How to Stay Calm, Cool and Collected This Pitta Season

Staying Calm, Cool and Collected this Pitta Season

Isn’t it lovely how warmth and sunshine creates a new energy in the air? There is something about switching out our breakfasts from warm oatmeal to smoothies, long nights at work to summer Fridays and our exercises from bootcamp class to yoga that just gives us a ‘je ne sais
quoi’ feeling.

In Ayurveda world, we call this Pitta season where the element – fire - fiercely burns as crisp as the blazing sun. Some of us already have a lot of the fire element naturally in our constitution. This means we may be prone to pass some sass to a loved one, experience the inconvenience of
an acne outbreak and/or take one too many trips to the bathroom. These are just a few key indicators for having a pitta imbalance; however, we recommend paying a visit to your local Ayurvedic Practitioner for a deeper dive.

Whether you experience these or not, we all have Pitta energy within us (just in varying degrees), and the summer time is the perfect opportunity to balance our Pitta energy. In order to keep the fire element in balance, Ayurveda recommends that we invite in water and earth elements into our daily routines. Here are three Ayurvedic ways to keep you calm, cool and collected this Pitta season.

Add luscious fruits to your dishes
Is there a better feeling that sinking your teeth in a crisp slice of watermelon and feeling the
water dribble down your chin? Or quenching your thirst with a sweet, coconut water after a sweaty workout? Pitta season is all about incorporating water- filled fruits and vegetables into your diet to cool your digestive system down. Fresh coconuts, figs, melons, mangoes, cucumbers and pineapple are the perfect pitta pacifying additions to add to your menus. I also recommend adding cilantro, kale, spinach and/or arugula to serve a bitter taste for your taste buds. The bitter taste helps to cool down the heat of Pitta while also strengthening the tissues of the body.

Stop and smell the roses
Ever set a reminder in your phone to have fun? A true Pitta might just be fiery enough to schedule this into their color-coded calendars. Although we want fun to come to us with grace and ease, this idea isn’t far-fetched for some of us who may be zooming through our days- literally. Often times the fire element can make us feel more intense. This can look like working longer hours, snapping back at a loved one or waking up in the middle night in a pool full of sweat. The simplicity of taking time to pause to experience joy can work wonders on calming our nervous system. A great place to start is by taking a 15 min break in our day. I love going for
slow walks to smell the roses, taking 10 deep breaths or writing three new things I am grateful for that day. If you want to get even more fancy with your breathwork, you may practice sheetali breathing. To practice, loop your tongue and sip in through your mouth on the inhale, seal your lips and exhale through your nose.

Switch up your workout routine
For those that love an intense workout like a bootcamp class, you may notice you sweat a little extra during the summer time. Although this can give us a quick high post- class, if our Pitta is already out of balance, we can find ourselves burnt out or exhausted over time. We know all
too well that telling a Pitta to stop working out is not in the cards. Instead, we would love to offer you pitta pacifying alternatives. Hatha or slow vinyasa yoga classes can stabilize the nervous system and nourish the adrenal glands. Specifically, postures involving twists can help
cleanse the liver and flush out the system of excess heat. Long, brisk walks and breezy bike rides are another way to work up a sweat without overheating your system. Extra credit if you can take your ride along your nearest body of water. And one of the best ways to squeeze the
most out of your Pitta summer is diving in the pool for a swim. And if you just have to take from your favorite boot camp teacher, be sure to take a 15 min cool down to give your body a recharge.

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