Life style, Digestion and Elimination

I recently had a client with digestive issues and DIGESTION  is a most important topic in Shaka Vansiya Ayurveda. All the food that we eat has to be converted into intelligent blood to feed all out tissue and organs.  In working together for a couple of months with only 30 minutes a week we covered a lot of ground on the basic life style changes that needed to be put in place so that her system could process the food that she was eating.

However before we could start talking about life style and food and digestion there was a big piece of the puzzle that had to be addressed and that was her emotional start that was often in fight of flight or freeze and it prevented REST AND DIGEST.  When we are under a lot of stress our body releases Cortisol that then produces adrenaline when shrinks our blood vessels and shuts down healthy circulation.

When we sit down to eat we need to be in a restful state. It's most important that we put our undivided attention on our food.  Our brain can then send messages to our digestive system to release the appropriate enzymes to digest our food and send it on its way to nourish us.  Vaidya Mishra once told a woman that had an autoimmune disease that the main reason for her health issue was that she was watching TV or reading while eating her meals.  That is how important it is to look at your food with undivided attention while you eat.

With only 30 minutes once a week it was not enough time to untangle the emotional issues underlying her life so I referred her to CORNELIUS CHRISTOPHER a consciously awakened soul who generously provides daily healing meditations.  www.coherencehealing.love is his website.  For a small monthly fee you can get live attention daily.  This often helps people with emotional baggage that is stopping them from moving forward.

When we started moving forward and addressing life style and food issues what needed to be put into place was DHINACHARYA or daily routine. This is the understanding of the Circadian Rhythms and our relationships to the sun and the moon.  As we rotate toward and away from the sun it has a big effect on our digestive power. Therefore SVA recommends eating out largest meal when the sun is highest in the sky, noon.  We start the day with a light meal of stewed apples with 2 cloves to ignite our digestive fire and then a cooked grain like oats with some raisins.  Then we should be hungry by noon.  It is important to let the previous meal be fully digested before we eat again.  Some people find they get hungry at  mid morning and might need something like a small amount of cooked lentils.  If you are not hungry at noon then cut back the size of the portion.

Also we must eat not too much and not too little.  Depending on how strong your digestive fire is, you have to determine the size of the meal. Usually the recommended amount is 2 handfuls.  If you over eat then that food goods to AMA - or undigested toxins that clog our channels. AMA is white  cold sticky gooey stuff that you find at the back of your tongue in the morning.  Best to scrape that off with a tongue scraper. AMA can be reduced by adding pungent food and spices to your meal like black pepper and ginger.  Also have all 6 tastes with your main meal helps - SWEET SOUR SALTY PUNGENT BITTER AND ASTRINGENT tastes. That is a big topic that has been addressed in the past.

We addressed proper hydration several times as just drinking water does not carry the water into deeper cellular levels of the body.  (See blogs on hydration) There are several herbal recipes for hydration drinks. Recently I also found a hydrating tea that also burn AMA and adds intelligence to the system - 16 ounces of spring water with 5 black peppercorns and a teaspoonful of Moringa - boil for 5 minutes and drink this lovely tea for a pick me up.  Another good way to help assimilation is drinking 1/4 Pomegranate juice with a pinch of cumin and salt.  Great after a meal or mid afternoon.

Another concern this client had was elimination or constipation. Another big topic. Triphala herbal blend is the first go to with constipation as it balances all the doshas and increases the intelligence of the colon.  Hydration also improves constipation. Increasing Magnesium levels is important but not taking it orally as it irritates the intestinal lining. Transdermal application of Magnesium (Magnesium Roll On http://www.chandika.com/magnesium-roll-on/?afmc=l0 )to the calves before bed or down the spine daily helps to maintain healthy Magnesium levels. What needed to be avoided were addictive laxatives like Senna, Cascara, Castor Oil and other commonly used laxatives.  If Triphala or EasyLax (Easy-lax capsules http://www.https://www.chandika.com/easy-lax-capsules/chandika.com?afmc=t4 ) don't help then a smoothy of prunes and pineapple can be very helpful. Ands it delicious. Also to get things started and to have a bowel movement regularly first thing in the morning a glycerine suppository can help.

When addressing daily routine bedtime is important. We need to be asleep before 10 so that our body can regenerate itself properly. Waking up and being out of bed by 6 AM is also important.  The reason for this is that the body shifts through Vata Pitta and Kapha every 4 hours. So falling asleep in the Kapha time between 6 PM and 10 PM is important. Kapha is heavy and slow. If you stay up past 10 then you enter the Pitta time which is more active. I believe I have written about this in the past.

These are some of the things we addressed about life style and diet and elimination.  It was a lot and further topics we could have covered is the types of foods to help detox. The importance of good fats in the diet like cultured GHEE and good quality Olive Oil.  All other fats to be avoided.  How to drink milk properly so that it does not clog the channels.  But we got a good start.