Introduction to Dosha-Balancing Yoga

Transcript

[Music] as two holistic Sciences based on the same philosophy ayurveda and yoga originated from the same source and share a common history Language and Cultural Foundation ayurveda's scientific approach to health is a natural complement to yoga familiarity with a few basic ayurvedic tools can completely transform your yoga practice integrating ayurveda into your practice amplifies the positive benefits you may already be experiencing it encourages a greater sense of balance Harmony self-awareness and health whether you are anxious stressed or lethargic irva allows you to make subtle adjustments to your practice to meet your specific needs by by applying simple modifications to your practice you'll have the opportunity to increase your energy and endurance realize a deeper state of relaxation and mental calm achieve and maintain your optimal weight ayurveda provides the wisdom for us to determine our constitutional makeup in terms of the three doshas or bodily forces fata paa kafa these biological forces govern all bodily movement manage digestion and hold the body together although all three doas are present within each and every one of us we each have a unique Constitution where one DOA usually predominates space and Air elements combined to create vosha the force of movement typically this manifests physically as a thin irregular flexible body mentally as creative Spacey or scattered and emotionally as anxious fearful or insecure fata is characterized by the qualities cold Mobility light and expansive by adding the opposite qualities of warmth stability grounding and focus to your practice you balance Vata along with fostering a sense of calm courage and focus Fire and Water Element ments commingle to form pad Doha the force of transformation physically P wears a medium body frame fair skin and tense muscles mentally it is sharp bright competitive or critical and can express itself emotionally in laughter Joy anger or jealousy f is naturally hot sharp intense and forceful by adding the qualities of cool soft Grace and Flow to your practice you bring paa into balance and become cool relaxed and gentle toward yourself and others water and Earth elements merge to create cadosia the force of stability and holding things together kafa tends to have large well-formed muscles and Bones mental steadiness and patience and emotions that range from cool temperament and empathy to attachment and stuckness CA is defined by the characteristics of cold heaviness stability and dullness by adding the qualities of heat lightness mobility and sharpness to your practice you reduce kafa and become more energized motivated and lose weight one of the ayurvedic tools that is easiest to apply is the pace at which you practice notice the different rhythm of movement of each doik model Vata favor a pace that is slow fluid gentle and even this Tempo sues Vata by encouraging internal fluidity it also assists with maintaining inner Focus paa establish a pace that is moderate in Tempo and fluid in Rhythm this is Pitt's opportunity to ease up on striving and ambition and rigidity kafa engage in a pace that is dynamic and brisk one that doesn't skip a beat a Snappy Pace generates heat that breaks up stagnation and lethargy another example is how to set the Gaze Vata keep the Gaze level to or below the Horizon to promote grounding and stability paa establish a soft gaze level to the horizon this keeps Pitta eyes cool and soft an upward and sharp gaze creates heat intensity and lightness these are the qualities cufa needs to generate change upliftment and engagement some additional tools ayurveda offers to customize your practice include breath such as adjusting the duration of inhalations exhalations and the pauses in between the length of hold such as modifying the duration of hold short moderate or long and transitions paying attention on how to get from one pose to another you can transform your practice by incorporating these simple ayurvedic tools both on and off the mat they provide a myriad of benefits such as a deeper level of balance Harmony self-awareness and health these principles can be applied to to any style or tradition of yoga namaste