Milestone post & beauty all around

Ayurveda and vata dosha

I’M HAVING WHAT substack calls a ‘milestone’ moment. I’ve been posting out these letters for three months, three a week. I wasn’t sure if anyone would read them or find them of any value, but I’ve got 135 subscribers now, and each time I post over a hundred people have a read.

I started writing them to send some nourishment out into the world, and share what I’d been learning about Ayurveda, and how to manage stress through seeing the beauty. I’ve recently had the thought that some people may be more interested in the recipes, others the Ayurveda, or the warm words and seeing the beauty. So, I thought I could send my letters out with a specific theme during the week, and on Sundays I’ll send out a Slow Sunday letter with a mix of things in it.

I created a section this weekend for each of my subject areas, which means that in future you will be able to go to my homepage here, and find what you are looking for in the menu. There’s a section for my recipes, for warm words under Manage Stress, for digestion under Your Peaceful Belly (I will be recording an audio of my book in this section), and for Ayurveda under Ayurveda & Wellbeing.

The sun was up this morning, it was one of those deeply serene, still mornings; the kind you feel in your heart, as if no one else was awake. It often feels like that in the road where I live. I hardly ever see anyone out front in their gardens, just cars that they must get in and out of while I’m busy doing other things. I don’t mind, I used to live on a main road where I also didn’t meet many neighbours, just lots of motor bikes and cars with loud exhausts and sirens from the hospital route so, always noisy. This morning of silent golden blessings, is like nectar.

I noticed while visiting my sister, who retired to Vejer de la frontera just before Brexit kicked in over here in the U.K., that the whole town was like that, and being there had the added bonus of bumping into people who smiled, waved and stopped for a chat, as they made their way around the cobbled streets, alongside the white washed patio apartments ancient in their stillness. Everything about the experience was steady, warm, friendly and consistent. Just what a vata type does well on – explained further on.

Ayurveda

I’ve been thinking about how kindness, sunshine and peace nourish the mind and the heart. Ayurveda explains that nutrition includes what we feed our minds, hearts, and body. Serenity is viewed as something that needs to be woven into life daily, to feed the mind nourishment, and warm-hearted human contact is needed to feed the heart. We need both along with nourishing food if we want to be well and happy.

Ayurveda is an ancient system of health from Ancient India, which explains everything in the universe is comprised of the elements of ether, air, fire, water and earth. These aren’t the actual elements, Ayurveda is using the elements to explain the types of qualities that the energy which underpins everything, bring, allowing for certain functions to take place in our universe. For instance air-like and ether-like qualities allow for movement, fire-like qualities allow for heat, water-like qualities allow for lubrication and earth-like qualities allow for structure.

We have all these elements (qualities) within us, but we have more of some than others. They make up the constitution that we are born with, our nature. And, they are always flowing into or out of balance, determined by the things we consume through all our senses. Because everything we consume is also comprised of these qualities.

Ayurveda refers to the proportion of the elements within us (our constitution) through the doshas of vata, pitta and kapha. Vata brings air and ether qualities. If we are a vata type we will have lots of air-like and ether-like qualities in our constitution, and need to consume more of the others to stay in balance, with balance viewed as the basis for good health.

Vata types in particular will struggle when kindness and peace are lacking from their lives, because this can lead to a vata dosha imbalance that impacts the nervous system. When this happens noises are just too loud for them and cause stress. This can even be a traumatic experience when a person has lived with a vata imbalance for a long time. They become depleted and stuck in the fear/flight (sympathetic) nervous system, which is why the noises of the world around them are just too much. And even when vata types are in balance, there is only so much noise they can take.

It is very hard to live in Western society with a vata imbalance, and vata types need to take care of their nervous system by creating a stable, gentle, peaceful, grounding routine, and eating warm, soft, unctuous, protein-rich, nourishing foods.

Once vata dosha moves out of balance, especially if you are a vata type – tend to be on the thin side; difficulty putting on weight; lots of ideas; creative; lots of movement in the mind, body and daily life – it is hard to come back into balance; but it’s so important if you want to be well in body and mind. A consistent daily routine that is grounding, steady, warm, peaceful and joyful, accompanied with food that brings the same qualities, can really address this. I will be writing more in the future.

As a woman, I love the way each type of constitution brings a different body type, and all are beautiful – vata slim leaning towards underweight when stressed and through older age. Pitta the most muscular and balanced in terms of physique. Kapha bigger boned with more weight leaning towards overweight when stressed and through older age if they become sedentary. And, all shapes are P E R F E C T.

I’d love to know what you’ve been feeding your mind and heart, perhaps you’ll tell me in the comments.

On Wednesday I will be sharing some warm words and seeing the beauty. But for now here is my favourite photo to look at today, a memory from my allotments.

Wishing you the warmest,

Lucy x