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The
Maharishi Ayurveda Natural Medicine Approach
to Beauty a |
by:
Nancy
Lonsdorf M.D. |
The
Maharishi Ayurveda Approach to Beauty and
Skin Care
The Three Pillars of Beauty
Maharishi Ayurveda (MAV), the modern, consciousness-based
revival of the ancient Ayurvedic medicine
tradition, considers true beauty to be supported
by three pillars; Outer Beauty, Inner Beauty
and Lasting Beauty. Only by enhancing all
three can we attain the balanced state of
radiant health that makes each of us the
most fulfilled and beautiful person we can
be.
Outer Beauty: Roopam
The outer signs of beauty - your skin, hair
and nails - are more than just superficial
measures of beauty. They are direct reflections
of your overall health. These outer tissues
are created by the inner physiological processes
involved in digestion, metabolism and proper
tissue development. Outer beauty depends
more on the strength of your digestion and
metabolism, the quality of your diet, and
the purity of your blood, than on external
cleansers and conditioners you may apply.
General Recommendations for Outer Beauty
As we will discuss, the key to skin care
is matching your diet and skin care routine
to the specific skin type you have. Meanwhile,
there are some valuable recommendations
for lustrous skin, hair and nails that will
be helpful to everyone, regardless of skin
type.
1. Diet: Without adequate nourishment, your
collagen layer thins and a kind of wasting
takes place. Over time, your skin can shrivel
up like a plant without water from lack
of nourishment. To keep your skin plump
and glowing:
A. Eat fresh, whole organic foods that are
freshly prepared.
Avoid packaged, canned, frozen, processed
foods and leftovers. These foods have little
nutritional value and also they are often
poorly digested which creates impurities
that localize in the skin. The resulting
buildup of toxins causes irritation and
blocks circulation depriving the skin of
further nourishment and natural cleansing
processes.
B. Favor skin nourishing foods.
1. Leafy green vegetables contain vitamins,
minerals (especially iron and calcium) and
are high in antioxidant properties. They
nourish the skin and protect it from premature
aging.
2. Sweet juicy fruits like grapes, melons,
pears, plums and stewed apples at breakfast
are excellent for the skin in almost everyone.
3. Eat a wide variety of grains over different
meals and try mixed grain servings at breakfast
and lunch. Add amaranth, quinoa, cous cous,
millet and barley to the wheat and rice
you already eat.
4. Favor light, easy to digest proteins
like legume soups (especially yellow split
mung dhal), whole milk, paneer (cheese made
from boiling milk, adding lemon and straining
solids) and lassi (diluted yogurt and spice
drinks).
5. Oils like ghee (clarified butter) and
organic, extra virgin olive oil should be
included in the diet as they lubricate,
nourish and create lustre in the skin.
6. Use spices like turmeric, cumin, coriander,
and black pepper to improve digestion, nourish
the skin and cleanse it of impurities.
7. Avoid microwaving and boiling your vegetables.
They lose as much as 85% of their antioxidant
content when cooked in this way. Steaming
and sautéing are best.
Caring for outer beauty through knowledge
of skin type
Besides these general recommendations the
key to Outer Beauty is to understand the
difference in skin types so you can gain
the maximum benefit from your individualized
skin care regimen. MAV identifies three
different skin types based on which of the
three main metabolic principles (doshas)-
present in everyone, but to different degrees-
is most dominant in your body.
Vata Skin
* Description: Vata is composed of the elements
of air and space. If you have a vata skin
type, your skin will be dry, thin, fine
pored, delicate and cool to the touch. When
balanced, it glows with a delicate lightness
and refinement that is elegant and attractive.
When vata skin is imbalanced, it will be
prone to excessive dryness and may even
be rough and flaky.
* Potential problems: The greatest beauty
challenge for vata skin is its predisposition
to symptoms of early aging. Your skin may
tend to develop wrinkles earlier than most
due to its tendency to dryness and thinness.
If your digestion is not in balance, your
skin can begin to look dull and grayish,
even in your 20's and 30's. In addition,
your skin may have a tendency for disorders
such as dry eczema and skin fungus. Mental
stress, such as worry, fear and lack of
sleep, has a powerful debilitating effect
on vata skin leaving it looking tired and
lifeless.
