With our western penchant for busy-ness many of us skip breakfast, thinking we don’t have time as we’re rushing around in the morning.  According to Ayurveda, we’re doing ourselves a disservice.  Fasting irritates all of the doshas, and missing breakfast is particularly bad for Pitta, making us irritable and unsettled as we start our day.  What to do?  Eat something!  Blended fresh fruit and/or vegetable juice is a great way to rehydrate the body after the night’s fast.  Citrus is too acidic for an empty stomach, so try alternatives like apple, pear, or grape.  Fresh juice is best, and it should be served at room temperature or slightly cooled.  Cooked apples are another wonderful way to start your day the ayurvedic way.  Morning is the perfect time to get the maximum benefit from fruit.  It helps with our digestion and overall well-being.

Here in the northern hemisphere it’s getting hot, which signals the official start of Pitta season.  Whether or not you are dominant in Pitta dosha, it is important to keep cool during this time to balance out all the excessive fire that is around us.  Too much Pitta can mean heartburn, ulcers, acid indigestion, acne, or skin rashes. It can also exhibit itself as irritability or anger.  To pacify Pitta there are a few simple things we all can do.  Cool, but not ice cold, drinks help a lot.  Avoid carbonated drinks which tend to disrupt digestion.  Choose sweet fruit juices and pure water to stay hydrated.  Pitta tea is delicious chilled!  The Pitta diet calls for more sweet, bitter and astringent tastes.  Salads with leafy greens are a great way to get these tastes in.  Cooling spices, such as mint, fennel, and anise can be added to foods.  Swimming and other water-based sports are ideal for balancing Pitta.  Moonlight is especially soothing, so take that evening stroll after dinner.  Pitta skin is especially sensitive to the sun, so make sure to wear sunscreen when you’re out during the day.

In Vedic philosophy, Saraswati is the goddess of wisdom.  She is often illustrated playing the sitar.  She represents both art and education.  There is an old Indian story that says if you want to have Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, in your life, then you should pursue Saraswati.  When you do so, Lakshmi becomes jealous and comes after you to win your favor.  Saraswati is dressed in all white, the color of peace.  She is graceful and serene, enjoying the beauty of the world around her.  Saraswati is often pictured riding on a beautiful white swan, although sometimes you will see her with a colorful peacock.  Both of these symbols, as well as musical instruments, can be used to remind us of Saraswati and her attributes.  We can be sweet an effective in our communication, as Saraswati is.

I received a wonderful surprise in the mail the other day.  My “What’s Your Dosha, Baby?” book is now available in German!  It is distributed by Random House in Germany.  The title they have given the book is “Dosha Gefluster: Ayurveda fur harmonischere Beziehunger” which translates to, “Dosha Whispers: Ayurveda for Harmonious Relationships.” Isn’t that cool?  I took German in high school, so it’s really fun for me to go through the book and pick out the few words I remember.  But what I love best is that Ayurveda is so universal, from India to the US to Europe and all around the world, this is something we can all embrace and learn from.

In Vedic philosophy there are many cycles in nature to which we are subtly attuned.  The moon (“candra, in Sanskrit) is one of these.  The new moon is a time to start new projects.  There is a fresh new energy that helps us to accelerate our progress as the moon grows.  When the moon is full and bright, that’s when our efforts bring our desires into fruition.  As the moon is waning, that’s the time to wrap things up, tie up loose ends, and decelerate in preparation for what is coming up next.

We can do rituals on the day of the full moon and the new moon to kind of harvest this energy and use it to our best advantage.  Light some candles, sit under the stars, chant, or meditate.  Tomorrow is the new moon for July.  See how this cycles influences your activity this month heading towards the full moon on July 21.

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In Vedic philosophy, the goddess Lakshmi represents abundance, both in love and in wealth.  Lakshmi is often pictured in bright pink and gold garb, seated upon a lotus flower.  The lotus represents spiritual perfection.  While Lakshmi is seated upon the lotus she represents transcendence.  She can create great fortune, and yet she is detached from the material world.  Another symbol we can use to remind us of Lakshmi, and bring her energy into our lives, is the elephant.  Lakshmi is often seen surrounded by elephants bearing gifts.  The elephant is strong, but also agile.  It can pick up a log with its large trunk, but it can also pick up a peanut with the finger-like ends of its trunk.  Thus, it is discerning, which is a very spiritual attribute.

Roses have always been associated with love and romance, so it’s no surprise that Ayurveda uses roses as a remedy for the heart.  Roses balance Pitta, and particularly Sadhaka Pitta, which is the subdosha of Pitta that governs the emotions and their effect on the heart.  In the summer time, Pitta can easily go out of balance, so it’s a good time to break out the roses!  Roses are cooling, and yet they enhance agni, the digestive fire.  This quality makes roses balancing for all three doshas.  Rose water is used to cool, moisturize and tone the skin.  And the fragrance of the rose enlivens inner beauty as well.  If you feel your anger rising, or your Pitta getting out of control, sniff some rose petals and watch the heat of the moment subside.  Roses also intensify the experience of happiness and bliss!  You can use dried rose petals to make a tea, or put rose petals in your bath water to help distribute the essence of rose to your mind and body.

Aromatherapy is an important tool in Ayurveda, for maintaining wellness and for healing.  It can be used to protect prana, regulate digestion and metabolism, and to boost immunity.  Aromas have a subtle, yet extremely powerful influence on our mind and body.  There are lots of ways that aromatherapy can be implemented.  Burning incense sticks during meditation is one way.  We can also add rose petals or basil leaves into our bath water.  Essential oils make using aromatherapy easy.  The vapor of essential oils stimulates our olfactory nerve, which goes directly to the brain.  The olfactory nerve stimulates the limbic system, which connects to the areas of the brain that process emotions, desires, appetites and memories.  It also stimulates the endocrine glands, which regulate hormone levels.  We can use a diffuser, or an aroma locket, or an aromatic candle to produce aromas in our environment.  Essential oils can also be used in massage, in the bath, and in our skin and hair care products.

Chetana is a Sanskrit word meaning “nature’s intelligence.” Food that is fresh and wholesome is abundant with chetana, so it can provide us with the nutrients that our bodies need in an efficient manner.  Once food has been processed, frozen, chemically enhanced, or microwaved it loses some of its chetana.  Foods that are alive with chetana are more easily digested and assimilated into our bodies.  Foods that lack chetana are more difficult to digest and can leave us feeling sluggish.  When choosing which foods to eat, reach for foods that are as fresh, and freshly prepared as possible. 

There is a movie out now called “Water” which is about the plight of widowed women in India.  I have only seen the previews so far, but my heart goes out to these women and the circumstances in which they must live.  I was thinking about how I could help, when a friend sent me an e-mail about this man who is doing just that.  Joe Curiale was watching a segment on CNN about the farmers in India who are so desperate and in debt that they are committing suicide, and leaving their families behind.  Joe then went to India and met some of these families in person, and donated his own money to pay off their debts and essentially free them.  Once their debts are paid, these women can use their income to learn job skills so that they can support their children.  A little bit goes a long way in India, and although the need is great, Joe is doing what he can by helping one family at a time.  To learn more about his story, and how you can get involved with this cause, visit Joe’s website:

http://www.s91680232.onlinehome.us/curiale/index.html

or http://www.josephcuriale.com