September 5, 2024 • 26 mins
Can understanding your individual constitution transform your health and well-being? Join us as we unlock the ancient wisdom of Ayurveda with esteemed practitioner Nidhi Pandya from New York.
Throughout this enlightening conversation, Nidhi shares her family tradition in Ayurveda and provides an in-depth look at how the doshas—Kapha, Pitta, and Vata—define our natural constitution (prakriti) and current state (vikruti). By examining the primary functions of the body—building, transformation, and movement and decline—Nidhi reveals the interplay that maintains our health and emphasizes the importance of self-awareness for achieving true wellness.
We discuss the profound impact of emotions like fear, anger, and overthinking on our doshas, supported by references to ancient Ayurvedic texts. Nidhi also introduces the concept of Agni (digestive fire) and its crucial relationship with the doshas, offering insights into aligning our daily activities with natural cycles for optimal health. From the significance of proper sleep and exercise to the benefits of a balanced lifestyle, this episode is packed with practical tips for maintaining harmony and well-being. Tune in to gain a personalized approach to health through the timeless principles of Ayurveda.
For a very in-depth conversation on Ayurveda, use our full chat with Nidhi Pandya.
LEGAL DISCLAIMER: This podcast is for informational purposes only.This is not intended to be medical advice, nor is it a substitute for medical advice.Consult your physician for medical needs and individual case by case needs.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
Welcome to Freshly Forever, a podcast that gives
you fascinating insights weekafter week.
Here's your host, vaikumar.
Hey folks, welcome to anotherepisode on podcast, freshly
Forever.
Today we are here to break downthe topic of what it means to
(00:32):
be really healthy.
Health, I guess, is acombination of emotional,
physical and social well-being.
But let's find out what ourexpert, nidhi Pandya, an
Ayurvedic practitioner from NewYork, has to say on these
different aspects as she walksus through the different facets
(00:55):
from an Ayurvedic perspective.
Indian system of medicine.
That truly is the science oflife.
It just tells us how webasically lead life so we can be
on this path to wellness.
Let's get to the episode.
Your background in Ayurveda.
(01:17):
Can you tell listeners how itall started and how you got
oriented and initiated?
Speaker 2 (01:24):
into it.
So I was actually born in afamily where my grandfather was
an Ayurveda healer, so I livedin a huge joint family, so
everything I thought that's howeverybody in the world lives.
Actually, I was naive enough tothink that way, but I basically
grew up with it as a part of mydaily life.
Always, given that we were afamily of 14 people, there was
(01:44):
always awareness that eachperson responds differently to
heat, to the weather, todifferent foods, to even
different emotional stimulus.
Right Like, for example, I saythat if you know, something went
off if two of us were scoldedfor something.
Each person respondsdifferently.
So the awareness that what youare within, what your body and
your mind are within, is reallyhow you interact with the world,
(02:07):
and a lot of the Western focusis that, oh, it depends on what
you consume was studying moresociology, psychology, marketing
till that point.
But when I reached a point andI said, wow, like what's really
(02:32):
missing in the world is thisawareness of self which comes
through Ayurveda.
And then I went and got yearsand years of formal education
and I always said that it neverends.
So I'm still such a vast andamazing science.
So I'm still a student ofAyurveda, but really my journey
started with being born into afamily which had this deep
awareness.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
Excellent, and every day is a learning journey, right
for all of us.
So you know it's it's acontinuous process and, speaking
about you know you said howeach of us react to situations
is all because of what we arecomposed of, and you know what
we are right now, listeners,what the relevance of dosa to
(03:14):
one's prakriti and vikruti,which I guess, to put it in you
know, like very basic terms, iswhat you are born with and what
(03:35):
you are post right, right, andyou know, just again, if I put
it into perspective, I'm goingto start talking about what
doshas are for people in a verysimple manner, and then we'll
talk about what prakriti is andwhat vikruti is in relationship
with doshas.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
And for anybody who's listening, even if you've never
heard about doshas or ayurveda,let's just present you with
this idea.
So, as a human body, as a humanbeing, there are three
functions that you'reessentially doing throughout
your life.
The three functions arebuilding, right, and they are.
You're always building cells.
(04:09):
You're building nutrients.
You know you're buildingtissues out of the foods you eat
.
There's always a buildingprocess, which you can.
Of course, it's exaggerated inchildhood because it's really a
building phase.
You're born maybe 18, 19 inchesand by a year's time you are
like this toddler right.
So the building is exaggeratedin childhood, but you have a
building function.
And there's another functiontransformation, because we are
building and then we all need totransform.
(04:31):
You need to transform the foodthat we eat.
When we see something or weread something, we transform
that into information andmemories.
You know you're transformingnervous signals all the time.
So transformation is a secondfunction.
You know that we have, as humanbeings, a very dominant
function.
The third is movement anddecline.
Right, for all of this tohappen, you know, for even your
arm to move or fortransportation of substances to
(04:55):
happen, there's a function ofmovement which is inherent in
your body.
And I say movement and declinebecause things need to be
eliminated from your body, right, even as we age, things need to
be eliminated from your body,right, even as we age, things
need to, kind of, you know,decline, decay, eliminate, and
that is a third function, rightnow, in terms of doshas.
These are, these are thefunctions.
The kapha dosha is the buildingfunction.
(05:17):
Your body is building, building, building that is supported by
this term called kapha dosha.
Transformation is supported bysomething called pitta dosha.
Transformation is supported bysomething called pitta dosha,
which transforms everything, andthe movement and decline is
supported by vata dosha.
However, what we can have is atendency to have one of these
(05:38):
functions more exaggerated thanothers.
So, in an ideal situation,you're building appropriately or
transforming appropriately, andthen your movement and decline
is appropriate, right.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
So, in other words, all of us have all three
components.
It's just what we are, kind ofmore dominant or made rather,
you know, we tend to show moredominance exactly right.
Speaker 2 (06:04):
So the way, so the way I say right, is that some.
