Less is more
Spring is a time of new beginnings, nature awakens.
The sun's power increases and melts the winter snow.
Based on this observation of nature, Ayurveda developed a medical analogy more than 2000 years ago: the accumulated Kapha „liquefies“ and floods our body. Time for elimination!
The cleansing procedures are summarised Ayurvedically in the unique Panchakarma treatment method. Excess Dosha (especially Kapha), accumulated metabolic waste products and unwanted tissue gains (especially fatty tissue) are gradually eliminated. Stressful fullness is now replaced by lightness and dynamism, the strengthened Agni warms and energises us and blockages in the numerous channels of our body dissolve.
If you don't have the time or financial resources to carry out a Panchakarma treatment, you can also gently implement the idea of reduction and purification at home. Through individualised dietary restrictions, combined with gentle self-directed detoxification, considerable health results can be achieved.
What happens in our mind when our body is degummed, drained or freed from intestinal residues?
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The problem with abundance
Common causes of our fullness problems are actually easy to name:
- We eat too often and too much, too cold, moist/oily and heavy. This overtaxes our digestive power and leads to residues.
- We sit or lie down too much and move too little. This leads to an imbalance between energy intake and consumption.
- We passively take in too many sensory stimuli and information through „push messages“, which we can only process inadequately.
If you also recognise yourself in these three factors, you should think about relieving yourself now in spring. Our organism only has a limited capacity to break down accumulated residues on its own and thus - in the truest sense of the word - to clear the pathways again. Blockages in the circulation lead to a poorer supply to our body and mind and at the same time to inadequate disposal of waste products. This can lead to new illnesses developing or old ones being maintained for an unnecessarily long time.
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Our perception of lack
It is interesting to note that many of us tend to have a sense of lack, even if we actually have abundance problems. We may feel exhausted, depleted, less resilient, easily irritable, overwhelmed. Or simply „empty“. This emptiness often arises from an abundance.
Ayurvedic medicine has an exciting concept for this, it is called Avarana and means enclosing, covering, enveloping. When abundance and therefore Kapha increases, the movement of Vata is blocked. Vata likes to create feelings of weakness and emptiness. If we remove the straitjacket of abundance, Vata can move freely again and energy returns. This is one of the reasons why we often feel much stronger than in everyday life, in which we never miss a meal, despite eating less food and doing physically strenuous detoxes.
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Fear of emptiness
Emptiness does not have a good reputation in our culture. It sounds like loss, lack, weakness. Who wants to have too little of everything? In Asian cultures, the experience of emptiness is seen as a path to oneself, to one's true nature and deep realisation of all phenomena.
Patients often ask me whether reduced food intake does not lead to deficiencies? For decades, Western science has taught us how many nutrients we need to function healthily. Even though these recommendations are certainly based on certain findings, we should always critically scrutinise them.
A simple example: how are we supposed to naturally consume 0.8 grams of protein per kg of body weight without eating mountains of meat, fish or dairy products that are undoubtedly not very healthy? Moderate consumption of lentils, nuts and wholemeal products will hardly provide us with such quantities - and medical experience shows that we don't even have to.
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It gets loud in the silence
A common reason why we overeat, pack ourselves full of tasks and are constantly on the move is to avoid stressful inner experiences. These can be disturbing thoughts, painful feelings or unpleasant sensations.
If we let our external activities rest during a Panchakarma or fasting cure, reduce our food intake and cleanse the body internally, silence arises. The quieter the outside, the louder the inside. Dialogues arise, films play, memories come up, fears and catastrophising spread.
In these moments, do not try to distract yourself again and absorb new stimuli. Instead, face these completely natural processes and learn to experience them as temporary phenomena in your mind. They come and go, like clouds in the sky or waves in the sea. Excessive attention brings reinforcement. An open acceptance and inner willingness allows them to pass quickly.
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Three experiences of emptiness
You experience emptiness - usually unconsciously - every few seconds: You breathe out. Every inhalation is a moment of fullness, every exhalation leads to emptiness. If you breathe out deeply and take a short pause at the end before breathing in again, you can consciously perceive and enjoy the magic of emptiness. It leads directly to stillness.
Another easy way to experience emptiness is to consistently avoid snacks and reduce to two main meals a day. When hunger arises, allow it and feel how your body now burns and breaks down your old burdens instead of the food you have eaten. A great experience.
A huge challenge that we are all familiar with leads us to the third experience. The excessive use of TV, the internet and social media leads to a massive sensory overload. The antidote to this is digital fasting. To do this, switch off all digital devices at set times every day, or for several days during a cure. And only use them as pull media in future - this way, only you decide which messages reach you and when. Switch off all push functions right now - it will change your life immediately.
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The ancient Asian civilisations help us to find a healthier approach to abundance and emptiness. The Purnamada mantra from the Isha Upanishad beautifully summarises the true understanding of abundance:
Here is abundance, there is abundance. Abundance grows out of abundance. If you take abundance away from abundance, abundance remains.
With this in mind, I wish you a light spring.
