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Thread: Hot and cold water.

  1. #11
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    Re: Hot and cold water.

    hariḥ oṁ
    ~~~~~~

    namasté EM

    Quote Originally Posted by Eastern Mind View Post
    my tired still jet-lagged ... mind
    Just a note - flying increases vāta doṣa. Think of it , when we fly we are in excessive vāyu (vāta). What balances vāta doṣa ? you are on the right track:
    Maybe with some hot soup
    Within that soup cooked vegetables, carrots, beets, green beans, sweet potato, zucchini; limit-to-avoid tomato (acid based), celery ( salt), eggplant.

    And sweet juicy fruits - peaches, oranges, pineapples; vs. dried fruit ( dry = vatta = aggravated condition)

    Also ghee in hot milk is excellent. The milk has to come to a boil, then settle down, then its ready.

    A ~fast way~ to get this done? Chai latte at Starbucks® yet there is no ghee, but you will get 5 tastes in the latte with the steamed milk.



    praṇām
    Last edited by yajvan; 19 January 2011 at 07:58 PM.
    यतस्त्वं शिवसमोऽसि
    yatastvaṁ śivasamo'si
    because you are identical with śiva

    _

  2. #12
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    Re: Hot and cold water.

    namaskar and Welcome back Eastern!

    Quote Originally Posted by Eastern Mind View Post
    So up here where no Hindu in their right mind would ever live, Aum Namasivaya
    Well, temp here last night was -45C. Yes, no one in their right mind would live here but ...
    satay

  3. #13
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    Re: Hot and cold water.

    Quote Originally Posted by satay View Post
    namaskar and Welcome back Eastern!

    Well, temp here last night was -45C. Yes, no one in their right mind would live here but ...
    Vannakkam: I shall never complain again. This -10 today is suntanning weather compared to that. You poor sot. Aum Namasivaya

  4. #14
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    Re: Hot and cold water.

    Namast, all,

    There are a lot of useful posts on this thread! Adding what I can:

    C. Smith, you're right; Sri Swami Śivananda discusses cold water bathing in Practice of Brahmacharya, under the section entitled "The benefits of a hip bath." Cold water bathing just makes me shiver miserably, so I can't comment on the practice's effectiveness.

    Regarding the original topic, I've read in several Ayurveda books about keeping the head cool, not showering or bathing in excessively hot water, etc., and linking too much hot water on the head with increase in Pitta and/or hair loss. The closest at hand is Melanie Sachs' Ayurvedic Beauty Care, which has this to say:

    A cool bath or quick cold shower can refresh your energy, sharpen your mind, and improve appetite - which tends to diminish in very hot weather. When it is cold and damp out, wash well, but avoid soaking in hot, steamy baths as this will leach the body of minerals and generally weaken the body in times when it needs to be strong and fortified. It is a general rule to only use cool water on your head when washing your hair. Heating the head overstimulates the nervous system and weakens the hair roots.

    Good advice for Vata types (like me) follows:
    Cold-bodied Vata people usually like to soak for long periods in hot baths. They are comforted and relaxed by the warmth. To maintain this warm-all-over feeling, either get directly into bed or follow the warm soak with a quick cool shower. This will dilate the pores and peripheral circulation to keep hands and feet warm and set the skin to glow.

    This works very well, especially during the winter; when showering, I gradually turn the water from hot to lukewarm to cool so it's less of a shock.

    Yajvan, I remembered your chai latte advice from another post, so I got one at the 'bucks the other day on my way to run errands. Delicious, and got rid of a headache, too.

    EM, haha on the 'Pitta' Pit, etc. The book I quoted above also gives dietary guidelines for all three doshas and general guidelines for everyone, and in the latter section, has this advice: Sip warm water with your meal to aid digestion. Never drink ice water or milk with your meal. I don't have other sources on hand at the moment to quote, but the general recommendation is to avoid ice or very cold water as it dampens the digestive fire/agni. I've also read that it's best to drink (room temperature) water before and after the meal but never during. I'm firmly on the side of warm/lukewarm water, myself. There's enough ice and coldness outside...

    Hmmm...Satay, I also live in -45C-the-other-night...and thus agree firmly with the many "no sane people should live here" comments...

    I often wonder if the entirety of Canada, and Winnipeg in particular, was settled by folks of Pitta constitution who found the winters 'cooling' rather than 'torturous'...

    Indraneela
    ===
    Oṁ Indrāya Namaḥ.
    Oṁ Namaḥ Śivāya.

  5. #15
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    Re: Hot and cold water.

    hariḥ oṁ
    ~~~~~~

    namasté


    I mentioned,
    flying increases vāta doṣa. Think of it , when we fly we are in excessive vāyu (vāta).
    Why so?

    vāta = air + space (ākāśa)

    When we fly we are propelled though air and space at rapid speeds. Hence there is 'movement' - this is another quality of vāta.
    We are also compressing time, no? If I go to India by boat it takes weeks, if I go by plane it takes hours. So we have compression of time.

