Pitta or The Fire Handout - Yoga, Meditation, Ayurveda ... · Pitta or The Fire (the elements of...

Elemental OM, 2013, all rights reserved Pamela Quinn, [email protected] 513.315.5042, www.elementalom.com

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elem ental L ifestyl e l ed by Pamel a Quin n Author, The Elemen tal Cl ean se

Vata

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Pitta 2 3 Kapha

Pamela Quinn is a Yoga Teacher, Kundalini Teacher, Ayurvedic Specialist, Author, Social Entrepreneur, and Gifted Speaker. She is the founder of Elemental OM, has two yoga centers in Cincinnati, Ohio, is a single mother of two, and a really bad dog owner. Building upon the foundations of ancient Ayurvedic principles, Quinn takes a holistic approach to helping people create a physical, emotional and spiritual path for balanced living. As a philosophy, Ayurveda recognizes the interconnectedness of the mind, body and soul and how these dynamically link to one’s overall health and vitality. To achieve a joyful state of well being, it is important to support all of these aspects of yourself and create a lifestyle that sustains and nurtures your unique nature, or in Ayurvedic terms what is defined as one’s unique dosha.


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Pitta Body Characteristics

• Medium Frame • Proportioned shoulders and hips • Normal joints • Balanced body • Efficiently moves body • If fat accumulates, it distributes evenly on body • Easy to gain and lose weight • Light skin, freckles, burns easily in the sun • Intolerant of heat and warm to touch • Sweats a lot with strong smell, palms may sweat • Strong appetite and becomes grumpy if not fed • Loose elimination that may be hot and burning • Elimination may be more than once each day • Regular menstruation with bleeding in excess of 7 days • PMS includes irritability, food cravings, acne, and migraine • Strong desire in the bedroom • Sleeps well and wakes up rested

Common body situations that Pitta is prone to:

Loose or burning stool, gas with a foul odor, heat in the body, hot flashes, burning eyes, burning urination, inflammation, infection, sore muscles, tendons, ligaments and joints, rashes, acne, ulcers, heartburn, high cholesterol, heart attack

Pitta Mind Characteristics

• Strong, forceful personality • Practical • Courageous • Large and in Charge • Intelligent • Impatient • Passionate and active dreams • Concise speaker • Intolerant of the shortcomings of others • Strong Leader • Controlled spender • Remembers easily and forgets with difficulty • Loses temper easily and smolders • Loves to plan • Organized • Neat and clean environment with little chaos


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• Warm and compassionate • Humanitarians • Love to work

Common mind situations that Pitta is prone to:

Stress, interrupted sleep due to thoughts of work, pessimism, anger, hostility, rate, arguments, cynicism, competition, feeling that there is not enough time in the day, feeling that others are inferior or inadequate, feeling like the weight of the world is on your shoulders, headache, migraines, eyestrain

Pitta or The Fire (the elements of fire and water are abundant): When you think of Pitta in your body or mind, you have only to think again of the bonfire. The bonfire is hot, bright and pungent. The fire can flare up quickly to amazing intensity and then settle abruptly. The fire transforms all that it consumes. It radiates power, force and energy. Pitta in your mind is your ability to process emotions and ideas. It is the gift of discernment. Pitta in your body is the force of transformation including digestion, fighting infection and sight. Pitta creates a person with a strong build, strong digestion & precise speech. It creates a bright and warm person full of charm with high intelligence and good discrimination. Pitta Digestion Pitta has strong digestion. You experience intense hunger for breakfast, lunch and dinner and find that you become grumpy if you skip a meal. You like to eat at the same times each day. You find that you can eat almost anything. If anything does bother you, it tends to be spicy or sour foods. When your belly is upset, you tend to become loose during elimination, have heartburn, indigestion or an acid belly. You can easily gain and lose weight. When you do gain weight, it is because of overindulgence and settles easily on your body. The Fire Mind The Fire is the tension created when the elements Fire and Water combine. This dosha in Ayurveda is known as “Pitta”. You do have the other doshas of Wind (Vata) and Earth (Kapha) in your mind; however, their expression is not your first response. To understand how your mind behaves, you only have to think of the elements that combine to create Fire; Fire and Water. Fire is hot, bright,


