Tips for Optimum Health in Spring Season (March-May)

The qualities of Kapha season are heavy, cold, sticky, slow, and moist. In our bodies, Kapha governs our physical structure and fluid balance. If your keep these points in mind it will be easy to understand the kinds of problems that can drop up when the influence of Kapha increases in nature during Kapha season.

Rosemary has never been fond of spring. As lovely as it was to see the flowers and buds on the trees, she has never really been able to enjoy it. It seemed that every spring, without fail, she would have cold and mucous congestion in her sinuses, ending up with bronchitis or at least a lingering cough. As she got older, she also began to experience joint pain and attacks of arthritis, due to a thickening of the synovial fluid (which lubricates the joints).

If that weren’t enough, she felt a kind of heaviness and mental dullness that sometimes slipped into depression. Her motivation and ambition dropped, and she felt tired and lethargic for days on end. With those qualities dominating, it was for too easy for her to put on weight. These tendencies affect everyone during the spring season, but they are much more likely to trouble you if, like Rosemary, you have a Kapha constitution. Every year, as Kapha increase in nature, it increases in us, too.

Rosemary always thought she had a kind of curse, which her husband Bob had miraculously escaped. A wiry Vata type, Bob always felt energetic and enlivened as spring approached. This is because Vata is in most respects directly opposite to Kapha, so just when Kaphas start to feel stuffed up and bogged down, Vatas tend to feel most balanced and happy.

When Rosemary began to follow the recommendations I will share with you in a moment, her whole experience of spring changed for the better. Since anyone can accumulate excess Kapha and thus develop an imbalance in Kapha season, it is helpful to learn how to keep this heavy, sluggish tendency from increasing too much in us. Then we can enjoy the positive qualities of balanced Kapha: happiness, strength, kindness, compassion, generosity, loyalty, good memory, strong immunity, a love of romance, and wholeness of consciousness.

Stoke your digestive fire

Digestion tends to become sluggish during the spring: you can perk it up by following these suggestions:

• • Eat hot food - both hot in temperature and spicy.
• • Drink hot, stimulating drinks, such as fresh ginger tea.
• • Cut down on refined sugars. Substitute raw, unheated honey, which is very effective in reducing Kapha.
• • Favor foods that taste astringent (such as lentils and beans), spicy (chile peppers or curries, for example), and bitter (Salada, spinach).
• • Eat a ginger pickle before lunch or dinner to help increase your "digestive fire." To make a ginger pickle, sprinkle lemon juice and salt on a thin slice of fresh ginger. (Alternatively, you can grate the ginger and mix with lemon and salt.) Eat about 15 minutes before a meal.
• • Sip hot water frequently during the day. This is also an excellent preventative and treatment for colds and sore throats.

Rise and shine

As mentioned earlier, a good way to combat the Kapha tendency toward dullness, lethargy, and depression is to get up early in the morning. If you get out of bed before 6:00 P.M., during Vata time, you will feel the benefit of the Vata lightness, clarity, and liveliness. The longer you stay in bed after 6:00, the more you will feel sluggish and tired. To help you get up early, go to bed during the evening Kapha time, before 10:00 P.M. when you begin to feel drowsy. Then you’ll sleep deeply and wake up naturally with the sun.

Get more exercise

To keep from putting on weight or giving in to the blues during Kapha season, it helps to get some extra exercise, especially for people with a Kapha constitution. The best times for exercise are 6:00 to 10:00A.M. and 6:00 to 8:00 P.M. After the frozen winter, everybody really needs to move, and this is what nature expresses, too, with spring’s burst of energy and growth.

Stay Balanced in the Summer (June-September)

As the days lengthen and the sun rises in the sky, spring’s coo, moist Kapha qualities burn off, giving way to the heat of summer. Because the connection between ourselves and our environment is so strong, all aspects of mind and body are influenced by the increase in temperature. This can have a positive or a negative effect, depending upon our constitutional type and whether we’re able to harness the positive qualities of increased Pitta without getting out of balance.

If too much Pitta accumulates in our system - especially likely in a person with a Pitta body type - we may develop skin inflammations, acid stomach, burning sensation in the body, red eyes, and moles and freckles on the skin. Any tendency toward graying hair or balding will be accelerated. And tempers can flare as anger and irritation rise with the temperatures.

On the other hand, if Pitta grows stronger but remains balanced, you may notice increased focus and mental clarity, spontaneous feelings of joyfulness, and increased energy, vitality, and strength.

To keep cool and promote the highest quality of experience during Pitta season, pay attentions to the following guidelines.

• Lighten up. Enjoy light entertainment such as comedies, joke telling, walks in the garden or the woods, and playing with children
• Calm down with meditation. Practice meditation to lower your mental temperature. Meditation decreases stress and agitation and produces a calming influence that leaves you feeling refreshed.
• Cool down anger with awareness. If you become angry, try to be aware that "this is only the result of some imbalance of Pitta in my body." Remaining as objective as possible, you can take steps to balance the situation, including most of the suggestions in this list. Start by drinking a glass of cold water. If someone you know suffers from Pitta attacks, try not to take the anger personally; do what you can to help them cool down.
• Watch your diet. Eat a Pitta-pacifying diet. Choose cooler food and drinks. Favor foods with these three tastes:
  • bitter (salads, green leafy vegetables)
  • sweet (dairy, rice, clarified butter, sweet fruits)
  • astringent (lentils, beans).

