Diet and Dosha: Breakfast

Breakfast is always difficult for me. I am not hungry in the mornings and most of my life have skipped breakfast. Since starting Weight Watchers, I have a habit of eating in the morning, but I have to do it within an hour of waking or I miss it. In Perfect Health, Dr. Chopra says I can miss breakfast if I want to. Wow. Permission to skip breakfast. How will that afect my day?

In an Ayurveda practice, diet is an important part of maintaining balance. I find that knowing what to eat is VERY confusing. I know that the more I practice the easier it will become. Although I am pretty sure I am a Pitta type, everyone has all three doshas and they must all be in balance. So though I am a Pitta, I have a lot of disorder around my diet now. So do I need to focus on balancing my vata, my pitta or my kapha? I truly don't know, but I think I need to focus on balancing my kapha and pitta.

As a pitta, I need to avoid excessive caffeine and processed sugars - so no coffee and doughnut breakfasts. No fried foods, no fatty meats, no yogurt or cheese. Pitta is the only dosha that favors cold and astringent foods. But if I need to balance my kapha, I should pick hot over cold foods. Spicy is good for kapha but not for pitta. I have four different books with slightly different ideas and prescriptions.

Until I meet with a practitioner, I know that the best thing I can do is to balance kapha while sticking as closely as possible to the Pitta diet. Cutting out sweets and reducing my red meat intake are huge, and really just common sense. But I also eat a lot of pickles and yogurt and cheese- all no-nos. I already like whole foods, so I will start to conscoiusly choose them for every meal. Fruit is confusing to me. Neither Pitta nor kapha are supposed to eat bananas? Fruits should not be eaten with cooked foods?

So, I have started having grains for breakfast. My favorite is a whole oat/flaxseed oatmeal with gourmet blend of raisins and a cup of tea. Or a slice of toast with tea.  My focus next week will be adding in an appropriate breakfast. Until next time, namaste.

Dinacharya- Abhyanga Part Two

Today, I did the Abhyanga using the Perfect Health chapter. I liked it much better than the previous instructions. It was a lovely 5-10 minutes self-massage. Very well explained and easily executed. I finished quickly and then enjoyed a lovely shower. My hair looks better, my skin feels better. I did still use body lotion after the shower although some of the oil was still on my skin, it is a VERY hot day (already 91 at 10 am) and I felt dry.
Dr. Chopra also has a 1-2 minute version of abhyanga. Massage the head, the face, the neck and upper shoulders and arms. Then massage the feet and you're done.

Dinacharya - abhyanga

My first goal in conducting abhyanga - or personal massage- was finding the right oil. As a provisional Pitta, it was suggested that I use a coconut oil. I tried looking at Molbeck's - a natural food store in town- but I didn't like the selection. They had coconut oils, but it didn't speak to me. My next stop was the East Indian Emporium. Amazingly, she had a massage oil - it is Navratna Oil. The label said 100% ayurvedic and the label is COOL. For relief, relaxation and rejuvenation. Perfect. As a PP, I need cool. Sesame oil is suggested for Vata and Kapha, but I need a cooling oil. It has a bunch of herbs in it, but nothing I recognize and the smell is singular. The brand is Himani Ayurvedic. And today, I did my first Abhyanga massage.

I have read a lot about how to do this, but I still wasn't sure. I know to start at the scalp. Then the arms, the shoulders, the feet and legs. Then the torso and back and I finished again with the neck, face and scalp. This method was from the Book of Ayurveda. Next time I will use the Perfect Health chapter as my guide.

I laid a towel down on the bathroom floor and began the massage. The oil is not as oily as I though it would be - more watery. It took more than I  thought it would, but when I finished I had actually not used that much. The act of massaging my body was disconcerting. I don't touch parts of my body- ever- so this is another great method to reconnect with the reality that is my 41 year old body. That extra weight is almost all in my middle- the stomach, hips and thighs. Massaging these areas makes me feel more gently towards them. It isn't their fault that they have enlarged recently. I am trying to learn compassion while I perform the massage as well, thanking each part for what it does for me. thank you legs for providing me with transportation and movement. Thank you stomach for digesting everything I send your way. Thank you arms for gardening and writing. Etc.

