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High Sensitivity: How Ayurveda can gently help you

High Sensitivity: How Ayurveda can gently help you

by | Sep 1, 2022 | ayurveda, high sensitivity, home

Highly Sensitive Person (HSP): What is behind it?

Are you just sensitive or highly sensitive? Do you perceive sensory stimuli and emotions much more than others? Do you experience your environment as too loud, too bright, too hectic, too many impressions and too strong smells? Do you sometimes prefer to hide or withdraw into your cocoon?

Highly sensitive people react more strongly to stimuli than other people, they perceive them more intensively and therefore need more time to process them.

Neurobiological studies show that in highly sensitive people, the areas in the brain where sensory information is processed are more active than normal. You can think of it as a kind of data overload pouring into the brain without interruption. That means, the “upstream filter” works differently and less selectively with highly sensitive people. As a result, the increased receptivity to internal and external stimuli sometimes causes sensory overload and earlier exhaustion. Furthermore, the environment and its stimuli are not only perceived more deeply, but also stored in a wider range.

What is high sensitivity?

The term high sensitivity comes from the American psychology professor Elaine Aron. She estimates that this applies to 15-20% of people, but to widely varying degrees. Some only perceive smells particularly intensively, others visual stimuli or noises. In the more pronounced frame, there are fewer people.

They also perceive feelings more strongly, their own as well as those of those around them. Some are unable to differentiate whose feelings they feel so intensely, their own or those of others. Furthermore, they almost often look “behind the scenes”, have thinner skin and intense intuition, sense subliminal conflicts in their surroundings. In addition to that, they often have the impression of being different, they were often the dreamers when they were children and also later, absorbing more and thinking and feeling more.

Highly sensitive people have a particularly rich inner world, their talents include pronounced creativity, a sense of aesthetics, great empathy and differentiated and comprehensive thinking.

High sensitivity and Vata Dosha in Ayurveda

In Ayurveda we speak of the three vital energies Vata, Pitta and Kapha, which are very different in each of us (our constitution). In highly sensitive people, the Vata dosha dominates, which is made up of the subtle elements ether (space) and air. Highly sensitive people have a high proportion of Vata, especially in the mental and spiritual aspects of their constitution. Often also on a physical level, they are naturally delicate and sensitive personality types, which are characterized by a slim physique, dry skin and artistic and sensitive abilities. However, the physical appearance can vary.

Dominated by the air and ether elements, Vata represents the principle of movement, characterized by a multifaceted personality with many different interests, talents and a pronounced sense of perception. Typical mental Vata traits are indecisiveness, a strong imagination, changing preferences, anxious and worried with many circling thoughts. Vata personalities are prone to mental and psychosomatic illnesses, problems with the musculoskeletal system, digestive problems, states of exhaustion, sleep disorders and tinnitus.

The sensitive Vata life energy

The sensitive Vata Dosha can already be influenced by small influences such as noise, smells and visual stimuli. This also means that highly sensitive people, i.e. people with a very high proportion of Vata, suffer particularly from our increasingly overstimulated Vata environment and society and the lifestyle that goes with it. Because this, together with our environment and working world, contributes to an imbalance of the Vata Dosha: Enormous speed, sensory overstimulation, stress, travel, strong insecurity (economic, professional, personal), etc. aggravate Vata. If the “daily battery” is used up, the life energy is tapped, which leads to health problems.

How to ground and nourish yourself with Ayurveda

  • Create places of well-being and oases of peace: Create your snuggly cave, your retreat or your creative space, according to your individual needs. It is important to recognize and use your own feel-good areas, places and times for relaxation and rest, as free as possible from additional environmental stimuli. This can be when you are in nature with a lot of “Prana” (fresh life force), at your home or together with people who give you strength and have a positive effect on you.
  • Warming and grounding foods on the plate: three warm meals a day, enjoyed in peace and quiet. The menu includes grounding and nourishing foods such as pumpkin, sweet potatoes, whole grains as well as enough healthy high-quality fats such as ghee, the Ayurvedic butterfat, avocados, sesame oil (use carefully when you’ve a Pitta imbalance), extra virgin olive oil, coconut milk and others. And of course, warming and digestive spices like ginger, fennel, cinnamon, cumin, basil and saffron. Also golden milk nourishes and provides afternoon indulgence.
  • Get out of your head and into your body more often: Warm, grounding oil massages, meditation and gentle body movements allow us to calm down. Likewise, a relaxed yoga practice with asanas where you have contact with the earth with both feet and where you firmly root yourself. Or just do nothing and enjoying the moment ;o)

And ultimately listen to your own distinct intuition in order to be able to live your own strength! Check out my online group program for women HORMONE THRIVE that is highly Vata pacifying or book a 1-1 session with me to adjust your daily routine and lifestyle to feel calm, grounded and centered.