So, of course, given the ageright, children will always
build more teenagers in youryouth, you're always
transforming more.
All the knowledge you knowbecomes productive work.
You're procreating, you'rehaving children.
You know teenagers or evenyoung.
The more younger you are, theyou'll quickly metabolize and
transform your food.
So that's dominated bytransformation and you're only
(06:26):
just dominated by movement anddecline.
You dry up and your bodyshrivels up.
But what happens is that all ofus, right, could have an
exaggerated tendency for one ofthese functions lifelong.
For example, if your body likesto build more, or if you're
kapha dominant, then youbasically are.
You know, let's say the easiestway to see this you have more
(06:47):
excess tissue than anybody else.
You're even slower, right,because when you're building,
things slow down, so you'reslower.
You may be more grounded inyour speech.
Your everything is more, youknow.
You may have bigger eyes,bigger head.
Everything is more building,building If you'd like to
transform more.
You may have a very active mind, but you may be very sharp and
focused.
Your digestion may be hot.
You may react stronger to thesun, because anytime you have
(07:10):
the opportunity to transform,your body likes to over
transform.
It loves transformation andVata is dominated by like more
of a movement.
You know there are children wholike to move a lot.
Their attention is not in oneplace, they're always fidgeting
and they're going from one thingto the other.
That could be a tendency.
We could have it throughout ourlives the dry moving tendency.
(07:30):
So if, depending on what yourexaggerated tendency is now I'll
go to prakriti and vikruti,we're all depending on the
nature of the sperm and the eggat conception.
You are usually born right,unless you're in perfect balance
and harmony and all three areequal.
Most of us are born with adominance.
Some people are those childrenwho just build and sleep.
(07:54):
You know those cuddly bigchildren or kids who break out
into hot rashes and they arelike transforming.
They have loose stools and hotrashes and they cannot take the
sun and they are like the pittachildren.
And there could be kids who arejust uneasy and moving and hot
rashes and they cannot take thesun and they're like the pitta
children.
And there could be kids who arejust uneasy and moving and
fidgeting and not sleeping.
Well, because vata likes tomove and not rest, they could be
the vata children, and sothat's prakriti.
Speaker 1 (08:13):
However, as would that be the say, all the khalik
and everything that happens youknow.
Would you categorize that asvata for the most part right.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
The stomach, the air filling in places, that unease
you see.
In childhood it's very distinct.
In babies you can see thesethree very distinctly.
And then as we grow right,depending on what we consume,
where we live, what experienceswe have, how we interact with
the world, that can change youroriginal constitution a little
(08:45):
bit, like kind of all create animbalance, what you would say,
and that is called vikruti.
So your vikruti is theimbalance that has happened
beyond and beneath.
You could be born with a kaphadominance, but you could adopt
regimens which keep you healthyright, or with a pitta or with a
(09:06):
vata, but as we kind of reallycreate imbalance, that imbalance
is called vikruti.
Okay, and it could be the same.
It could be the same.
You could be have kaphaprakriti and you could have
kapha vikruti, which meansyou've really exaggerated it
even beyond what you were bornwith.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
You can quickly touch upon the role of emotions, say
fear, anger, overthinking andthose kind of stuff, how it
plays into someone feeling goodor not feeling so good.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
So the first sutra of the Ashtangra Daya, which is
one of my favorite ancient texts, is Raga Adi Rogan All the
diseases which begin atemotional imbalance.
Raga is lust, adhis, etc.
So anything that goes wrong inyour body, any disease begins
with an emotion, because even ifyou eat extra, you're basically
(10:01):
greedy.
So it's a big part of it.
Right Now there are two aspectsof it and I want to touch upon
both briefly.
Right now.
There are two aspects of it andI want to touch upon both
briefly.
One aspect is every emotionwill support one of these
functions.
Right, I'm gonna just help you,I'm gonna get your help now
again, getting into the gunas,the properties, the qualitative
(10:22):
aspects of things.
Now you talk about uh, you saidoverthinking right, or anxiety,
or anxiety.
Does that have movement?
Of course it's an intuitiveconcept.
Is it a movement right in yournervous system, or is it like a
sluggish denial, depression inyour movement system, in your
nervous system?
Speaker 1 (10:41):
I would say movement because I think it's dynamic,
depending on the situation.
You know, because I think it'sdynamic, depending on the
situation, you know, certainthings can make me think a lot
Certain times, certain juncturesI would just be content with
okay, I can just be easy andmove on.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
Absolutely right.
So it supports movement.
The guna of overthinking ismovement, because in your brain
you had a thought.
Now the thought is ruminating,it's staying and it's picking up
pace.
It picks up pace, for example.
It just the more you think, thefaster it moves in your brain
and you can't take it anymoreand I like fight or flight mode
yeah, right, I know, andsometimes there's freeze mode
(11:21):
where you just go shut down, um,but so, so you tell me.
So, in that, right, when wetalked about the three functions
, we talked about kapha, whichis more building, grounding
slower.
We talked about pitta, which ismore transformative and hot.
And there's the third, vata,which is movement and decline.
So if this is movement and vatais movement, right, this
(11:42):
emotion will aggravate vata,which means you will be drier.
And then, of course, there's awhole science into everything
that goes with that, which meansyou will stay up more, you will
be drier.
And then, of course, there's awhole science into everything
that goes with that, which meansyou will stay up more, you'll
be more anxious, you'll feelmore depleted, you'll be more
tired, etc.
So, every emotion I'm going toask you another emotion, just
very quickly anger, is it hot,is it, you know, like?
(12:03):
Is it hot or cold, for example,hot, hot, right, and pitta is
hot.
So people who, people who areangry, usually can feel very hot
, they can get acidity, they canget.
So every emotion can support acorresponding reaction in your
body today, in the west.
So that's the one aspect of it,right.
In fact, in the first few sutrasof the ashtangarudayam would
(12:23):
say what will increase vata?
It says chiya.
