Seasonal Logic for Routines

Apr 09, 2022

Each season has a flavour that is based on its energy and the energy’s gunas. Āyurveda describes ten parameters known as the gurvadi gunas, to describe physical objects. In Sanskrt, guru is the first of the ten guna sets; -adi means those following; and a word ending in -u followed by a word starting with a- becomes v, so guru adi becomes gurvadi. The three dominant gunas are temperature, digestibility and unctuousness.

In temperature, virya (potency) refers to the ability of a given substance to emit heat and thus make the body hot; or not emit heat but absorb heat and thus make the body cold. If the body is seen as a container, any object put into that container can make the container hotter (ushna), colder (sheeta) or leave it unchanged. When we choose foods that have an inherent cooling nature, called sheeta-virya in Āyurveda, the food makes our body cooler. Examples are melons, coriander seeds, rock sugar, pure cow milk and coconut oil.

Digestibility refers to the body’s ability to digest something easily. This can refer to food, thoughts, medicines or words. If something is easy to digest, it is called laghu. If it is difficult to digest, it is guru, which can also mean heavy, or full of weight, depending on the context. The term is often a common reference to venerable teachers, but the actual root in Sanskrit refers to moving (ru) out of the darkness (gu). When we digest information and become clear, we move out of darkness. When we eat something heavy, it takes time and energy to digest and produce energy from it, where energy is light.

Unctuousness (snigdha) refers to the quality of being oily and somewhat adherent and sticky, but still smooth. Snigdha has the opposite qualities of dry and rough, known as ruksha in Sanskrit. When something is very dry, it is difficult for the body to digest. When it is clean-and-fresh oily, it is easier for the body to assimilate because the body is itself oily. Compare old oil with new oil and smell the difference. One is sticky; the other flows uniformly. These qualities relate to the body and the seasons.

The heavy kapha season of clouds and snow promotes thick, heavy stickiness. Moisture penetrates dry things and adheres them together. The body counters this by increasing its internal fire to cope with the cold and melt that which has solidified. Without flow, the body cannot perform its functions. Sheeta, translated as cold, is the principle of contraction, known as stambana. If the body's internal fire is robust, it will prefer clean, sharp foods that cut through the heavy cloudiness of the season.

As the kapha season gives way to the warmth of pitta season, the air turns somewhat hot and windy, and the heat promotes growth of bacteria that are acidic. The body responds to heat by dispelling it through the skin pores and the exhaled air, decreasing the internal fire. It also craves colder, sweeter food that naturally neutralizes the acid and the heat. As the hot season folds into a cooler windy season, the lightness of vāta with its cold, dry, rough and mobile nature brings chills and movement into the body. The body copes by craving warm and watery food, heavy sweet vegetables, and oils and seeds.

Thus, as the seasons roll through their cycles, so must we shift to adjust to the associated gunas created by the seasons. If we do not notice the seasons and we do not shift our routines, we will not rid our body of the doshas naturally and harmoniously, and undigested residues will build up, eventually promoting disease.

Everyday Ayurveda

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