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intense and abrupt. Water is cool, smooth, nourishing, moist and oily. Your personality exhibits these qualities. You probably exhibit the following characteristics in your personality: • The Fire in all minds is the process of discernment. Combine that with a predominance of Fire (Pitta) and you have a person who is very good at making decisions, managing others and leading. In a balanced state, this is a person who is “large and in charge.” You are a dynamic speaker, leader and motivator. Even in balance, this can also be troublesome as you may find that you take on the problems of the world and the responsibility to solve them. • Because of your determined mental state, you are prone to suffer from work-related stress. You may find that you feel you are the only one who can do things the correct way and that those around you are not as intelligent or capable. The lesson for the Fire is to learn to delegate through leadership and to allow others the freedom to be who they are. • You stay focused. Fires have incredible follow through. You don’t necessarily want to do the work of completing a project, but you like to see a project from start to finish. Fires have the ability to plan long-term and love goal setting. • You are fabulous at leading others to do tasks. In fact, you would thrive in a job where you are in charge of others. Fires suffer enormously when working for a company or boss who micro-manages. If working for another, Fires need to be empowered and set free to make decisions and follow through. Only someone that you greatly respect, admire and are learning from will lead you. • You take care of others. Fires are passionate about family, friends and the world. You see yourself as humanitarian and desire to solve problems for others. You are self-reliant and rarely ask for help from others, but constantly offer it. • You can be reluctant to share your emotions and fear that the emotional ups and downs in life are a sign of weakness. Others may not realize how badly you are hurting as you are very good at masking your pain. You hate mistakes and perceive that they are the fault of others’ incompetence. You prefer to do everything yourself so that it is done the “right” way. Sometimes you feel very stressed by the heavy load of responsibility you carry. You will find that you need periods of intense


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physical activity followed by rest to release your stress. You crave nature especially water. • You probably love your routine, are disciplined and organized. Fires like their offices and homes to be neat and organized. Fires tend to get up and go to bed at the same time each day as well as eat meals in a routine fashion. Fires can be vain and are disciplined in their physical practices gravitating towards energy releasing activities such as running, hiking, biking and lifting weights. • Fires are good with money. When purchasing, a Fire will go for the big-ticket item that is luxurious. • Fire minds tend to have very passionate and active dreams. The Fire Body The Fire body tends to be more mosomorphic. This means that you have a wedged shaped body (think about the V that a body builder makes with his torso). Arms and legs are muscular, shoulders are broad and hips are narrow. The body appears narrow from front to back, but not side to side. There is a minimum of fat on the body. • The Fire exhibits a lot of strength, agility and speed. You are athletic and probably love cardio and lifting weights. You see immediate benefits from these sports. It is very easy for you to gain and lose weight. • You tend to be a hot. That means you are sensitive to heat and sun with skin that tends to burn and freckle. Do use sunscreen and minimize your exposure to the sun and to extreme heat. Your skin tends to feel hot and you may sweat a lot. The heat annoys you. • Your skin tends to be oily and is prone to outbreaks even in a balanced state. Stress really does a number on your skin. Your hair may be thin and accumulate oil. • You may have a stronger body odor and breath. When you consume heating foods such as onion, garlic and peppers it is more noticeable than for the other body types. • You use your life force up more quickly than the other elements. Because of this, you are prone to premature aging and graying. Your hair may thin at an earlier age as well.


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• You have very strong digestion and can eat pretty much anything you want to. If you put on a few pounds, it’s easy for you to take it off. The caution for The Fire is not to overindulge. Because you can eat pretty much whatever you want and easily lose weight, you tend to overdo it. No one needs to tell you to eat three meals a day. Your friends could set their watches by your hunger and if you are not fed you may become grumpy and irritable. • If you have any digestive discomfort, it is in the form of heartburn, indigestion, sour belly and loose elimination. Your emotions strongly affect your digestion as well as any hot or spicy food. • You tend to have a nice asymmetrical athletic build and you love to exert yourself so it’s no problem for you to exercise vigorously. Be sure to not overindulge in exercise as well. It is very common for the Fire type to want to lift weights and artificially inflate their bodies. Make sure to incorporate a nice cool down after your workouts.


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Lifestyle Choices to Pacify Pitta

• Arise daily by 5:30 am. Use this time for yourself and spend it in silence. Pittas tend to sleep soundly and only need 6 hours of sleep on average.

• When you get out of bed, evacuate the bowels. • Drink a glass of water upon rising or 1/4 cup of aloe vera juice. • Take a daily dose of Amalaki (found in Triphala), Flax Oil and

Chavanprash (for heart and hair) • Brush your teeth with Neem toothpaste. • Swish your mouth with licorice tea. • Scrape your tongue with a tongue scraper. • Notice if flossing aggravates your gums. Some Pittas are best not to floss

and to use a water pick instead. • Wash your face with neem soap and then massage Coconut or Brahmi

Oil on your face. This will facilitate meditation and is good for the skin. • Place a few drops of Nasya or Sesame or Brahmi Oil in each nostril • Meditate for 20 - 40 minutes. This is critical to reducing the noise in the

mind. • Practice hatha yoga with a 20-minute Shavasana or resting period. • Incorporate silence into your day. Avoid TVs, radios, cell-phones, and

excessive talking. • Go for a walk every single day in nature. Pitta loves to be outdoors • Avoid activity at midday when the sun is highest. • Avoid bright and sharp light…overhead lights are not good. • Experience a full body oil massage daily before or after bathing. Use

Coconut Oil, as it is most cooling. • Meditate again at night before bed. • Spend some time in self-study and reflection through journaling. • Be in bed by 10 pm. • Sleep well.