Chintiya is a word Besidesmovement, dryness.
It says chintiya will increasevata, which means when you're
thinking too much, it willincrease vata.
Right, depression, sluggishnesswill increase kapha because
it's an immobile.
It holds the same place.
Emotions have a very, very bigrole, not only in the way they
(12:46):
respond, interact with your body, but in terms of the choices
you make in the world.
So, from within to outside,emotions will determine how you
interact with the world.
Now, that's the second aspect.
Right is that every emotion hasa corresponding chemical
reaction in the body right.
Very simple.
(13:06):
I'm thinking about, let's say,the loss of a loved one which
has not even happened.
It could be so powerful that Icould release tears, that's a
chemical reaction, right?
so one thought, which may noteven be real, has a chemical
reaction with that.
Every single thought 24, 7alters your body's chemistry.
In the long term, the chemistrywill alter the biology of the
(13:29):
body and again you have yourhealth is affected because your
biology, I mean we, are beingfed by this transportation,
nutrient transportation system,your blood, your plasma, that
goes all around the body andevery thought changes your blood
chemistry.
Then it's a no-brainer that howimportant emotions are,
emotions that are in equilibriumto what your body is the
(13:52):
nutrients of your body.
So, that being said, emotionsbig role in the choices you make
in the climate and environmentof your body and I'm so glad
more and more we're talkingabout this today.
Speaker 1 (14:05):
What about hydration?
How important is it?
Several people think, ohmorning, I get up, I gulp down a
liter of water or, like youknow, okay, four cups of water.
What is the role of doingthings correctly, so as not to
disturb the equilibrium or theinternal climate that you're
(14:26):
talking about?
Speaker 2 (14:28):
I have to say that you're very intuitive about this
science.
It's been such a pleasure totalk to you.
You can really take it in a verydeep manner.
I love it and you know, this isone of the things that I see,
right, what is the journey?
We start off in youth likegrape and we end up as raisins.
Old age, we're like raisins,all wrinkled, and the difference
(14:52):
between the grape and theraisin is the loss of water
content, the dryness that sense.
So, then, the preservation ofyouth and the preservation of
longevity is preservation ofthose fluid elements.
But the fluid elements are notjust hydration and water.
That is the important part.
(15:13):
The fluid elements haseverything that's soft and fluid
, most importantly, good fat,right.
So water is very complicated,because water can change which
membrane it is in given osmoticpressure, right, and and you
have to think about it, like,even if you've ever worked in a,
in a farm, right it's, thefarmer is very careful about how
(15:34):
much he waters, how he waters,whether, even if you have a
plant at home, you cannot justdunk a bucket of water.
Yeah, absolutely.
There's a certain time it'llabsorb water better.
There's a certain speed it willabsorb water.
You can't put it in one part.
So, similarly, we have, I thinkover hydration is a problem,
right, because you know, overhydration is 100 a problem
(15:55):
because you're, there'smembranes in your body.
You know, and it's like, let'ssay, the concentric circles and
this exchange of fluids is sucha big part of it how it goes
through every membrane.
We kind of distort thatfunction when we just guzzle
crazy amounts of water, eventhough it goes through our GI,
gastrointestinal tract andAyurveda.
You know fluids are separatedand all of that happens, but
(16:18):
still it's very important.
That being said, I say you drinkin Ayurveda, you drink to
thirst.
Drinking excessively affects,it's like a monsoon in your gut.
It's going to make it slimy,give rise to parasites, kill
your agni.
Things won't grow properly.
Agni is a digestifier, so youdon't overhydrate.
(16:40):
I see you drink warm water, sipby sip to thirst throughout the
day, more in the first half,less in the second half of the
day, and um, and then your bodyalready knows that happens when
it's sip by sip.
It's lateral, it's slowerabsorption, you're not guzzling,
everything goes right.
The temperature of your body,being warm-blooded, is kept
(17:01):
intact.
That being said, you you makesure that you're not depriving
your body of fats at all, right?
So of course you always supportin India, in Indian food,
there's always a concept of avaghar, which means you temper
your spices in a good fat.
That's brilliant because thespices, which are the hot nature
, will help in the breakdown ofthe fat.
(17:23):
So your fat is being brokendown nicely.
You're not doing crazy amounts,you're doing in moderation
throughout the day.
You're oiling your body but notdepriving yourself.
Right?
Some people are like this is anamazing chickpea salad.
It has no fat, it has nothing,just.
Oh yeah, I'm like that is theproblem.
If you put the fat and you putthe spices, I will take it right
(17:44):
.
So, for example, um, I thinkthat's the one basic principle
keep fats and keep spices in allyour foods.
Of course, depending on howmuch you can take and digest, it
doesn't have to be greatamounts, but that's your key to
preservation of life.
Speaker 1 (18:00):
OK, and so we really can't emphasize more that there
is no one size fits all approachto anything for that matter.
Fits all approach to anythingfor that matter.
What is the role of Agni insomeone being at their robust
health?
And what about the doshas, vata, pitta, kapha?
(18:20):
And can Agni differ based onthe body types or the
categorization?
Speaker 2 (18:27):
Absolutely so.
Agni is extremely important,right?
I mean, it's what agni is?
Your digestive environment inthe gut which supports a
breakdown of your food,absorption of nutrients,
transportation of nutrients,right?
So, really, digestion,absorption, separating nutrients
(18:47):
and waste and then sending themoff where they need to go.
So you are only as strong asyour agni is you can.
I have not met a single personwho says my agni is fine and I'm
not.
And, uh, you know, if there'sany disease, it starts, I mean,
in your physical realm.
Agni becomes a part.
Even if it's an emotional realm, eventually agni will become a
part of it.
Now, so why my question to you?
(19:08):
Is that?
So if the function of Kaphabecause we're seeing how Agni
differs in Doshas if thefunction of Kapha is to slow
down the breakdown, you thinkthe Agni will burn sharper.
If you want to slow cooksomething, is the Agni going to
burn sharper or duller?
