Holistic Digestion

Through the lens of Ayurveda, digestion is intimately connected with our ability to digest life. They affect each other. Having digestive issues also means having issues digesting emotions, feelings and life situations.

In Ayurveda everything to do with how digestion works is known as Agni, and is the key to good health and great living. It is the fire element that is found in the body and throughout the universe. Responsible for digestion and transformation, it changes something into something else, like food into energy and waste, or wood into ashes. Within the human body agni is known as the digestive fire, the energy to digest anything that we consume with any of our 5 sense(sight, sound, smell, taste and touch) organs( eyes, ears, nose, tongue and skin). So agni not only digests food but any other type of input.

Anything that we consume through our 5 sense organ if not transformed into consciousness will become toxic to us, this being said, what we hear, watch, eat, breathe and put in our skin shall be for nourishment and for our evolution in order to be properly digested into consciousness.

An example: when we are faced with a traumatic experience it is important to properly digest it, if not, suppression takes place and becomes toxic to our psychic, an accumulation of toxicity in our system will create imbalances leading to disease.
Balanced agni and good digestion go hand in hand, good digestion allows the entire body to work properly (immunity, elimination, kidney and liver function, lubrication of the joints, and other body functions), all starts with good digestion.

Our digestion is highly dependent in 3 things:

the quality of food we consume and how we consume it.
the cellular environment of the body. (The emotional indigestion increases the physical indigestion, in which negatively alters the cellular environment of the body and then we feel worse.)
the state of our mind.

The most important functions of agni:

Responsible for all forms of transformation in the body and mind, including cellular transformation
Responsible for digestion, absorption and assimilation of everything that we consume through our 5 sense organ
Responsible for creation of digestive enzymes
Supports keen visual perception
Responsible for body temperature and metabolism
The quality of skin
Provides the energy that supports confidence, courage, patience, fearlessness and stability
Supports mental clarity, intelligence and feeling like a whole person
Creates enthusiasm, interest and the ability to show affection
Supports assimilation of nutrients for the body tissues
Supports cellular communication
Produces ojas ( which is the reserve that allows for our immunity, vitality and blissfulness to express)
Provides the capacity for logic, reasoning and discernment
Helps us have a long life with zest
Balances the appetite, weight and blood pressure
Supports regular, balanced elimination
Ensures good sleep.

In the ayurvedic text there are mentioned 4 states of agni that contribute to imbalance and disease:

Vishma agni: is irregular agni, occurs more often in people with predominant vata dosha, but also can occur to anyone struggling with imbalance of vata, this being the most harmful state of agni. The digestive pattern alternates between very quick and very slow, common symptoms being a mixture of diarrhoea and constipation, gas, heaviness and rambling in the tummy. Tendency to be quick to hunger and to satisfy with smaller capacity for eating with a tendency to over eat. Is aggravated with irregular eating schedules, miss and easily skip meals, the individual won’t feel hungry right after waking up.
Manda agni: is slow so undigested food sits in the intestines for too long, produces symptoms of heaviness in the head and abdomen, respiratory problems, excess saliva, nausea, fatigue and excess weight, typically associated with kappa imbalance. It Is aggravated when eating out of habit, the individual does not feel hungry in the morning, has a tendency to eat emotionally, and feels like they can only eat small amounts at one time.
Tikshana agni: is quick, associated with pitta dosha, the fire of agni is too hot and all food is digested very quickly, hunger comes very soon after eating, low weight, dry throat, mouth and lips, diarrhoea, anaemia, acidity, low energy, ability to eat a lot, definitely need 3 meals a day, they can’t miss a meal without becoming angry, they get hungry very soon after eating a full meal.
Sama agni: is stable balanced optimum agni, and is present when all aspects of the mind, body and emotions are balanced. Digestion of food and life is smooth and efficient leading to healthy body tissues as well as peace.

What imbalances agni?

Living out of sync with the rhythms of nature leads us to choices that insult agni causing imbalance, examples: eating unconsciously, or with split attention; not chewing the food; eating again before the previous food is fully digested(takes 4 to 6h to fully digest); eating while upset or angry; eating in a loud environment; eating when standing or walking; drinking cold drinks and eating cold food; drinking too much liquid right after eating; poor combinations of food; over eating in one sitting; irregular eating or under eating; eating within 3 hours of sleep; having sex within 2 hours of eating before or after; being in resistance to change; lack of acceptance in life; being in resistance to life in general; non forgiveness.

The appetite is an expression of the condition of agni, every aspect of the body is affected by the condition of agni. How do we change the condition of agni? We change:

lifestyle
diet
sleep quality and quantity
mental acceptance or resistance in life

There are 3 primary causes of disease mentioned in the ayurvedic text:

Suppression of bodily urges - a mistake of the intellect, an example is not going to the toilet when we need to cause we are engaged in something.
misuse of the 5 sense organs.
effect of seasonal changes.

5 simple practices to balance agni:

sit down and eat
chew your food
have 3 meals per day, leave out snacks
have room temperature/warm drinks and food
practice acceptance and forgiveness.

Summary:

The way I perceive the Ayurvedic approach to digestion is that there is a very thin line of balance of the feminine and masculine. In order to bring Agni to balance it requires from us structure and discipline but all mundane tasks, to achieve strong Agni, are performed quietly, slowly, mindfully with a cooling energy to keep up with being present which is very feminine energy by nature. The balance of the use of our feminine and masculine energy will bring the 3 doshas: Vata, Pitta, and Kapha into order this means our agni will be balanced and strong.

I have been listening to Myra’s podcasts @ Halepule.com, a great source for a healthy dose of Ayurvedic knowledge that inspired me to write this blog post on Digestion.

Posted on NaturalMedicine.io

Hi!

Anything that we consume through our 5 sense organ if not transformed into consciousness will become toxic to us, this being said, what we hear, watch, eat, breathe and put in our skin shall be for nourishment and for our evolution in order to be properly digested into consciousness.

That part! Thanks for highlighting the depth of the extent to which everything that comes into our body inevitably transforms itself into something; it becomes alchemy actually when we can become conscious to that process! I guess that's what others call mindfulness.. I found it helps me A LOT to have a regular dance ceremony practice to canalize especially the emotions.. 😊

I absolutely love your conclusion, the reflexion around the balance between the masculine and feminine energies in ourselves and our bodies makes a very good point in this context!
Thank you!

Digestion: Ayurveda Approach

Holistic Digestion

Our digestion is highly dependent in 3 things:

The most important functions of agni:

In the ayurvedic text there are mentioned 4 states of agni that contribute to imbalance and disease:

What imbalances agni?

There are 3 primary causes of disease mentioned in the ayurvedic text:

5 simple practices to balance agni:

Summary: