Feeling hot hot hot?

Maybe it’s because of the five Pitta subdoshas! And since we are coming into the Pitta (summer) seasons soon it’s a good time to take note on how to tame our five fires of Pitta.

Our mind-body is governed by three bio-energetic forces, vata, pitta and kapha and each has their role and they have a unique balance within us. Vata is the energy of movement and kapha is the energy of stability.

Pitta is the energy of transformation and heat of the trilogy. Pitta is formed of the fire and water elements and guess what? We have five of them within us. We can see the obvious fire in our digestion but here is how pitta plays a role in other area.

Pachaka pitta

Pachaka pitta is like the head of the pitta family. Pachak mean ‘that which digests’ and is our main digestive fire. Located in the small intestines, this fire that digests, absorbs and assimilates food. If out of balance we may experience various types of digestive disorders, sluggishness, hyperacidity, bloating, gas, loss of appetite and this will depend on our constitution.

Balance: Opt for a supportive diet including, coconut based foods rice,sweet fruits, cucumbers etc. Digestive herbs can be useful here once you’ve consulted with a practitioner. These can include, triphala, trikatu, hinguwastak and avipattikar or simply ginger, cumin, fennel as digestive spice examples.

Ranjaka Pitta – The fire that imparts colour to our internal body fluids such as blood, bile, urine, stools as well as hair and skin colour. Located in the liver, spleen, stomach and small intestines, this pitta is involved with the transformation that takes place in the liver and is in charge of creating the red blood cells in the bone marrow and removal of toxins from the blood. If this pitta gets out of balance we may experience issues of aenemia or liver disorders or skin conditions, early greying of hair and an angry temperament.

Balance: Avoid spicy foods and opt for cooling foods including fresh juicing and herbal teas and activities such as walk in nature and swimming. Herbs such as turmeric, neem, manjistha and liver cleansing herbs are useful. Panchakarma treatment would include purgation.

Alochaka pitta – Ever see people with super sparking eyes? Well this is due to the fire in the eyes, governed by alochaka pitta. This pitta governs our visual perception as well as seeing/discerning right from wrong. We digest through our sensory organs as much as the stomach so this is pitta is responsible for receiving and interpreting light. If out of balance we may experience distorted vision, eye infections or get blood shot eyes.

Balance: Avoid binge watching TV and use of digital devices. Plenty of sweet and cooling foods such carrots, amla and green veggies. Use of the herb amla and triphala are great rasayana (tonics). Practice eye yoga and rinse eyes with cool rose water. Expose yourself to cooling colours, and gentle water based scenery, lakes, waterfalls etc.

Sadhaka pitta

Located in the brain and heart, the sadhaka pitta helps us to determine truth, reality and powers our mental agility and emotions. This is pitta that motivates and drives us, bringing courage, confidence and a sense of accomplishment. If imbalanced we may experience headaches, heart disease, mental fatigue, poor memory retention or emotional volatility or just lack the zeal for life.

Balance: Keep suitable sleep and mealtime routines and avoid overworking and competitive environments. Breathing and meditation with mantras works really well to help balance sadhaka pitta to manage stress and emotional unrest. Other considerations can be journaling, spending time in nature, art and sound therapy, emotional freedom therapy and work on self-acceptance and love. Herbs such as Brahmi, Ashwagandha and Arjuna can be useful.

Bhrajaka pitta

Who do we need to thank for our glowing and lustrous complexion? That would be bhrajaka pitta. This pitta that resides in the skin gives us the lustre and pigmentation and digests external warmth and heat. If out of balance we might see hypersensitivity, discolouration, dry skin issues and other skin conditions.

Balance: Avoid the blazing sun, dry and high wind conditions. Drink plenty of water. Using liver and blood cleansing herbs such as neem, aloe vera, turmeric manjistha are beneficial as well as using herbal soaps and coconut oil massage and rose water or orange blossom face spritzer. Herbal teas such as rose, dandelion fennel and coriander are great options.