Ayurveda, as a holistic medical science, considers the mind, body and spirit as important determinants of wellbeing. In this article, we will focus on the Ayurvedic approach to Subtle Body Healing for anxiety and depression and we will outline the physiology of the doshas to help you to reframe your relationship with anxiety and depression.
Ayurveda gives us a unique framework through which to observe our subtle body state. It teaches us that everyone is unique and that understanding one’s individual constitution, past experiences, traumas, stressors and current state of being are essential in treatment. The importance of working with a trained Clinical Ayurvedic Specialist for these conditions cannot be understated!
Ayurvedic Approach to Anxiety
There are many types of anxiety, but generally speaking from an Ayurvedic perspective, anxiety manifests primarily as an air-type, or vata dosha, imbalance. In the subtle body, we say that is also a state of high prana (gross and subtle air elements) as well as low ojas (subtle earth element).
It can often be helpful to think of anxiety as too much air – vata and prana – in your environment or body at any given moment. When we know the elemental nature of an imbalance, instead of inviting self-criticism, we can work with the balancing elements to reverse the root cause.
The direction for treatment of anxiety is to pacify vata and prana and to increase ojas. When vata is high and prana is high there is too much motion in the body and mind. Prana, or life energy, is moving too chaotically through the channels of the subtle body.
Working with more earth energy, therefore, is key to calming anxiety, fostering a clear mind and a more peaceful existence. Optimum health is achieved when we realize the connection to everything around us. Slowing down, building routines, optimizing digestion and building ojas are important components of managing anxiety.
Slowing down to calm excess vata and prana can look like:
- Walking Meditation – Or, intentional walking. Feel the back of your heel connect with the earth’s surface and feel the foot roll gently to the toes. One slow step at a time. Once a rhythm is found, marry your breath to the movement.
- Taking a Warm Bath – Take time to sit in a warm bath before bed to improve sleep and prevent insomnia, which can be a consequence of anxiety. Likewise, lack of quality sleep hinders proper brain function. Add lavender mineral salts to help soothe the mind and relax the muscles.
- Deep Breaths – Pranamaya kosha, or the breath layer, and pranayama – breathwork – is the bridge between physical and subtle bodies that brings balance to the mind. Set a timer for specific times of day to take five deep breaths when it goes off. Most smart watches now have an app that can remind you to take deep breaths at regular intervals.
- Digital Detox – A mind that is constantly stimulated, especially by electronics, rarely recovers enough to maintain balance. Much like your electronic devices, the mind continues to buzz and put out energy unless completely unplugged. Give your mind a much-needed reboot with a full digital detox day. No phones, no computers, no tablets, no tv and no gaming. Further enhance your recovery by spending the day in nature instead.
Create regular routines to ground chaotic energy.
- Anxiety, in particular, can often feel like a loss of control. So, if you can exert some control over your daily routine, you will begin to feel much better.
- You don’t have to do everything at the same time every day (that would be impossible and boring!) but a regular routine of sleep/wake times and meal times removes chaotic energy, balances vata and stabilizes prana.
Consuming ojas-building foods. Ojas is the energy that stabilizes the mind and results in contentment. It creates the container for healthy vata and prana to flow through. Ojas comes in through digestion so we need to consume ojas-building foods:
- Ojas-building foods include quality dairy, nuts, oils and whole grains. These are the same foods that are typically difficult to digest, so we have to be able to optimize our digestive system so we can extract the ojas from these foods.
- Enhance digestion by cooking your food and using appropriate spices. When we don’t digest properly, instead of building ojas we produce toxins or ama. Working with a practitioner enables one to optimize their digestion so they are able to extract the ojas from food. This enables the doshas to stabilize, the subtle energies to balance and the maintenance of ojas.
Ayurvedic Approach to Depression
Depression exists on a continuum from minor depression that nearly everyone will experience now and again to major depressive disorder. Working with an Ayurvedic Specialist provides you with an appropriate individualized plan for personal recovery.
Minor depression is infrequent and does not last very long. It often results from low ojas – or feeling depleted – and requires taking time to rest, re-group and re-set.
- Giving yourself permission to be sad is paramount. Many people push away feelings of sadness, only to learn much later that those emotions are now buried deep in their psyche.
Mild or moderate depression can become chronic, resulting in regular low-level melancholy. One feels withdrawn and unhappy. This is the result of an earth-type, or kapha dosha, imbalance. Kapha is heavy, dense and watery. It can result in sluggishness, lethargy and watery emotions. Poor quality ojas is also in excess and prana is low.
- Increasing motion and the light quality balances mild/moderate depression. This can include daily exercise, a light diet and energizing pranayama, or breathwork.
Major depressive disorder is a much deeper imbalance. Similar to anxiety, major depressive disorder involves an imbalance of vata and prana. However, ojas is much more depleted. When this happens, prana essentially crashes. Prana, or life force energy, can’t sustain itself without the container of ojas. You may experience a lack of enthusiasm or motivation for life.
- The only focus is to slowly build ojas through sensory therapy, not just through food. Receiving Ayurvedic body therapies such as abhyanga or shirodhara is a wonderful place to start since this can be a very challenging time to begin new personal practices.
- Once some ojas have been built, then begin to add prana-balancing practices such as alternate nostril breath, a prana-balancing meditation, and consuming foods high in prana.
All Conditions Benefit From Yoga Nidra
- Yoga Nidra and body scans are powerful practices that calm the body and the mind, bringing you back to your true nature. You are not an anxious or depressed person, you are a loving person who is experiencing anxiety or depression!
Sometimes, subtle body imbalances can feel so challenging or complex that it can be hard to see how simple nutritional or lifestyle changes can help bring balance again. But, simplicity does not mean these tools don’t work. In fact, simplicity is exactly why they do work! Ayurveda is the language of the heart, we intuitively already know what we need and that’s why these practices can seem so simple.
We also need guidance when we have gotten so far from ourselves. This is where working with a Clinical Ayurvedic Specialist offers much-needed support.
For more information visit our articles on Subtle Body Self-Healing; Prana, Tejas & Ojas and the Koshas.
Article authored by Chloe Chaput, who is dedicated to her role as a Clinical Ayurvedic Specialist (CAS) to work with women’s health, male and female fertility challenges, parents/caregivers, and children to address a variety of clinical health concerns at the root of their cause. Contact Path Wellbeing today to set up your appointment with Chloe Chaput, CAS.
The information contained within this article is for educational purposes only and should not replace the direct advice of a doctor or other qualified healthcare professional. Always consult a medical or other professional healthcare provider when considering a new health regime.