Speaker 1 (19:26):
Oh, it's going to be a very gradual process, I would
think.
Speaker 2 (19:30):
So Kapha has lower Agni because it builds more.
So, kapha, if you have adominance, kapha, prakriti or
vikruti and you're like, oh mygod, I eat so much, I build so
much because your agni is notbreaking things down, right
pitta, if pitta transformsquickly, will the agni be
sharper or duller?
It's probably going to be veryrapid, very sharp.
Right just burns things upright like lava.
(19:52):
So generally people with pittapitta can, they can have soft
bowel movements, go two, threetimes because their body breaks
down.
Vata is volatile.
It's wind.
On a windy day you're making abonfire doesn't work, but it
could be because it's veryvolatile.
Sometimes it's windy, sometimesit's like it's a volatile thing
, it's moving all the time.
(20:12):
So with vata it could bevolatile.
Agni means it's, it can burn.
Well, one day hungry, one dayI'm hungry, one day I'm not
hungry, one day I'm constipated,one day I'm not constipated,
and that could be your typicalvata digestive okay, makes a lot
of sense.
Speaker 1 (20:27):
How best can you build your agni?
Speaker 2 (20:30):
and anybody listening to this.
The first thing I want you toknow is that ayurveda is the
science of flow, of finding yourflow.
So don't let any of thisinformation make you rigid and
be like oh my God, now I have todo this Because by that token
the flow is going to bedisturbed.
You understand the beauty andthe order of nature and you
embrace it with love.
(20:50):
That's the way to followAyurveda.
I mean, only then can you beAyurvedic.
But you're going to like I haveto eat at five, you're not right
it has a flow, because you'reworking in flow and harmony now,
that being said, just thegentle understanding of how we
are diurnal mammals we wake upwith the sun and we sleep with
the sun, and the sun determinesall our cycles and how we
(21:11):
function.
When to sleep, when to wake?
Okay, so when the sun is at itspeak and the metabolic activity
is the highest, your agnicorresponds with the sun.
Your agni is the highest whenthe sun is highest.
So lunchtime around 12 1 iswhen your digestive fire will do
the best job of digesting yourfood.
When do you go to bed?
When the sun is down.
(21:33):
When the sun is down, there's aslow down, and by 10 between 10
and 2 are the best hours to beasleep.
So you want to ideally sleep asclose to 10 as possible.
Right, but all our cues?
It's such an intuitive science.
Whatever activity you want to do, let's see what's happening in
the world outside and understandwhat might be happening in the
world inside, and then take thatgesture.
(21:53):
And if you did that, whatyou're doing is essentially
swimming with the tide.
Instead of saying I'm going toeat dinner, your body is
swimming against the tide Atevery given hour.
There are certain juices.
I'm going to call them juices.
People can call them hormones,neurotransmitters I'm going to
just call them juices.
There are certain juicesreleased at different parts of
different times of the day.
(22:13):
Those juices support certainactivities and while those
juices are still living in yourbody, you want to conduct those
activities.
So they happen effortlessly.
And they happen with these,whether it's sleeping at 10
because you have highermelatonin, or whether it's
eating lunch at lunchtimebecause you have more digestive
(22:33):
enzymes.
Speaker 1 (22:35):
Okay, Is the importance of sleep in helping
an individual rejuvenate andfeel good?
Because that seems like a muchignored aspect and I want you to
throw light on that aspectplease.
Speaker 2 (22:48):
So the night is as important, if not more, than the
day.
All our life is about designingour day.
I say, if you put half as mucheffort in designing your night,
planning for your night, youwon't have to do much in the day
.
Like the day will be a breezebecause the three pillars and I
and I, whether the three pillarsof well-being are a hard food.
(23:12):
Nidra, sleep, brahmacharya'syou how much you, how
appropriately you use yoursenses.
Nidra, or sleep, is huge fromall aspects.
Your body is going through freerepair, like your cells say hey
, you know, there's such aloving, oh, my god, I find so,
feel so grateful to the bodybecause it's such a loving
service your body offers andsays hey, you know, you know why
(23:34):
go to sleep.
It's time for you to rest.
I'll do the work and you knowall of these great juices come
out to rest, repair, see what'sneeded, what's not needed, to
throw gunk out, to processemotions.
I mean, what a gift.
Sleep is right.
Speaker 1 (23:49):
The role of exercise in an individual being.
You know again, feeling good,feeling healthy, and we talked
about the mind body connectionand whatnot and we have covered
so much here, nidhi.
What is the role of exercise?
Speaker 2 (24:04):
exercise again.
Vyayama, I mean, even before wehad the word exercise, vyayama
was a part of our science andyou know your body needs to move
.
I mean, yoga has its own.
Asana has its own merits.
Right, normal vayama, normalexercise also has its amazing
merits because you're it's likeyou just you take your car for a
(24:24):
drive if you've not driven it.
Right, because everything needsto be moving, everything needs
to be stimulated.
When you do vayama or exercise,and especially asana, you're
kind of stimulating certainglands in your body.
You're moving your joints,you're stimulating your glands
and ensuring health.
We look after our muscle,whatever we can see.
We look after skin, hair, buttheir glands and their muscles
and their body is working sohard always to keep them.
(24:47):
Exercise helps to restore theirhealth and to keep them in
motion, to keep them working.
So I say exercise is extremelyimportant.
But even in your mental health,right, our nervous system we
just said right In the beginningof the podcast that anxiety is
this mobile, overthinkingNervous system establishes loves
to go in a rut.
(25:07):
It's like this.
It'll catch on to this.
Let's go this way.
I'm working hard, I just keepworking hard, I'm just going to
keep doing that and your nervoussystem loves this clingy child
that wants to cling on tosomething right?
When you're inspired, you'reover-inspired, right?
So exercise allows you tosystematically break that
obsession that your nervoussystem goes into, and it's a
(25:27):
gift to your nervous system tobe able to do that.