Ayurveda: What’s Your Digestive Type? Get Your Agni Balanced.

Ayurveda: What’s Your Digestive Type? Get Your Agni Balanced.

by | Jan 10, 2021 | ayurveda, ayurvedic constitution, home

The Power of Digestion in Ayurveda

Ayurveda’s aim is to have a long, happy and healthy life. The key to it is our metabolism, as all diseases have its origin in an imbalanced metabolism. The metabolism is therefore the central point we need to take care of if we want to restore health. The term metabolism refers commonly to the breakdown of food and its transformation into energy. As a result, we metabolise everything that we drink and eat, and the substances that we do not need anymore are eliminated. This process is the basis for our body to maintain itself.

According to Ayurveda we need a harmonious and functioning digestion to stay healthy and to prevent illnesses and imbalances. It is about strengthening our digestive fire, Agni, or also ensuring that it does not become too strong. In other words, we want to bring our Agni into optimal balance.

The four Types of Agni

In Ayurveda, we assume that everyone was born with an individual constitution. This constitution is unchangeable, but it may very well be in balance or not due to our habits and lifestyle. This type of constitution is called Prakriti and defines a person’s unique constitution in balance. However, if we get into an imbalance, we call it Vikruti. Therefore, we want to find out what we currently have too much or too little of, in other words, if our digestive fire is too weak or too strong.

Agni is located in the solar plexus area, the 3rd chakra, in the small intestine area. We want to eat things that burn clean and smooth. Then we experience a glow. If that is not the case, we can experience bloating, headaches, skin impurities, gas and other symptoms of digestive issues.

Without Agni it would be impossible to digest food and emotions. Consequently toxins can accumulate in the body and mind if our digestive fire does not burn optimally.

 

Agni is the main source of life and if you worship Agni, you will be blessed with perfect health. – Dr. Vasant Lad on Ayurveda

 

Ayurveda talks about four different states of Agni: regular or optimal, irregular, too intense, and too slow and weak.

1. Sama Agni: optimal / balanced digestion

Sama Agni means that the Agni is burning hot and clean. If we have a normal and optimal digestion, we have a complete bowel movement once or twice a day. The bowel movement is an important factor in assessing our digestive fire. When you have a complete emptying you know it. The stools have the consistency of a ripe banana, shaped but smooth and soft. Ideally, you should empty yourself within an hour of getting up, without using coffee or other home remedies.

Other characteristics of an optimal digestion are that you feel energised throughout the day. This Agni type has no afternoon low and no digestive discomfort. The immune system is stable and the mind is clear and alert. They are fueled from the inside out.

2. Vishama Agni: variable and sensitive digestion

This type is prone to digestive irregularities due to an erratic fire. The digestion is not steady, but fluctuating. Sometimes it is too fast and frequent, maybe even liquid. Sometimes it is too slow, sometimes too hard and often too seldom. The dosha associated with this type is Vata. When Vata gets stirred up in their mental body, it starts to affect their digestion. The energy from the digestion centre moves up in the brain and is missing in the digestion organs. As a result, Agni is too cold and the food cannot get properly digested. This digestive type often suffers from irregular hunger, weak immune system, and frequent digestive disorders such as: bloating, constipation, indigestion, digestive pain and cramps.

Also travelling and erratic eating patterns affect this Agni type. They often suffer from food allergies and intolerances. Furthermore they feel easily nervous, insecure, unworthy, worried and unprepared.

The bowel movement of Vishama Agni is marked by:

  • often dry and hard, small pieces, rabbit pellets
  • suffering easily from gas
  • bloated belly
  • dark colour and a strong smell
  • sometimes less than once per day or incomplete defecation
  • changes between diarrhoea and constipation

You don’t know your Dosha? Then take the Dosha quiz and learn more about your unique body constitution.

3. Tikshna Agni: too hot and too quick digestion

When we have too much heat in the system, our digestion runs fast or even too fast. It’s like you put oil on a fire. This digestive type often struggles with thin and loose stools due to a digestive fire that is too hot. There is too much bail in the system. The digestion process is too quick and the nutritions cannot be properly absorbed and malnutrition can occur. They sometimes have 3-5 bowel movements per day. This leads to constant hunger and they can eat huge quantities.

In addition to that there might occur: diarrhoea, heartburn, hyperacidity, gastritis and stomach pain. These people get easily hangry. When they are hungry, they need to eat something very quickly, otherwise they can get easily grumpy. We often find here very intense people who tend to impatience, irritability, frustration and over-working.

The bowel movement of Tikshna Agni is marked by:

  • often soft, unformed and diarrhoea-like
  • more than twice a day
  • a lighter colour, sometimes even yellowish
  • a strong smell

Sign up for my free “7-Days to Boost your Metabolism” course and learn the basic principles of Ayurveda for a properly functioning metabolism. Find better sleep, boost your immune system and have a strong digestion.

 

4. Manda Agni: slow and sluggish digestion

The sluggish digestion of Kapha constitutions is characterised by too little digestive fire. The stomach is too wet and they extract too little from the food. Therefore, they often need less food than the other two doshas, ​​which is very difficult for them because of their love for food. The weak digestive fire cannot digest large amounts of food. They are not very hungry, but often have a big appetite. Due to the sluggishness of their digestion, they tend to feel full and heavy after eating.

The lungs are right next to the stomach. As a result, there can be a lot of congestion, trouble breathing, mucus in the sinuses and even vomiting of salvia. This type easily get overweight, obese, congested and is prone to seasonal allergies. Feelings of sluggishness, depression, sadness, overthinking, lethargy, drowsiness and brain fog can be present.

The bowel movement of Manda Agni is marked by:

  • often slowly and less than once a day
  • possibly with mucus
  • sticks to the toilet bowl, the need of a lot of toilet paper
  • is light brown and clay-like

What you can do

An important step to a healthier body is to become aware of our bowel movements. All of this may sound strange at first, as we are not used to talk about bowel movements in our society. However, it is an important tool to find health in Ayurveda. It gives us a lot of information about what is currently not working properly. This helps us to see what we need to do in order to regain health.

If you want a deep dive into Ayurveda to embody daily habits that promote hormonal balance, mental clarity, overall ease and let you thrive in your body for a lifetime, discover my online group program for women

HORMONE THRIVE.

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Improve your sleep with Ayurveda

Improve your sleep with Ayurveda

by | Sep 18, 2020 | ayurveda, home, Nutrition and Diet, sleep, Yoga

Why sleep is so important

Sleep plays a very important role in our health along with eating healthy and exercising regularly. It influences very much how emotionally stable, mentally clear and physically fit we are. A good night’s sleep gives our body the possibility to begin its night-shift work. During sleep, our body can heal damaged cells and strengthen our immune system. We also recharge our heart, cardiovascular and nervous system for the next day. Deep and sufficient sleep is one of the keys to long-term health and the basis for a functioning immune system. 

Improve your sleep with Ayurveda

Ayurveda or Ayurvedic medicine contains a lot of wisdom for a life in balance, including how to improve your sleep.

Ayurveda is about harmony and balance, especially the balance between the three doshas Vata, Pitta and Kapha. They also play an important role in our sleep. The time we go to bed, what we do before and after bedtime, and of course what and when we eat. This all influences our bioenergies and thus contributes to a night of healthy sleep. 

The role of the doshas in your sleep rhythm

From an Ayurvedic point of view, sleep is the most important regeneration phase of the day. Between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. our Pitta energy wants to clean the body, picking up the dirt from the furthest corners. Then between 2 and 6 a.m. our Vata energy is very active, transporting the dirt and toxins to the excreting organs.


Digestion

The most important prerequisite for this cleansing process is that the digestion of the last meal is finished before 10 p.m. That’s why it is important to have an early light dinner, at least three hours before you go to bed. If this is not the case, the body sets the priorities differently and focuses on digestion. Hence, prompting the whole system to power up instead of shutting down for the sleep and cleansing process. Consequently, fatigue is delayed and it’s difficult to fall asleep. We also are more likely to wake up at night and therefore, when it is time to get up in the morning… we’re exhausted. 

Lifestyle

Apart from the last meal, our general lifestyle also has an impact on our sleep. Our sleep problems may arise from the fact that there is too much movement, too much Vata, in our internal system. Consequently the body does not find its way deep enough into the relaxation mode. An overactive sympathetic nervous system means too much movement or Vata that is caused by stress, lack of time and an unsteady lifestyle. If we snack between meals, quickly change our routine, don’t get enough sleep, travel a lot and eat foods that elevate Vata, we probably won’t fall asleep and, above all, won’t sleep through the night.

How the Doshas differ

If we compare the different doshas, we note that a Vata imbalance tends towards irregular and light sleep. Vata type will usually wake up between 2 – 6 a.m., unable to return to sleep. They also can have problems to fall asleep. Whereas Pittas sleep can be disturbed by vivid and active dreams or nightmares. Pittas usually experience difficulties falling asleep as their mind is too busy and they can’t stop thinking about their plans, projects and upcoming activites. However, Kapha types are generally good sleepers but when out of balance, they sleep too long which makes them sluggish and heavy. Also after a long and sound sleep they do not wake up feeling well rested.

Do you want a better and more aligned life to achieve deeply desired results? A life with more energy, a peaceful mind, and habits that go towards lifelong health and wellness?

