BY ANJALI SUNITA When working or playing outside in the hot sun, a heat radiates from the core outward to the pores. Digestive power lessens. Bodies sweat and skin feels oilier. Summer time is pitta season. A deep breath of hot humid air can feel like breathing in liquid lava. There is an increase of aggression as pitta emotions, like anger, boil over. People want to have fun. Hard working people, itching to leave the office, desire to cool off their hyper-focused minds, take a break from the hot electronic screens, and relax with a drink, (though so frequently that drink of choice is a toxin for the season, like liquor). Without awareness of the true joy that comes from balance, from dancing with Nature’s rhythms, so often we reach for relationships and substances that further tip the scales. Pitta constitution individuals tend to possess some or all of the fol- lowing traits throughout their lives: • sharp facial features • medium bones and frame • light, bright eyes • oily or combination skin with a rosy undertone • a tendency toward pitta disorders, acidic, inflammatory, bleeding conditions • a personality of high intelligence and charisma and/or tendency to anger and jealousy • high hairline, with possibility of early greying or baldness. HERB CORNER Balancing Through Ayurveda in the Dog Days of Summer
Lukewarm baths with rose petals cool Pitta energy. Photo © Springdt313 | Dreamstime.com
continued on page 26 Pitta is oily, hot, sharp, fermenting, spreading, liquid, that is light and bright in quality. Like red blood, a quick computing brain, warm skin pigments and radiant heat, acidic digestive enzymes and bile, we all contain pitta dosha in our body-mind constitutions. However, ex- cess of spicy, salty, and sour food, coupled with a lifestyle which con- tains these pitta qualities, leads to illnesses that also express in similar ways. To name a few: • itchy red burns, rashes, and red pimples • bleeding conditions of all kinds • inflammation of gums, intestinal linings, joints, and so on • acid indigestion and reflux • obsessive compulsion, anger, judgement, criticism, and jealousy • weakened eyesight • yellow eyes & jaundice
PATHWAYS—Summer 23—25
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