So it's a no-brainer for everyindividual to exercise.
Speaker 1 (25:33):
Okay, what a fascinating conversation, nidhi.
That was our guest, nidhiPandya, on emotional, physical
(25:53):
and mental well-being.
Hope you enjoyed this episode.
Be sure to follow the podcast,rate the podcast and leave a
review from your podcast app ofchoice.
Follow me on Instagram andYouTube at YP Kumar.
That's V-A-I-P-K-U-M-A-R forall things digital media and
lifestyle.
Until next time with yetanother interesting guest and
(26:14):
yet another interesting topic.
It's me, vaibh Singh.
Next time with yet anotherinteresting guest and yet
another interesting topic.
Welcome to Freshly Forever, a podcast that gives
you fascinating insights weekafter week.
Here's your host, vaikumar.
Hey folks, welcome to anotherepisode on podcast, freshly
Forever.
Today we are here to break downthe topic of what it means to
(00:32):
be really healthy.
Health, I guess, is acombination of emotional,
physical and social well-being.
But let's find out what ourexpert, nidhi Pandya, an
Ayurvedic practitioner from NewYork, has to say on these
different aspects as she walksus through the different facets
(00:55):
from an Ayurvedic perspective.
Indian system of medicine.
That truly is the science oflife.
It just tells us how webasically lead life so we can be
on this path to wellness.
Let's get to the episode.
Your background in Ayurveda.
(01:17):
Can you tell listeners how itall started and how you got
oriented and initiated?
Speaker 2 (01:24):
into it.
So I was actually born in afamily where my grandfather was
an Ayurveda healer, so I livedin a huge joint family, so
everything I thought that's howeverybody in the world lives.
Actually, I was naive enough tothink that way, but I basically
grew up with it as a part of mydaily life.
Always, given that we were afamily of 14 people, there was
(01:44):
always awareness that eachperson responds differently to
heat, to the weather, todifferent foods, to even
different emotional stimulus.
Right Like, for example, I saythat if you know, something went
off if two of us were scoldedfor something.
Each person respondsdifferently.
So the awareness that what youare within, what your body and
your mind are within, is reallyhow you interact with the world,
(02:07):
and a lot of the Western focusis that, oh, it depends on what
you consume was studying moresociology, psychology, marketing
till that point.
But when I reached a point andI said, wow, like what's really
(02:32):
missing in the world is thisawareness of self which comes
through Ayurveda.
And then I went and got yearsand years of formal education
and I always said that it neverends.
So I'm still such a vast andamazing science.
So I'm still a student ofAyurveda, but really my journey
started with being born into afamily which had this deep
awareness.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
Excellent, and every day is a learning journey, right
for all of us.
So you know it's it's acontinuous process and, speaking
about you know you said howeach of us react to situations
is all because of what we arecomposed of, and you know what
we are right now, listeners,what the relevance of dosa to
(03:14):
one's prakriti and vikruti,which I guess, to put it in you
know, like very basic terms, iswhat you are born with and what
(03:35):
you are post right, right, andyou know, just again, if I put
it into perspective, I'm goingto start talking about what
doshas are for people in a verysimple manner, and then we'll
talk about what prakriti is andwhat vikruti is in relationship
with doshas.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
And for anybody who's listening, even if you've never
heard about doshas or ayurveda,let's just present you with
this idea.
So, as a human body, as a humanbeing, there are three
functions that you'reessentially doing throughout
your life.
The three functions arebuilding, right, and they are.
You're always building cells.
(04:09):
You're building nutrients.
You know you're buildingtissues out of the foods you eat
.
There's always a buildingprocess, which you can.
Of course, it's exaggerated inchildhood because it's really a
building phase.
You're born maybe 18, 19 inchesand by a year's time you are
like this toddler right.
So the building is exaggeratedin childhood, but you have a
building function.
And there's another functiontransformation, because we are
building and then we all need totransform.
(04:31):
You need to transform the foodthat we eat.
When we see something or weread something, we transform
that into information andmemories.
You know you're transformingnervous signals all the time.
So transformation is a secondfunction.
You know that we have, as humanbeings, a very dominant
function.
The third is movement anddecline.
Right, for all of this tohappen, you know, for even your
arm to move or fortransportation of substances to
(04:55):
happen, there's a function ofmovement which is inherent in
your body.
And I say movement and declinebecause things need to be
eliminated from your body, right, even as we age, things need to
be eliminated from your body,right, even as we age, things
need to, kind of, you know,decline, decay, eliminate, and
that is a third function, rightnow, in terms of doshas.
These are, these are thefunctions.
The kapha dosha is the buildingfunction.
(05:17):
Your body is building, building, building that is supported by
this term called kapha dosha.
Transformation is supported bysomething called pitta dosha.
Transformation is supported bysomething called pitta dosha,
which transforms everything, andthe movement and decline is
supported by vata dosha.
However, what we can have is atendency to have one of these
(05:38):
functions more exaggerated thanothers.
So, in an ideal situation,you're building appropriately or
transforming appropriately, andthen your movement and decline
is appropriate, right.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
So, in other words, all of us have all three
components.
It's just what we are, kind ofmore dominant or made rather,
you know, we tend to show moredominance exactly right.
Speaker 2 (06:04):
So the way, so the way I say right, is that some.
So, of course, given the ageright, children will always
build more teenagers in youryouth, you're always
transforming more.
All the knowledge you knowbecomes productive work.
You're procreating, you'rehaving children.
You know teenagers or evenyoung.
The more younger you are, theyou'll quickly metabolize and
transform your food.
So that's dominated bytransformation and you're only
(06:26):
just dominated by movement anddecline.
You dry up and your bodyshrivels up.
But what happens is that all ofus, right, could have an
exaggerated tendency for one ofthese functions lifelong.
For example, if your body likesto build more, or if you're
kapha dominant, then youbasically are.
You know, let's say the easiestway to see this you have more
(06:47):
excess tissue than anybody else.
