Why to Take Ayurveda to the Yoga Practice?
Apr 13, 2020 | Written by Leticia Padmasri
Yoga and Ayurveda are related healing disciplines of India. Both have their own exclusive benefits; however, they were designed to be practiced together, providing us with a complete system of wellbeing for the body, mind, and spirit. In the words of Dr. David Frawley “Ayurveda provides the appropriate life-style recommendations for Yoga practice, as well as the background to unfold the full healing potential of all aspects of Yoga. Yoga provides the spiritual and psychological basis for Ayurveda and its higher applications.”
Ayurveda is not a one-size-fits-all philosophy. According to Ayurvedic principles, each one of us has a unique physical and emotional makeup – our individual constitution or Prakruti, separated into three categories called doshas; vata, pitta, and kapha. Each is a combination reflecting the qualities of the five elements; air, space, fire, water, and earth. The knowledge of our dosha is key to understanding our personal human nature and maintaining health. They each control our bodily functions, physical appearance, and temperament. Practicing yoga asanas, pranayama, and meditation without any consideration of our base nature is like taking the same medicine for everything. It is instrumental to know one’s Prakruti to make the yoga practice really effective and relevant to our specific needs.
Furthermore, our energy level, our mood, our power of concentration, our endurance, our power of digestion…they all are in flux throughout the day, throughout the seasons, throughout the stages of our lives. The rhythms of the day, seasons, and stages of life are all described by cycles of vata, pitta, and kapha, just like our Prakruti. According to Dr. David Frawley, “adaption on an individual basis relative to time and circumstances is the essence of both Yoga and Ayurveda.” Therefore, it also seems vital to know how the Ayurvedic doshic model works relative to these different times and circumstances in order to get the right practice for us individually and address our real needs on a daily basis.
Here are just a few reasons to Incorporate Ayurvedic principles into our Yoga practice:
IT CAN SPEED UP THE DETOXING PROCESS
With a foundation in ayurvedic knowledge, Hatha Yoga benefits can be felt more quickly and deeper. When going to Hatha Yoga classes on a regular basis, ama (digestive impurities) starts to be dislodged in the body. The dietary, lifestyle, and purification practices of Ayurveda support the practitioner in the detoxing process; otherwise all they are really doing is moving their sludge around.
IT SUPPORTS PRANAYAMA PRACTICE
In Ayurveda, a daily ritual of self-care is called dinacharya. A daily routine is crucial in the process of keeping the balance of our body and mind. It can help us in so many different ways. A daily ritual like nasya (the ayurvedic application of special herbalized oil), for instance, lubricates the nasal passages preventing dryness from pranayama practices, and it also provides the right environment for prana to be absorbed.
IT TEACHES US HOW TO ADJUST THE ASANA PRACTICE IN ACCORDANCE WITH OUR CURRENT STATE OF BALANCE OR IMBALANCE
Knowing our Prakruti and how to balance it can help us tailor our asana practice for maximum results. As a practitioner, once you understand your own base nature or imbalance, you can create a balanced practice or go to a class and make the adjustments necessary to meet your own needs. Most teachers these days are aware that we need to adjust, adapt, and accommodate our practice and they do give permission for us to do so. For example, when I take a class that has too many chaturanga dandasanas, which causes heat to increase in my system, I skip them and rest in child’s pose. I do that because I want to make sure to keep my pitta nature cool. But sometimes I am in a class that the pace is a bit too slow, and I happen to feel a bit sluggish that day, experiencing high kapha, so I add a couple of chaturanga dandasana.
IT TEACHES US HOW TO ADJUST OUR PRANAYAMA AND MEDITATION PRACTICES IN ACCORDANCE WITH OUR CURRENT STATE OF BALANCE OR IMBALANCE
Just like an asana could be good for one person and prove to be harmful to another, the subtler practices of yoga work in the same way. Pranayama and meditation do better if designed based on individual needs and ayurvedic constitutional considerations. For instance, while the heating effect of Ujjayi breath balances Vata, it can overheat Pitta.
IT TEACHES US HOW TO SYNCHRONIZE OUR PRACTICE WITH THE NATURAL CHANGES IN OUR ENVIRONMENT
A basic premise of Ayurveda is to adjust our diet and activities with the change of the seasons. If we wish to stay healthy all year long, we need to live in harmony with the rhythms of nature, adjusting to the changes in our environment through what we eat, how we exercise, what herbs we ingest, and so on. Each season can either pacify or aggravate the individual Prakruti. Understanding the qualities of each season can help us counterbalance the potential for seasonally induced imbalances. We can make some changes in our yoga practices to keep us in alignment with the natural world.
The interrelationship of these ancient sciences explains why traditional Yoga schools also teach ayurvedic principles in conjunction with the Yoga practices. A great resource to help you get started is the book “Yoga for Your Type: An Ayurvedic Approach to Your Asana Practice” by Dr. David Frawley and Sandra Summerfield Kozak, MS.