Kapha Can Kiss It by Renee Downing, E-RYT 500

Winter said hello early this year when a blanket of snow on Halloween night covered the layer of leaves most people thought they still had time to clear from their yards. November then lived up to its Wisconsin reputation and blotted out the sun with thick gray clouds, keeping the air damp, cold and heavy. And for the first time since I moved back here 5 winters ago, I felt SAD. As in seasonal affective disorder.

Maybe it was due to the fact that I am no longer on any fibromyalgia medication. Perhaps it was the anticipation of the stress of getting a business through the winter in a town that closes down October through March. Most likely both of those things were a factor, combined with the excitement of living back here having worn off.

Depression sucks. It has controlled the majority of my life since I was 13 years old. Sometimes I get it under control, other times I sink deep into darkness. This year has blessed me with an abundance of mental health. Late Spring, all of Summer and the beginning of Fall I was content, and it was nice. Mood swings were rare, confidence was high. Then it got cold fast.

Leaves barely got to turn their beautiful reds, pinks and yellows before turning brown and blowing off the trees. The sky was 50 very unsexy shades of gray that dulled whatever colors were left in Nature. Cold crept in like thick sewage oozing up out of manholes.

My body hurt. A lot. Despite the pain I was able to keep my mood up with the experience of knowing that the pain was temporary. But the pain didn’t dissipate as quickly as it had in the past. It lingered, making it more and more difficult to practice yoga asana, play with my dogs, and even get out of bed. I had put on more weight than I was comfortable with in the preceding months, and it was starting to slow me down. All I wanted to do was lay in bed. Thankfully, I have the wisdom of Ayurveda to lean on.

Sluggishness, depression, weight gain- I have a Kapha imbalance. In my opinion, Kapha is the most difficult dosha to balance. Joy. The last thing I felt like doing was vigorous exercise. Spices? Cool, no problem. But getting up at 6 am? Kill me now. However, I dislike feeling like crap more than I enjoy being a sloth. So a few weeks ago I entered Kapha balancing mode.

I started doing high intensity interval training on the elliptical machine, which is the antonym of a good time, but it’s only 20 minutes so I suck it up. I nurture my creative mind in my asana practice by coming up with intense drills, rewarding the ass kicking between drills with a short restorative pose. Kapalabhati pranayama has been helpful, and of course Ujayi is used throughout my practices. There isn’t much about my diet that needed to change in order to pacify Kapha besides sugar. Those highly addictive, evil hell crystals that dwell in everything I want to fill my belly with. I have had mild success in reducing that drug. I got up at 6 am. Once.

While I work on balancing Kapha I am being cautious not to set off any of the other doshas, especially Vata. My skin has a tendency to get dry in the winter so I don’t think I’ll be doing any dry brushing. I will not be consuming many raw vegetables, if any, but I will certainly consume many cooked ones, which is pacifying for both Kapha and Vata. Although Kapha should avoid sweet potatoes, I ate them on Thanksgiving. I am not sorry.

Although it has only been a few weeks, I do feel my mood has lifted. My energy is slowly returning. My weight has stayed the same but I blame the hell crystals. Sweet, delicious, gooey, creamy, make me forget about everything for 5 seconds hell crystals…