We’ll be exploring cycles of time: daily, monthly, annual (seasonal) and life, from an Ayurvedic perspective and how they influence how we feel physically and emotionally.
If we understand the natural forces of the doshas: Vata, Pitta and Kapha we can flow through our life cycle in harmony with our environment and in good health.
Being in-tune with the natural ebb and flow of the world around us (macrocosm): the seasons and the time of day; and the microcosm of our body and mind, will lead us on the path to health and wellbeing.
Here we can see our daily circadian rhythm: the physical, mental and behavioural changes that follow a daily cycle.
Every cell and organ in the body has its own internal clock, or circadian rhythm. This internal clock influences how we we digest, metabolise and assimilate the food we eat, how the body repairs and heals, how we manage stress, how alert and productive we feel, the quality of our sleep and our energy levels and the ability to exercise. Considering all this, we can see the benefit of understanding and being aware of our natural cycles.
The flow of the doshas is evident through our daily cycle:
Have you every woken up late and felt drowsy for the rest of the day or at 2am feeling alert, busy mind and unable to get back to sleep? The forces of the doshas help us understand why this happens.
Kapha dosha dominates from 6 – 10am and pm
Pitta dosha dominates between 10 – 2am and pm
Vata dosha dominates between 2 – 6am and pm.
Kapha dosha prepares us for sleep in the evening. When we sleep into the kapha phase of the day the body and mind will feel the heaviness of kapha.
Pitta dosha dominates between 10am and 2pm. This is the time of day where we are most productive. Pitta energy moves forward and it transformational.
Vata dosha brings movement. If we wake in the middle of the night we will undoubtedly feel the movement in the mind.
The female menstrual cycle is a powerful, energetic cycle of change. Again, we can see the influence of the doshas throughout this monthly cycle: You can read more about this in our Women’s Health Series
Seasonally we also see the influence of the doshas: winter is dominated by the earth and water elements of Kapha dosha. Spring, brings the elements of air and space, which is Vata dosha, summer is Pitta season where we feel the fire energy of this dosha and Autumn is dominated again by Vata dosha.
Finally our lifecycle to is influenced by the energies of the doshas: From birth to puberty is Kapha. Kapha dominates as it is the dosha responsible for growth; this is the anabolic time of our life. Pitta, the dosha which brings transformation dominates from adolescence until old age or menopause for females. Vata is catabolic, responsible for breaking down and dominates into the later stages of our life.
There’s so much we can learn form observing our daily, monthly and life cycles. In the next 3 short blogs we will look at the foundations of good health: nutrition, sleep and relaxation and movement, aligning them with the natural rhythm of life to help us feel great.