After the massage, I hopped in the shower. As I mentioned before, I do use Aveda products. I love the use of aromatherapy in my daily life. Scent is very important to me. I noticed that as I washed off the oil, the scent remained AND my skin was actually softer. I struggle with dry skin and many skin allergies- imbalance in my kapha, I think. After my shower, only my hands needed additional lotion.

I don't think I will engage in full Abhyanga every day. Maybe 2 or 3 times a week. But the scalp massage felt so nice that I can see that becoming part of my daily routine. Also, foot massage is recommended for relaxing prior to sleep, so maybe I will just shift a few things around in my dinacharya.

Next time... breakfast or the beginning stages of the Ayurvedic diet.

Dinacharya- Shower and personal care

As I mentioned in the last post, part of the daily routine (dinacharya) is personal care. A shower or bath every day in the morning is not part of my habits right now. I tend to get up and work and then bathe or shower whenever, usually late afternoon or night. And I have been languishing in a hot bath for years. Now I find out that Pittas should quickly shower. Use of too much hot water and laying around in a bath is counterproductive for Pittas. I do like to nap after my baths, so for now, I am going to switch to morning showers. Along with the shower, I do usually brush my teeth first thing. Now I am adding a couple more routines.

According to Ayurveda, your body produces Agni (fire) and Ama (very roughly translated as dis-ease not disease!). 

Agni is the heat energy from digestion. According to The Book of Ayurveda by Judith Morrison, balanced agni is vital for health. "Ayurveda regards disturbances to agni as one of the chief causes of disease".

Ama is what you are purging in panchakarma (yoiks) but you also purge daily ama through personal care routines. One example is the tongue scraping. Excessive Ama is built up on your tongue and when as a daily habit you scrape your tongue- gently- and then gargle. I am not doing the gargling yet. The books call for sesame oil, but I am just using plain old crest mouthwash after I brush my teeth and scrape my tongue. I bought a tongue scraper from Walmart for $3. It's not fancy, but it is working, although I am working on my gag reflex. So far, I can tell my tongue is getting pinker and prettier every day. I hope this also means that I am decreasing my ama.

The next step in personal care is nasal rinsing. This is a big deal for me because I have horrible allergies. This year especially because everything is blooming at the same time. I have been using a saline solution squeeze bottle periodically for years, but I bought a Sinus Rinse by Neilmed from my local pharmacy. It was $6. It's a big squeeze bottle with a huge cap that you lean over and squeeze the rinse into your nostrils one at a time. There is a ph balanced saline mixture that you mix with water, distilled preferably and slightly warm.

I thought about a Neti pot and priced some out. There's a great store in town- Sheepish- that has a few different options, but I ended up going with the squeeze bottle. honestly it was because I don't have to move my head and get in an awkward position to use it. And it was cheaper. And the Neti pot had some bad press recently - a man died from a brain eating amoeba. It was conjectured it came from his neti pot usage. The amoeba was found in his tap water. So- USE DISTILLED WATER and you won't have this problem. It wasn't the Neti pot that caused the damage but the incorrect use of it. http://www.king5.com/health/Brain-infection-from-water-amoeba-kills-3-one-from-neti-pot-128037093.html

After using the sinus rinse, I massage a little sesame oil into my nose. It's only been a couple of days, and my allergies haven't abated, but I feel better. And the next personal care step is Abhyanga- oil massage. I don't like the idea of getting oily, but I love massage in any form. And remember that part of my goal is the reconnection with my body. Next post- what the first oil massage was like.

Also, I mentioned that I don't usually shower first thing in the morning. I am working on my morning routine to figure out where the best place/time is for the shower. Daily rhythm. I would sometimes go days without a shower- especially if I wasn't involved in strenuous activity, but that is changing. I didn't see others as I work from home. My hair doesn't need to be washed every day. I wasn't very active- thus the weight gain. Now, though, I am more active during the day and the weather certainly precludes going without a shower. As my routine gets more... routine, I'll let you know what I think.

