We use cookies to optimise our website functionality and give you the best experience possible. Please, accept our Terms and Conditions. ACCEPT
Every person reacts differently to stress according to his type or constitution.
I had to work throughout my studies in the USA, so that I could afford to pay for my education. One of the most mentally exhausting jobs was the post of a head of a support team of engineers and builders in the docks of Oakland. I had to get up every morning at five. It took me an hour to get to my workplace by car. My task was to effectively solve any problems that occurred in my working group so that the fluency of production was not affected. I was frequently required to communicate the frustrations of my working group to our managers. The mediating often involved workers, unions and the top management and I was supposed to play the role of a bridging element. The situations were sometimes very tense. After work, a long and exhausting journey during rush hour to school always awaited me. I seldom managed to eat lunch. Lessons usually went on into the late hours meaning that I usually got home around nine in the evening.
One Tuesday morning I left for work as usual. I overslept and was slightly late already to begin with. I got into the car without breakfast and was comforting myself with a hope that I would make up the time on the highway. Unfortunately, traffic was slowed down by several car accidents. The cars were not moving and I already knew I wouldn’t get to work on time. I arrived around five minutes late, frustrated enough, I rushed into my office. As if on purpose that particular day the atmosphere in the dock had been tense since the very morning. As I stepped inside, problems just started pouring down on me from all sides. My Pitta was increasing minute by the minute. A group of workers made a protest that required immediate solving with the unions. In a state of fury, I arrived to the meeting with the head of unions. The head was a stocky, black man with relaxed movements. His name was Johnston. They posted him recently and I did not know much about him. He invited me in, and smiling, he told me to have a seat. Instead of going straight to the matters of our concern, he started telling jokes. I was in the slightest mood for jokes. For a few minutes I was trying to control my temper but then could no longer keep myself from bursting out. “Sir, this is a serious matter and if they don’t hear a good solution…” I interrupted him and gave him my emotional account of what had happened. While trying to contain myself, I was still noticing that Johnston kept absolutely calm and was only nodding in agreement. “Yes, yes… correct… absolutely right.” This had an astonishing effect on me - my anger slowly cooled down and before I finished it vanished completely.
At the end I still added “You keep saying yes, yes, but how are we going to solve the problem?” But I already felt that because of his calm attitude I was also slowly beginning to smile. “Good,” said Johnston once again and began to talk. His speech was slow, cautious, constructive and friendly. We found a solution to all the problems within ten minutes.
Johnston perfectly pacified my Pitta with his affirmative and relaxed character. It was a beautiful lesson for me and to this day I like to recall this incident. I doubt he knew anything of Ayurveda but he acted precisely according to a useful rule; “If Pitta is aflame, the best is to agree with everything she or he has to say.”
Through this story I only wanted to demonstrate what every one of us must have already experienced at least once in our life. Every person reacts differently to stress according to his type or constitution.
Vata type people hate stress. The pressure of stress paralyses Vata and results in fear. Vata is the easiest to succumb to stress.
Pitta, on the other hand, organizes life in such a way as to keep the presence of slight stress always. Slight stress stimulates and motivates Pitta people to activity. When stress rises above the border line of Pitta’s own tolerance, he or she becomes irritable and prone to anger. He or she is then trying to impose an immediate and radical solution.
Kapha is, to a large extent usually immune to stress. The effort to try and bring Kapha into a state of mayhem usually ends in failure - Kapha just has no room for stress in her or his life. However, if Kapha begins to acknowledge a stressful situation, then the person just curls up into his or her shell and immobilizes themselves even more.
Every constitution has its typical emotional tendencies and characteristics. Vata is most subtle, tends to change and is sensitive in its reactions. Pitta is goal oriented, intense in its reactions. Kapha is the personification of stability, slowness and immobility.
A stabilized Vata brings good awareness, clear mind and easy understanding. It brings one into a heightened state and makes one lively, ideal, creative and enthusiastic. It carries with itself the desire for knowledge, education and spiritual improvement. A disturbed Vata brings fear, nervousness, uncertainty, agitation and lack of concentration. A person becomes an unproductive dreamer under its influence, unable to finish anything properly. Because Vata is the most sensitive of the three doshas it is easily disturbed. Its instability stands at the root of all illnesses.
Pitta in its harmonious state creates penetrating, sharp, fast and precise thinking. It makes a person intelligent, energetic, ambitious, passionate and happy. It gives a good sense of humour, leadership abilities, devotion and good organizational skills and neatness. An increase of Pitta causes over reacted criticizing, anger, hate, jealousy, fanatism, and lust for sensual pleasures.
A harmonious Kapha brings calmness, devotion, stability and endurance. It carries within itself a sense of luck and makes a person tolerant, loving and loyal. An increase of Kapha causes immobility, dumbness, non activity, laziness, inflexibility, attachment and greed.