    All added together air + space + speed/movement + compression of time aggrevates vāta.
    • vāta = air + space (ākāśa)
    • pitta = fire + water
    • kapha = water + earth
    So, when we know the underlying tattva's we know where one can aggravate a particular tattva ( in excess).


    Yet one needs to be aware of the benefits of these qualities. Without vāta we are without our motor functions ( movement);
    without pitta we're without digestion (heat) ; without kapha we're without lubrication (water).

    Is there more? sure:
    • vāta - secretions and excretion ( movement) , breath (air); transformation of tissues
    • pitta - perception ( the eyes are a pitta/sun function), body heat, thirst, not to mention understanding, intelligence, hunger, etc.
    • kapha - stability and balance of the system
    When there are imbalances:

    vāta - fear, emptiness, anxiety
    pitta - anger, hate, jealousy
    kapha - possessiveness, attachment, greed

    Now who has not been in fear? Excess vāta is working; Who has not wanted ~more~ ? Then kapha is in play. Who has not been angry ?
    Pitta is working. For the ~normal~ person this comes and goes. One's anger is dropped and there is forgiveness ( kapha has now increased);
    One is fearful then it passes ( again kapha increased ) and there is stability.

    Like that these tattva's wax and wane. It is when there is excessive imbalances that aggravate one day-in and day-out that serious implications arise. All health issues that begin are considered from the stand point of dis-ease. This disease is another way of saying imbalance in the system.

    praṇām
    Last edited by yajvan; 19 January 2011 at 08:00 PM.
    यतस्त्वं शिवसमोऽसि
    yatastvaṁ śivasamo'si
    because you are identical with śiva

    _

  6. #16
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    Re: Hot and cold water.

    What about the mind, intelligence and creativity, Yajvan? Is it only pitta that powers it?

    I'm thinking about reading this book: http://www.amazon.com/Ayurveda-Mind-...5527642&sr=8-6

  7. #17
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    Re: Hot and cold water.

    hariḥ oṁ
    ~~~~~~

    namasté PI


    Quote Originally Posted by Pietro Impagliazzo View Post
    What about the mind, intelligence and creativity, Yajvan? Is it only pitta that powers it?
    To think only would be misleading. If memory is part of mind, then there is this:

    vāta - quick understanding, yet short memory span. I was taught ' quick to remember, quick to forget'. So , if pitta only drove the mind, this condition would not arise.

    kapha - slow to remember slow to forget

    pitta - is between the two above. Pitta's have very good comprehension power, a sharp intellect.

    We know of the 6 tastes¹ in āyurved, yes? Here is the natural attraction for each type:

    vāta - gravitates to sweet, sour, salty.
    pitta - to sweet , bitter , astringent
    kapha - tends to favor pungent, bitter, astringent

    Now one asks what does this have to do with anything? If 'mind' were only driven by pitta it seems to me the mind would direct the tongue to the tastes of pitta above and forgo all others. That is my view. So, mind has other things working with it as I see it.

    praṇām


    words
    • rasā = taste , flavour ; 6 are called out:
      • madhura , sweet
      • amla , sour
      • lavaṇa , salt
      • kaṭuka , pungent
      • tikta , bitter
      • kaṣāya , astringent
    Last edited by yajvan; 20 January 2011 at 02:29 PM.
    यतस्त्वं शिवसमोऽसि
    yatastvaṁ śivasamo'si
    because you are identical with śiva

    _

  8. #18
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    Re: Hot and cold water.

    hariḥ oṁ
    ~~~~~~


    namast
    Quote Originally Posted by yajvan View Post
    We know of the 6 tastes in āyurved, yes?
    rasā = taste , flavour ; 6 are called out:
    madhura , sweet
    amla , sour
    lavaṇa , salt
    kaṭuka , pungent
    tikta , bitter
    kaṣāya , astringent
    More on taste's can be found here: http://www.hindudharmaforums.com/sho...as%26%23257%3B

    The goal is to have the 6 tastes daily to bring balance to the system.

    praṇām
    यतस्त्वं शिवसमोऽसि
    yatastvaṁ śivasamo'si
    because you are identical with śiva

    _

  9. #19
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    Re: Hot and cold water.

    Quote Originally Posted by Eastern Mind View Post
    What about drinking water? Warm, hot, or iced? My wife and I disagree on this. On our recent trip we got used to ordering 2 bottles: 1 at room temperature, and 1 chilled.

    Aum Namasivaya

    I'm not positive but I recall a few months ago my Hindu friend said that he wants to switch to drinking lukewarm water because cold water is bad for digestion(it solidifies fat in stomach) and thus causes more energy to be spent. Now don't take my word for it, but he made a pretty convincing argument about why not to drink cold water.

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