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Work related Stress (this works for family stress too)

Pittas suffer enormously at work if they have bosses that disempower. Minimize and manage your stress at work by incorporating the following into your mind and environment:

• Arrive at work before rush hour and before coworkers. Use this time to quietly organize your day and make plans.

• Cool down your environment. Hang pictures of ocean scenes, buy a fish for your desk and bring in plants. If you listen to music, choose sounds of the ocean or nature to quietly play in the background.

• Bring in a soft lamp and turn the overhead lights off. • If you are able to close your door at work, do so. • Go for a walk outside at lunchtime. Get away from coworkers. • Relinquish your need to be right. Have three working plans in your mind

and flexibility around those plans. If someone makes a suggestion that fits into one of your plans, accept it.

• Drive home in silence and let your mind play out the events of the day. Simply observe them as if you are a witness. As emotions arise, simply notice them in a clinical and non-judgmental way. Be the observer.

• When you come home from work, greet your family with hugs and tell them you are going to take 15 minutes to unwind. Go to a secluded spot and lie down in Shavasana for ten minutes. Rest, relax and let your day go so that you can enjoy your family.

• If your family greets you at the door with their troubles, just let them talk. Relinquish the need to provide advice and solutions. They just want to talk and get it out. Just listen and let it go.

• You do love routine. Take time to schedule time for yourself daily. You require physical movement and solitude each day. Couple these needs with your love of the outdoors.

• Embrace Humor.

Give yourself a time out!

Seriously, Pitta can be abrupt and explode! When you feel anger rising during an interaction, simply give yourself and them the gift of a time out. Tell the other person that you are going to sit down and think through a few things for 5 or 10 minutes and you will get right back to them. Use the 10 minutes to simply breath in and out in a conscious way.

Ask yourself:


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• Does the other person have valid points? • Is this worth getting angry over? • Is there a better way to resolve this conflict than what we are discussing? • What else don’t I know?

Eating Routine for Pitta Dosha

• Eating 3 meals each day around the same time each day. Leave 4 to 6 hours between meals.

• Eat within one hour of rising. • Lunch is your biggest meal and includes meat if you are choosing to eat

meat. Fires make good vegetarians. Meat is not your best choice. • Foods are cool, dry and cooked or raw. You can eat RAW food. • No eating two to three hours before bedtime. • If you do snack, you should allow four hours between snacks and meals. • You benefit from a short walk after your meal. • Be careful not to overindulge. Your strong digestion appears to suffer

little from it, but you will gain weight. • Favor foods in the following order:

• Beans, all beans • Vegetables, cooked or raw • Whole grains • Fruits • Seeds

• The following spices are best for Pitta digestion: cumin, coriander, saffron, dill, fennel, mint, parsley, cinnamon, cardamom, turmeric

• You may nuts, honey and oil sparingly. Do notice how they make you feel. Many Fires have a little bit of a belly upset after eating oily nuts, heating honey and oily oil. Test it out and see how you feel.

• Eat a more bland diet. Spicy spices may not agree with you. Salt is to be avoided as it is too heating. If you currently consume these and are in balance and are not digestively disturbed, spice your food to taste.

• You may consume dairy in the form of milk, yogurt and soft cheeses like feta and goat.

Foods that do/may aggravate Pitta

• Caffeine • Alcohol especially beer and hard liquor • Fried foods • Excess Oil • Hot food (temperature hot) and drink


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• Pungent Spice (spicy spice) • Fermented foods like yogurt, pickles, vinegar • Garlic, onion, tomatoes

Quality of Meat and Dairy All meat and dairy should be organic, free range, and appropriately cared for and killed. Every time you eat, but especially when eating animal flesh, you should give a prayer of gratitude to the animal. Pitta needs to be mindful that they are predisposed to heart disease, high cholesterol and heart attack. Do keep your servings to no more than 3 each week and intend to move towards vegetarianism. It's so good for Pitta! Meat for Pitta Good: White Chicken Egg Whites Freshwater Fish Rabbit Shrimp White Turkey Venison

Not the best choice: Beef Dark meat of chicken and turkey Seafood (Salted fish) Yolk of eggs Lamb Pork

Good dairy for Pitta in moderation: Unsalted Butter Soft Cheese Cow's Milk Ghee

Goat's Milk Ice Cream Fresh Yogurt

Introduce your body to beans If you are not used to eating beans, you may have to acclimate. Plan to eat beans 2 - 3 times each week until your body adjusts to this amazing and healing food. Lentils, split mung, or dahl are the easiest beans to digest. Begin with that and then move to the beans that have thicker skins like black beans, kidney beans and navy beans.


