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Key points
- Ayurveda, "the wisdom of healthy longevity," is a 6,000 year-old Eastern tradition now available in the West.
- Burnout is a prevalent syndrome with three impairing features: 1.) exhaustion, 2.) depersonalization, and 3.) a sense of job inefficacy.
- Eco-corporeality is the holistic view of oneself integral to the ecosystem in health and disease.
Eco-Corporeality
Ayurveda, a traditional medicine still practiced in India, has a 6,000 year-old history focused on human nature using innovative health interventions. "Ayus" is Sanskrit for life and longevity; "Veda" for "wisdom." Modern times are ripe for integrating these global healing systems, however esoteric they appear. Western healthcare can now use this untapped resource, with its novel vocabulary and perspectives as a practical stress reducer. With Ayurveda, exhaustion, depersonalization, and a sense of inefficacy, the hallmarks of burnout, meet compelling therapeutic approaches. Mindfulness is core to Ayurveda, which approaches the body as a part of nature and integral to the broader ecological system.
Eco-corporeality is a concept coined in my text on Ayurveda. The eco-corporeal self is the holistic person embedded in nature. Eco-corporeal psychology is the emotional and mental aspect of Ayurveda's concept of the three "doshas," a Sanskrit term that aligns one's bio-mental constitution to maintain well-being. Foundations rest on these doshas to make up the body's psychophysiological blueprint—one's constitution, or "Prakruti." Each dosha has material, emotional, and cognitive actions.
The Five Great Gross Elements
Ayurveda posits that the body's makeup is grounded in nature's "Five Great Gross Elements," Ether, Air, Fire, Water, and Earth. They are the building blocks of the biological doshas, on the border between energy and matter, i.e., the ecological environment.
The Three Biological Doshas
This trinity of biological doshas, Vata-Pitta-Kapha (VPK), uses the Five Elements to become three physiological groupings that regulate the body. The three prime doshas are Vata, Pitta, and Kapha, and behave as unique psychophysiological organizers with specific functions.
This dosha genetic blueprint establishes a template at birth. Environmental input, today termed "epigenetics," turns on and off genes to reshape and adapt the three physiologic dosha systems. Vata has energetic propulsion as its core. Pitta has transformation and digestion as its nucleus. Kapha builds the body's cohesion and binding. Age, diet, season, psychological experience, trauma, and lifestyle modulate each core function.
Vata
Vata means air and wind, suggesting movement; its vital attribute is propulsion. Vata organizes all bodily motion at the cellular, the tissue, and musculoskeletal level, as well as the acuity and coordination of the senses, respiration, and the central and peripheral nervous systems.
From an anatomical perspective, the chief seat or "home" of Vata is said to be in the large intestine or colon. Accumulation of Vata, notably in disease, is in the colon, and effects on the gut's microbiome are implicated.
Dysbiosis (i.e., gut bacteria dysfunction) has been linked to metabolic syndrome, obesity, cardiovascular disease, and inflammatory bowel conditions. About ninety percent of the body's serotonin is produced in the gut; its action as a mood modulating neurotransmitter is well established. Vata imbalance presents as piercing pain, spasms, and anxiety.
Pitta
Pitta is associated with digestion, warming, thermogenesis, and transformation. Pitta's chief action is digestion or conversion from the cellular, tissue, and organ level to the psychological, mental, and emotional spheres.
Pitta's chief site is said to be in the small intestine, where it will accumulate until it becomes imbalanced.
When disruptions occur, problems can range from diabetes, hypertension, to cardiovascular difficulties. Inflammation and burning pain are said to always have a vital Pitta component. Disturbances of Pitta may appear as irritability, anger, and mood disorders.
Kapha
Kapha means water flourishing, and its chief characteristics are cohesion and binding. Kapha maintains the stability of the bodily tissues and imparts protection because of its denseness, containment, and materiality.
Kapha is the biological dosha of body fluids such as plasma, saliva, mucus, phlegm, cerebrospinal and synovial fluids. Kapha is the most material, dense, and coarse of the three doshas. The heavy qualities of Kapha give it a richness that engenders form, solidity, and protection from excessive heat and the wear and tear of everyday living. Kapha protects the tissues from the unopposed heat that Pitta can generate. This contributes to adequate hydration. Dull, aching pain, usually with obstructions is said to have a Kapha component. In health, it supports the entire self and imparts confidence, zeal, motivation, and compassion.
Swastavritta: Equilibrium in One's Nature
"Swastavritta" is the Sanskrit word meaning "healthy behaviors shaped by mindfulness in everyday routines." Practical Ayurveda uses epigenetics to enhance one's flexible constitution in three ways:
- Dinacharya, daily routine
- Ritucharya, seasonal routine
- Sadvrutta, an ethical lifestyle of honesty, integrity, respect, and fairness
Together, these three branches cover the details of everyday life from waking to sleep and everything between. According to one's constitution, or "Prakruti," diet and lifestyle are part of Ayurvedic assessments and recommendations.
General guidelines include some of the following. For example, sleep is best by 10 p.m. and awakening an hour before sunrise. The most substantial meal is best at noon. Herbs that balance seasonal variations are recommended. Examples are ghee (i.e., clarified butter), sesame oil in spring through fall, and olive and almond in winter. To balance Vata, cardamon and basil are good. For Pitta, coriander and peppermint are best, and for Kapha, all spices are beneficial. Ayurveda, like precision medicine, shows itself when recommending garlic as a prebiotic food.
Thus, a complementary health intervention, Ayurveda, can be integrated into any medical and psychological system. This holistic approach, novel and practical, addresses burnout targeting exhaustion, depersonalization, and the sense of inefficacy by resilience enhancement. Implicit in this is a mindful approach to one's body as part of nature and integral to the broader ecological system. Conscious improvement is not just a leveling up but also a refinement in wellness, emotional well-being, and quality of life.
References
Ninivaggi, Frank John (2010). Ayurveda: A Comprehensive Guide to Traditional Indian Medicine for the West (2nd ed. Paper), Lanham, MD: Roman & Littlefield Press.
Ninivaggi, Frank John (2020). Learned Mindfulness: Physician Engagement and MD Wellness. New York, NY: Elsevier/Academic Press.
Keyu Chen, Kun Xie, Zhuying Liu, et al. (2019). "Preventive Effects and Mechanisms of Garlic on Dyslipidemia and Gut Microbiome Dysbiosis." Nutrients 2019, 11(6),1225; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu11061225.
