this time. Pitta dosha, with its qualities of heat, oiliness, sharpness and pungency, is on the increase in the body. So emphasize sweet, moist and cool foods as a counterbalance. Take advantage of the fruit stalls packed with juice-filled treats. Local fruits are your first choice because they have more flavour and more nutrients than fruits trucked in from far-flung places. Your best choice is local, organic fruits. I often hear people commenting on the fact that fruit and vegetables look great but their flavour is entirely lacking. Gas-ripened fruit may look great, but depriving fruit of the sun during the ripening process creates morsels that are tasteless to the tongue. Green coriander should never be far away from you in summer. Sprinkle it liberally on all foods. It’s not only very tasty but also very cooling to the system. Ayurveda places great importance on the flavour of food and clearly suggests that good sweet, aromatic flavours feed you in body, mind, and spirit. Have you ever noticed that when a food is really flavorsome, you need the smallest amount to satisfy yourself? Rasa (flavour) comes from the word for ‘sap’ or ‘juice’ and refers not only to what you experience in the mouth but also conveys a myriad of meanings such as the effect of a piece of music and the very essence of life.
Replenishing your body with fluids is of primary importance in the summer, because your blood thickens due to the drying effects of the sun. If you imbibe alcohol, cut down on the amount you drink. Keep your body well irrigated with lots of water and fresh juices. Try lemon barley water, mint tea, and lemon balm. Grow lemon balm in the garden and then you can pluck a few leaves, steep them in hot water, let them cool and add some jaggery
(solidified sugar cane juice) to taste. Eat melon of all kinds in the summer months. Sprinkle a little ground ginger
on top to make it more digestible. However, eating melon mixed with other foods creates ama (toxins). So try it as a late afternoon snack – a tasty treat that also provides fluid to your system. Green leafy vegetables are also in abundance in summer, and lettuce of all kinds is a refreshing choice. Try to move away from the boring old iceberg; it only became popular because it keeps well in salad bars, and there are so many much more nutrient-rich choices in the green leafy camp including kos, endive, dandelion greens, romaine, and rocket. Chicory really has a lovely bitterness, which you need to increase the precious digestive juices that are so scarce now in your stomach. Lettuce also makes terrific soup.
Coconut water is an absolute treat in summer. It’s a great tonic for your kidneys and is an excellent rehydration fluid with lots of electrolytes and potassium, which are lost in sweat. It’s also an invaluable source of antioxidants and contains cytokines, which are phytohormones that promote cell division and growth. You can get organic varieties from Asian grocery shops, but beware of some of the tinned stuff because it’s so full of preservatives. Buy a fresh coconut, extract the water and then enjoy the sweetness of the flesh as well.