A kapha imbalance in our bodies, which can look like excess mucus, allergies, and/or congestion. Our bodies often become lethargic and slow without the sun’s energizing light, and our minds become foggy and dull. (Sound familiar?)
Carry those kapha qualities (and their accompanying mucus) into summer and you’ll create a pitta imbalance, which can look like inflammation or stagnant lymphatic system. Then rather than being able to take advantage of the natural fire of pitta season, you may keep some of that gloomy dullness all summer long.
Also see 4 Ayurvedic Self-Care Practices for Spring Renewal
Since the qualities present in springtime are heavy and dense, our diet should have the opposite qualities. That means no meat, wheat, dairy, or sugar during heavy kapha days. Instead focus on leafy greens, light grains, lightly cooked seasonal vegetables, and lots of berries.
According to Casperson, we must adjust our yoga practice according to the season. “In the spring we want to create a little bit of warmth and circulation in the body to help balance the heavy, stagnant, cold qualities of kapha.”
As seasons transition from dark, cold winter to bright, hot summer, springtime can be damp, cloudy and cool—depending on where you live. (Even in sunny Southern California, we experience a bad case of “June gloom.”) That’s all kapha’s handiwork.
One of the three doshas in Ayurvedic medicine, kapha, which begins to accumulate in late winter. “In the spring the qualities of heavy, dense, damp and cool are in the environment, and because of seasonal effects, we as humans start to accumulate some of those same qualities in our bodies, especially after the wintertime when we’ve been eating warm, heavier foods that mitigate the cold and dry qualities of winter,” explains Erin Casperson, an Ayurveda Health Counselor and Yoga Journal LIVE! presenter.
Also see Kapha Dosha: Learn About This Ayurvedic Constitution
A kapha imbalance in our bodies, which can look like excess mucus, allergies, and/or congestion. Our bodies often become lethargic and slow without the sun’s energizing light, and our minds become foggy and dull. (Sound familiar?)
Carry those kapha qualities (and their accompanying mucus) into summer and you’ll create a pitta imbalance, which can look like inflammation or stagnant lymphatic system. Then rather than being able to take advantage of the natural fire of pitta season, you may keep some of that gloomy dullness all summer long.
Also see 4 Ayurvedic Self-Care Practices for Spring Renewal
Since the qualities present in springtime are heavy and dense, our diet should have the opposite qualities. That means no meat, wheat, dairy, or sugar during heavy kapha days. Instead focus on leafy greens, light grains, lightly cooked seasonal vegetables, and lots of berries.
According to Casperson, we must adjust our yoga practice according to the season. “In the spring we want to create a little bit of warmth and circulation in the body to help balance the heavy, stagnant, cold qualities of kapha.”
Also see Wake Up + Revive: 3 Sun Salutation Practices
As far as your practice and classes go, there are a number of things you can do as a teacher to help burn off any excess stagnation, heaviness, and dampness in preparation for summertime.
While practicing by candlelight can be a nurturing experience during the dark winter seasons, it’s not conducive for mitigating the dark and dense qualities of spring.
Don’t wait for summer to put on your fluorescents and patterned leggings, start wearing more visually stimulating clothes in the spring to wake up your students sense.
Your voice, the music you play, everything should be adjusted to be more engaging and enlivening for our students.
Also see DJ Drez’s 5 Tips for Creating the Ultimate Yoga Playlist
The room should be a little warmer to create more heat and circulation. Not too much heat though; we don’t want to aggravate pitta before the summer season. Somewhere in the 80s should suffice.
Keeping in mind that you will have kapha, vata, and pitta type people in the room, a good balancing kapha class slowly builds heat in the body.
Dynamic movements—pulsing in and out of poses—are a great way to create warmth in the body as well as circulation.
Its probably not a surprise that bent-knee poses generate more heat than straight leg poses, however, did you know that kapha lives in the fronts of the legs? Pitta lives on the sides of the legs (inner and outer) and vata lives in the backs of the legs. We need to create a little bit of warmth and circulation in the thighs (the bulk of the legs), and kick start the lymphatic system.
Also see Yoga Practice for the Doshas: How to Calm Your Ayurvedic Traits
Twists stimulate digestion, breaking away any stagnation. Pulsing side to side in Twisted Chair Pose, for example, will generate warmth, bring the heart rate up, stimulate digestion and circulation.
The gold standard of heat building pranayama, Kapalabhati pranayama helps enliven the mind, energize our bodies and clear mucus from our systems. It’s a great pranayama to do first thing on those cloudy spring morning if you’re having a difficult time getting motivated.
Kapha is balanced by a diet of freshly cooked, whole foods that are light, dry, warming, well spiced, and relatively easy to digest – ideally served warm or hot. These foods calm kapha by balancing mucous production, regulating moisture levels, maintaining adequate heat, and by supporting proper digestion and elimination. Because kapha is so substantive in nature, an appropriate diet is actually one of the most effective ways to reel it in. Kapha thrives on a fairly minimalistic diet with smaller meals, little to no snacking, fewer sweets, an abundance of fresh fruits and vegetables, a variety of legumes, little to no alcohol, and lighter fare all around. That said, finding a diet that is appropriately satisfying is crucial to your success; so it’s extremely important that you enjoy the foods that you do eat. What follows are some specific principles that we hope will empower you in discovering a kapha pacifying diet that works for you.
Kapha is heavy, cool, oily, and smooth, so eating foods that neutralize these qualities – foods that are light, warm, dry, and rough – can help to balance excess kapha. This section offers a closer look at the qualities of various foods. An improved understanding of these qualities can guide you in making specific dietary choices that will better support kapha.