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How can the Ayurvedic way of life be beneficial for our sleep?

The most important keys points are routine, diet and stress reduction. The optimal routine from an Ayurvedic point of view is three meals at similar times of the day, with the main meal at lunch and a light, early dinner. Of course, it is incredibly valuable to adjust the diet so that we can find a balance based on our constitution. It is also recommended that you go to bed and get up at similar times each day.

But we should also adjust our daily work and stress levels. Stress, regardless of what caused it, lets our nervous system run in a mode that is intended to protect us in dangerous situations. But if we often feel tense, agitated and rushed, then we are preventing the part of our nervous system that is responsible for regeneration, metabolism and sleep, from doing its job.

As a result, we may have permanently elevated cortisol levels. The stress hormone can lead to anxiety, hormonal imbalances, increased appetite, obesity and other issues. That is why in Ayurveda, we not only focus on nutrition and lifestyle but also meditation, yoga and other methods of stress reduction. Therefore the Ayurveda approach is holistic and matched with one’s unique constitution.

ayurvedic food for sleep

How diet affects your sleep

The most important tip is to move the main meal to noon and then eat lightly and early in the evening. From an Ayurvedic point of view, early and light means before 7 pm with little fat and protein and not too complex in composition. You should also eat raw vegetables at lunchtime as they are heavy to digest. This dietary advice is somewhat contrary to some modern-day opinions, but it works. Soups, stews or vegetables, perhaps with a little grain, are ideal for the evening. One-pot meals are especially easy to digest for our metabolism.

To have an early and light evening meal, of course, we need to have a good lunch. Otherwise, we’ll be too hungry. Since the body has the strongest digestive fire around lunchtime – also from a conventional medical point of view – we digest quickly at this time of the day. From an Ayurvedic point of view, our lunch should not consist of a small salad or a sandwich on hand, but of a healthy and rich meal in which we satisfy our fat and protein needs. Interestingly, after such a meal, we are hardly hungry in the evening and can easily get through the night with a small supper until breakfast in the morning. And the body thanks us with a night of deep and restful sleep.

What helps if we have difficulty falling asleep?

The easiest way for the body to fall asleep is when it is relaxed and not struggling with a heavy meal. Ayurveda recommends establishing an evening routine that automates this process. Some examples of activities that would prevent us from falling asleep are: screen time, exciting books, an extremely high pace during the day, and in the worst case, a high pace until late in the evening. Thoughts circle around our heads and therefore our energy, too. After an early light dinner, it’s the ideal time to enjoy moments with loved ones, to go for a walk or to take a bath. Any other non-digital hobby like writing a diary, drawing, performing handicraft works, is great too.

An important factor is the time we go to bed. Kapha energy is dominant until 10 pm. The energy of Kapha helps us to wind down and to notice the first signs of end-of-the-day fatigue. Its energy is heavy, steady and calm and perfect for preparing ourselves for better quality rest. From 10 pm the Pitta energy takes over the lead. This energy rises and makes us active and mentally busy. Ayurveda, therefore, recommends going to sleep during the Kapha time, this means before 10 pm. It makes a big difference in our quality and quantity of sleep.

In addition, the following tools are extremely valuable to help us to come to rest: Gentle yoga exercises that ground and bring our energy down such as Yin Yoga, slow pranayamas such as alternate nostril breathing or meditation. Otherwise, a foot massage with warm sesame oil and an essential oil like Lavender which will help to descend the energy in our body. And finally, golden milk or turmeric milk (also made with plant milk) can also make it easier for us to fall asleep.

Are there specific sleeping tips for the individual doshas?

In addition to the tips for Vata and Pitta that are already mentioned, the duration of sleep is also crucial. Vata types need the most sleep of all. They are not doing well without the mandatory eight hours. With a lot of stress, they may even need more. Eight hours are perfect for Pitta types, even if they usually don’t like it because they have so much to do.

Less sleep is recommended for Kapha types only. Kapha usually has no problems falling asleep and sleeps well through the night. However, they find it difficult to get up. So they need to get up before 6 am. As mentioned, the Vata movement principle is dominant between 2 and 6 a.m. This movement gets us up more easily. But from 6 a.m. Kapha takes over again. And this energy makes it very difficult for us to get out of bed. With Kapha, there is also the fact that a maximum of 7 to 7.5 hours of sleep is better and more relaxing than a long sleep. Too much sleep will make them too heavy and sluggish.

Do you want to learn more about your unique constitution, your Dosha? Take the Dosha quiz here.

BONUS: Yoga and meditation videos for better sleep

Yoga Nidra Tibetan Singing Bowls Sound Bath for Anxiety Relief & Relaxation

Yoga For Bedtime – YUMMY sleepy time yoga with Adriene

A guided meditation for sleep from Deepak Chopra