Stay away from salty, sour, and spicy foods. Save those Mexican dinners for the winter season.

• Go to the herb garden. Use Pitta-pacifying herbs such as fennel, coriander, cumin, and cardamom in cooking and teas. Chewing on fennel seeds from time to time during the day (they taste sweet and a lot like licorice) is very cooling.
• Don’t overdo it. Keep exercise moderate and aim for the cooler early morning hours, or the early evening. Water exercise and sports (swimming, water polo) are especially cooling. Pitta types especially must be careful not to overexercise in Pitta season or participate in sports in the middle of a hot summer afternoon.
• Try a cooling, calming massage. A 5-minute daily self-massage with coconut oil prior to bathing is very pacifying to Pitta and will help maintain emotional balance throughout the day.
• Use cooling fragrances. Among these are jasmine and rose, which are available to mind and body during he hot summer. These are available as aromatic oils and incense; you don’t need much to produce a nice effect.
• Surround yourself with beauty. Try to spend some time in a beautiful flower garden or near a fountain - these are very soothing to Pittas.
• Listen to peaceful music. Certain music can calm mind and body and lower mental-emotional temperatures. Classical Indian music or the slow movements of classical music (particularly the regular rhythms of Baroque composers such as Bach, Handel, and Telemann) produce a calming effect. (This is also very useful for high-strung Vata types at any time of year.)

Following these recommendations for Pitta seasons will help you enjoy your summer without boiling over.

Keep Healthy and Happy in Autumn and Winter (October-February)

Vata seasons, with its light, dry, cold qualities, tends to increase Vata tendencies in our mental and physical makeup. Positive Vata qualities such as enthusiasm, energy, lightheartedness, and creativity increase in us so long as we maintain balance. If Vata increases too much and becomes aggravated, we may fall victim to anxiety, insomnia, dry skin, constipation, or difficulty with memory and concentration. Rapid heartbeat, high blood pressure, and a tendency toward an erratic schedule are more of the negative effects of aggravated Vata. Although Vata individuals are especially prone to these imbalances, everyone can benefit from knowing how to pacify or calm Vata to maintain health and balance during the fall season.

Stay on schedule

Probably the single most important thing you can do to keep Vata in balance is to maintain a regular daily routine. Unfortunately, for people of a Vata nature this can be quite difficult, as Vatas are often the kind of people whose "schedules" are different every day. But irregular daily habits tend to adversely affect the nervous system, which is controlled by Vata, so it is helpful to wakeup, exercise, meditate, eat, and go to bed at approximately the same times every day.

Go to bed early

Staying up late is one of the major factors that increase Vata, so try to be in bed between the hours of 9:00 and 10:30.

Eat three squares a day

Missing meals is also very imbalancing. The noon meal should be the largest meal of the day. Breakfast is optional, especially for Kapha types, but is recommended for Vatas, who need a solid, grounding meals such as cereal, toast, and milk to combat the Vata tendency toward spaciness. Dinner should be on the higher side.

Eight More Tips for Keeping Vata in Balance

1. To reduce the likelihood of insomnia, restrict your activities in the evening to the lighter side. Don’t do any concentrated work and avoid fast-paced, stimulating movies or TV programs. Some pleasant reading or listening to soft music are ideal.
2. Practice meditations to relax and reduce anxiety, stress, and tension. A successful meditation technique allows the mind to be silent very still, much as a choppy lake can become settled and silent. Due to the interconnectedness of mind and body, the physiology also becomes relaxed when the mind quiets down.
3. Follow a Vata-pacifying diet. Favor warm food and drinks and eat more oily foods such as nuts, or vegetables with butter or ghee. Lean toward foods with predominantly sweet, sour, and salty tastes; reduce or avoid foods that are light, dry, or cold.
4. Unless prescribed by your doctor, Vata season is not the time for fasting or an unusually light diet, such as salads or a lot of raw foods. Well-cooked, heavier foods are better in this season.
5. Some herbs that you can use to help balance Vata are cinnamon, ginger, cumin, fenugreek, and asafoetida (hing). The Indian herbs ashvagandha and bala are excellent for balancing Vata.
6. A warm sesame oil self-massage each morning prior to bathing is particularly helpful in promoting emotional stability and mental clarity throughout the day. If you have trouble sleeping, massage the soles of your feet with warm sesame oil for a few minutes before getting into bed.
7. Keep warm. Wear a hat to protect your head and stay out of the wind as much as you can.
8. Regular exercise is helpful, but not to extremes, especially if you have a Vata constitution. It is best not to exercise outdoors during Vata season; the day, cold air can cause respiratory problems and aggravate Vata.

Do your best to incorporate these seasonal guidelines into your life. They will help you to avoid potential health problems and to enjoy the positive qualities that naturally get enlivened with each change of the seasons.