If two Vata individuals meet to work on a project, there will be no result. They will discuss the project from all angles. They will endlessly talk of all the possible consequences and fear; ‘What would happen if this or that…?’ There will be many interesting ideas floating around in the air; however no tangible outcome will ever occur.
A couple of Pitta persons should never cook together. Pitta always has a perfect idea of how a thing should be done. Hunger is a great stress for Pitta – when hungry gets angry. Groaning stomach only causes more irritation in the partner’s already feisty argument which can cause a real catastrophe if the kitchen fire is burning!
When two Kaphas sit down to a tasty dish, they will take their time and enjoy every bit of taste. If by any chance you are hosting them, never forget to have enough food in reserve to serve for seconds! If they are in the privacy of their own home, their conversation will definitely revolve around how to effectively save money; the discussion won’t go around any insignificant sum, on the contrary – and how to persuade the others to care about business of which the Kaphas are the owners.
—
Read next chapter: ESSAYS ON AYURVEDA 15 >>
Titled as “Roving Ambassador of Ayurveda”, belongs to the first generation of Ayurvedic practitioners and teachers who have pioneered the way for Ayurveda's recognition as a mainstream system of medicine.
Born and raised in Paris, she has always been looking at the horizon. The city that nourished her, it was her trampoline for courageous free flight around this planet. It’s inspiring to keep up with her.
If there’s anything that I have stolen from my grandmother’s shelf of knick-knacks is a spoonful of pickle and some sweet and sour sarcasm. And yes, thanks to that I landed a job as a writer in a magazine.
You wear a saree only when you become a woman.” It sounds like a sentimentally wise thing to say, but let me break it down to you. In other words, it also meant, “When you’re ripe enough for the marriage market.”
Chilean poet and featuring artist at the Kochi Muziris Biennale 2016 on the possibility of an artistic response to the human crises of our time, including the refugee crisis surrounding the conflict in Syria. The sea, which became a grave for hundreds of people, including children.
Theyyam is a vibrant and colourful form of ritualistic worship that is deeply rooted in the culture and traditions of Kerala, India. This living tradition involves elaborate rituals, music, dance, and vibrant costumes that bring to life the divine spirits being invoked.
A new beginning is always infused with hope. Life is full of moments that we believe to be beginnings only because of the presence of hope. A physical symbol of these moments of hope is the flower. The films attempts to capture the emotion of these beginnings.
Dravidian Catharsis is the fruit of this deep immersion in the culture, the theatre, the traditions, and the soul of this mythological universe of the Tamil people. The powerful presences of spirits and living gods are embodied under masks.
Legend says that somewhere deep in the forest of the Himalayas is a strange bird that lays psychedelic eggs. Eating them will give you highly vivid hallucinations. The indigenous shamans believe that these visions are from your past life.
Ryuichi Sakamoto passed away this year on 28th March leaving behind a legacy of innumerable musical compositions that'll keep him alive in countless hearts across the world. However, I'll always be haunted by the fact that I couldn't let him know that I'm still alive because of his music along with many more.
Search for the questions to the answers written on the skin...and i asked. am i connected to the deep inside you? with the invisible roots from the layered skin of you? all the energy you transfer to the heart of your thoughts?i asked again am i still connected?
01: Ayurveda in Travancore Kingdom
If you expect stories which starts: Once upon a time, there was a princess... stop reading. Her Highness Princess Gouri Parvathi Bayi of the Travancore Royal Family will introduce us very modern and open minded view on today's Kerala society and ayurveda.
Stories of communities about origin, spread and apocalypse being presented through episodic memories, narrative and visual texts, travel writings, murals, divine objects, church paintings, and songs provide a dense and myriad repository of historical and artistic imagination.
IN OUR VEINS FLOW INK AND FIRE
This edition of the KMB 2022 embodies the joy of experiencing practices of divergent sensibilities, under conditions both joyful and grim. There is optimism even in the darkest absurdity, and this is what leavens the direness of our time.
KR Sunil goes beyond his frames to explore and discover soulful human stories. In this journey, he pursues a long forgotten life, that of a Tamil boy who endured the worst in a journey to Kerala. As the World Cup fever peaks, here is a story.
Presenting to you the most exciting project that we have worked on this year! A short film shot entirely on phone, this project has been a dream & after a lot of anticipation & hard work from all of us here, we are super duper excited to finally bring this to you!
Nitesh Noor Mohanty is a visual artist who works at the fluid intersection of arts, culture, communication, media and self-reflection. His theoretical interests are also wide, often inquiring about the roots and fundamentals of art history, storytelling, and philosophy.
Life & Times of Amrita Sher-Gil
Amrita Sher-Gil, considered the mother of Indian modern painting, became known as the Indian Frida Kahlo. With her paintbrush she explored the sadness felt by people, especially women, in 1930s India, giving voice and validity to their experiences.