* Recommendations for care
With a little knowledge, you can preserve
and protect the delicate beauty of your
vata type skin. Since your skin does not
contain much moisture, preventing it from
drying is the major consideration. Eat a
warm, unctuous diet (ghee and olive oil
are best) and favor sour, salty and sweet
tastes (naturally sweet like fruits, not
refined sugar) as they balance vata. Avoid
drying foods like crackers. Drink 6-8 glasses
of warm (not cold for vata types!) water
throughout the day and eat plenty of sweet,
juicy fruits. Going to bed early (before
10 PM) is very soothing to vata and will
have a tremendously positive influence on
your skin. Avoid cleansing products that
dry the skin (like alcohol-based cleansers)
and perform Ayurvedic oil massage to your
whole body (abhyanga) in the morning before
you shower.
Pitta Skin.
* Description: Pitta dosha is composed of
the elements of fire and water. If you have
a pitta skin type your skin is fair, soft,
warm and of medium thickness. When balanced,
your skin has a beautiful, slightly rosy
or golden glow, as if illuminated from within.
Your hair typically is fine and straight,
and is usually red, sandy or blonde in color.
Your complexion tends toward the pink or
reddish, and there is often a copious amount
of freckles or moles.
* Potential problems: Among the many beauty
challenges of pitta skin types is your tendency
to develop rashes, rosacea, acne, liver
spots or pigment disorders. Because of the
large proportion of the fire element in
your constitution, your skin does not tolerate
heat or sun very well. Of all the three
skin types, pitta skin has the least tolerance
for the sun, is photosensitive, and most
likely to accumulate sun damage over the
years. Pitta skin is aggravated by emotional
stress, especially suppressed anger, frustration,
or resentment.
* Recommendations for care
Avoid excessive sunlight, tanning treatments
and highly heating therapies like facial
or whole body steams. Avoid hot, spicy foods
and favor astringent, bitter and sweet foods
which balance pitta. (Again, naturally sweet,
not chocolate and refined sugar!) Sweet
juicy fruits (especially melons and pears),
cooked greens and rose petal preserves are
especially good. Drinking plenty of water
helps wash impurities from sensitive pitta
skin. Reduce external or internal contact
with synthetic chemicals, to which your
skin is especially prone to react, even
in a delayed fashion after years of seemingly
uneventful use. Avoid skin products that
are abrasive, heating or contain artificial
colors or preservatives. Most commercial
make-up brands should be avoided in favor
of strictly 100% natural ingredient cosmetics.
And be sure to get your emotional stress
under control through plenty of outdoor
exercise, yoga and meditation.
Kapha Skin.
* Description: Kapha dosha is composed of
the elements of earth and water. If you
have a kapha skin type your skin is thick,
oily, soft and cool to the touch. Your complexion
is a glowing porcelain whitish color, like
the moon, and hair characteristically thick,
wavy, oily and dark. Kapha skin types, with
their more generous collagen and connective
tissue, are fortunate to develop wrinkles
much later in life than vata or pitta types.
*Potential problems If your skin becomes
imbalanced, it can show up as enlarged pores,
excessively oily skin, moist types of eczema,
blackheads, acne or pimples, and water retention.
Kapha skin is also more prone to fungal
infections.
* Recommendations for care
Kapha skin is more prone to clogging and
needs more cleansing than other skin types.
Be careful to avoid greasy, clogging creams.
Likewise, avoid heavy, hard to digest foods
like fried foods, fatty meats, cheeses and
rich desserts. Eat more light, easy to digest,
astringent, bitter and pungent (well-spiced)
foods as they balance kapha. Olive oil is
the best cooking oil and a little ginger
and lime juice can be taken before meals
to increase your characteristically sluggish
digestive fire. Take warm baths often and
use gentle cleansers to open the skin pores.
Avoid getting constipated and try to get
some exercise every day to increase circulation
and help purify the skin through the sweating
process.
Inner Beauty: Gunam.
Happy, positive, loving, caring individuals
have a special beauty that is far more than
skin deep. Conversely we all experience
the quick and deleterious effect on our
skin from fatigue and stress.
Inner beauty is authentic beauty, not the
kind that shows on a made-up face, but the
kind that shines through from your soul,
your consciousness or inner state of being.
Inner beauty comes from a mind and heart
that are in harmony, not at odds with each
other, causing emotional confusion, loss
of confidence, stress and worry. Inner peace
is the foundation of outer beauty.
