Ayurveda: Could it work for you?

What happens when your inner dance starts to lose its natural beat?
Stress, overwork, poor dietary habits and lack of exercise may cause your delicate dosha balance to come undone. You may start to feel rundown, or get nervous and edgy. An excess of fiery pitta may cause a flare-up of rashes, fevers and heartburn.

Let’s say you’re having problems at work and your boss makes you increasingly angry. This stimulates your pitta beyond its normal balance. If you’re a pitta type, you’re especially prone to an overactive pitta and may break out in a rash, get headaches or hot flashes. Too much kapha, though, can cause lethargy, heaviness and bloating.

How to restore balance
To restore balance and promote healing, practitioners create a wellness plan. It may involve dietary changes as well as particular herbs or remedies matched to your essential nature and present condition. To reduce the severity of my headaches, Modi suggested I avoid cooling vata foods, such as dairy products, cucumbers and orange juice, and start my day with ginger tea. This is supposed to reduce the amount of "air" in my body and let my three doshas regain their normal balance.

Count on your treatment plan to make use of your five senses, the main channels for healing. You may be asked to listen to particular sounds, such as repetitive chanting. Music can refocus thoughts and feelings to either uplift or soothe. You may be told to view specific images; if you’re a vata, you may need the peace and calm that a beautiful image of a goddess can provide. I was told to try a few minutes of quiet daily meditation to quiet my mind and relieve my headaches.

Back in touch
The sense of touch is how many Westerners are introduced to ayurveda. "Because of our go-go society, vata, which is associated with achievement and activity, is usually the first to go out of whack," explains Olivera. The more we do, the more a vata is stimulated. Even kaphas can start to feel overwhelmed and rushed. Think of a city dweller, Blackberry in hand, finding it hard to concentrate and relax. To turn vata down, ayurvedic practitioners make use of the sense of touch. They know that a massage calms and soothes. Or, as Olivera puts it, "Massage – touch – is important for correcting excess vata."

Which is why I’m here, with my well-oiled head wrapped in a towel and nibbling a delicious tidbit designed to reduce my overactive vata. It’s only a start, but I can already feel my doshas starting to tap their toes for the next round of dancing.

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