Let’s explore pitta dosha today as we are in the midst of summer, season of pitta dosha. The mahabhutas (great elements) that comprise pitta dosha are fire and water.  In order to understand pitta dosha, think of the gunas (qualities) of fire and water.  The gunas of pitta are light, hot, sharp, liquid, spreading, oily, red, sour, and has a fleshy smell. The main site of pitta dosha is the small intestine / naval.  The sub-sites are the eyes, sweat glands, gastric juices of the stomach, the liver and spleen, the blood, and the sebaceous glands under the skin, and the hair follicle. Pitta is closely related to agni, the transformative process behind all metabolic activity in the body as well as the fire of intelligence.  Pitta people are bright, brilliant, driven people who understand things easily.  An out of balance pitta person may become angry, aggressive, or irritable.  Pitta gives the skin and hair its luster and color and also maintains body temperature.

Understanding the gunas and the sites of pitta dosha will help us in knowing the common signs and symptoms of an imbalance of pitta dosha.  Most skin disorders such as rash, hives, and urticaria are caused by an imbalance of pitta.  An undue production of oily pitta secretions at the hair follicle can cause the hair to fall out.  That is why some pitta people are balding. If the fire of intelligence burns so brightly in the eyes, a pitta person may require glasses.  Pitta people are prone to heartburn and acid indigestion due to an excess of pittagenic liquids in the stomach.

According to Ayurveda, like increases like.  Therefore, pitta dosha becomes aggravated in the summer time from the heat of the sun. A person who works in a hot environment or under the hot sun is prone to pitta type disorders.  Eating spicy, oily, fried foods is a sure way to aggravate pitta dosha.  Pitta people enjoy success and being told “yes.” That is why, in order to avoid aggravating our pitta partners, we should always agree them and tell them yes.

Remember that every dosha, when IN balance creates harmony and helps to maintain homeostasis in our bodies.  When OUT of balance, they create symptoms that eventually lead to disease.  That is why it is so important to notice our own doshic tendencies and properly manage them in a timely manner before they lead to serious imbalances.  Stay tuned for our next post about pitta disease pathology and managing pitta dosha.

Boredom. It creeps into our consciousness when we least expect it.  We all experience it from time to time.  The mind, which usually moves faster than time, comes to an instant halt as it shifts into this thing we know as boredom.  We may experience feelings of uselessness and hopelessness as we count down the hours until bedtime so that we can file the unavailing day away and wake up tomorrow with a new to do list.  Many of us thrive on this experience of effectiveness, and boredom can leave us feeling depressed, lethargic, and inadequate.

Let’s examine this from an Ayurvedic perspective. Day to day, we move through our experiences blinded by our identity, seeing things through the lenses of our past.  In fact, according to Ayurveda, we live specifically through a whole system of filters.  These filters are made up of emotions, undigested experiences, and societal based reasoning.  In sanskrit, we call these filters citta.  Our recollection process becomes slow, dusty, and unreliable.  We cannot even remember that we all have an expansive state of consciousness that lies within, it becomes buried in a closet of repetitive thinking processes.  In the bottom of this closet lies the ahamkara.  The best English word to describe the ahamkara is ego, or our self identity.  The ahamkara, consuming only experiences through the filters of the mind (citta), becomes lonely and hungry for unique experiences.  Ahamkara looks here and there for identity.  It may look in the shops in the mall, in the night clubs, in religions….gathering all kinds of propaganda to create a pseudo-you. Still, the ahamkara inherently knows about the ocean of expansion that lies within, so it becomes bored of the mundane.  If we allow these patterns to perpetuate, boredom becomes an all too familiar experience.

So how do we combat this boredom?  There is the yogic process of samyag darshana, or total perception.  Total perception involves seeing through the filters, tearing down the walls of you and I.  Imagine the moment we say the words, “I love you,”  we create duality.  Duality is filth that clogs our filters. In order to experience samyag darshana, we must deconstruct the systems that promote comparison and individuality.  When the observer melts with the observed, there are no boundaries, and one can experience this samyag darshana.  We can skip the whole process of citta and jump right into pure choiceless awareness. Pure awareness is always new and fresh no matter what.  I like to think of it as a lightbulb, or a flame illuminating every experience.  When the light is on, the dullness of boredom can no longer exist.  New and exciting life experiences can grow in this light.

For some of us, this choiceless awareness comes easier than for others.  While our aim is to live in this state of newness, we can learn to experience it through yogic and Ayurvedic practices such as meditation, yoga, pranayama, and pratayahara.  For more information on these teachings, please contact halfmoonayurveda@gmail.com.

Often we are asked the Ayurvedic understanding of relationships. There are many ways to approach this topic according to Ayurveda. One way is to think about the cycle of life which is shared universally by all things. This life cycle begins with pure existence, then birth, next maintenance, followed by decay, and finally death. It is very easy to think about living entities this way, but what if we think of our relationships in terms of this cycle as well? It is karma that brings two people together from pure existence, then the meeting happens and a relationship is born. Just like a baby, a relationship must be maintained, nurtured and cared for. Inevitably life, and relationships eventually decay and come to an end whether through death or other circumstances. While often times this final stage of the cycle is beyond our control, we can actively engage in the maintenance of the relationship. Too often we become victims feeling helpless in our relationships, bringing them to a premature end. We may give up on the relationship or become interested in someone else without letting the life cycle of the first relationship fully run its course. Any time this life cycle is interrupted, surely there will be confusion and chaos. This cycle of life is based on the principles of nature and when we live in harmony with nature, there is peace, health, and longevity in life and in relationships.