You're even slower, right,because when you're building,
things slow down, so you'reslower.
You may be more grounded inyour speech.
Your everything is more, youknow.
You may have bigger eyes,bigger head.
Everything is more building,building If you'd like to
transform more.
You may have a very active mind, but you may be very sharp and
focused.
Your digestion may be hot.
You may react stronger to thesun, because anytime you have
(07:10):
the opportunity to transform,your body likes to over
transform.
It loves transformation andVata is dominated by like more
of a movement.
You know there are children wholike to move a lot.
Their attention is not in oneplace, they're always fidgeting
and they're going from one thingto the other.
That could be a tendency.
We could have it throughout ourlives the dry moving tendency.
(07:30):
So if, depending on what yourexaggerated tendency is now I'll
go to prakriti and vikruti,we're all depending on the
nature of the sperm and the eggat conception.
You are usually born right,unless you're in perfect balance
and harmony and all three areequal.
Most of us are born with adominance.
Some people are those childrenwho just build and sleep.
(07:54):
You know those cuddly bigchildren or kids who break out
into hot rashes and they arelike transforming.
They have loose stools and hotrashes and they cannot take the
sun and they are like the pittachildren.
And there could be kids who arejust uneasy and moving and hot
rashes and they cannot take thesun and they're like the pitta
children.
And there could be kids who arejust uneasy and moving and
fidgeting and not sleeping.
Well, because vata likes tomove and not rest, they could be
the vata children, and sothat's prakriti.
Speaker 1 (08:13):
However, as would that be the say, all the khalik
and everything that happens youknow.
Would you categorize that asvata for the most part right.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
The stomach, the air filling in places, that unease
you see.
In childhood it's very distinct.
In babies you can see thesethree very distinctly.
And then as we grow right,depending on what we consume,
where we live, what experienceswe have, how we interact with
the world, that can change youroriginal constitution a little
(08:45):
bit, like kind of all create animbalance, what you would say,
and that is called vikruti.
So your vikruti is theimbalance that has happened
beyond and beneath.
You could be born with a kaphadominance, but you could adopt
regimens which keep you healthyright, or with a pitta or with a
(09:06):
vata, but as we kind of reallycreate imbalance, that imbalance
is called vikruti.
Okay, and it could be the same.
It could be the same.
You could be have kaphaprakriti and you could have
kapha vikruti, which meansyou've really exaggerated it
even beyond what you were bornwith.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
You can quickly touch upon the role of emotions, say
fear, anger, overthinking andthose kind of stuff, how it
plays into someone feeling goodor not feeling so good.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
So the first sutra of the Ashtangra Daya, which is
one of my favorite ancient texts, is Raga Adi Rogan All the
diseases which begin atemotional imbalance.
Raga is lust, adhis, etc.
So anything that goes wrong inyour body, any disease begins
with an emotion, because even ifyou eat extra, you're basically
(10:01):
greedy.
So it's a big part of it.
Right Now there are two aspectsof it and I want to touch upon
both briefly.
Right now.
There are two aspects of it andI want to touch upon both
briefly.
One aspect is every emotionwill support one of these
functions.
Right, I'm gonna just help you,I'm gonna get your help now
again, getting into the gunas,the properties, the qualitative
(10:22):
aspects of things.
Now you talk about uh, you saidoverthinking right, or anxiety,
or anxiety.
Does that have movement?
Of course it's an intuitiveconcept.
Is it a movement right in yournervous system, or is it like a
sluggish denial, depression inyour movement system, in your
nervous system?
Speaker 1 (10:41):
I would say movement because I think it's dynamic,
depending on the situation.
You know, because I think it'sdynamic, depending on the
situation, you know, certainthings can make me think a lot
Certain times, certain juncturesI would just be content with
okay, I can just be easy andmove on.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
Absolutely right.
So it supports movement.
The guna of overthinking ismovement, because in your brain
you had a thought.
Now the thought is ruminating,it's staying and it's picking up
pace.
It picks up pace, for example.
It just the more you think, thefaster it moves in your brain
and you can't take it anymoreand I like fight or flight mode
yeah, right, I know, andsometimes there's freeze mode
(11:21):
where you just go shut down, um,but so, so you tell me.
So, in that, right, when wetalked about the three functions
, we talked about kapha, whichis more building, grounding
slower.
We talked about pitta, which ismore transformative and hot.
And there's the third, vata,which is movement and decline.
So if this is movement and vatais movement, right, this
(11:42):
emotion will aggravate vata,which means you will be drier.
And then, of course, there's awhole science into everything
that goes with that, which meansyou will stay up more, you will
be drier.
And then, of course, there's awhole science into everything
that goes with that, which meansyou will stay up more, you'll
be more anxious, you'll feelmore depleted, you'll be more
tired, etc.
So, every emotion I'm going toask you another emotion, just
very quickly anger, is it hot,is it, you know, like?
(12:03):
Is it hot or cold, for example,hot, hot, right, and pitta is
hot.
So people who, people who areangry, usually can feel very hot
, they can get acidity, they canget.
So every emotion can support acorresponding reaction in your
body today, in the west.
So that's the one aspect of it,right.
In fact, in the first few sutrasof the ashtangarudayam would
(12:23):
say what will increase vata?
It says chiya.
Chintiya is a word Besidesmovement, dryness.
It says chintiya will increasevata, which means when you're
thinking too much, it willincrease vata.
Right, depression, sluggishnesswill increase kapha because
it's an immobile.
It holds the same place.
Emotions have a very, very bigrole, not only in the way they
(12:46):
respond, interact with your body, but in terms of the choices
you make in the world.
So, from within to outside,emotions will determine how you
interact with the world.
Now, that's the second aspect.
Right is that every emotion hasa corresponding chemical
reaction in the body right.
Very simple.
(13:06):
I'm thinking about, let's say,the loss of a loved one which
has not even happened.
It could be so powerful that Icould release tears, that's a
chemical reaction, right?
so one thought, which may noteven be real, has a chemical
reaction with that.
