Flowing Through The Seasonal Transition With All Sciences on Deck!

Sunday, I lead a workshop, “Celebrate Spring with The Three Sister Sciences.” While feeling like an auspicious day to celebrate spring; the eve of a partial eclipse and full moon, the temperature outside was in the 30’s. Here in the Northern Hemisphere, it still feels like winter. Just Saturday morning I woke up to snow covered grass and a layer of ice on our front steps. My original plan to offer detoxifying green juice smoothies pivoted to warm golden milk. Rather than focusing on the transition to Spring with Ayurveda and cleansing yoga, I talked about the universe, the dynamic movement of the planets up above and how they affect us down below.

Stepping into Spring remains to be my most popular workshop, revered by all, especially after a winter laden with heavy winds, cold temperatures and uncharacteristic flooding. Usually, my timing is more on point guiding students through “Sandhi,” the two week juncture between the ending of winter and the beginning of Spring. During this time, those following an Ayurvedic lifestyle will begin to move from Vata Balancing lifestyle to a more Kapha supportive regimen.

EVERY QUESTION IS A GOOD QUESTION

For those of you not familiar with Ayurveda, there are three body/mind constitutions including Vata, Pitta and Kapha. Vata being formed by the elements air and space. Seasonally, it is more prevalent in Fall and Winter. Pitta is composed of fire and water. Seasonally, it presents strongly in summer. Kapha made of earth and water, graces our bodies, minds and external landscape in the Spring.

It is important to note, that we all have our own unique constitutions which can be combinations or pure. For example, my constitution is Pitta/Vata, another individual could be tri-doshic meaning, they have a nice balance of all three constitutions. And, there is always the individual who is uniquely prominent in just one of the doshas: Vata, Pitta or Kapha.

Dosha means fault. What? Did I really say that? Yes! Our constitutions are rarely completely in balance. The dosha’s are made up of Gunas(qualities) that present themselves in our body, mind, and our behavior. Take a look at the below chart, it will help you to understand the qualities of each dosha. I have also included a little extra, the corresponding season, time of day and time of life for each constitution. Again, while we all have our unique constitution, we also need to take into account these other factors. Are you good at juggling?

Doshas and Their Gunas:

VATA	PITTA	KAPHA
Ether + Air	Fire + Water	Water + Earth
Dry	Oily	Heavy, Static
Light	Light	Slow/Dull
Cold	Hot	Cold
Rough/Hard	Sharp	Oily/Slimy
Subtle	Spreading	Smooth, Soft
Mobile	Liquid	Dense
Clear	Fleshy Smelling	Gross, Sticky, Cloudy
WINTER	Summer	Spring
2-6am/pm	10-2am/pm	6-10am/pm
Wisdom Years 50+	“Doing Years” Puberty to Menopause	Growing Years, 0-25

LETS THREAD THIS TOGETHER, SHALL WE?

Returning to the dance floor, Celebrate Spring with The Three Sister Sciences, have you heard of the phrase, “Yatha Pinde, Tatha Brahmande?” As is the microcosm, so is the macrocosm? The individual is truly cosmic. We see this in the Dosha’s made up of the 5 universal elements that also present themselves in our bodies and minds. The 9 Planets above(according to Vedic Astrology), Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Rahu and Ketu affecting our actions, moods, relationships, sense of self, career and health. Yoga, the practice of asana, breath and meditation which enhances our life here on earth, creating balance in all these subtle energies surrounding us.

For the purpose of stepping into spring with ease, grace and intention, let’s go back to our chart above and look at the qualities of Vata and Kapha. Oh and by the way, Saturn, the New Moon, Rahu and Ketu also represent Vata. Jupiter, the Full Moon and a bright Venus most resemble Kapha. When we are seeking balance, we focus on creating a middle ground between the extreme qualities. For example, moving into the Kapha season of Spring, externally, the outside becomes muddy, wet, sticky, just to mention a few of the qualities. Inside our bodies are also thawing out presenting as excess mucous, emotional clutter, sticky digestion. I was so looking forward to sharing cleansing green juice with my students on Sunday, perhaps doing breath of fire pranayama. Instead, I scanned the crowd around me as well as inside and aired on the side of grounding. We honoured the full moon with slow lunar salutes, practiced nadi shodana(alternate nostril breathing) and ended with a sweet savasana sprinkled with releasing the stagnant and clearing space for the fresh.

No need to fret, Spring is around the corner and soon enough we will be twisting and churning, dancing in tune to what is above and all that encompasses us down below.

Happy Spring My Friends, Lisa