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Ayurveda
- the latest darling of holistic healing
By
Julie Deardorff, Tribune staff reporter
Published January 30, 2005 |
At the
height of his professional football career, Ricky Williams
was feeling stressed and unbalanced. Something inexplicable
was "off." So the Miami Dolphins star abruptly
walked away from the sport--and a multimillion-dollar salary--and
began studying the ancient Indian medical system known as
ayurveda.
To football aficionados, Williams is an unlikely ambassador
for the 5,000-year-old holistic health tradition, which
uses nutrition, oils, herbs, cleansing techniques and yoga.
His critics link his new-found interest in ayurveda to a
possible suspension from the NFL because of a third positive
test for marijuana.
Regardless, Williams wrote in an e-mail that his immersion
in ayurveda is paying off. "I am now able to do things
with my body, after only minimal yoga practice, that I could
never have imagined doing on the football field," he
wrote. "My balance has increased as well as my flexibility.
A lot of my pain has decreased too.
"Proponents of ayurveda have welcomed the spate of
publicity that Williams has brought and say the 5-foot-10-inch,
226-pound former running back and Heisman Trophy winner
is lumbering down the right path to rejuvenation.
"If anybody needs a good, thorough, deep and proper
spring cleaning from the inside out, [ayurveda] is the way
to do it," said Reenita Malhotra Hora, author of "Inner
Beauty," one of a handful of newly published books
on ayurveda.
And internal spring cleanings, it seems, are needed year
round. Interest in ayurveda is growing as Americans are
increasingly trying alternative treatments to battle chronic
health problems such as colitis, irritable bowel syndrome
and other inflammatory disorders. Ayurveda emphasizes diet
and prevention, two aspects of wellness often missing from
modern medicine.
The National Ayurvedic Medical Association has surged from
95 members when it started in 2000 to nearly 400 today.
Students can learn ayurvedic skills at more than 30 institutions
in the U.S.
Readily
available
Ayurvedic principles, meanwhile, are popping up everywhere
from yoga studios to the Spa Nordstrom, which offers herbal-infused
body scrubs, facials, massages and detoxifying hot oil treatments.
Melanie Sherman, 30, a graphic designer living in Grayslake,
was struggling with arthritis and bronchitis when she tried
ayurveda. Her diagnosis and treatment called for eliminating
wheat, dairy, red meat, eggs, butter, grapes and bananas.
"I had really great results with lifestyle changes,"
said Sherman, who finds that the arthritis returns when
she eats whatever she wants.
"I was tired of taking a pill for a headache or an
upset stomach. I really wanted to get to the source."
Considered a comprehensive health-care plan in India, ayurveda
teaches that humans are made of three essential qualities,
or doshas. When these doshas are knocked out of balance,
whether by stress, lack of sleep, a poor diet or something
in the environment, symptoms of disease or illness can arise.
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, who brought transcendental meditation
to the U.S., generally also is credited with introducing
ayurveda in the 1980s. But it was wellness guru Deepak Chopra
who brought it to the masses in the 1990s.
Today, ayurvedic CDs play music designed for certain doshas
and claim to harmonize the body's energies. And the book
"What's Your Dosha, Baby?" has spawned an ayurvedic
online dating site called DoshaMatch (doshamatch.com) to
help people find compatibility in life and love.
A
relationship with yoga
Part of the surge has to do with the boom in yoga, a sister
science to ayurveda. People are investigating what's next,
said Hora, an ayurvedic instructor at the California Pacific
Medical Center in San Francisco.
But she said it's also gaining converts because of the sorry
state of health insurance in the U.S. "People are feeling
the need to take direct responsibility for health on a preventative
basis," Hora said.
Still, many Western doctors are skeptical about its effectiveness.
The National Council Against Health Care Fraud, a group
that consistently demands more scientific proof with regard
to alternative treatments, has warned that "ayurveda
has become a marketing term for a variety of health products
and services of limited, questionable, or unproved value."
Consumers also should stick with products recommended by
quality practitioners because the use of dietary supplements
such as herbs is largely unregulated by the federal government.
A recent study found that one in five herbal products in
Boston-area ethnic grocery stores could contain potentially
toxic levels of heavy metals such as lead, mercury and arsenic.
"People shouldn't think that just because something
is natural it's safe," said Dr. Nancy Lonsdorf medical
director of the Raj Ayurveda Health Center near Fairfield,
Iowa, and one of the nation's most prominent ayurvedic doctors.
"But it's also a mistake to think all herbs are unsafe.
"The products in the Boston study were manufactured
in South Asia and sold in Boston-area stores; they were
not in mass distribution in the U.S., Lonsdorf said.
If herbs are used, the type depends on a person's strongest
dosha, or constitution. Doshas are assessed using a lengthy
questionnaire and based on characteristics such as body
type, metabolism, health tendencies, habits and food preferences.
Everyone has all three doshas--called vata, pitta and kapha--but
the overall nature of a person, and the way he or she responds
to stress, is determined by the dominant dosha. Knowing
your dominant doshas (many people have two) can affect everything
from what you eat to how much exercise you need and what
types of oils to use on your skin.