Dinacharya- Yoga

Dinacharya is basically just your daily routine. Dinacharya starts as soon as you wake up and continues until sleep. These routines help you create a balance in your day. The funny thing is that the balance and routine seem so anti-American to me. At least in my generation, we are loathe to do the same things over and over, to eat the same things over and over. Yet, I know that when I have a regular routine, my life is calmer and more enjoyable. So I am definitely willing to give this a try. Because I work from home for myself, I do not have a regular wake up and sleep time. Using this I will create a rhythm to my day that I believe will make me more productive and happier.

Most of the Ayurveda information I have seen has a list of the daily activities you should do when you wake up in the morning. The first is to wake up early- morning dinacharya can take an hour - so you need the extra time to complete it. Here are the steps, though not in order:

1) Early rising - at dawn or an hour before
2) Warm Water and elimination - drink a glass of warm water and eliminate in the morning. Starts your day off right!
3) Yoga and stretching - sun salutations and then yoga or stretching based on your dosha
4) Meditation- lots more on this in a later post
5) Abhyanga - oil massage - a separate post on this also
6) shower or bathe- every day
7) tongue scraping and mouth cleansing & nasal drain - so brush your teeth, use a tongue scraper and a neti pot or something similar. Massage sesame oil in your nostrils.
8) Pranayama- breathing exercises
9) Breakfast
10) Walk for 30 minutes
Then on to fulfill your karmic duties- work, housework, whatever those may be.

So, I usually get up before my husband and have some time to myself in the morning. I already start off the day with elimination- how can you wake up and not need to go to the bathroom- but this idea of a glass of warm water to help produce a bowel movement is new. What I have been doing for a couple of weeks is Sun Salutations and yoga outside on my deck. It's been so warm and I go downstairs to take the dog out for his dinacharya so why not do it myself? The peace that comes from being outside and doing a sun salutation is wonderful. As I mentioned in a previous post, I have gained some weight back and these last few months I've been hard on myself in true Pitta fashion. I need to practice compassion and gently remove this weight so that it doesn't come back. The morning yoga is helping me reconnect with my body. In fact all of these suggestions help me reconnect with and understand my body. In my head I am still a size 6. In reality, I am not. After yoga, I often will "work out", but I do it much more gently than I used to. I am getting re-acquainted with this body and trying to treat it well. I am over 40 now and my knees especially are not happy with the rough usage of the past. so, easy exercise on a bike, a stationary bike, an elliptical and pilates performer machine as well as some Wii Sports keep my mornings in line.

So three sets of sun salutations and then some stretching yoga poses. I also have started getting a Thai massage about once a month. In a later post I will tell you about the abhyanga and how it is related to the rediscovery of my body. If you don't know the sun salutations, any search can help you find them. A great way to greet the day.

My dosha is...

So what is a dosha? It's explained in so many of the Ayurveda books, but put simply, there are three main doshas. The dosha is the "type" you are within the Ayurvedic system. Vata, Pitta and Kapha. Most people are one or a mix of two with one more dominant. Many books and websites have little self-tests you can do, and I have done them. I don't completely trust what they tell me though. As an American, I have recreated myself a number of times. I've learned to behave in ways that are not necessarily reflective of my exact dosha, but are socially expedient. Although every test I took points me to Pitta, I consider myself provisionally Pitta until I have a consultation with a practitioner. These books really have taught me a lot already! Weight gain, mood disorders, even physical ailments are all from dosha imbalances.

According to Perfect Health, the theme of the Pitta type is "intense". I am definitely that. In balance, they are sweet, joyous, confident, and brave. If out of balance, Pittas suffer from insomnia, particularly if they are wrapped up in their work, which tends to be all-consuming to them. Also definitely me.

Your dosha determines everything- from your diet, your exercise, your daily rituals, to.. well, everything. As a PP (provisional Pitta), I read through the books looking for common ground. The one that really became apparent quickly is the reliance on routine to balance your dosha. This I can attest to. When I was in college, I saw a behavioral psychologist. She and I put together a nice routine that really helped me find peace in my daily life. Up at the same time, exercise and breakfast and bed at the same time. When my life allows me the time to create a routine, I am much happier. I sleep better, my anxiety levels are down and I am much more pleasant to be around.

