Ayurveda and Individual Medicine
Vedic Astrology comes from a very fertile root from which other “sister sciences” were also born and bred. The more familiar of these are Yoga and Ayurveda. Traditionally they would all be practiced together: an astrologer would be thoroughly trained in Ayurveda and vice versa and would understand the techniques and aims of Yoga (which do not include, by the way, looking good in yoga pants). Rooted in this way of practicing is the understanding that an individual’s life and health have to be looked at holistically: the stars have an impact on our experience, as do diet and routine and environment. The individual’s birth stars will actually influence what diet and routine and environment are chosen, but these factors still need to be addressed. And similarly, lifestyle choices will have a reverberating effect on how the planets are acting in the chart: certain tastes, foods and colors will either strengthen or pacify the planets. So you can see that there are many angles of experience to consider and address when looking at just one life. .
Ayurveda is based on qualities: soft, hard, mobile, light, dull, heavy, etc. These qualities-taken together-define our experience. We can actually begin to treat ourselves when we become conscious of what qualities we’re carrying at any given time, how those qualities are influenced by the food we eat, the season, our environment, age and emotional state. Spring is a season that holds a lot of water, so is considered kapha (a constitution built in earth and water). There can be a tendency to feel heavy and dull, particularly if you already have a lot of water and earth in your constitution. If you are feeling this way you can take steps to introduce opposing qualities: mobility, warmth and lightness all counteract an overload of kapha. These can be brought into your life through food, physical activity or even a shift in mental/emotional approach.
Sometimes I will take stock of my internal state in the morning and make a point to choose an approach to the day that introduces an opposing quality. If I wake up feeling dull and heavy I can let that observation influence how I conduct the rest of my day. I know that I will need to move my body, introduce some inspiration into my situation, and maybe eat some lighter foods. I may even choose energizing colors like bright orange, pink and yellow.
If you wake up in such a way and don’t take notice you are likely to ‘add like to like’ and perpetuate whatever mood you’re in. You may eat a heavy breakfast for comfort, skip the meditation or yoga, wear dark colors and be sedentary—leading to the high possibility of waking up the same way the next morning. And actually if this persists for a long period of time you might think this is who are you. That’s how personalities, addictions and mental illness is born.
Our awareness alone is quite powerful for transforming our experience. Just noticing what state we’re in already brings some medicine to the situation, allowing us to not take our current state too seriously. And then if you have some knowledge of Ayurveda and your constitution you can make very intelligent decisions about how to balance your own situation. Not only can this bring peace and an ability to function more effectively in the world, but it connects you very elegantly with the cycles of nature. You can begin to feel the effects of the weather and changing of seasons on your internal state, and in adjusting your routine to those environmental factors you are actually aligning yourself with nature’s intelligence.
The birth chart is a powerful tool to see inborn constitution and the ways it is likely to become imbalanced (and the time-line for the various imbalances), what foods should be avoided and which are helpful in building strength and resilience, how the immune system and various tissue layers are functioning as well as mental health and any blockages to it. This is all part of the birth karma. It can be particularly fascinating to start to work inside your own karmic patterns with your eyes open, gently shifting negative tendencies alongside remedial measures to make your way back to your own nature!