Sutras by Maharishi Vagbhata: Understanding Vata

Vata is the air element in the body: Air & Ether

Vata represents the air and ether element. It has the qualities of cold, dry, light, airy, moving, quick and changeable. It is responsible for movement in the body. This means it takes care of the circulation in the body, movement of food through the digestive tract, movement of impulses through our nervous system, and even movement of thoughts through the mind. It is also responsible for speech, communication, respiration (breathing), absorption and sensory perception.

Several problems are caused when the vata goes out of balance.

Dry Skin
One of the easiest-to-detect signs of vata is dry skin. Since vata is drying by nature, one of the first places we can see its impact is the skin. Dry hair, and cold hands and feet are also signs of a vata person.

Disturbed digestion: Constipation, gas, bloating, or distention
The primary seat of vata in the body is in the colon, where its qualities function to absorb water and minerals from our digested food and move waste out of the body. Problems in our colon are some of the earliest signs of a vata imbalance.

Dizziness, lightheadedness, numbness or tingling
Dizziness or lightheadedness indicate a problem in circulation. If there are problems with numbness or tingling it’s a sign that vata is causing an imbalance in the nerve tissue.

Pain, fatigue, weak joints, arthritis
As the nervous system weakens, it brings about pain. People with a very out-of-balance vata experience pain all over the body, and are quick to get exhausted. [Note: Depending on the type of pain, another dosha may be involved as well. Because the primary seat of vata is in the colon, low back pain (lumbago) or sciatica, which are close to it, are especially indicative of a vata imbalance]. Tiredness results from poor circulation. As vata is the air element, and excess leads to important bolidy fluids drying up, which result in joint problems, and arthritis in the long term.

Malabsorption
An easy way to detect malabsorption is observing if there are teeth indentations along the sides of the tongue. This is a major indicator of malabsorption, meaning that, while the diet may be healthy, the body isn’t effectively absorbing the nutrients. Vertical ridges on the fingernails are also a clear indicator. Malabsorption doesn't have to be only physical. A lack of concentration, and a poor memory are also signs of a vata imbalance.

Insomnia, restlessness
Excess vata can cause excessive movement of the mind, and a restless mind greatly hinders sleep.

Causes of vata imbalance are:

irregular eating and/or sleeping schedules
frequently eating old, leftover, dry, or raw food
not eating enough food
eating too rapidly, eating standing or drinking water immediately before/ after meals
suppression of bodily urges, such as sneezing, passing gas, or elimination
staying up late
overstimulation of the senses, esp through electronic devices (television, video games, internet)
overexertion
excessive worry, fear, or loneliness

Vata Prakriti

Vaata naturally increases after 60 yrs of age. The main remedy is oil massage for old people. A little bit of exercise is ok. Too much movement is not good for them.

Human urine – can be used as medicine, but the condition is that one must be a 100% vegetarian. Gau mootra (cow's urine) is much better, but only the 1^st urine in the morning is to be used. The initial and last parts must be discarded and only the middle part must be consumed. This helps in around a hundred vata and kapha related illnesses.

Healing Vata Problems

Vata out of balance is the leading cause of diseases in the human body. Oil is the best thing to control Vata, both through ingestion and external application.

However, the oil should be pure. Refined oil is a poison: 6-7 chemicals are used to refine oil and upto 13 for double refined oil. Oil can only be refined using inorganic chemicals and these are almost always poisonous in nature. The stickiness of oil is its most important property. The moment this is removed oil is no longer oil. The strong smell of oil is due to its protein content. When this is removed via refining the oil becomes useless for the body.

AIIMS doctors who researched oil have concluded that any oil without stickiness and odour is useless to put it mildly. Hence refined oil is actually causing heart problems rather than curing them. Refined oils are being recommended by doctors just because of the commission that the oil companies dole out to them.

HDL (High Density Lipo Protein) or the good cholesterol is produced by the liver if you are eating unrefined oil. This helps the heart stay healthy without any fear of heart attacks.

Many experiments have been conducted with heart patients: they were asked to stop all medication and start consuming pure and unrefined oil. Patients who had blockages and were on the verge of getting heart attacks showed tremendous improvement in all parameters. Doctors could not believe the reports and called them a miracle.

In our culture festivals were created very scientifically. The special foods and vyanjans that were prepared for different festivals were designed to keep us healthy.

i. Winters: food during these festivals were heavy or garishtha or gurutva. i.e. difficult or slow to digest. During the winter season it is better for the body if the food digests slowly rather than quickly. It matches with the body cycle as Pitta is less in winters while vata and Kapha are high which reduce the digestive fire. Slow digesting foods are in better sync with the speed of digestion of the digestive fire. Nature also provides this kind of food in winters.

ii. Summers Pitta is high and hence lighter food should be eaten so that it digests quickly.

iii. Monsoons during the rainy season Pitta is at its lowest and hence the lightest food should be eaten during rainy season. It goes to the extent that eating just once is preferred. Greens should be avoided cause they have too much water content and this will aggravate the system which already has too much water.

Items which have high water content reduce Vata, like milk, curd, butter milk and juices also reduce vata.

Those with a vata imbalance should massage their body daily with a heavy oil such as mustard or sesame oil, and wash it off in a warm water bath, using lentil powders. Soaps can sometimes aggravate vata.

Fast and strenuous exercise sends the vata out of balance, so exercise must be gentle and slow-moving. Avoid exposing yourself - especially your head - to the cold, and make sure you are adequately clothed.

Continue reading: "Understanding Pitta".

We thank Dr. Rajiv Dixit for making this information accessible. Click here to view his videos.

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