Kapha time: Ayurveda for an energetic spring
Kapha time: Ayurveda for an energetic spring
After a long winter, spring is finally here. The days are getting longer and lighter. Snow starts melting, and gentle rain sweeps across the land. The first leaves slowly appear on the trees, birds crawl out of their eggs and lambs skip through the meadow. It is a season of birth, growth, renewal. And of springtime lethargy, hay fever, allergies and colds.
So how do you get through spring as fresh and energetic as possible? Preferably without sneezing, sniffling, redshot eyes and lethargy? That’s where Indian health philosophy Ayurveda has the answer: lowering kapha.
What is Ayurveda?
Ayurveda is a philosophy that is closely related to yoga, and therefore often called ‘the sister of yoga’. This sister originated around the same time and in the same country and has the same ‘goal’, which is unification of breath, body and consciousness. According to Ayurveda, you achieve this unification by tuning into nature and making choices that help you get through each season relaxed and satisfied. This includes the kapha time.
Spring: the kapha time of the year
According to Ayurveda, spring is the kapha time of year. Within Ayurveda, it is said that there are five different elements that govern everything in life.
These elements are earth, water, fire, air and space. Everything and everyone has all these elements in them, just in different proportions. To represent the relationship of the elements in an easier way, within Ayurveda the elements are combined into three different constitution types, or doshas. Kapha is one of those doshas.
Earth and water makes …
The dosha kapha consists of two elements: earth and water. If you walk through the forest in spring after it has rained, you undoubtedly understand why these two elements in particular belong to kapha, and therefore to spring.
When you mix earth and water together, you get mud. Mud has all the qualities associated with kapha. It is slow, soft, heavy, hardly moves, it is moist, cold, and whatever you throw into it stays in it.
Kapha in people
All of these characteristics are seen in people in whom kapha is the predominant dosha. They are gentle, loving, warm, have cold but clammy hands and feet, have thick, strong hair and strong bones. Kaphas have a fantastic memory: whatever you throw in, sticks there. They are the ones who never forget your birthday.
Just as mud moves with difficulty and slowly, so do kaphas struggle to get moving. They prefer to curl up on the couch with blankets and a large pack of chocolate chip ice cream, then spend the rest of the day Netflixing.
How kapha increases in spring
Not only outspoken kaphas have trouble getting moving. Regardless of your predominant dosha, kapha also increases in you in spring. This is because it is strongly present in your environment at that time of year. And your environment affects you whether you want it to or not.
This increase in kapha often makes you feel slower, more tired and heavier in the spring. It also causes you to experience more mucus-related symptoms. Mucus is very kapha – it is firm, slow, moist and cold. So sniffling and going into or through spring with mucus in your throat is something caused by excess kapha. Just as it is with hay fever. You may also experience more kapha-like emotions, such as sadness and melancholy, during this time of year.
Time for a fresh start
To combat all those kapha-related symptoms, Ayurveda advises you to do the exact opposite of kapha. So seek warmth, lightness and action in spring.
During this period of new beginnings, of growth and transformation, Ayurveda recommends a daily self-care practice aimed at reducing the elements of earth and water within ourselves so that we go into the rest of the year both energized and stable.
Ayurvedic self-care practice for Kapha
- Getting up early is motivating and energizing for kaphas and at this kapha time of year. Getting out of bed by 6 a.m. at the latest is therefore a good idea.
- Start your day with a kapha-reducing dinacharya (morning routine).
- After getting up and going to the toilet, brush your teeth, gargle with salt water and do oil pulling for about five minutes. The latter is an Ayurvedic custom in which you put a tablespoon of organic unroasted sesame oil in your mouth and “pull” the oil through your teeth. Spit out the oil and grab your dry brush. This is a soft brush that you use to brush your entire body. Start at the extremities (feet, hands, face) and work toward your center (belly, buttocks, lower back). You may brush quite vigorously; it is fine if your skin is slightly glowing afterwards. After this, take a short shower, get dressed and either go outside for a brisk morning walk or get on your mat for your yoga practice. A ten-minute walk or practice is already great, but longer is allowed, of course.
- Speaking of a yoga practice, adjust this to the season as well. In spring, you can challenge yourself a bit more. Arm balances, inverted poses, 108 sun salutations, backbends, kapalabhati, bhastrika… all great for balancing kapha. When you practice, make sure you practice with attention and precision. Kaphas tend not to take guidelines very closely, so it’s a good idea to practice this on your yoga mat as well.
- Play more! Light-heartedness and fun balance kapha’s tendency toward melancholy and melancholy in no time. Whether it’s pillow fights with your lover or an ice-cold dip in a lake – something that makes you shine will help you get through spring with more energy.
- Adjust your diet. Primarily eat light, warm foods during this season. Bitter and a tad spicy vegetables, herbs and fruits are especially recommended. For example, radishes, chicory, asparagus, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, spinach, nettles, dandelion leaf (make a pesto out of it for instance), sprouts, lettuce, turmeric, cayenne pepper, ginger, berries and pomegranate. Fermented vegetables such as kimchi are also welcome in your spring kitchen.
- Last but not least, sex is also an excellent way to lower kapha.
Kapha-lowering tea recipe
A very simple but effective Ayurvedic remedy to rebalance the doshas is by drinking “CCF tea” during the day. CCF stands for coriander, cumin and fennel. These are the only ingredients you need for this tea.
For this tea, bring a litre of water to a boil. Add a tablespoon of coriander seeds, cumin seeds and fennel seeds. Turn down the heat and simmer the tea with a lid on the pan for 15 minutes. Strain the tea into a thermos and drink from it throughout the day.
Irina Verwer is an Ayurvedic practitioner, body-oriented therapist and intimacy coach: “In my one-on-one sessions, I use my decades of experience in yoga and Ayurveda to better align with you. This allows you to discover your boundaries and desires and learn to play with them in a rhythm and in a way that truly suits you. Whether it is about more intimacy with yourself or a partner, finding the rhythm of life that supports you the most, or finding a way that helps you deal with traumatic experiences: in all cases, you achieve results in a more pleasant and faster way when you stay close to yourself.”
Want to know more? Visit www.irinaverwer.com.