KAPHA PACIFYING DAILY YOGA PRACTICE

If you are solidly built, have lustrous thick skin and hair, prefer sweets, snacks, and ice cream, and prefer to rest and relax rather than work, you likely have a Kapha bodily constitution. This video will be helpful for you to follow and add vigor and healthy intensity to your change in lifestyle.

REMEMBER:

Vigorous. Forceful. Sharp precision. Keep moving. 

From Banyan Botanicals: As a sister science of Ayurveda, Yoga is an excellent exercise and spiritual practice to incorporate in your daily routine for balancing your individual constitution. Although many yoga poses or asanas are beneficial to each of the doshas, the greatest benefit for balancing your dosha comes from your approach and the way you practice the pose. A yoga practice for a kapha individual should be one creating space, stimulation, warmth and buoyancy. Kaphas can cultivate this by following some basic guidelines:

• Practice at a vigorous pace and intensity.
• Focus on the subtlety of the pose and how it creates an expansive presence in the body and energy field.
• Practice in a warm space.
• Use a strong forceful breath during practice.
• When you are ready to release the pose, take one more breath.
• Keep your chest and shoulders open and lifted as you practice.
• Have a sharp upward gaze.
• Feel a sense of lightness in your poses.
• Pause for a moment between your inhalations and exhalations.
• Challenge yourself.
• Keep moving. Have short resting periods between poses.
• Enjoy a restorative pose for final relaxation.
• Be precise in your poses.
• Pay close attention to your alignment.
• Dont give up!

PITTA PACIFYING DAILY YOGA PRACTICE

If you have freckles, have a lot of energy, and have a firey disposition, you likely have a predominantly Pitta constitution. Since like attracts like in the Ayurvedic viewpoint, hot and spicy foods or the heat of summer will aggravate your already heated disposition, causing you to overheat physically through skin conditions, bursts of temper, and so forth. You need coolness, cooling foods, and softness of mind to remain calm.

Remember:
Have fun. Don't take yourself too seriously. Allow softness of mind.
80% effort. Avoid judgement. Coolness in the room.

From Banyan Botanicals: As a sister science of Ayurveda, Yoga is an excellent exercise and spiritual practice to incorporate in your daily routine for balancing your individual constitution. Although many yoga poses or asanas are beneficial to each of the doshas, the greatest benefit for balancing your dosha comes from your approach and the way you practice the pose. A yoga practice for a pitta individual should encourage compassion, acceptance, relaxed effort and be cooling in nature. Pittas can cultivate this by following some basic guidelines:

• Have fun in your poses. Do not take yourself or your pose too seriously.
• Enjoy movement in your poses.
• Soften your gaze downward, at the horizon or even practice with your eyes closed.
• Allow freedom and creativity in your practice. Change it up. Avoid sticking to one style or series of poses.
• Practice in a moderately cool space. You do not want to get cold, but pittas should avoid practicing in extremely heated spaces.
• Focus on the yoga experience in your body, not your brain.
• Work at 80% effort.
• Avoid being judgmental and critical of yourself.
• Make sure you have plenty of practice space.
• Remind yourself that yoga is not a competition.
• Focus on your exhalation.
• Use the exhalation to let go and release any built up anger, frustration, stress, etc.
• Be aware of your breath in your back body.
• Practice plenty of twists and side body openers.
• Notice the position of your ribs; draw them back into your body.
• Benefit from practicing at a moderate pace.
• Remind yourself that less is more!

DAILY SELF-ABYHANGA BODY AND HEAD MASSAGE

Learn this simple and deeply nourishing practice of Self Massage. Ayurveda has many useful tools for bringing balance and harmony to our body/mind.

Abhyanga takes 10 minutes. It's easy and you will enjoy the benefits life-long. Radiant skin, balanced hormones, deep sleep, immune strength are just a few of the benefits of Abhyanga. ~Aparna Kanolkhar

This sweet video by Aparna Kanolkhar is a demonstration of how to do abhyanga. You feel like a million bucks afterwards.

Seeing how this mother and daughter interact reminds me of how mothers and daughters care for each other in the Korean jimjilbang's or bath houses. In many areas of the world families are very comfortable caring for one another in this way. In our more impersonal, stressful lifestyle here in the states, it can seem like a strange idea, or feel uncomfortable. If this is the case, try it for one day on yourself. If you have children at home, you may eventually teach them this calming, timeless tool for self care.

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