Improve your digestion with Ayurveda
“You are what you eat.” We’ve heard this line plenty of times. But in Ayurveda, the saying goes “You are what you digest.”
Ayurveda gives us the wisdom to reignite our digestive fire for radiant health.
What we fill our bodies with needs to be digested well in order to nourish our tissues and organs. Since everything we eat goes through our digestive tract, it’s important to learn and understand the role of proper digestion.
In Ayurveda, the foundation of our overall health and well-being is a healthy digestion. Agni, the biological fire of the body, is in charge of transforming the food that you put into your body into the nourishment that aids your daily existence. When there is unstable agni, there is a tendency towards certain diseases. But if agni is balanced, all vital functions of the body are able to work well together.
Defining Agni and Knowing Its Importance
Agni means fire in Sanskrit. In Vedic culture, fire is worshiped because of its heat, light and ability to cook food. But this understanding of agni goes beyond fire in its physical form. Agni is also the term for one of the 5 building blocks from which the universe is made of -- the fire element. Moreover, it refers to the digestive fire, the fire of intelligence, which rules all transformative processes, and serves as a bridge between the body, the mind, and the consciousness.
Since it is considered the force of intelligence in the body, agni has numerous functions — physiological processes like digestion and absorption to assimilation of foods, experiences and sensations into energy. Agni digests thoughts and emotions, and nurtures the tissues while managing their creation, regeneration, breakdown, and destruction. It also regulates body temperature, makes our skin radiant and provides twinkle to our eyes.
Signs of Good Agni
Good immunity and strength
Smooth skin texture
Sensory organs function well
Consistent bowel movements and soft, well-formed stool
Able to digest meals without discomfort
Stomach feels light and comfortable hours after the meal
Signs of Imbalanced Agni
Indigestion: hyperacidity, feeling heavy or mentally foggy, bloating, constipation, gas, nausea, loose stools
Overactive or suppressed appetite
Increased feeling of anger, fear, confusion, anxiety, depression or lethargy
Congestion in the lymph, sinuses or even in the mind
Weakness, low energy, fatigue
Ways to Support Your Digestive Fire, Agni
It is believed that a strong Agni is crucial for maintaining overall health and well-being. Unfortunately, many people struggle with weak or imbalanced Agni, which can lead to digestive issues such as bloating, constipation, and indigestion.
In this article, we will explore various ways to support your digestive fire, Agni, through the use of diet, lifestyle, and Ayurvedic practices. By following these recommendations, you can improve your digestion, increase your energy levels, and promote overall health and well-being.
1) Regular Ayurvedic Detoxing
In Ayurveda, the process of detox is believed to be essential for maintaining a healthy digestive fire, or Agni. The accumulation of toxins, or "ama," in the body can weaken Agni and lead to a variety of digestive issues. Detoxing, or cleansing, can help to remove these toxins and waste products from the body, which in turn can help to strengthen Agni and improve digestion. An Ayurvedic detox gently, safely and effectively detoxes toxins from not only the physical body, but also the mind and emotions. You can click here to join our next 3 Day Ayurvedic Detox.
2) Have a Routine In Place
Maintaining a daily routine, also known as Dinacharya greatly supports agni. When you have a routine in place, you create a sense of harmony throughout the day. This means that your body naturally knows when it's time to eat and then prepares the body to receive food at regular times.
With a daily routine, you enhance your mental state, reduce the need to make excess decisions, save time, encourage good habits (while eradicating bad ones), and lower stress. ‘Healthy Habits Healthy Life’ is a 12 week program that supports you to develop your own personal Dinacharya and implement your habits through removing sabotage programs and a supportive like-minded community.
3) Get Fresh Air or Pranayama
Go for a nature walk or take a few minutes to practice pranayama (yogic breathing exercises) to rejuvenate the deep tissues. Relaxing your body and mind, and breathing deeply will light up your agni. For kapha imbalances, practice kapalbhati (breath of fire). If you have vata imbalances, nadi shodhana (balancing and purifying the nadis) is ideal. When it comes to pitta imbalances, sheetali (cooling breath) is recommended.
4) Mindful Eating
When you're genuinely hungry, you have a pleasant anticipation of food. Hence, you feel satisfied when you eat. False hunger strikes when you're exhausted, upset or bored. But you can eliminate that by going on a short walk, drinking some warm water, or taking a short rest.
Agni is nourished everywhere in the body when you’re mindful of what you're eating -- by allowing yourself to focus on your meals. When you slow down, you allow enough time for your body to inform you when you've had enough. Rather than rushing with what you have on your plate, taking your time will let you realize whether you're emotional eating or recognizing the amount of food you really want to eat.
5) Herbal Tea
Herbal teas like coriander, cumin, fennel, and fresh have plenty of digestive benefits. Drink any of these teas to improve immunity, cleanse the body, restore digestion, boost metabolism, and control false hunger.
6) Appropriate Exercise for Your Dosha
Exercise nourishes the overall body, overcomes the cycle of laziness, and improves digestive power and body stability. When exercising, it’s important to consider which dosha you need to nourish the most.
Kapha benefits from kapha pacifying yoga and vigorous and stimulating exercise.
Vata is balanced by vata pacifying yoga and other forms of grounding exercise.
Pitta responds to pitta pacifying yoga and exercises that have a moderate and relaxed effort.
7) Meditation
We can get so busy that the body gets left behind. With meditation, even just a 5-minute practice, you allow yourself to stop and focus. Stress can create a huge impact on your health and disrupt the digestive process. With meditation, there is space and time to shift out of a stress response, allowing the body to be in the best state for digestion.
8) Triphala
Triphala has been used as a healing remedy for over a thousand years. It consists of three major herbs, namely amalaki (amla), haritaki (harad) and bibhitaki (baheda). Triphala detoxifies and gently cleanses the digestive tract, and rejuvenates the tissues. It also has anti-inflammatory properties and tonifies the bowel supporting healthy elimination. Triphala can either be taken in a powdered form, or in a tablet form, Agnitone.
Nurture Your Inner Fire Daily!
It stands to reason that we should all take extra care of our agni – that means doing whatever is necessary to tend to our bodies day in and day out. As we’ve explored here, agni plays a significant role – not just in the digestive process – but in our overall health and well-being. So, keep that fire burning within you!
If your would like some personal support with your digestion and overall health and receive a solid plan to achieve your goals, book at FREE 30min Body Goals Session.