Seasonal Cycles
Excerpts from Maharishi Ayurveda and Vedic Technology: Creating Ideal Health for the Individual and World,
Revised and Updated from The Physiology of Consciousness: Part 2 by Robert Keith Wallace, PhD, Dharma Publications, 2016 available at Amazon Click Here
One consideration in Maharishi Ayurveda quite new to Western understanding is the interaction of season, diet, and disease. While our current scientific understanding of seasonal changes is far from complete, recent research, especially on the pineal gland has shown that animals are very sensitive to seasonal changes. As the day becomes longer, the amount of light stimulation increases. This has an effect on the secretion of melatonin, which in turn regulates other key glands, especially those involved in reproduction. Modem medicine has uncovered some of the ways these seasonal changes might influence our health. For example, a condition known as seasonal affective disorder (SAD), which results in depression, occurs especially in northern countries and is caused by lack of sunlight, which influences the activity of the pineal gland.
According to Maharishi Ayurveda, seasonal changes can increase susceptibility to a number of disorders. The type of disorder can depend on the season and our body type. The seasons themselves are related to the different doshas. This is because in Maharishi’s Vedic Science, the same laws of nature—the expressions of Rishi, Devata, and Chhandas—are found not only in the human physiology but also at every level of the environment. Thus even the seasons reflect the governing principles of vata, pitta, and kapha.
For example, at the beginning of kapha season (early spring), the weather is often cold and damp and therefore more likely to cause an increase in kapha. Especially in kapha-type people, this can create an imbalance resulting in colds, bronchitis, etc. On the other hand, at the beginning of pitta season (early summer) pitta types, who are generally “hot” to begin with, may become imbalanced, leading to increased digestive problems and bouts of anger. Vata types are most susceptible to disease in vata season, the cold and windy winter months. To protect the individual during these times of greater susceptibility, Maharishi Ayurveda makes many dietary and behavioral recommendations for each body type.
The Vedic seers knew that the rhythms of the human body were tied to the rhythms of nature. They knew that for each person there was an ideal daily and seasonal routine to ensure that his or her rhythms were continually reset and resynchronized with those of the earth, moon, and sun. Further, they knew that the timing of a medical treatment was critical to its success. Therefore, all Maharishi Ayurveda treatments are individualized not only for the body type, but for the time of day, the season, and the age of the patient.
Maharishi’s Vedic Science emphasizes that ideal health can only exist on the basis of an ideal relationship between human life and the laws of nature. The knowledge of the fundamental structures of the physiology of matter and of the physiology of consciousness—and of their underlying unity within the state of pure consciousness—provides a clear framework with which we can understand the technologies of the Vedic paradigm. This knowledge points to the reality that we, at a most fundamental level, are intimately connected with nature. It shows us that in the very process of realigning ourselves with the laws of nature, we can transform our personal experience and the world around us; we can transform our very physiologies. Maharishi uses a simple analogy to describe this relationship:
It should be firmly established in the mind of every individual that he is
part of the whole life of the universe and that his relationship to universal
life is that of one cell to the whole body . . . . The boundaries of
the individual life are not restricted to the boundaries of the body, nor
even to those of one’s family or one’s home. They extend far beyond
those spheres to the limitless horizon of unbounded cosmic life.—Maharishi
Excerpts from Maharishi Ayurveda and Vedic Technology: Creating Ideal Health for the Individual and World,
Revised and Updated from The Physiology of Consciousness: Part 2 by Robert Keith Wallace, PhD, Dharma Publications, 2016 available at Amazon Click Here