Ayurvedic therapy: regulating wind, fire and water

There is no "standard recipe" that is universally accepted across the Internet. Its essence is to first anchor your innate energy ratio baseline, and then adjust the current imbalance in a targeted manner. Ayurveda conditioning programs in different regions and different inheritances vary greatly. There is no absolute right or wrong, only whether it is suitable for your current physical state.

The first time I really felt this difference was during the three weeks I spent in a traditional sanatorium in Kerala, South India, last year.

The German girl in my roommate was diagnosed with Vata (wind energy) imbalance just like me. The doctor from the north prescribed her a cup of ginger tea in the morning, noon and evening, and avoid cold drinks.； However, the old local doctor who treated me asked me to drink 3 tablespoons of warm ghee on an empty stomach every day and ginger tea at most twice a week. At that time, I was still wondering. After reading a lot of domestic popular science, it was said that if the wind is unbalanced, you should eat more pungent and warm foods. How come I am told to eat more moist foods? Later, after talking to two doctors, I found out that the German girl's wind imbalance was of the "cold blockage type". She wore pants that exposed her ankles all year round and ate cold salads. The wind blocked her joints and made them unable to move, so she had to use pungent and warm medicine to relieve them. ； I am a "dissipative" person. I stay up late all year long and work on manuscripts. The wind floats on it and I can't fall down. If I use ginger tea to disperse it, I can't sleep even more. I have to use moisturizer to absorb it.

In fact, many people who are new to Ayurveda don’t understand what wind, fire, and water are. To put it bluntly, it is an analogy of the operating rules of the human body to the three core elements of nature. There is nothing mysterious about it. Wind energy is like the ventilation system of your home, which controls the circulation, mobility, and mental activity of the whole body. If it is out of balance, it will either cause you to be unable to hold back the wind, resulting in insomnia, mental whirling, constipation, and difficulty even sitting for half an hour, or it will be blocked and unable to move, causing the whole body to become stiff, metabolism to be slow, and no energy to be exerted. Fire energy is the gas stove in your home. It governs digestion, emotional tension, and metabolic efficiency. If it is out of balance, either the fire is too strong - bad breath, acid reflux, explosions at the slightest, and recurring oral ulcers; Water energy is your home's water supply system, responsible for the lubrication of skin and joints, emotional stability, and body reserves. If it is out of balance, either there will be too much water - edema, lethargy, always having sticky phlegm in the throat, and procrastination until death, or the water will be boiled dry - the skin will be so dry that it falls off, the joints will rattle, and you will be cold and emotionless towards the people around you.

Interestingly, there are actually two completely different views on "how to adjust" in the Ayurveda circle, and they have been arguing for almost ten years. One school is the old school of "innate constitution theory", which believes that the energy ratio at the moment you are born is engraved in your genes, and your conditioning throughout your life must be centered around this baseline. For example, if you are born with a Kapha (water) constitution, you should eat less sweet, cold, and sticky foods, exercise more, and eat spicy and warm foods throughout your life. The other school is the "dynamic constitution theory" that has emerged in the past decade or so. It is mainly proposed by therapists targeting urban people. Today's people travel across time zones all year round, stay up late, and eat processed foods with a lot of additives. I have met a product manager of an Internet company before. She was born with a kapha constitution. According to the old school, she must avoid ice and sweets. However, during that time, she was rushing to launch the project for more than three months. She only slept 4 hours a day. The fire energy was almost dry, and the wind was too strong. I asked her to eat a small spoonful of fresh cream with some ice and ghee every afternoon. After eating it for three days in a row, she said she could finally sleep through the whole night. If she had followed the old school taboos, she might have collapsed and had to go to the hospital.

If you are too lazy to go to a professional therapist to check your physique, you won't make any big mistakes just by following your feelings at home. For example, I have been suffering from insomnia recently, my mind is full of thoughts, and I have to squat for a long time to poop without being able to poop cleanly. It is most likely because of the wind. Stop drinking black coffee and eating salads, cook some thick millet and pumpkin porridge for dinner, apply warm ghee to the soles of your feet before going to bed, and wear socks to sleep. It will stabilize in two or three days. If you have been suffering from oral ulcers recently, don't like your colleagues, or feel a burning sensation in your stomach after eating, it means you have a strong fire. Don't eat spicy food and don't drink alcohol. Eat half a pear with the skin after lunch, and don't drink ice. Ice will trap the fire inside and make it worse. If you have recently woken up in the morning with a swollen face like a sourdough bun, haven't slept for 10 hours, been panting even after climbing the third floor, and don't want to do any work, it's because you have water accumulation. Drink a cup of warm turmeric water with black pepper on an empty stomach in the morning, walk for 20 minutes and sweat a little, and don't touch sticky things like milk tea cakes, and you will be much refreshed that day.

Oh, by the way, don’t think too much about Ayurveda. Nowadays, many people say that it is pseudoscience, which is not entirely unreasonable. After all, this system was summarized by people thousands of years ago, and it must have limitations. However, there are now many modern studies that support part of its logic: for example, the sympathetic nerve activity of people with vata imbalance is indeed about 30% higher than that of ordinary people, the gastric acid secretion of people with pitta imbalance is generally higher, and the proportion of leptin resistance in people with kapha imbalance is also much higher than other body types. It is not made up out of thin air, but it definitely cannot replace regular medical treatment. If you really have an organic problem, you should go to the hospital without delay.

I have been practicing Ayurvedic conditioning for almost two years. My biggest feeling is that adjusting Feng, Fire and Water is not a "health therapy". To put it bluntly, it just teaches you how to understand the little signals your body gives you. If the wind blows today, slow down and take a rest. If the fire gets too strong, eat some cool water. If the water accumulates, get up and move. There is no need to pursue a perfect state of "complete balance". People eat whole grains and have to go to work to deal with troubles. How can there be no time when there is no imbalance? Just be comfortable.