"You
hear conflicting news about things like wine or caffeine
all the time," said Nancy Phillips, an ayurvedic practitioner
with offices in West Rogers Park and Bucktown. Ayurveda,
she said, clarifies things on an individual basis."Wine
can be medicinal for vata people, for example, but horrible
for someone who has high pitta and is fiery anyway,"
she said.
The dominant dosha is the one most likely to get out of
whack. Vata imbalances--digestion issues, constipation,
insomnia and anxiety--are common. Too much vata in a person
can result in pain.
For minor imbalances, nutrition or lifestyle changes can
do the trick. When Highland Park's Laurie Glenner feels
off, she turns to a "liver flush," a drink made
of aloe vera gel, ginger root and spices that she says cleanses
and tones her liver.
"I feel in balance when I drink it," said Glenner,
49, a newly certified yoga therapist. "It makes me
feel like I've been good to myself."
Working
out the toxins
If the problem is deep rooted and chronic, however, then
the body must be detoxified using panchakarma. The lengthy
treatment--between 5 and 21 days--consists of a full-body
massage using heated herbal oils to remove toxins.
Though parts of the treatment are soothing, the hourlong
procedure isn't always pleasant. It can involve using medicated
oil enemas, droplets of oils in the nose and even therapeutic
inducement of diarrhea or vomiting, said Marc Halpern, founder
of the California College of Ayurveda, where Williams is
a student.
What many people are exposed to in spas is shirodara, a
part of panchakarma that consists of a steady flow of oil
on the forehead (or the third eye) to stimulate the pineal
gland. Chicago's Ladonna Carlton, 61, tried panchakarma
at the suggestion of her internist, Dr. Emily Linder at
Advocate Illinois Masonic. By the third treatment, her diarrhea
was gone and her gut had stopped churning.
"I was taking medication for colitis, but it wasn't
controlling it," said Carlton. "After the first
one I was calmer; after three treatments, my body was really
responding."A lot of it has to do with stress,"
Carlton added. "There's just something about oil dripping
on your third eye [forehead] that helps you turn inward
and let go of what's going on in the outside world.
"Williams, for one, is a convert. Three months into
the curriculum at the school in the Sierra foothills in
northern California, he is still trying to determine his
dominant dosha and is enjoying hot baths, herbs and massages,
which he said he finds calming and balancing.
If he'd had ayurveda techniques in the NFL, would things
have been different?
"If I knew that it was OK to just be me as ayurveda
teaches us," Williams wrote, "I could have done
some really amazing things."
Fiery,
airy, spacey--know your dosha
Ayurveda teaches that a person's constitution is made up
of three doshas, called vata, pitta and kapha. These doshas
comprise the five fundamental elements of the universe:
space, air, fire, water and earth.
One or two doshas generally dominate, and these are the
ones most likely to get out of balance. Trained ayurvedic
practitioners will assess your dosha using a written self-evaluation
and offer suggestions on how to realign vata, pitta or kapha.
*Vata consists of the elements air and space. It's considered
the cerebral function and regulates movement. Those with
strong vata tend to be enthusiastic and vivacious but also
tire easily and overexert themselves. These people, who
often have slender frames and strong joints, benefit from
routine, cool foods and a cool*, quiet environment. They
make talented artists, writers or scientists, according
to ayurvedic clinician Reenita Malhotra Hora in her book
"Inner Beauty."
(*NOTE from Nancy J, Phillips: A small error in article
- Vatas need Heat and warmth!)
Pitta, or fire and water, regulates metabolism and is associated
with impulsive nature and energy production. Pittas are
efficient and strong-minded people who love challenges but
become impatient and tend to be critical of others as well
as themselves. Pittas need exposure to natural beauty and
coolness to keep things in check. They are excellent leaders,
managers or mathematicians, Hora writes in Inner Beauty.
"Pittas are about fire, accomplishment," said
Deborah Arneson of the Healing Quest Center in Chicago.
"They go-go-go till they burn out."
Kapha, or earth and water, regulates structure and is considered
the breaking mechanism. Kaphas are solid and powerful people
who move in a relaxed manner. They gain weight more easily
than others and are affectionate and forgiving. Kaphas need
stimulation, regular exercise, spicy foods, warmth and dryness
to stay balanced. They make great health-care workers, caregivers
or workers in any occupation that requires persistence,
stamina and precision, according to Hora.
"A
kapha will crave things that aren't good for them, sweet,
cold and creamy foods like cheesecake or pudding,"
said Nancy Phillips, an ayurvedic practitioner in Chicago.
Still not getting it? Picture a shipwreck, with three types
of people in a lifeboat, said ayurvedic physician Sambhu
Pillai, who gives panchakarma treatments at Healing Quest
Center in Chicago.
"The vata person is very cerebral. They get very nervous,
upset, worried. They collapse first. But they have the best
creativity, the best ideas," Pillai said.
"Pitta types want to swim," he continued. "They
are overconfident but burn out. They tend to be managers
and supervisors. Once they get on a project, they know how
to execute."
"And kaphas sit there and wait. They are passive and
tend to survive more. They are the balancing force in the
system. They hold back and are stable."
--Julie Deardorff
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