Every single thought 24, 7alters your body's chemistry.
In the long term, the chemistrywill alter the biology of the
(13:29):
body and again you have yourhealth is affected because your
biology, I mean we, are beingfed by this transportation,
nutrient transportation system,your blood, your plasma, that
goes all around the body andevery thought changes your blood
chemistry.
Then it's a no-brainer that howimportant emotions are,
emotions that are in equilibriumto what your body is the
(13:52):
nutrients of your body.
So, that being said, emotionsbig role in the choices you make
in the climate and environmentof your body and I'm so glad
more and more we're talkingabout this today.
Speaker 1 (14:05):
What about hydration?
How important is it?
Several people think, ohmorning, I get up, I gulp down a
liter of water or, like youknow, okay, four cups of water.
What is the role of doingthings correctly, so as not to
disturb the equilibrium or theinternal climate that you're
(14:26):
talking about?
Speaker 2 (14:28):
I have to say that you're very intuitive about this
science.
It's been such a pleasure totalk to you.
You can really take it in a verydeep manner.
I love it and you know, this isone of the things that I see,
right, what is the journey?
We start off in youth likegrape and we end up as raisins.
Old age, we're like raisins,all wrinkled, and the difference
(14:52):
between the grape and theraisin is the loss of water
content, the dryness that sense.
So, then, the preservation ofyouth and the preservation of
longevity is preservation ofthose fluid elements.
But the fluid elements are notjust hydration and water.
That is the important part.
(15:13):
The fluid elements haseverything that's soft and fluid
, most importantly, good fat,right.
So water is very complicated,because water can change which
membrane it is in given osmoticpressure, right, and and you
have to think about it, like,even if you've ever worked in a,
in a farm, right it's, thefarmer is very careful about how
(15:34):
much he waters, how he waters,whether, even if you have a
plant at home, you cannot justdunk a bucket of water.
Yeah, absolutely.
There's a certain time it'llabsorb water better.
There's a certain speed it willabsorb water.
You can't put it in one part.
So, similarly, we have, I thinkover hydration is a problem,
right, because you know, overhydration is 100 a problem
(15:55):
because you're, there'smembranes in your body.
You know, and it's like, let'ssay, the concentric circles and
this exchange of fluids is sucha big part of it how it goes
through every membrane.
We kind of distort thatfunction when we just guzzle
crazy amounts of water, eventhough it goes through our GI,
gastrointestinal tract andAyurveda.
You know fluids are separatedand all of that happens, but
(16:18):
still it's very important.
That being said, I say you drinkin Ayurveda, you drink to
thirst.
Drinking excessively affects,it's like a monsoon in your gut.
It's going to make it slimy,give rise to parasites, kill
your agni.
Things won't grow properly.
Agni is a digestifier, so youdon't overhydrate.
(16:40):
I see you drink warm water, sipby sip to thirst throughout the
day, more in the first half,less in the second half of the
day, and um, and then your bodyalready knows that happens when
it's sip by sip.
It's lateral, it's slowerabsorption, you're not guzzling,
everything goes right.
The temperature of your body,being warm-blooded, is kept
(17:01):
intact.
That being said, you you makesure that you're not depriving
your body of fats at all, right?
So of course you always supportin India, in Indian food,
there's always a concept of avaghar, which means you temper
your spices in a good fat.
That's brilliant because thespices, which are the hot nature
, will help in the breakdown ofthe fat.
(17:23):
So your fat is being brokendown nicely.
You're not doing crazy amounts,you're doing in moderation
throughout the day.
You're oiling your body but notdepriving yourself.
Right?
Some people are like this is anamazing chickpea salad.
It has no fat, it has nothing,just.
Oh yeah, I'm like that is theproblem.
If you put the fat and you putthe spices, I will take it right
(17:44):
.
So, for example, um, I thinkthat's the one basic principle
keep fats and keep spices in allyour foods.
Of course, depending on howmuch you can take and digest, it
doesn't have to be greatamounts, but that's your key to
preservation of life.
Speaker 1 (18:00):
OK, and so we really can't emphasize more that there
is no one size fits all approachto anything for that matter.
Fits all approach to anythingfor that matter.
What is the role of Agni insomeone being at their robust
health?
And what about the doshas, vata, pitta, kapha?
(18:20):
And can Agni differ based onthe body types or the
categorization?
Speaker 2 (18:27):
Absolutely so.
Agni is extremely important,right?
I mean, it's what agni is?
Your digestive environment inthe gut which supports a
breakdown of your food,absorption of nutrients,
transportation of nutrients,right?
So, really, digestion,absorption, separating nutrients
(18:47):
and waste and then sending themoff where they need to go.
So you are only as strong asyour agni is you can.
I have not met a single personwho says my agni is fine and I'm
not.
And, uh, you know, if there'sany disease, it starts, I mean,
in your physical realm.
Agni becomes a part.
Even if it's an emotional realm, eventually agni will become a
part of it.
Now, so why my question to you?
(19:08):
Is that?
So if the function of Kaphabecause we're seeing how Agni
differs in Doshas if thefunction of Kapha is to slow
down the breakdown, you thinkthe Agni will burn sharper.
If you want to slow cooksomething, is the Agni going to
burn sharper or duller?
Speaker 1 (19:26):
Oh, it's going to be a very gradual process, I would
think.
Speaker 2 (19:30):
So Kapha has lower Agni because it builds more.
So, kapha, if you have adominance, kapha, prakriti or
vikruti and you're like, oh mygod, I eat so much, I build so
much because your agni is notbreaking things down, right
pitta, if pitta transformsquickly, will the agni be
sharper or duller?
It's probably going to be veryrapid, very sharp.
Right just burns things upright like lava.
(19:52):
So generally people with pittapitta can, they can have soft
bowel movements, go two, threetimes because their body breaks
down.
Vata is volatile.
It's wind.
