Visargadan vikshepeh. Soma, surya, anila yatta. Dharyanti Jagal deham Kapha, Pittamillasthata.

Susrut Samhita

“The body of the universe is governed by Soma, Agni (surya), marut (anil). Our bodies are governed by vata, pitta, kapha. The origin of vata, pitta, and kapha is ojas – soma, agni and marut”



In Vaidya Mishra’s Shaka Vansya tradition of shudh or pure Ayurved, the first important step we can take towards healing ourselves consists in re-aligning our physiologies with the rhythms of the universe.

While the thought of a cosmic rhythm to adjust our daily routine to can be dwarfing, realignment can happen on many levels and in various ways. It starts very simply with the re-alignment of our daily routines to the circadian cycles of nature.

When do we awake? How long do we work? Do we have enough time for play? When and how frequently do we eat? Attention to our daily routine helps us become aware of seasonal changes that inevitably occur in our physiology. Just as many of us tend to experience varying levels of energy throughout the day (some of us are “sworn night birds” while others feel their best early in the morning…), different seasons bring out different aspects of ourselves.

RituCharya

In shudh Ayurved, attention to the rhythms of nature holds a particular place. Ayurved discusses “ritucharya” – a special category that deals with suggestions, recommendations, tips for adjusting one’s daily routine and activities to match the shifting rhythms of nature and its seasons. The term “ritucharya” derives from the roots ritu= season and charya=activity.

RituSandhi

Shudh Ayurved cautions us abou the transitional period between seasons. It refers to the particular time-slot as: “ritusandhi.” Ritusandhi means: the period between two seasons, when one season is no longer fully in effect, and the next season has not fully arrived yet.

Prakrit Sthapana

Ritusandhi is roughly equivalent to the final 15 days of summer and the early 15 days of autumn. What does Shudh Ayurved recommend for this period? It discusses a gentle replenishing routine that involves “prakriti sthapana.” “Prakrit Sthapana” is an ayurvedic protocol whereby which the individual goes through a process of gentle detox (shodhana), pacification and balancing of the physiology after detox (shamana), and rejuvenation (rasayana). It is necessary to go through all three processes in order to ensure a successful reinvigorating prakrit sthapana that aims at re-establishing one’s original natal balance, prakrit, despite the seasonal changes and one’s daily routine.

In this sense, Prakriti Sthapana is the ultimate goal of a healthy seasonal transition that becomes the basis for a healthy life.

But why is any detox necessary at all at the period of seasonal change or ritusandhi? And what happens to our physiologies at that point?

Solar Energy or Agni

During the summer, solar energy (agni) is relatively high in the environment, and the human body, exposed to more solar energy, receives and accumulates more agni.

According to shudh Ayurved, some organs in our bodies are more receptive to this solar agni energy. Some agni pre-dominant organs are: the liver, stomach, pancreas, spleen, eyes, the skin. As a result of increased exposure to solar energy, these organs tend to become hyperactive and “hot.”

Heat build-up in these organs can adversely affect optimal functioning if it is not

discharged before the onset of the cooler season. This can lead to imbalances that in turn get stored throughout the winter months and become more difficult to correct as time goes by.

Toxic Build-up

On another level, shudh Ayurved explains how the summer season also affects the physical circulatory channels (srotas). These channels or srotas become dilated as a result of the increased heat, and old accumulated toxins, particularly amavisha and garvisha, are released and left to circulate freely. Being highly virulent in nature, such toxic build-up can irritate or rupture the circulatory channels. An excess of toxic build-up can also interfere with organs and even disrupt the proper functioning of tissues.

Vibrational Channels and Lunar Energy

The summer heat also affects our “vibrational” circulatory channels, the nadis. These channels are governed by the marut, or etheric energy. When the index of solar energy or agni goes high in the summer time, it disrupts the balance of soma or lunar energy in our physiology. Soma or lunar energy help to stabilize the marut or etheric energy. In the absence of soma or with a decreased level of lunar energy, the vibrational channels become hyperactive. This is particularly true if a person has a build-up of amavisha (hot, poisonous, acidic, reactive toxins), or garavisha (xenobiotics – mercury, lead, arsenic poisoning). For more information about toxic built-up, you may go to www.vaidyamishra.com for audio recording –cd- purchase.

EMF

In addition, when, in the summertime, a person exposes herself or himself to extensive electromagnetic energy through the use of cell-phones, computers, and other electronic devices, the physiology may be further aggravated, because soma is already less in the environment as well as the body overall. Soma or lunar energy acts as a buffer for too much solar energy or hot reactive toxic build-up.

What to do for a healthy autumn?

Through shudh ayurvedic pulse evaluation, it is possible to determine whether the agni energy accumulated in the summertime has impacted the physiology’s principles of governance, the doshas and/or the subdoshas – the ayurvedic VPK system that runs the physiology.

A pulse reading can determine which physical channels or which vibrational channels need to be detoxed and rejuvenated. It can show what the overall impact of the summer heat was on physical as well as spiritual health – in shudh Ayurved spiritual health grounds physical and emotional health.

Published with the Kind permission of Dr. Vaidya Mishra

 
Dr. Vaidya Mishra is an Ayurvedic general health practitioner as well as dermatologist, product formulator, researcher and educator, Vaidya Rama Kant Mishra was born into a family of Raj Vaidyas that boast of a 5000-year-old History of healing - the familial lineage is mentioned in the ancient Vedic text, the Puranas.

Please visit his website at http://www.vaidyamishra.com

Copyright © 2006, Dr. Vaidya Mishra. All rights reserved by the author.