Foods that embody the light quality are the antithesis to kapha’s heaviness. Lightness can be determined both by the sheer weight of a food and also by it’s density. Fruits and vegetables are typically wonderfully light, so a diet that is built around a tremendous abundance of fresh fruits and vegetables, preferably cooked, is a great start. A modest amount of raw fruit may be suitable, and, in moderation, kapha is also balanced by salads and other raw vegetables when seasonally appropriate (usually in the spring and summer months). Green or black teas are quite light, especially when compared with coffee. In general, foods that are too heavy for kapha include hard cheeses, puddings, nuts, cakes, pies, wheat, most flours, breads, pastas, red meat, and deep fried foods, which are also excessively oily (see below). Eating too much in one sitting also leads to excess heaviness, so it’s important not to overeat. A good rule of thumb is to fill the stomach 1/3 full of food, 1/3 full of liquid, and to leave 1/3 empty for optimal digestion. Very heavy meals and highly processed foods also tend to aggravate kapha’s heaviness and are best avoided.
The warm quality can be emphasized by eating foods that are warm in temperature or that have a warming energetic – and by using heating spices generously (most spices are naturally heating, and almost all of them balance kapha). Cooked foods tend to offer a warmer energetic and are typically easier to digest; so cooked food is preferable – especially in the colder months. Kapha does best to drink only room temperature, warm, or hot beverages and often benefits from sipping on hot water throughout the day, or even warm water with a dab of raw honey in it – honey is both heating and detoxifying. On the other hand, it is best to avoid foods with a cooling energetic, cold and frozen foods or drinks, carbonated drinks, and even leftovers that have been kept in the refrigerator or freezer. The cold quality is inherently increased in these foods, even if they are served hot. Consuming large quantities of raw fruits and vegetables can also be quite cooling, so it is best to enjoy these foods in small quantities and only when seasonally appropriate.
Kapha’s oiliness is offset by exceptionally drying foods like beans, white potatoes, dried fruits, rice cakes, popcorn, and an occasional glass of dry red or white wine. When cooking, it is important to use an absolute minimum of oil and, when necessary, to substitute water for oil to prevent sticking. Oily foods like avocado, coconut, olives, buttermilk, cheese, eggs, cow’s milk, wheat, nuts and seeds should also be reduced or eliminated. Also, because kapha can and does retain water easily, it is best not to overhydrate. Drink only the amount of fluid that your body requires, according to your climate and activity level. In addition, avoid especially moist foods like melons, summer squash, zucchini, and yogurt, as these can be kapha provoking.
There’s a reason that fruits and vegetables are sometimes called roughage; their fibrous structure gives them a very rough quality. This is why kapha responds so well to eating large quantities of fresh fruits and vegetables. That said, these foods are often much easier to digest when cooked, so be careful not to overdo raw foods and use the seasons as a guide for if and when raw is appropriate at all. Some foods, like broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, dark leafy greens, and many beans are exceptionally rough and are therefore wonderful for countering kapha’s smooth, oily nature. Conversely, eating foods and preparations that are smooth in texture – things like bananas, rice pudding, hot cereal, milk, cheese, and the like – can quickly aggravate kapha.
Kapha is pacified by the pungent, bitter, and astringent tastes and aggravated by the sweet, sour, and salty tastes. Understanding these tastes allows us to better navigate a kapha pacifying diet without having to constantly refer to extensive lists of foods to favor and avoid.
Pungent
Bitter
Astringent
Sweet
Sour
Salty
When it comes to pacifying kapha, how we eat can have a profound impact on our degree of success. Kapha does well to stick to three square meals per day, and sometimes just two meals are sufficient. It’s also best to eat your meals at consistent times from one day to the next. You can further kindle a sluggish digestive fire about 30 minutes before lunch and dinner by chewing a slice of fresh ginger (about the size of a nickel) with a pinch of sea salt, a few drops of lime juice, and about ¼ teaspoon honey. This helps to prepare the digestive system to receive food and to process it effectively. During meals, it is very important to eat in a peaceful environment and to give your full attention to the act of being nourished so that your body registers satisfaction. This will help reduce overeating and emotional eating, which often plague kapha. Fast foods, sweets and excessive amounts of bread and other comfort foods can be especially kapha provoking. Nevertheless, it may be impossible to avoid all kapha-aggravating foods. In a pinch, the detrimental potential of these foods can be minimized by making sure that they are served warm, with the support of heating herbs, and taken in small quantities. Lastly, because kapha digestion is generally sluggish and tends to sustain energy with or without food, periodic fasts or cleanses can be very helpful. A short fruit or juice fast (think apple or pomegranate), or a longer mono diet of kitchari can be very supportive.
Breakfast is often somewhat optional when kapha is elevated. Kapha benefits tremendously from the unforced, overnight fast between dinner and breakfast. If the appetite has not returned upon waking, it’s likely that a light breakfast of fresh fruit or tea will suffice. If breakfast does feel important to you, consider:
Ideally, lunch is the main meal of the day, meaning it’s the largest and the most nourishing. Build your lunches around consuming lots of steamed and sautéed vegetables, and compliment them with beans, appropriate grains, non-yeasted breads, a suitable meat, or an occasional egg. Try something like:
Dinner is ideally significantly smaller and lighter than lunch. Soups and stews are often a wonderful choice because they are warm and nourishing, even when light. A smaller serving of lunch can often work, too. For some, especially when weight loss is indicated, it’s best to forego dinner altogether in favor of a healthy breakfast and lunch, or to eat a more substantial breakfast and make dinner the ultra-light meal of the day. Try:
To view a detailed list of foods to favor and avoid when pacifying kapha, please click here.