Maintain your self-confidence and a warm,
loving personality by paying attention to
your lifestyle and daily routine and effective
management of stress (I highly recommend
the TM technique for its scientifically-verified
benefits on mental and physical health and
reduced aging.) You will also be healthier
and feel better through the day if you eat
your main meal at midday and make a habit
of going to bed early (by 10 PM is ideal.)
Remember, kindness, friendliness and sincerity
naturally attract people to you. On the
other hand, being uptight or tense makes
people want to walk the other way, regardless
of your facial structure, body weight, or
other outer signs we associate with attractiveness.
Lasting Beauty: Yayastyag
In order to slow the aging process and gain
lasting beauty there are two additional
key considerations beyond those already
discussed,
1. Eliminate toxins and free radicals in
the body: The main deteriorating effects
of aging come as toxins and impurities (called
ama in Ayurveda) accumulate throughout the
body. These toxins may begin as free radicals
in the body, or over time may become oxidized
into free radicals, all of which contribute
to premature aging in the body. For lasting
health and beauty it is essential to avoid
and neutralize free radicals, to prevent
impurities of all kinds from accumulating
and to remove those that have already become
lodged in the body.
The most powerful cleansing therapy in Maharishi
Ayurveda is "panchakarma" therapy, a series
of natural treatments ideally performed
twice yearly, that involves 5-7 days in
a row of massage, heat treatments and mild
herbal enemas. Ayurveda emphasizes the importance
of undergoing this cleansing program once
or twice a year to prevent impurities from
accumulating, localizing and hardening in
the tissues. Just as we change the oil in
our cars regularly for optimal performance
and lifespan, Ayurveda recommends that we
cleanse the "sludge" from our tissues on
a regular basis through panchakarma treatments.
Best of all, panchakarma treatments are
luxurious, blissful, and make you feel (and
look) completely rejuvenated in just a few
days time. I have had many a patient who
told me that friends asked them afterwards
if they had gotten a facelift, they looked
so fresh and youthful!
Other free radical busters include: reducing
mental stress, eating antioxidant foods
like leafy green vegetables, sweet, juicy
fruits and cooking on a daily basis with
antioxidant, detoxifying spices like turmeric
and coriander.
2. Add rejuvenative techniques to daily
living:
The daily activities of life in the modern
world systematically wear us down and speed
up the aging process. Ayurveda maintains
it is crucial to practice daily rejuvenative
regimens to counteract the stressful wear
and tear of everyday life. According to
Ayurveda the most important rejuvenative
routines for your life are:
a) Going to bed by 10:00 PM. This simple
habit is one of the most powerful techniques
for health and longevity, according to MAV.
b) Meditate daily. Any meditation that does
not involve concentration (which has been
shown to increase anxiety) can be very helpful.
I highly recommend the twice-daily deep
rest and enlivenment of the Transcendental
Meditation (TM) technique, whose benefits
have been verified by over 700 published
research studies.
c) Eat organic, whole fresh food that is
freshly prepared. There is an Ayurvedic
saying: "Without proper diet. medicine is
of no use. With proper diet, medicine is
of no need." Be sure to avoid those leftovers,
processed and microwaved foods for better
nutrition and vitality.
d) Perform Ayurvedic oil massage in the
morning (abhyanga). Morning oil massage
purifies the entire body, reduces anxiety
and stress, helps prevent and heal injuries
and supports circulation. It is especially
helpful in creating a radiant complexion
and keeping your skin youthful. Research
shows it may also help prevent skin cancers.
e) Practice yoga asanas. Maintaining flexibility
and circulation is key to health.
f) Practice pranayama (yoga breathing) techniques.
Pranayama enlivens the mind and body. Ideally
practice the following sequence twice a
day. Asanas, pranayama and meditation.
Summary
Everyone's unique beauty shines forth when
they have radiant health and personal happiness.
Beauty is a side effect of a balanced, fulfilled
life. Supreme personal beauty is accessible
to everyone who is willing to take more
control of their health in their day-to-day
life through time-tested principles of natural
living.
For most of us, beauty is not a gift but
a choice. Every woman can be radiantly beautiful
simply by beginning to lead a healthier
life. You will be rewarded by the glowing
effects you will see in your mirror each
day and the powerful, bliss-producing effect
your special beauty has on everyone in your
life.
About the Author
Nancy Lonsdorf M.D. received her M.D.
from Johns Hopkins and did her postgraduate
training at Stanford. She is currently
the Medical Director of The Raj Ayurveda
Health Center in Vedic City Iowa
http://www.ayurveda-ayurvedic.com
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