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Newcomers to Ayurveda are often confused at the reverence the science has for milk and products derived from milk. With so many “allergies” and digestive problems associated with dairy it’s not difficult to appreciate why this confusion would exist.
More often than not, the conclusions of the inherent problems of incorporating dairy in a regular diet are based on a wrong understanding of the root cause of acquired lactose intolerance. A recent report concluded that low fat yoghurt during pregnancy can increase the risk of the baby suffering from asthma.
Ayurveda believes this report to be only half wrong.
Ayurveda, always looking to treat the source, assists us in better explaining and eliminating this intolerance and problems associated with dairy.
Ghrtena Vardhate Buddhi Ayuh Ksirena Vardhate
In translation, this sutra reads:
Ghee increases intellect, with milk life increases
Why would Ayurveda give such esteem to a food linked to so many health problems and digestive disorders? The answer lies in the definition of milk.
Milk comes from cows and the closer it is to the source – the original product from the cow – the significantly more healthy it is for us. Ayurveda believes it is only whole milk that the body can digest.
The mechanical processes that give milk unnatural characteristics – such as long life (UHT), a lower fat content (low fat, skim, etc), a different taste (flavoured), more nutrition (fortified), or a more uniform appearance (homogenisation) – denature the milk and remove our body’s ability to digest this wonderful source of health. Ayurveda does not consider the end product of these processes to be milk. These products have been mistreated in such a way as to remove our bodies ability to digest them and it is the heavy processing that results in “lactose intolerance”.
While it is beneficial to search for raw milk that is unmodified in any way, milk that has only undergone the pasteurisation process offers a suitable and healthy alternative. And Ayurveda provides guidance on how to take these minimally modified milk products so that we can be certain to fully digest them.
Most importantly is that milk is never taken cold as it will increase mucous production. Heat the milk gently on the stove and add a few warming spices (eg: cinnamon, cardamom) to antidote the mucoid properties. Taken in this way, milk provides nutrition to the body without causing indigestion or unpleasant side effects.
Whole, unmodified milk contains around 4% fat. If you want to reduce this percentage mix the milk with water. The same applies if you would prefer a lower fat yoghurt. All low fat products on the market (including non-milk products) are mechanically processed and will cause indigestion and imbalances in the body. It is better to lower the fat content naturally.
Combining dairy products with other foods is also a source of digestive complaints. Generally milk can be taken with cereals without difficulty but one should avoid taking milk with bananas, sour fruits, bread containing yeast, fish, meat, or yoghurt. Yoghurt should never be combined with fruit, cheese, eggs, meat, or milk.
As is always the case in Ayurveda there is no food which is beneficial for everyone. Milk is no exception and Kapha types should be fairly strict in limiting their intake of all dairy products. Pitta types should avoid taking too much yoghurt but milk pacifies their fiery quality. Finally, most natural dairy products are a benefit to Vata types when their digestion is in balance.
Jnana Yoga is often translated as the yoga of acquiring knowledge while Dravya Prapti Yoga as the yoga of acquiring wealth. A close friend of mine suggested that:
Ashtanga Yoga is the yoga of acquiring.
Some people may feel what she is proposing is akin to Ashtanga heresy. To imply that we practice Ashtanga merely to acquire the next pose is often perceived as an insult, an indication that the practitioner is missing the point.
But often, what lies beneath the veneer of the quintessential Ashtangi, is a desire for the next pose, the next series, the next milestone. We use the poses as a means of grading ourselves against our peers – Where are we? Where do we fit in? How long will it take me? Who am I?
As in other areas of life where we deliberately choose not to acknowledge our darker side, it is perhaps the same in our yoga practice. We choose to be consciously unaware of this facet of our spiritual failing, this desire of the human body, this quest for the next pose.
In Ashtanga, acquiring is the elephant in the room that we opt to suppress and if I’ve learned one thing about yoga it’s that we are not here to suppress. An important step in the search for our true nature is to appreciate who we are, the root of our desires, and to express all aspects of the true self. People often confuse the concept of “true self” as the “good self”. Our true self is the root of our being, where judgement is absent and we simply are.
So as we acquire poses and wear them as discrete badges that we are not supposed to talk about but do anyway. It is understood that it’s not the pose that you’re “stuck” on but the state of your spirit… but we shift to the importance of the pose because it’s tangible.
Some practitioners “get” what it’s all about in primary series while others finish Advanced B and are still at a loss. We all know this, but fall back to acquiring. This is not a mistake, but in hiding the reality we deny the reality – and we don’t practice Ashtanga to deny, we practice Ashtanga so as to accept.
So perhaps if we were more open about our inherent shorcomings then we’d all be more content with where we are. To accept that we acquire is to accept our true nature, and realising our true nature is the path to liberation.
It seems fitting, having recently arrived in Mysore – the home of Ashtanga Yoga – that I turn some attention to Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras.
As I have come to appreciate over the past few years of study, Sanskrit is a relatively concise language and translations are often open to fairly variable interpretations which can be, at times, contradictory.
In the West, perhaps due to our culture, we require that there be a clear and precise explanation with one single definition. This certainty – an absolute knowing – is what provides us in the West with a sense of security by which we may rest peacefully at night.
It was explained to me early in my Ayurveda studies that in Indian culture it is acceptable for two contrasting opinions to be correct – even in cases of utter contradiction. For in India, great emphasis is placed on your ability to adequately convey, through logic and reasoning, your point of view.
It is with this perspective that I re-present Patanjali’s second sutra of the first chapter.
yogashchittavrittinirodhah (1.2)
This is the most oft quoted sutra from Patanjali and is simple and illuminating. Directly translated, this sutra means:
Yoga mind fluctuations controlling.
By adding a little grammar we get to:
Yoga is a means to control the fluctuations of the mind.
And this is the translation you will find in most yoga teacher training manuals – with good sense too as yoga is an excellent method to yoking the mind so that we may guide it, rather than having it pull us according to its whims.
When working with Sanskrit is important to remember that English translations are at best an approximation. Much is based on context and, due to the limited grammar of Sanskrit, the result is often an interpretation rather than a strict translation.
Sir O.P. Tiwari, a teacher that I have spent time with in studying the yoga Sutras, prefers the word “disciplined” when translating “nirodhah”. He feels that discipline can be creative, an attribute that “controlling” is not able to convey.
This thought was on my mind as I was reading a book unrelated to Patanjali’s Sutras and I happened upon a alternate translation of the word “vritti”. The word “grooves” – meaning habitual patterns or reflexes – jumped off the page and applied an unusual meaning to the often quoted yoga sutra. It suddenly occurred to me that perhaps Patanjali intended that:
Yoga is a means to discipline the mind so as to avoid responding from the (habitual) grooves.
In this rendering, Patanjali intended that yoga is a means to bring us into the “now”, to react as though each situation is presenting itself to us for the first time. Yoga is an aid to stop us reacting impulsively to situations based on how they have occurred in the past, stopping us from reacting based on anticipation. The practice of yoga encourages us to live openly.
Vasant Lad touches on this when he says:
The brain cells enjoy working along a groove made by previous knowledge and memory. Recognition becomes a habitual, conditioned reflex that gives a feeling of security. Repetitive methods, techniques and systems nourish the ego and dull the mind.
Yoga is a means to bring our awareness to the present, avoiding a dulling of the mind that causes us to be neglectful in living out our existence. When we aspire to respond to the moment as it presents itself this time, we connect with life as a dynamic and stirring experience – as it is.
