Embodied Health

Denver Clark, ERYT-500, C-IAYT

There I am standing on the monorail with my beautiful family, approaching Disney World’s Magic Kingdom for a fun filled weekend together when it hits. My heartrate quickens and my hands start to sweat and I feel my face flush with redness. My husband asks “are you ok?” A sudden anxiety attack makes it hard to breathe and with my hand on my heart I nod, I take deep breaths in and blow slowly out through my mouth until it passes. Luckily this time it only lasts 2 minutes or so.

No matter how happy or peaceful I may be these moments of anxiety have begun to blindside me more and more often in my late 30s as the demands of two jobs, two kids, bills, housekeeping, carrier building and the needs of my family, students and clients grow into what seems like an unclimbable mountain.

From my work as a Yoga therapist, massage therapist and faculty member of a yoga therapist training program I know that I am not alone. Millennials have been officially named “the most anxious generation” by hundreds of recent studies and our constant reachability due to social media shows that our children may suffer even more.

This is why the practice of Yoga and Yoga Therapy are so desperately needed and welcomed in recent years.

In Ayurveda (the sister science to yoga and the basis for yoga therapy) we learn that all things in the universe are made of a specific balance of the 5 elements:

Earth, Water, Fire, Air and Ether (space)

Each of these elements combine in the human being into what we call the 3 doshas:

Kapha – earth and water

Pitta – water and fire

Vata – air and ether

With a predisposition to one or two of these doshas, the experiences we encounter are colored by our own energies. People with more pitta, like myself are able to withstand a tremendous amount of stress. Their internal fire and heat makes them intense workers and dedicated fighters for the cause. However, an excess of any energy throws us out of balance and an unchecked pitta personality in the midst of the stresses of midlife during a national economic downturn can become an irritable, frustrated, “bull in a china shop.” Even my anxiety manifests itself with more fire as I passive aggressively blame my husband for leaving something out on the kitchen counter, as if this one wrapper is responsible for all that is wrong in my life.

Because of our understanding that each person has their own unique constitution of elements, we can also view our mental health through the lens of Ayurveda.

Anxiety, for example can exist in the following ways:

A kapha or earthy anxiety is a combination of the qualities of Earth and Water and can manifest in feelings of heaviness, depression and inability to create or invite change. Like cement, we embody the freeze response of the nervous system and may be so anxious about the overwhelming demands of the world that we can’t engage at all and we stay stuck on the couch all day.

A pitta or Firey anxiety is a combination of tumultuous water and fire. This can create feelings of frustration and anger as if our best intentions have been thwarted by others or the universe. We may blame or judge others and even more, ourselves for the past mistakes we’ve made that have led us to this point where nothing seems to go in our way. We can be irritable and sharp with our loved ones which created a vicious cycle of self-deprication. We are stuck in fight mode and we are exhausted.

A vata or airy anxiety is a combination of air and ether and makes us feel like the wind is blowing us in all directions at once. It feels impossible to be settled or grounded as we are constantly in flight mode. We may skip from thought to thought, unable to remember or finish anything, unable to connect with our loved ones and distracted by our ruminating fears of the future.

Any one of us can move through all three of these archetypes of anxiety at any time. A vata or airy anxiety can become so intense that we can collapse into a kapha state of depletion, as if the winds of a tornado have flattened our house, leaving nothing left. All things in life exist on a spectrum and understanding this as well as taking daily stock of our energy and moods helps us to begin to apply healing techniques that can draw us back into balance and hopefully soothe our anxiety.

Of course, like attracts like and so we often reach for the exact activities that keep us in a state of imbalance because they feel familiar and comfortable. A person in the throes of a vata experience of anxiety may not be helped by exercising, for example as someone in a kaphic state of anxiety might be. And yet, it is the vata driven individuals who often reach for things like “going for a run” to soothe their discomfort. But running quickly away from our problems only seems to make them worse if we are in a vata imbalance, just as resting in bed in the dark can exacerbate the kapha predominant induvial. The pitta predominant people who reach for a glass of wine to unwind at the end of the day are adding inflammation to their already inflamed psyche and can become even more irritable as a result.

Therefore, we apply the opposite of the energy we are experiencing. To soothe the experience of airy, vata anxiety we slow down and practice restorative yoga, self oil massage and other grounding techniques. To calm the pitta anxiety we reach for the coolness of water, heading to the lake in the woods, practicing meditative techniques that remind us to “go with the flow.” And for the kapha experience of anxiety, we light a fire under ourselves with breathwork, sunshine and movement.

These are just a few examples of how the practices of Ayurveda and Yoga can be applied to relieve our suffering due to anxiety. The activities we choose, the types of entertainment we enjoy, our relationships and even the foods we eat all contribute to the balance of energies in our body and mind. Finding balance between these energies and examining our own unique constitution can help us better understand what it is in our life that pulls us out of balance.

So, I slow my breath and remind myself of where I am.

That this weekend at Disney world is about family and relaxation and it is not my job to hustle to create the most “instagramable” experience. That my children have been sent to me to teach me how to “go with the flow” and live like cool water moving around the rocks. They’ll remember this fondly no matter how organized the day may or may not be. I set the intention to walk slowly, to hold my husband’s hand as we enter the park and let go of the standards of perfection I’ve placed on the day and myself and for this moment at least, my anxiety takes a backseat.

If you’re interested in learning more about Yoga Therapy for anxiety, you can watch my free YouTube recording of my Global Yoga Therapy Day lecture here: https://youtu.be/_M6tl6TZFxM?si=8BP9vxspQIJai83m

Or visit me at Heartwood for classes, workshops and training for yoga students and teachers.