Kapha Season is Here 💦

Ready or not...

Please note: If you click on the post title link in your email, you will have a much nicer reading/listening experience on the Substack site!

As you can see, I have my Ayurveda writing hat on today. If you’re new to my newsletter and are thinking, “What the heck is Ayurveda?’ then click below for an introduction.

And, if you live in the Southern Hemisphere, reading up on Vata will be more applicable.

If you're in the Northern Hemisphere but in a warmer climate, you will likely still feel a shift, just not as pronounced as for those of us who experience more distinct seasons.

Typically, Vata season lasts through early winter, and in February or March, late winter, Kapha Season rolls in and stays throughout the spring.

Here in the Northeastern US, where I live, you know it’s here when you feel the dryness of Vata disappear, and the dampness of Kapha take its place. Wet snow will give way to cold rain or vice versa.

This is a much better indicator than a set date. Think bone-chilling damp, rain, snow, and slush. Even when the sun is shining brightly, you can still feel the dampness.

Mud Season, as New Hampshire folks like to call it.

There’s still snow on the ground here - enough that I’ve been snowshoeing every day. But yesterday, it was 50 degrees, and while I was out walking in the woods, a rain shower blew in. I really should check the weather before venturing out. :) That being said, I love walking in the rain or snow.

The Pond is beginning to thaw, and I’m a little sad that I never got to skate on her this winter.

Gone-Away Pond

While many people are chomping at the bit for spring, or jetting off to somewhere warm, I am mourning the passing of winter. It has been one of the best winters of my life. I hibernated deeply - more so than ever before. I think that all those early-to-bed nights and long walks in the woods every day are what have kept me healthy and strong this winter.

But, this time of year can be a real challenge for many people, so I wanted to drop in and write about why that might be from an Ayurvedic point of view. If you find yourself feeling unusually sluggish, there’s a reason.

Cold, damp, and heavy are a few qualities associated with Kapha dosha and, therefore, with Kapha Season.

Ayurveda doesn't put exact dates on the seasons because changeability is one of its principles, and the weather is unpredictable.

To truly live an Ayurvedic lifestyle, we should try to stay in tune with Nature on a daily basis.

Ayurveda teaches us that the transition between seasons is perilous in terms of our health, and we must be particularly vigilant as our body adjusts to the changing climate.

My body has always been sensitive to fluctuations in the weather, and so I’m really aware of when seasons start to shift.

If you begin to pay attention, you will notice that more people get sick during seasonal transitions. The world likes to blame it on viruses and such, but Ayurveda would likely disagree.

For those of us with a lot of Vata dosha in our constitution, this time of year usually comes as a welcome relief as Vata Season ends. Personally, I dread this transition because I don’t like humidity at any time of year, and I get a little panicky coming out of my winter hibernation. 🐻

Anxiety might start to wane just a bit (Vata rules the nervous system) as the air and space elements give way to the Kapha elements of earth and water.

But those who are Kapha-types or someone experiencing a Kapha imbalance (this can happen no matter what your constitution is) may find themselves feeling lethargic, congested, and oftentimes depressed.

Water is Kapha’s primary element. Earth is secondary.

It's no surprise that someone with a lot of Kapha in their constitution will often complain of feeling "stuck in the mud,” - especially during this time of year.

The more we begin to pay attention to the influence of the particular dosha that dominates the day, season, or time of life, the more successful we become at achieving balance.

In the eastern system of the chakras, Kapha is associated with the first chakra (Muladhara/root - the earth element) located at the base of the spine/genital region, and the second chakra (Swadhisthana/sacral - the water element) located below the navel where the reproductive organs lie.

Kapha is Mother Earth personified - sturdy, grounded, solid, and reliable, and Kapha’s association with the 2nd chakra/water element accounts for the strong sexuality and sensuality that Kapha types embody.

Qualities of Kapha dosha are cold, damp, smooth, oily, soft, slow, steady, dense, and heavy.

Its tastes are sweet, salty, and sour, so the tastes that help to balance Kapha are bitter, astringent, and pungent.

Kapha is our body mass, structure, and fluids, and makes up our muscles, fat, and bone.

It is seated mainly in the chest but also in the throat, sinuses, nose, head, mouth, stomach, joints, cytoplasm, plasma, and especially in bodily secretions - like mucus.

The mucus of Kapha protects precious tissue in the body, but as it accumulates, it needs to be expelled, or it can lead to disease.

Roughly 10% of diseases are caused by Kapha imbalances (60% by Vata, 30% by Pitta), but stagnation and/or accumulation of mucus in the body is often the culprit.

This is why so many of us have colds and stomach bugs in late winter and spring. Eating a heavy, fat, Vata-pacifying diet throughout the fall and early winter can lead to sluggish digestion and result in mucus buildup in the stomach, especially for Kapha types.

Often, when Kapha season arrives, Kapha people will find themselves feeling the need to vomit. In fact, treatment in Ayurveda’s panchakarma for Kapha imbalances is known as vamana - therapeutic vomiting. (No, thank you!)

Lungs and sinuses also become congested, and the lymphatic system can become sluggish.

Kapha season is a time for cleansing and eating more detoxifying foods.

Beets, bitter greens, apples, pomegranates, millet, buckwheat, aduki beans, ghee, and most spices are all good choices for eliminating excess Kapha.

Because childhood is the Kapha time of life (birth to age 18), it's the reason children have so many upper respiratory illnesses and seem to be forever producing mucus!

Tips for a Kapha-pacifying diet can be found here.  Just don't be too rigid in trying to follow them. Instead, look for foods on the list that you like and eat lots of them.

Common sense should tell you that forcing yourself to eat anything that doesn't appeal to you will not have a positive and healing effect.

