We have been exploring, in classes over the past few weeks, the notion that the Summer season is not only a time when Pitta dosha (that fiery aspect of our being that tends towards over-heating in body and mind) can move into excess, but also a time when the expansive nature of the Summer season can cause Vata dosha to become elevated, leading us to perhaps become over-stimulated. And whilst we may initially enjoy riding the wave of this surge of energy that can accompany an elevated Vata dosha, the result can be that we start to feel a little spacey and ungrounded, and ultimately we may find we are depleted and fatigued. The nervous system may become a shakey and our sleep impaired, as our mind becomes more restless and overactive as our physical activity moves into excess..

It’s easy enough to decide to bring the body to a stop when the red light or even amber warning lights flash, isn’t it? However, the mind is rarely so obedient. it can take longer to redress the resulting imbalances and overstimulation in the mind, which can manifest as worry and anxiety, or other unbridled thought processes.

 

The elevated Pitta dosha when left unchecked, can cause us to over-heat in the body with the inflammatory conditions that I have drawn attention to in recent newsletters. And it can cause a little hot–headedness in our psyche, manifesting as less tolerance, irritability, even anger outbursts. Just like fire, the Pitta psyche has an intensity to it which can create the focus and drive we need to make things happen. Yet if left unchecked, it can become difficult to switch off the drive, and to let go of personal agendas and the inclination to control outcomes, even when we can see they are creating suffering

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It’s important that we take measures to counter the tendency for these two doshas to move into exccess in this season if we want to support our ongoing health and happiness. How we respond to this season, will impact how well our body and mind functions in the season and months ahead.

 

We can find that support to sustain balance through intentional Yoga, lifestyle and nutritional adjustments.

 

{First name}, our modern day, Western society prizes the Vata creative, expansive psyche combined with the Pitta capacity to produce. These are the strong outer forces that are constantly, consciously or unconsciously impacting us:. They tell us to “keep creating, keep putting new visions into manifestation, stay productive”.

 

Whilst awareness of the need for the right rest for our mental and physical well-being is increasing, indicated by the increasing popularity of Yoga and mindfulness and the phrase “self-care”, the old programming very much remains in the collective and individual unconscious, wouldn’t you say? Most of us have been raised on it. As a child of the Thatcher/Reagan eras, these programmings certainly took their root in my psyche and I am still unravelling them today.

 

If you are a Pitta or Vata Pitta type. I am sure you will know what I am talking about.

 

And so in our classes this coming week we will practice the very valuable art of “letting go, for a moment’s respite, of the very personal agendas that drive us and steal so much of our health and happiness: of that restlessness in body and mind that fuels worry and anxiety and steals our vitality: of the old hurts, wounds, burdens and self-sabotaging thought patterns that keep the body and mind tense, and contracted and less vital and enlivened than it might otherwise be.

 

We will practice through asana, pranayama and meditation, the journey back to the safe haven of mindfulness.

 

This is where we rest in spirit, in our Essential self. It is always and only accessed when we can calm and balance the psyche and bring the mind to rest in present moment awareness. And yet the more we practice this, the more readily we can uncover this safe refuge of peace, and calm and compassion that is who we truly are.

 

As St Francis said

 

“What you are looking for (in all your restless and driven endeavours and fears), is where you are looking from”:

 

All we are doing and seeking, if we sincerely enquire into our intentions, is to get a hold of that which is already here. In fact, that which we already are.

 

It’s the big and very painful cosmic joke, isn’t it? Because it points to the forgetfulness that is the source of so much of our suffering.

 

This is the journey of this week’s classes. To take refuge in who we really are.

 

 

As we explored in last week’s rejuvenation theme, it is becoming more and more imperative as life continues to ask more and more of us that we regularly find ways and time to come back to rest in this safe haven of our Essential nature, revealed to us when let go and surrender into present moment awareness.

 

And when we do rest here, in our Essence, in the fullness of our essential nature, not only do we come to greater balance and whole-person healing, we also awaken to what really matters to us: what we would really give ourselves to fully and consciously if our fears and other contracting tendencies would dissolve. Here, we experience our innate goodness, and we can clearly see and commit to making the impact on the world that from that essential goodness we would dream to make.

 

We need support to undo the old ways and step into the more natural and essential. There is nothing like community and holding each other’s hands through this. And this too, I love to support when we meet in class or on retreats: to bring the anchor of community as a mirror to us of who we are when we come home to our Essence.

 

I hope you’ll join us for class as we dive into this theme this week. You can join any class via livestream, and there are in-person classes and also class recordings are available.

 

There are many Ayurveda seasonal dietary and lifestyle guidelines to help you stay in balance in body and mind Dosha, by the way translates as “fault”, that which is unstable. They are likely to go out of balance and upset the balance in our body, heart and mind. And this is most likely to happen in seasonal junctures. I will explore this in the next newsletter, but for now, why not book an AYURVEDA CONSULTATION and get your personalised revitalising Ayurveda programme in place. Just click the button below to schedule a consultation or book a discovery call and let’s talk about how Ayurveda can help you!