I had a a perfect day- well, a perfect week really. My 40th birthday was perfect. I was balanced. It started about a month before and lasted until 2 days after my birthday. I had a great routine. A job I enjoyed. Good sleep habits, good eating habits, good exercise routine and I looked and felt amazing. Two days after my birthday, the job started to fall apart and everything else got imbalanced. I gained 40 pounds over the next year and a half. I am pursuing that state of being. I recognize that I may not feel that perfectly every day, but getting close would be amazing.

A cornerstone of Ayurveda is dinacharya - the daily routine. In an Ayurvedic life, I would be waking up and getting up before the sun. Realistically, this is going to take a long time to put into practice. I am the first one up in my house, but it is not usually before the sun in the summer. I believe that using routine is the right way to achieve that perfect balance. Of course, I can't change everything in my life at one time, so over the next couple of months - throughout summer- I will be working on creating and perfecting my daily routine. The great thing is that Dinacharya  - or daily routine- is important for all doshas, so even if I am not a Pitta, I will be moving in the right direction.

Next time - Dinacharya.

Ayurveda in the Public Library

My friend Lindsay works at an Aveda salon. She is really focused on creating a balanced and happy life. We talked about Ayurveda recently and turns out she has a friend who is an Ayurvedic practitioner near Milwaukee. Her friend suggested Deepak Chopra's book Perfect Health. So when I mentioned that I was interested in researching more about Ayurveda, of course, Lindsay suggested this book. knowing that I would want to write in it an mark it up, I bought a copy and dropped by my local library. There really isn't a lot in the library about Ayurveda. I ended up with three books. One is more of a cookbook- Anjum Anand is a British chef on the BBC and the Food Channel and she has a book Anjum's Eat Right for your Body Type about Ayurvedic diet for your dosha. Vasant Lad is a leader in Ayurveda in the Us. His school in Albuquerque is renowned for it's Ayurvedic curriculum. His book is Ayurveda the Science of Self-Healing. (http://ayurveda.com/)  . The third book I checked out I can't remember, but I will get it again and write a little review.

Eat Right for Your Body Type is a beautiful book. The first third is all about Ayurveda and the rest is a cookbook. The recipes look great and she has suggestions on modifications based on your dosha. I bought a copy of this one.

Self-healing was interesting, but not in depth enough for me. Dr. Lad has a number of textbooks and other books. I will research more of these.

Here are some things I realized right away-
1) I have to figure out my dosha.
2) Yoga is the spiritual practice of Ayurveda.
3) Everything else rises from your dosha and your imbalances.

These books give a good history of Ayurveda and a basic understanding of the practices. There are Ayurvedic practitioners who can diagnose your ailments and your dosha and imbalances immediately by taking your pulse. Lindsay recently traveled to India and met with one of these guys. I'll let her explain it but she did tell me that they take a full medical history, just like a Western medical office, and then don't usually even read it before diagnosing and prescribing.

Where do I find one of these? As I mentioned Lindsay's friend is a practitioner, but she's younger than I am and has been studying Ayurveda for 7 years or so. I want someone raised in an Ayurvedic household, who's 70 years old and can touch my wrist and tell me what's up with my dosha.  So back to the internet. So far, I've found only western practitioners of Ayurveda in Milwaukee and Chicago. I am pretty sure the community on Devon Street knows where to find the right doc, I just have to keep searching. We have a great little grocery- East Indian Emporium. I asked the owner and she is researching someone for me too. Meanwhile, I'll keep reading.

Next time, my Dosha.

Cleanses and Panchakarma

For years, the hip thing to has been a cleanse. Many celebrities and popular people try the juice cleanses. In January, every magazine I picked up had a review or article about someone trying cleanses to get the new year started "right". On Groupon in May 2012, there was a juice cleanse Groupon. Cleanse recipes are in every fitness and spiritual magazine. The Hollywood 48 hour Celebrity Diet sold at drugstores and online is basically a two day juice cleanse. I have done the 48 hour thing and I can definitely say it doesn't lead to lasting weight loss as it claims, but I always felt ... purer afterwards. I felt lighter. I mentioned in my last blog that I did try the 3 day reset cleanse from Whole Living magazine. Three days three meals - the same each day- with little snacks thrown in. It was vegetarian and pretty yummy. I wasn't hungry and the food was delicious. I felt lighter and happier when I finished my first three days. I lost 6 pounds. Whole Living has a one month cleanse as well, but I didn't like the menus as much as the three day reset. Plus, a month isn't a cleanse, it's a way of living.