Even those of us without a lot of Kapha in our constitution can benefit from an Ayurvedic cleanse in the spring and by eating seasonal foods.

Mother Nature, in all of her wisdom, provides exactly the right foods we need each season. Just by eating local foods grown by our farmers, we will be living Ayurvedically.

When reading the lists below, remember that we all have the three doshas in us, but most of us have more of one or two doshas that dominate our constitution. Therefore, some of us will relate to these traits a lot, some a bit, and some almost not at all.

Physical traits of Kapha-types:

• Large in stature, with sturdy bones

• Cool, moist skin

• Large, strong teeth

• Strong sense of taste and smell

• Eyes are usually large, warm, and almost liquid in appearance

• Thick, shiny hair

• Strong, clear nails

• Steady appetite

• Deep sleeper

• Strong stamina

Traits of a balanced Kapha-type:

• Warm and compassionate

• Nurturing (Gives the best hugs!)

• Loving, loyal, and kind

• Excellent partners and parents

• Strong, sturdy, and steady

• Grounded

• Even-tempered

• Hard-working

• Patient

Traits of an out-of-balance Kapha-type:

• Depressed

• Attached to the material world (potential for hoarding) and to others

• Possessive and greedy

• Lethargic (too much of the earth element)

• Weight gain /water retention (too much of the water element)

• Laziness

• Unforgiving and stuck in the past. Kaphas have memories like elephants!

• Passivity

• Unable or unwilling to change

• Health problems such as diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure

• A buildup of mucus (spring colds and allergies are common)

What Kapha-types need to do to stay balanced and healthy: (Note - please don't be overwhelmed! Pick one or two of the following to focus on)

• Exercise daily (especially in the early morning)

• Get up and get moving before sunrise, and don’t take afternoon naps. Sleeping during Kapha times of day (6-10) results in sluggishness, and a Kapha-type will lack motivation for the rest of the day. Because the water element is so strong in Kapha types, they need to keep moving, or they will stagnate like an obstructed river.

• De-clutter to lighten their load physically, mentally, and emotionally

• Sip hot herbal/spiced teas instead of drinking too much water. Kapha-types tend to retain water. Avoid cold beverages altogether.

• Reduce foods that are cold, heavy, and oily. Stay away from sweet, sour, and salty, and instead, add foods that are light, dry, warm, pungent, bitter, and astringent.

• Reduce mucus-producing foods such as dairy, wheat, and oats.

• Avoid heavy meats and fried foods

• Keep warm and dry, especially during the cold, damp Kapha season.

• A good Kapha-pacifying daily routine: Up before sunrise, meditation and morning workout, light breakfast at 8:00 a.m. Healthy lunch (biggest meal of the day) 12:30-1:00 p.m. and a light supper at 5:00-6:00 p.m. Bedtime between 10-11 p.m. Kaphas don't need as much sleep as the other doshas (they tend to sleep too much), but a regular bedtime and restorative sleep are beneficial.

• Kaphas can fast more easily than the other doshas, and it will help jumpstart their sluggish metabolism. They should definitely avoid eating past 6:00 p.m., 7:00 at the latest. This will give them a mini fast each evening. The word breakfast means just that - break - fast.

• Add spices to food to spark digestion. Be careful with salt intake and avoid table salt altogether.

• Raw honey is a good sweetener to reduce Kapha. Buy local raw honey during the Kapha season, which can help with springtime allergies. Just don’t overindulge, which is also a Kapha trait. Also, don’t heat the honey.

Stay warm and dry.

Kapha types make excellent teachers, healers, chefs, or any profession where nurturing is involved.

They are physically hard workers because of their incredible stamina.

I doubt that there’s a person reading this article who doesn’t know and love a Kapha-type.

If you have a Kapha in your life and want to support them during this difficult season, encourage them to move (Vatas are good at this!), motivate, fire them up, and help them organize and clear the clutter from their mental, emotional, and physical world (Pittas are good at this!).

These are perfect ways to show your love for a Kapha, and they will return that love with the best warm hug you’ve ever had!

If you’re unsure of your Ayurvedic constitution, click HERE to take a simple quiz.

I want to add a thought that’s been on my mind (and a half-written post in my Dashboard here for months.) It’s about all the dogma out there regarding healthy eating, healthy living, healthy everything. It’s kind of insane. Health gurus abound, and I can guarantee you that each health theory/food can be counteracted with a compelling argument by someone else.

I don’t want to add to that dogma with posts like this. I share about Ayurveda because, more than anything else, it has helped me heal over the past two decades, and I have been a student of it for many years.

I don’t live a perfectly Ayurvedic lifestyle, and I find a lot of the food recommendations restrictive. I try to keep what I write digestible (no pun intended!) and easy to understand.

But, it may or may not be your cup of tea.

So, take this or leave it. Get to know what your body needs at this time in your life. This is actually one of the reasons that Ayurveda resonates with me. It’s not a one-size-fits-all health theory being preached. It literally means “the knowledge of life” and focuses on our unique constitutions.

While procrastinating writing my own post about health dogma, a fellow Substacker named Mary Poindexter McLaughlin wrote this:

Freedom from Foodogma: The Food Wars

I love Mary’s writing and couldn’t agree more with her. Enjoy!

Last, but not least, here’s a little Kapha Season love from my favorite stream. 💦 Life lessons from the water. Go with the flow, and if you get stuck, well, just find another way around. We are Nature.

Much Love,
Barbara

Thank you for your heartfelt comments, your subscriptions (free or paid), or just for stopping by and reading or listening to The Quaking Poplar 🌳!

Here’s a special offer of 20% off for new paid subscriptions, good through February!

Or…