Healthy Digestion, Elimination and Wellness
Healthy digestion, elimination and wellness is key for Ayurveda which considers digestion and elimination as a fundamental process that must be preserved and balanced for lasting wellness. The root of all illness stems from poor digestion (weakened agni or digestive power, see box) and Ama (toxins from poor digestion, see box). When the doshas (our natural bodies constitution [link]) become imbalanced or aggravated through improper diet, unhealthy lifestyle choices, negative emotions and other factors it affects our digestive ability (Agni) which is the transformative power that allows us to assimulate food and experience yielding both nutrition and consciousness.. The disturbed Agni causes poor digestion of the food we eat. This in turn if left unchecked allows the undigested and unabsorbed food to accumulate in the Gastro-Intestinal tract and turn toxic. If this continues it will eventually flow out of the place of accumulation and spread throughout the body infiltrating the channels and tissues where it causes disease.
This process provides an early warning if we develop our awareness and recognize the imbalance. The first step is to recognize the potential cause of disease for your constitution [link] so you can avoid them. The next step is to take action to modify the cause so you avoid the imbalance (for instance taking a cooling swim during the hot summer day to remain balanced as a Pitta). If we let it get past these two steps we must restore balance after it is lost; which becomes harder but still easily in the realm of self-care. Beyond that we begin to get sick and it has moved beyond its initial location of origin, we must take more drastic cleansing and purification practice which generally require the assistance of an Ayurvedic health consultant. Let’s explore what digestion and elimination is telling you at this time and reclaim our Healthy Digestion, Elimination and Wellness.