Kapha

Kapha, the force of water and tides, influenced by the moon, the stabilizing influence that controls fluid metabolism in the body... 

Kaphain Ayurvedic medicine, the water and earth humor. Kapha qualities include cold, wet, slow, and dense. Komission Ea German regulatory agency. 

If you can, add strength training, especially if you suffer from sluggish depression (shortages of norepinephrine/dopamine), tend to be overweight, or are an Earth/kapha type (see Chapters 7 and 10). 

Gretchen is a kapha type, normally content, loyal, and easygoing. She tends to be a little slow and plodding at times, but usually this comes across as steadiness and stability, and she can muster a great deal of endurance, stamina, and calmness under stress. 

More commonly, a person s interest in matters of the spirit simply wanes with lack of attention. The individual may not even be aware of the loss, but he or she gradually realizes that there s no longer an animating or creative force in his or her life, bringing on a state of apathy or darkness, like living within a cloud. A person with a kapha disturbance like this may not feel despairing so much as lifeless—another form of depression. 

The first step, I told Jeff, is to understand what can throw vata energies off balance. There were two ways to look at vata disturbances. One is to remember that all of us possess all three types of energy— vata, pitta, and kapha—and that our vata systems are the most prone to imbalance. Just as air is less stable than fire or earth, so are vata energies more easily disturbed than pitta or kapha energies. 

Interestingly, the instability of vata energies in Ayurveda corresponds with the Western scientific notion that a serotonin deficiency is the most common problem associated with depression. Just as vata energies can become unbalanced even in pitta and kapha types, so can serotonin become deficient even in people with other types of brain chemical imbalances, such as norepinephrine/dopamine excess or deficiency. So when people have either vata imbalances or serotonin deficiencies, I usually try to treat those first, no matter what other problems they re experiencing. 

In Western terms, kapha imbalance bears a remarkable resemblance to depression caused by a norepinephrine/dopamine deficiency. Both have similar symptoms depressed mood, low energy, a tendency to sleep more. 

Because kapha imbalances take so long to develop, it can be difficult to see them clearly. Here are some of the factors that often create kapha imbalance ... 

I always suggest to my patients that they begin with the simplest solutions. So if you re a kapha type or a kapha combination and you re feel-... 

Sleep can seem very attractive to Earth people, but too much sleep is a common cause of imbalance- People with excess kapha are often amazed to find out how much more alert and energetic they can feel just by cutting back on sleep for a few days- See the suggestions I made for hypersomnia in Chapter 6, or try some of these recommendations ... 

Your Brain-Healthy Kapha Diet How Earth Types Need to Eat... 

Reduce or avoid sweets. Many of my kapha patients have told me that they seem to gain weight easily even when they don t eat much. They may be getting too many sweets and starchy foods, consuming processed sugar and refined carbohydrates. Earth types seem poorly equipped to handle these substances, which their body easily stores as fat. 

Follow the detox suggestions I shared in Chapter 6, with these special suggestions for kapha types ... 

Dry saunas are particularly useful for Earth types. You can take one any time of year, but you ll appreciate them most from winter through early spring, when they can help you lose some of the kapha moisture that weighs on your body and spirit. I also recommend saunas during your detox month at least a few times per week, or up to twenty to thirty minutes once or twice a day if you ve got easy access to a sauna. 

As we saw in Chapter 6, exercise was a major key to Cindy s renewed health and vigor Engaging in exercise that required Cindy to break a sweat, to push herself, and to move quickly really helped wake up her kapha energies, even as it replenished her depleted stores of norepinephrine and dopamine Both kapha types and people suffering from unbalanced kapha energies should follow my suggestions in Chapter 6 for the exercise suited to restore norepi/dopa depletion ... 

Your Brain-Healthy Kapha Exercise Plan Activities for Earth... 

Participating in competitive sports can also be helpful for kapha people Such activity tends to be more stimulating and gets the energy flowing ... 

Twenty-four-hour Schedule for Kapha People... 

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