Australian_Yoga_Journal_October_2017

PHOTO: VILLAGEMOON/ISTOCKPHOTO.COM

substantial foods. Our body is

basically asking us for a little bit of

spring cleaning. Salads, juices and

fresh fruit are all great foods to enjoy

at this time of year across all the

doshas and lessening your intake of

heavy, oily and fried foods can only be

beneficial. The fruits and vegetables that

are in season are your first port of call.

It’s the way nature intended us to eat,

after all.

Kapha

Spring is categorised by subtle

warmth, softness and moisture.

Therefore, it is a distinctly kapha

season. Kapha body types need to

ensure they’re balancing the seasonal

influences which already come quite

naturally to them. They should stick

to fresh fruit and veggies and lightly

cooked rather than raw. Limit dairy

because of its mucus-inducing qualities

or opt for warm goat’s milk with

turmeric and ginger.

Pitta

Pitta types are generally balanced in

spring because the weather is still cool

enough to not overstimulate the heat

within them. It is recommended that

pittas enjoy lightly cooked, steamed and

AYURVEDA BELIEVESnature is our

greatest healer and optimal health can

be achieved and maintained when we

align ourselves with life’s natural cycles

and rhythms. Ayurvedic perspective

views humans as being made of the

same five elements as the rest of the

universe: space, air, fire, water and

earth.

It should come as no surprise then

that Ayurveda places a large emphasis

on the seasons and prescribes different

foods, cooking methods, krias, and

movement practices based on a

person’s individual constitution.

Plants and animals grow in tune

with the seasons, so it makes sense that

we should eat the foods nature gifts us at

specific times of the year. Ayurveda also

places emphasis on our individual body

constitutions or doshas, and therefore

wellbeing is achieved when you can

align the two. When you eat by

considering the seasons and your dosha

you are strengthening your physical,

emotional and spiritual body and using

the elements of the earth as medicine

EAT BY THE SEASONS

FOR YOUR DOSHA

Naturally, we gravitate to certain foods

during certain seasons whether we’re

conscious of it or not. For example, we

prefer warm, comforting soups in

winter and cooling, raw foods in

summer, but Ayurveda takes it one step

further by encouraging you to make a

conscious effort to live in harmony with

nature’s cycles by adjusting your lifestyle

habits and food choices to accommodate

each new season according to your body

type or dosha.

Everyone has elements of all three

doshas, but you’ll find you are

predominantly one dosha, and when

it is activated by extremes of weather

or certain foods, the negative aspects

of your dosha will be accentuated.

How do we tame our dosha with the

seasons? Identifying your dominant

dosha is the first step, as it will balance

and imbalance with the changing of the

seasons. To remedy this, choose foods

and practices that pacify an aggravated

dosha or awaken a sluggish dosha.

SEASONAL EATING

FOR SPRING

As spring follows winter we find our

bodies craving lighter, cooler foods and

our appetites decreasing slightly after

months of eating heavy, hearty and

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october 2017

yogajournal.com.au

Ayurvedic way,

THE

to seasonal eating for spring By Jordanna Levin