Have you ever wondered what actually accounts for differences in people? Why are some people hyperactive and fast moving, while others exude grace and stillness? Why can some people eat a five-course meal with ease, while others can barely finish a salad? Why are some people inherently joyous, while others carry the weight of the world on their shoulders? Isn’t the human body and mind such a wonderland!

Ayurveda answers all of the above questions with the Three Doshas: Vata, Pitta, and Kapha. Pitta, particularly, derives from the elements of Fire and Water and translates as “that which cooks.” It is the energy of digestion and metabolism in the body that functions through carrier substances such as organic acids, hormones, enzymes, and bile. Physiologically, pitta provides the body with heat and energy through the breakdown of complex food molecules.

Our body and mind undergoes certain changes with the onset of different seasons. It is important to maintain a balanced body, mind and soul, in every season. During summer our body tends to heat up, aggravating the pitta dosha. When a person has a tendency to “overheat,” excess pitta is usually the culprit. Just as a campfire may turn into a forest fire without proper care, the internal fire of the mind and body must be kept in check.

The balanced pitta individual is blessed with a joyful disposition, a sharp intellect, and tremendous courage and drive. As the fire of the mind and body becomes unruly, however, the laughing pitta quickly becomes the yelling pitta. Anger, rage, and ego replace pitta’s positive attributes, leaving an individual who is bitter with life and overbearing towards others. There is a saying that imbalanced pitta individuals don’t go to hell; they simply create it wherever they go! Pitta imbalances commonly manifest in the body as infection, inflammation, rashes, ulcers, heartburn, and fever.

Ways to Balance Pitta

Key words to remember : Cooling, Calming, Moderation

• Eat a Pitta-balancing diet
• Eat in a peaceful environment
• Avoid artificial stimulants
• Engage in calming activities, like spending time in nature
• Meditate daily
• Do calming physical exercise, such as yoga, swimming or walking

 

Ways Pitta Becomes Imbalanced

• Eating Pitta-aggravating food
• Eating while angry
• Drinking coffee, black tea, or alcohol
• Smoking cigarettes
• Over-working
• Being overly competitive

 

The Global Bhatia team caught up with Bhakti, a young Bhatiyani Yoga instructor who enlightened us with the power of yoga to deal with pitta stress which can literally cool down your body in the sweltering summer heat.

 

Bhakti recommends these 6 yoga poses that can help you beat the summer heat!

 

1) Matsyasana (fish pose)

The term ‘Matsyasana’ is derived from the Sanskrit word ‘matsya’ which means ‘fish’ and asana means ‘posture’. Matsyasana is a backbend posture where the yoga practitioner lies on his back and lifts his chest while releasing his head back. In this position, the hands and legs are placed on the mat while inflating the chest on each inhale.

 

Benefits:

• Relieves tension from the neck & shoulders
• More amount of oxygen is inhaled
• Tones the pituitary glands
• Gives a good stretch to your chest and neck

 

2) Ustrasana (camel pose)

Derived from the Sanskrit word ‘Ustra’ which means ‘camel’ and asana means ‘posture’, this deep backward bend yoga pose is performed in a kneeling position. This posture is considered to be quite challenging for beginners, once in practice, it can relax your entire body. Ustrasana stretches and opens the whole front body including hip flexors. This mudra is also traditionally seen as ‘heart centre’.

 

Benefits:

• Improves core strengths and stamina
• Strengthens the shoulders and back
• Improves digestion and cures constipation
• Stimulates endocrine glands
• Enhances overall fitness

 

3) Shavasana (corpse pose)

Shavasana is one of the most relaxing postures in yoga asanas. Practicing this posture every day will relax your body, mind and spirit and help maintain equilibrium. Corpse pose looks like one of the easiest yoga postures, where no kind of stretching is required. But in real, it is hard as it requires us to let go of any kind of hold on every part of our body, which is extremely difficult. Generally, yoga sessions start and end with this pose.

 

Benefits:

• Improves focus, memory and concentration power
• Lowers blood pressure and muscular tension
• Rejuvenates your entire body, mind and soul
• Helps in improving self-confidence

 

4) Uttanasana (standing forward bend pose)

The word ‘Uttasana’ is derived from Sanskrit words ‘Ud’, ‘Tana’, Uttana’ and ‘Asana’, where ‘ud’ means prefix for verbs or nouns denoting superiority, ‘tana’ means stretched, ‘uttana’ means intense stretch and ‘asana’ means posture. This yoga posture stretches back of the body, majorly stretching the hamstrings. To practice this asana, one has to stand on their two feet, bending from the hips, letting the head hang, and placing both the palms near the feet. Uttanasana has different variations with unique health benefits.

 

Benefits:

• Strengthens your spine and increase flexibility
• Stimulates spleen, liver and kidneys
• Lowers blood pressure
• Calms the mind and soothes the nerves
• Reduces anxiety, stress, depression and fatigue

 

5) Anjaneyasana (low lunge)

‘Anjaneyasana’ is a patronymic reference to Lord Hanuman, who was endowed with miraculous strength, power, and valor. Anjaneyasana is the Sanskrit term for the ‘Low Lunge Pose’ resembling a divine child (Anjaneya) with an arched back and reaching towards the sky. As a deep stretching yoga posture, Anjaneyasana gives a powerful stretch and strength to the groins, quadriceps, and iliopsoas of the back legs. The Low Lunge Pose is a perfect combination of balance, backbend, and stretch bringing in lives of the practitioners a strong sense of union, a certain degree of openness in the hips, and an all-embracing goodness.

 

Benefits:

• Activates the Functioning of Thyroid Glands
• A Heart Opening Yoga Posture
• Effective digestion
• Body flexibility

 

6) Sitali Breath

 

Deep in the Himalayas, ancient sages observed and imitated the world around them in the noble attempt to master body, breath, and mind. They noticed the curve of a bird’s lower beak, a new green leaf uncurling, and the hiss of a cobra—and emulated those shapes and sounds in a practice called sitali (the cooling breath). In this pranayama, the inhalation is moistened as it passes through the curl of the tongue (alternately described as a bird’s beak and an uncurling leaf), so that you are “drinking” water-saturated air.

 

Benefits:

• Cools the body
• Balances endocrine system
• Builds vitality