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Your BEST veggies are: All veggies except for the ones noted below to be eaten consciously. These Veggies are pungent. Notice how they make you feel. Are they too hot? Raw Beets Fresh Corn Eggplant Mustard Greens

Onions...they are hot Peppers...they are hot Spinach Tomatoes...they are sour

Pitta Favorite Fruit Apples (choose sweet) Blueberries Cranberries Dates Figs Grapes Limes Mangoes Melons

Oranges Pears Persimmons Pineapples (sweet) Plums (sweet) Pomegranates Prunes Raspberries

Avoid fruits that are very sour or acidic Apricots Bananas Cherries Grapefruit Lemons

Oranges Papaya Peaches Strawberries

Caffeine and Alcohol For Pitta, we entirely eliminated caffeine. Alcohol is no more than 3 servings a week and best is white wine. Cool it down with laughter! I’ve heard it said that children laugh 100 to 200 times a day. The average adult laughs only 15. Of course this makes sense and we don’t want to walk around behaving like children, but we could all use a little more laughter and a


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little less stress in our day. Laughing is a habit. Humor is a habit. It’s a way to perceive the world. Because of this, we can cultivate the habit of humor and laughter and begin to see the world in a different way. Why should you laugh more? Laughing is good for your blood vessels. Researchers at the University of Maryland did a study on blood vessels using people who either watched comedies or dramas. Of course the people watching the fun stuff had better flow and less restriction. The drama people were tense. It’s believed that when you laugh and are in a good mood, you receive an immunity boost. I highly recommend Norman Cousin’s book, “Anatomy of an Illness.” Cousines was diagnosed with a spine condition. He facilitated his own healing using laughter as his primary modality. Laughter makes it easier for you get through your tough situations. There is humor in everything. You just have to look for it. Laughter may help you to manage pain by releasing natural painkillers. It also takes you out of your moment of “pain focus.” Laughing is a mental boost. You get a huge blast of oxygen to your brain and all the internal organs. That’s why you feel so light after a good laugh. It’s a nice workout too. It loosens the muscles and allows you to relax. Contemplative Exercises:

1. With whom do you laugh the most? What about that person allows you to relax and laugh?

2. Think of one situation you are currently experiencing that is causing you

stress. Can you see any humor at all in the situation? I’ll give you a personal example. Mom son cuts the yard at my house. Last summer I pulled in the driveway to find my son basically shaving the yard. He had set the lawn mower on the lowest setting to cut it as short as possible so that he wouldn’t have to cut the yard so much. Chunks of dirt were literally flying out of the mower as he made his stripes. I jumped out of the car screaming at him to stop. He simply looked at me with the silliest look completely unaware of what he was doing. His face was so funny when I pointed it out to him that I simply doubled over laughing. It also reminded me of a time when I was cutting the yard as a 12 year old on a riding mower and ran over an entire pine tree.


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3. Have you made someone laugh recently? Describe the situation and how

it made you feel. Your Challenge: Create a laughter journal. You can do this with the family. Buy a notebook and colored pens. Leave this in an accessible spot like a kitchen counter. Each family member is assigned a color. Each day, write down something that made you laugh. Read what others have shared.

Anti Jokes What did the lawyer say to the other lawyer? “We are both lawyers.”

Ask me if I’m a tree. “Are you a tree?” No. What did the rock say to the other rock? (…………….silence…………….) Rocks

don’t talk. The Truth Once Satan and his demon sidekick were walking down the street, closely watching a man 20 yards ahead who was on the verge of realizing the Supreme Truth. The demon grew worried, and began to nudge Satan, but Satan looked quite calm. Sure enough, the man did, in fact, soon realize the deepest spiritual Truth. Yet Satan still did nothing about it. With this, the demon nudged Satan harder and, getting no response, finally blurted out, “Satan! Don’t you see? That man has realized the Truth! And yet you are doing nothing to stop him!” With that, Satan cunningly smiled and announced, “Yes, he has realized the Truth. And now I am going to help him organize the Truth!” (--story heard years ago from Indian sage Jiddu Krishnamurti)

Pitta or The Fire Handout - Yoga, Meditation, Ayurveda ... · Pitta or The Fire (the elements of...

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