So when I discovered that Panchakarma is an Ayurevedic seasonal cleanse, I realized that there may be something to this cleanse thing. I researched Panchakarma online and found a number of practitioners/clinics that offer Panchakarma. At $750 - $800 a pop. Huh? What is this? After more research, I found that usually these are daily treatments and meals in an outpatient setting. Yoga, meditation, simple vegetarian meals with the Panchakarma treatments. Sounds good so far. Like a week long meditative vacation really. Those treatments consist of Neti Pot nasal eliminations, Chakra massages, Sweat treatments, Shirodhara- an oil is dripped or poured onto your forehead to relax you - AND laxative and medicated ENEMA treatments. Wait, What? Maybe Panchakarma isn't the right place to start!

I read some more and in some treatment programs, you also have ritualized vomiting. Is this a ritualized bulimia treatment? You add in some colonics and all of the sudden I am skeptical of the purpose of the Panchakarma.

My bachelor's degree is in Psychology, but my focus was physiological psych- now called neuro-biology- with a focus on eating disorders. So I know that bulimics become addicted to the endorphins released after self-induced vomiting. That awesome feeling after you've puked from too many cocktails? It's not just in your mind- your brain is very happily experiencing an endorphin rush. It is possible that something physiological happens when you purge through laxatives or enemas as well. Maybe this ritual cleansing is twofold- to "reset" your appetite boundaries like the cleanses allege and to give you a happy start to your seasonal experiences. At any rate, the cost of residential Panchakarma treatments is beyond my reach and I am afraid of an introduction by fire to Ayurveda by starting with Panchakarma. Although it's the time of year for Panchakarma, I decide to learn more about the overall system of Ayurveda before taking the plunge. And I really want to understand the medicinal purposes of Panchakarma before experiencing them. The great thing about Ayurveda is that it is not a religion- these seasonal cleanses are not about worship- it is a medical system. On to the next step and the public library...

Yoga leads to....

Twelve years of yoga practice- from Bikram to basic Hatha- in class, at weekend retreats and at home and I am finally ready to delve a little deeper into Indian culture. I am a little obsessed with India. Bollywood movies, Indian music, Indian food, and now Ayurveda. My very first massage was at an Aveda spa in Seattle. It was amazing- the aromatherapy, the service. I have been an Aveda user for years. I have started to pay a lot more attention to the ingredients in my cosmetics. I try to eat local meat and shop at the farmers market. I drink organic milk and grow my own tomatoes.

I started thinking about my relationship with food a few years ago. I lost weight on Weight Watchers and then starting working for them. I realized that there was a huge component missing from my weight loss life - life. As soon as my constant vigilance stopped, I gained the weight back. I am not trying to lose the weight again. I am trying to find some peace; to stop hating myself for gaining weight; to stop making weird food choices based on how many points I have left in my daily allowance.

I have Geneen Roth's books, Marianne Williamson's, lots of e-books on Kindle and Martha Beck's Joy Diet book. I've been reading about faith and thinking about where I want to be at 50. I listen to NLP (Neuro-linguistic programming) podcasts and know that I don't want to move away from something - extra pounds- but towards something.

And that something is: being comfortable with who I am. Feeling happy in my body. Feeling strong. Playing 18 holes of golf weekly no matter my age and being able to walk the course without any physical problems. Being able to play golf well. Feeling like an ally to my body not an enemy. Eating without guilt.

Is this too much to ask?  How do I achieve this?

In the May 2012 issue of Whole Living, they had a great 3 day fast that looked fun. Good foods and easy to follow.
http://www.wholeliving.com/176862/three-day-action-plan-reboot/@center/152870/2012-whole-living-action-plan
After hearing and reading about cleanses for so long, I thought, why not? I gave it a try and it was like a reboot. I felt GREAT. The food was good. And then I heard about Panchakarma. In my typical way, I started researching and here we are.... more on Panchakarma next week and the path it led me to.