Exercise

Exercise is an important part of the ayurvedic routine as it helps rid the body of heaviness and stiffness through the burning of ama or toxins. It creates greater flexibility, lightness, energy and stamina. It also pacifies all three doshas, creates balance, enhances digestion, improves immunity, dissolves impurities in the tissues, banishes fatigue, stops early aging and retards weight gain. However, too much exercise can be damaging, causing fatigue, lack of glow in the skin and face, pitta and vata aggravation and strain on the respiratory and cardiovascular systems. It can also create excess free radicals which damage the body and have been linked to over eighty percent of degenerative disease as well as premature aging.

Ayurveda therefore recommends that no more than fifty percent of total capacity is utilised, with individual capacity depending on daily fluctuations of energy, change of the seasons, age, and body type. Vata types needs the least exercise, so lighter activities such as walking are best. Pitta types need moderate amounts with swimming and skiing being good, whilst Kapha types need more intense exercise - jogging and aerobics are good to help them stay in balance. Do more exercise in winter and spring and do less in hot weather as this will create fatigue, especially in pitta body types.

Always start out slowly and only gradually increase the intensity and duration of exercise. Stop when you note signs of overexertion. You know when you're doing the right amount of exercise if you feel energized and calm afterwards. If you feel strained and exhausted, you're doing too much.

You can continue to exercise until you notice one of the following two signs of overexertion:

1. Difficulty in breathing through the nose. If you have to open your mouth to gulp in air, that's a sign that your heart is overexerted, the circulation system is taxed and the coordination of heart and lungs is disturbed. You should stop immediately.

2. Sweating on the forehead or the tip of nose. Sweating elsewhere in the body is fine but when you notice sweat in these two places it's a sign that you are overexerted and should stop.

Yoga asanas are the ideal form of exercise for all body types and ages, because they balance the three doshas, tone the muscles, and rejuvenate all the organs in the body. Practicing pranayama is also a good way to increase endurance. An abhyanga oil massage before exercise will tone the muscles, get the blood circulating and prevent injury or strain Exercise every day as part of your regular daily routine.

If possible, exercise in the morning before 10am as your body has more strength, stamina, and coordination during the kapha time of day. Exercising at this time also energizes you and prepares you for the day ahead. Exercising in the late evening or towards bedtime is not recommended as it can elevate body temperatures and disrupt sleep rhythms.

A light walk or yoga in the evening is fine. Also avoid exercise from 10am to 2pm, the pitta time of day, when the digestive fire is strong – this should be reserved for eating the main meal of the day. It's not a good idea to exercise on a full stomach - wait about two hours after eating a large meal.

However, if your stomach is empty and you are very hungry, have a light snack of fruit juice, cooked apples or some kind of light soup before exercising. It is important to breathe through the nose at all time during exercise as this uses the whole of the lungs and not just the upper portions. If you are breathing through the mouth you are over-exerting.

If you were at the zoo and a tiger escaped from its pen you would most likely take a quick upper-chest “gasping” emergency breath. This breath would trigger a fight-or-flight response in your nervous system as the upper lobes of the lungs are primarily innervated by the sympathetic nervous system.

The kind of “gasping” mouth breathing, much like a hyperventilation breathing pattern, is a normal breathing response to extreme stress. Unfortunately, this how most people breathe during exercise and this triggers the same neurological response. In contrast, the nerves that would calm, rejuvenate and regenerate the body are in the lower lobes of the lungs along with the majority of the blood supply.

The problem is that most people never breathe into these lower parasympathetic dominant lobes. They therefore create a minor but constant emergency situation which creates stress hormones and releases excess toxins into the body. Thus, we can see that exercise can act as a double-edged sword, where it can either incur stress or remove stress, depending on the quality of the breath.

The best way to consistently breathe into the lower lobes of the lungs is by nasal breathing. The nose is intricately designed to filter, moisten and rarefy the air we take in and drive it into the small and distal alveoli of the lungs. It is when these distal lobes are fully perfused with air that the body produces a neurological state of composure even while under extreme stress If you are unfit or aren’t used to exercise first go for a short walk before attempting anything more physical.

For the first ten minutes breath in and out deeply through your nose as you walk fairly slowly. This ensures you are exercising your lungs. Be vigilant and make sure that each breath is deeper, longer and slower than the one before – however, the emphasis should always be on comfort rather than style. It is this experience of comfort that you will eventually take you to higher levels of exertion. If you feel relaxed and comfortable, begin to walk faster but be sure to maintain the same rhythm of the breath you established at the beginning.

At some point you will notice it becoming more difficult to get the air in through the nose and an ensuing urge to take a mouth breath. When your exercise forces you to take your first mouth breathe, you have just forced the body into an emergency breathing response to maintain that faster pace.

Immediately slow down and recapture the original deep, long and slow rhythm of the breath. Once it is re-established, try to walk faster again, telling your body you want more performance. When the breathing gets laboured and you open your mouth again, slow down once more.

Constantly tell your body that you want more performance but that you don’t want to create an emergency response. Soon your body will accommodate a higher level of a natural and more permanent fitness. Because of the years of lower rib cage constriction, you will more than likely find this difficult at first.

But what you couldn't do the first day, you will find yourself effortlessly doing within two or three weeks, whilst comfortably breathing through your nose. When this happens your ribcage is effectively and efficiently massaging your heart and lungs up to 28,000 times a day. When this starts happening, a natural calming influence stays with you all day while you deal with all kinds of extreme stressors. Exercise has now become one of the your most important health-enhancing tools.