Kapha season - do’s and don’ts

Kapha season - do’s and don’ts

Amanda Hester-Smith

As we transition from Winter into Spring, we find ourselves deep into Kapha season. Kapha season is characterized by cool, wet, heavy, dense, gross, stable and slow. Can you feel it? The cold melting way to cool, the heaviness in the body and mind as we slowly pull ourselves toward the warmer temps, the dense air thick with damp earth ready to reveal what she's been hiding all winter? The time and space of transition is considered pretty delicate in ayurveda. When we’re no longer one thing, but not quite yet another, it is unpredictable. So we take certain precautions to ensure a safe journey from winter to spring, after all the whole point of ayurveda is prevention. We want to prepare our bodies and minds and there's a few ayurvedic ways to do this. 


Tips for balancing Kapha, the Do’s


  1. Warm it up! Dress appropriately, make hot meals, take hot baths, hit the sauna, whatever you’re doing, keep it toasty. 

Here’s my favorite ayurvedic detox bath:

1 cup magnesium

½ cup baking soda

¼ cup ginger (ground or fresh)

¼ cup spirulina (optional)


  1. Spice it up! Using black pepper, mustard, ginger and spices that generally create heat in the body is a great way to help it all melt away.

  2. Lighten it up! Listen, it’s been heavy and dense for months, it’s time to put on some fun music and dance. Get that body moving again after the sluggishness of winter.

  3. Clean it up! That’s right, open the blinds, dust the cobwebs off and clear space for a new season.

  4. Plant some seeds! Spring is a very creative time. Creating new life by planting some seeds can help brighten the seasonal transition and double bonus, it gets you into nature.

  5. Fast or cleanse! It’s the perfect time to purge a bad habit or do a seasonal cleanse. A 40 day challenge is a ticket to balance so pick something you can let old man winter take with him as he waves goodbye and have a strong start to Spring. 

  6. Tap into herbal allies! I love all the spicy ones but the light and cleansing ones make for great choices too! We should Spring clean our bodies and minds as well as our homes. CCF tea (cumin, coriander, fennel), cilantro, mint, matcha tea, dandelion and parsley are all wonderful for cleansing this time of year. 

Which reminds me, our Mint Matcha energy shots are buy one, get one free this month to help gently lift you from Winter to Spring. 





The Don’ts


  1. (Don't) Keep the curtains closed. We have to let in the light and warmth of some Springtime sunshine. Vitamin D is severely needed at this time. 

  2. (Don't) Eat and drink cold things. It just slows digestion and remember, kapha is already slow! 

  3. (Don't) Walk outside in a t-shirt just because it's 50 degrees. Talk about shocking the system, keep your sweatshirt on fellas! 

  4. (Don't) Stop thinking about tomorrow! It can feel like we’ve been in the doldrums of Winter forever but we KNOW Spring is on its way. Look for small signs in the changes of nature and you’ll notice it happening right before your eyes. 

  5. (Don't) Forget your adaptogens. Remember, they are the best when it comes to change, they literally help us adapt. So try to sneak in a couple everyday. 

  6. (Don't) Let it weigh you down. Balance your elements! All that water can get heavy! Invite some friends over for a backyard firepit or take the tarp off your grill and cook some food by fire. 

  7. (Don't) Let it stagnate. Stagnation is a major problem in ayurveda that leads to disease. So I recommend some dry brushing this time of year. It helps move lymph and gets the blood flowing. We want to breathe new life into our cells after Winter.



I hope these tips help you move into a beautiful Springtime.

In good health,

Amanda 

 

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