Balancing Kapha’s Qualities
Kapha substances have many qualities or attributes. These are given below in capital letters along the left margin. One can offset, balance, palliate, reduce the disturbed principle by avoiding certain diet, lifestyle, and other experiences and by DOING some things of the opposite attribute or energy. Read and follow the list below for how to balance kapha.
AVOID the CAPITALIZED by DOING the following to help balance Kapha
COLD—avoid situations which promote, provoke, increase or otherwise bring your attention to depression, attachment, worry, fear, anxiety, hopelessness, insecurity, helplessness; avoid cold food, drink & weather / air conditioning, dairy, sweets, yogurt (and especially in evening), cheeses, cucumbers; to promote and increase digestive function eat pungent foods and spices such as chilies, black pepper, ginger, cayenne, cumin, ajvain, hing (asafetida), mustard seeds, drink copper water (water stored overnight in copper container); favor hot / dry saunas, hot living climates; meditate daily to stimulate mental fire, use mustard oil in cooking or externally for its heating property (when oil is not contraindicated)
OILY—avoid oils, fats, dairy, coffee; favor dry foods, eat unbuttered, toasted breads, eat raw fruits and vegetables; pan--roast grains prior to boiling; favor living and working in dry climates, drink babul water (water stored overnight in this wood is bitter and helps breakdown oily substances and clear channels)
LIQUID—avoid excess fluids, avoid hydrophilic food and drink such as yogurt, sweets, salt (except mineral salt, which is diuretic), sour foods, cucumbers, cheese, juicy fruits and vegetables, etc., avoid sedentary lifestyle (exercise promotes sweat); drink only hot liquids when and if thirsty, pan--roast grains prior to boiling; favor living and working in dry climates (winter and spring seasons are problematic for liquid in many geographical areas); favor PK elimination techniques (vomiting) during this time (junctions of winter and spring or spring and summer) to control increase of liquid in physiology; use eucalyptus or camphor-like substances to control congestion buildup, use dry saunas to promote sweating, favor dry / windy living areas
HEAVY—avoid situations which promote, provoke, increase, or otherwise bring your attention to depression, attachment, greed, hopelessness, helplessness, loneliness, isolation; avoid oils, fats, dairy, wheat / carbohydrates, sweets, and over-eating; eat barley, consider skipping breakfast, fasting on liquid juice or vegetable diet one or two days per week, eat only light foods in evening.; never eat within 3 hours prior to be time; take honey water or herbal wines after eating; avoid day sleep, sleeping beyond sunrise, lack of exercise, sedentary lifestyle, leftover, canned, frozen foods; exercise daily to 50% of capacity, engage in more mental activity, physical work, sex, and sleep less (Ca. Su. XXI.28); use light bedding, light clothing—silk, or cotton, choose small or light (feathered) pets when desired, listen to light music; favor windy living areas; do lightening therapies seasonally
STATIC / STABLE—avoid foods such as cheese, meats, excess sleep, sedentary lifestyle and artificial stimulants; exercise daily to 50% of capacity and in the early morning to get going, favor activities that are strenuous but invoke varied, stop and go functioning, listen to dynamic and complex music, use lively and bright colors in clothing and environment, avoid use of remote controls for controlling electrical appliances to facilitate movement in your life,
HARD—avoid excess meats, mineral supplementation, lack of movement/exercise
SOFT—avoid soft furniture, walking and sleeping surfaces; favor hard bed mattress and chairs,
DULL—avoid leftover, canned, frozen foods, excess meat, sweets, cheese, dairy; eat pungent/sharp foods including occasional herbalized wines for digestive purposes,
SLOW—avoid situations which promote, provoke, increase, or otherwise bring your attention to depression, attachment, greed, hopelessness, helplessness, loneliness, isolation; avoid sedentary lifestyle, cheese, candy, avoid sleeping in past sunrise or day sleep/napping, exercise daily to 50% of capacity; use pungent spices to stimulate digestion
STICKY— avoid situations which promote, provoke, increase, or otherwise bring your attention to attachment, greed, avoid sweets, oils, excess liquids, wheat products etc., refined grains and other refined foods
SLIMY--avoid sweets, oils, excess liquids wheat products etc., refined grains and other refined foods
CLOUDY--avoid sweets, oils, excess liquids, dairy products, whenever possible living in climates sunny and bright is preferred to rainy and overcast climes; use full spectrum lighting to simulate natural sunlight conditions, meditate daily to promote mental clarity,
SMOOTH—avoid sweets, oils, fats; use raw fibers in clothing whenever possible—wool, silk, cotton, mohair, tactile surfaces should have the quality of roughness if possible; eat (raw) vegetables and other foods with high fiber (roughness), honey with amalaka powder and barley or honey with black iron ash, yavakshara, ginger, and vidanga (Ca. Su. XXI.23); do roughening therapies seasonally
DENSE—avoid excess food and drink, oily, fatty, old foods, sweets, excess meats, etc., avoid sedentary lifestyle; favor mountain/high altitude environments for living, simplicity with variety are important themes mentally; favor natural stimulants—exercise and digestives—to control this attribute
SOLID—avoid excess food and drink, oily, fatty, old foods, sweets, etc., avoid sedentary lifestyle;
GROSS—avoid excess food and drink, oily, fatty, old foods, sweets, etc., avoid sedentary lifestyle; favor mountain/high altitude environments for living; interact with children whenever possible
SWEET—avoid candies, sweet grains/carbohydrates; bitter taste is better for helping digestion and cleansing the body channels; sweet or salty taste in mouth is indication of kapha imbalance
SOUR—avoid sour foods generally with exception of small amounts of apple cider vinegar as they tend to promote secretions and congestion
SALT—most kinds of salt are heating (balancing to kapha) but they are also hydrophilic (causing water retention); use mineral salt predominantly in small quantities, salty taste in the mouth is indication of kapha imbalance
TAMAS—this mental attribute is destructive, dark, ignorant—avoid those behaviors promoting them
The Big Picture
1. Remove the causes of the imbalance by direct behavioral avoidance; give particular attention to the attributes of the imbalance as detailed above
2. Remove excess kapha by elimination therapies—pancha karma
· Do therapeutic vomiting as indicated
· Do heating, roughening (drying), and lightening therapies as indicated
3. Balance kapha
· Avoid its attributes in food, emotions, thinking, lifestyle
· Increase metabolism with dietary, lifestyle, and activity changes to promote lightness and dryness
4. Balance / strengthen digestion
· Increase fire component in food, lifestyle
· Increase bitter and astringent foods in diet especially when heat is problematic to the imbalance
5. Eliminate tissue toxicity—
· Herbal and dietary strategies that help eliminate heavy metals, petro-chemicals etc.
· Avoid suppression of urges
© Copyright 2001 Michael S. Dick All Rights Reserved