On a windy day you're making abonfire doesn't work, but it
could be because it's veryvolatile.
Sometimes it's windy, sometimesit's like it's a volatile thing
, it's moving all the time.
(20:12):
So with vata it could bevolatile.
Agni means it's, it can burn.
Well, one day hungry, one dayI'm hungry, one day I'm not
hungry, one day I'm constipated,one day I'm not constipated,
and that could be your typicalvata digestive okay, makes a lot
of sense.
Speaker 1 (20:27):
How best can you build your agni?
Speaker 2 (20:30):
and anybody listening to this.
The first thing I want you toknow is that ayurveda is the
science of flow, of finding yourflow.
So don't let any of thisinformation make you rigid and
be like oh my God, now I have todo this Because by that token
the flow is going to bedisturbed.
You understand the beauty andthe order of nature and you
embrace it with love.
(20:50):
That's the way to followAyurveda.
I mean, only then can you beAyurvedic.
But you're going to like I haveto eat at five, you're not right
it has a flow, because you'reworking in flow and harmony now,
that being said, just thegentle understanding of how we
are diurnal mammals we wake upwith the sun and we sleep with
the sun, and the sun determinesall our cycles and how we
(21:11):
function.
When to sleep, when to wake?
Okay, so when the sun is at itspeak and the metabolic activity
is the highest, your agnicorresponds with the sun.
Your agni is the highest whenthe sun is highest.
So lunchtime around 12 1 iswhen your digestive fire will do
the best job of digesting yourfood.
When do you go to bed?
When the sun is down.
(21:33):
When the sun is down, there's aslow down, and by 10 between 10
and 2 are the best hours to beasleep.
So you want to ideally sleep asclose to 10 as possible.
Right, but all our cues?
It's such an intuitive science.
Whatever activity you want to do, let's see what's happening in
the world outside and understandwhat might be happening in the
world inside, and then take thatgesture.
(21:53):
And if you did that, whatyou're doing is essentially
swimming with the tide.
Instead of saying I'm going toeat dinner, your body is
swimming against the tide Atevery given hour.
There are certain juices.
I'm going to call them juices.
People can call them hormones,neurotransmitters I'm going to
just call them juices.
There are certain juicesreleased at different parts of
different times of the day.
(22:13):
Those juices support certainactivities and while those
juices are still living in yourbody, you want to conduct those
activities.
So they happen effortlessly.
And they happen with these,whether it's sleeping at 10
because you have highermelatonin, or whether it's
eating lunch at lunchtimebecause you have more digestive
(22:33):
enzymes.
Speaker 1 (22:35):
Okay, Is the importance of sleep in helping
an individual rejuvenate andfeel good?
Because that seems like a muchignored aspect and I want you to
throw light on that aspectplease.
Speaker 2 (22:48):
So the night is as important, if not more, than the
day.
All our life is about designingour day.
I say, if you put half as mucheffort in designing your night,
planning for your night, youwon't have to do much in the day
.
Like the day will be a breezebecause the three pillars and I
and I, whether the three pillarsof well-being are a hard food.
(23:12):
Nidra, sleep, brahmacharya'syou how much you, how
appropriately you use yoursenses.
Nidra, or sleep, is huge fromall aspects.
Your body is going through freerepair, like your cells say hey
, you know, there's such aloving, oh, my god, I find so,
feel so grateful to the bodybecause it's such a loving
service your body offers andsays hey, you know, you know why
(23:34):
go to sleep.
It's time for you to rest.
I'll do the work and you knowall of these great juices come
out to rest, repair, see what'sneeded, what's not needed, to
throw gunk out, to processemotions.
I mean, what a gift.
Sleep is right.
Speaker 1 (23:49):
The role of exercise in an individual being.
You know again, feeling good,feeling healthy, and we talked
about the mind body connectionand whatnot and we have covered
so much here, nidhi.
What is the role of exercise?
Speaker 2 (24:04):
exercise again.
Vyayama, I mean, even before wehad the word exercise, vyayama
was a part of our science andyou know your body needs to move
.
I mean, yoga has its own.
Asana has its own merits.
Right, normal vayama, normalexercise also has its amazing
merits because you're it's likeyou just you take your car for a
(24:24):
drive if you've not driven it.
Right, because everything needsto be moving, everything needs
to be stimulated.
When you do vayama or exercise,and especially asana, you're
kind of stimulating certainglands in your body.
You're moving your joints,you're stimulating your glands
and ensuring health.
We look after our muscle,whatever we can see.
We look after skin, hair, buttheir glands and their muscles
and their body is working sohard always to keep them.
(24:47):
Exercise helps to restore theirhealth and to keep them in
motion, to keep them working.
So I say exercise is extremelyimportant.
But even in your mental health,right, our nervous system we
just said right In the beginningof the podcast that anxiety is
this mobile, overthinkingNervous system establishes loves
to go in a rut.
(25:07):
It's like this.
It'll catch on to this.
Let's go this way.
I'm working hard, I just keepworking hard, I'm just going to
keep doing that and your nervoussystem loves this clingy child
that wants to cling on tosomething right?
When you're inspired, you'reover-inspired, right?
So exercise allows you tosystematically break that
obsession that your nervoussystem goes into, and it's a
(25:27):
gift to your nervous system tobe able to do that.
So it's a no-brainer for everyindividual to exercise.
Speaker 1 (25:33):
Okay, what a fascinating conversation, nidhi.
That was our guest, nidhiPandya, on emotional, physical
(25:53):
and mental well-being.
Hope you enjoyed this episode.
Be sure to follow the podcast,rate the podcast and leave a
review from your podcast app ofchoice.
Follow me on Instagram andYouTube at YP Kumar.
That's V-A-I-P-K-U-M-A-R forall things digital media and
lifestyle.
Until next time with yetanother interesting guest and
(26:14):
yet another interesting topic.
It's me, vaibh Singh.
Next time with yet anotherinteresting guest and yet
another interesting topic.
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On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!