Ayurveda 101

When cooking, I always keep Ayurvedic principles in mind.

So what is that?

To tell the truth I hardly know myself… It is quite complicated and oh so very simple and logical… certainly it can get bagged down by technical terms… One can spend, and many have, lifetimes studying just Sanskrit (an ancient language that Hindu scriptures are written in) in order to even read Ayurvedic (a Sanskrit word that could be translated in to “knowledge of life”) directions.

So, why bother?

In this world with all the “fad diets” going in and out of style and everyone from a wide variety of government agencies, jazzy commercial advertisements, movies, the latest “scientific discoveries” friends, teachers and even Moms (ours and O.P.M., lol) telling us what to eat; what are we to do?

Even if we do not have any specific health goals in mind at the moment, a basic knowledge of some simple dietary guidelines and techniques could be priceless for all of us in order to make easier decisions.

Lucky for us, in today’s shrunken world, we have at our fingertips a 5, 000+ year old book from ancient India that goes in to great depth about what to eat in order to stay healthy and vibrant long in to old age. Not only does it explain in great detail about diet, but also practical lifestyle habits that can be adopted in order to achieve different health and spiritual goals.

So in a nutshell…

…I would describe the Aryuvedic Principle as…

There are 3 different main mind/body types (Doshas) that each person has in varying degrees (for more info click here). We all have our own unique mixture of these Doshas from before we were born. Any number of things can knock our Doshas out of balance (even the time of the year or day). Our body, usually, naturally puts itself back in balance, but sometimes the balance gets disrupted long enough or severe enough to allow bad health symptoms (diseases, disorders, etc.) to appear. However, once the body is back in balance, the symptoms should disappear.

When the body gets out of balance, a mucous like substance (Amma) builds up in the body and causes natural bodily functions (Ojas) to be blocked. Usually, the life force in the food that we eat, the air that we breathe, and the celestial bodies that shine on our own bodies (Prana) is digested by our bodies and used for healthy bodily/spiritual functioning. Amma is disposed of by excretion (sweat, pea, poop, etc.). Therefore health depends greatly on our ability to digest (Agni).

So we take these 2 things together; ie. Satisfying the Doshas and building Agni AKA keeping our bodies in balance and keep the plumbing working; whenever decisions are to be made in an Ayurvedic way. There are any number of spices, combinations, techniques, etc. that are used to achieve these goals. These techniques can and should be customized to fit each individual or family and should even be changed according to circumstances like geographical location, time of the day, season, etc.

As a general example; during the winter in Midwest USA we could fix hearty hot soups with plenty of local root vegetables and ghee and warming spices (that also help with digestion) like hot peppers, cumin and turmeric. In contrast, in the summer we could fix light salads with local greens (better yet, out of the front yard!) and cooling spices (that also aid in digestion) like mint, parsley, cilantro, and fennel.
But the best example would be one that you make for yourself by getting to know your body and being able to address its needs. A few techniques to achieve this include yoga, meditation and good old fashioned trial and error.