“Every person is born perfect.
Inferiority is a mistake of the mind, a cloud covering the light.
Dissolve the clouds by observing a balanced life with healthy habits.
Nourish your mind and body. Connect with your own inner self. Celebrate
your own magnificence and your beauty will always shine
through.”---- Dr. Rama Kant Mishra, renowned Ayurvedic
physician and dermatologist
The Three Pillars of Beauty
Maharishi Ayurveda (MAV), the modern,
consciousness-based revival of the ancient Ayurvedic medicine
tradition, considers true beauty to be supported by three pillars;
Outer Beauty, Inner Beauty and Lasting Beauty. Only by enhancing all
three can we attain the balanced state of radiant health that makes
each of us the most fulfilled and beautiful person we can be.
Outer Beauty: Roopam
The outer signs of beauty - your skin, hair and
nails - are more than just superficial measures of beauty. They are
direct reflections of your overall health. These outer tissues are
created by the inner physiological processes involved in digestion,
metabolism and proper tissue development. Outer beauty depends more on
the strength of your digestion and metabolism, the quality of your
diet, and the purity of your blood, than on external cleansers and
conditioners you may apply.
General Recommendations for Outer Beauty
As we will discuss, the key to skin care is
matching your diet and skin care routine to the specific skin type you
have. Meanwhile, there are some valuable recommendations for lustrous
skin, hair and nails that will be helpful to everyone, regardless of
skin type.
1. Diet: Without adequate nourishment, your
collagen layer thins and a kind of wasting takes place. Over time, your
skin can shrivel up like a plant without water from lack of
nourishment. To keep your skin plump and glowing:
A. Eat fresh, whole organic foods that are freshly
prepared.
Avoid packaged, canned, frozen, processed foods
and leftovers. These foods have little nutritional value and also they
are often poorly digested which creates impurities that localize in the
skin. The resulting buildup of toxins causes irritation and blocks
circulation depriving the skin of further nourishment and natural
cleansing processes.
B. Favor skin nourishing foods. Leafy green
vegetables contain vitamins, minerals (especially iron and calcium) and
are high in antioxidant properties. They nourish the skin and protect
it from premature aging. Sweet juicy fruits like grapes, melons, pears,
plums and stewed apples at breakfast are excellent for the skin in
almost everyone. Eat a wide variety of grains over different meals and
try mixed grain servings at breakfast and lunch. Add amaranth, quinoa,
cous cous, millet and barley to the wheat and rice you already eat.
Favor light, easy to digest proteins like legume soups (especially
yellow split mung dhal), whole milk, paneer (cheese made from boiling
milk, adding lemon and straining solids) and lassi (diluted yogurt and
spice drinks). Oils like ghee (clarified butter) and organic, extra
virgin olive oil should be included in the diet as they lubricate,
nourish and create lustre in the skin. Use spices like turmeric, cumin,
coriander, and black pepper to improve digestion, nourish the skin and
cleanse it of impurities. Avoid microwaving and boiling your
vegetables. They lose as much as 85% of their antioxidant content when
cooked in this way. Steaming and sautéing are best.
Caring for outer beauty through knowledge of skin
type
Besides these general recommendations the key to
Outer Beauty is to understand the difference in skin types so you can
gain the maximum benefit from your individualized skin care regimen.
MAV identifies three different skin types based on which of the three
main metabolic principles (doshas)- present in everyone, but to
different degrees- is most dominant in your body.
Vata Skin
* Description: Vata is composed of the elements of
air and space. If you have a vata skin type, your skin will be dry,
thin, fine pored, delicate and cool to the touch. When balanced, it
glows with a delicate lightness and refinement that is elegant and
attractive. When vata skin is imbalanced, it will be prone to excessive
dryness and may even be rough and flaky.
* Potential problems: The greatest beauty
challenge for vata skin is its predisposition to symptoms of early
aging. Your skin may tend to develop wrinkles earlier than most due to
its tendency to dryness and thinness. If your digestion is not in
balance, your skin can begin to look dull and grayish, even in your
20’s and 30’s. In addition, your skin may have a
tendency for disorders such as dry eczema and skin fungus. Mental
stress, such as worry, fear and lack of sleep, has a powerful
debilitating effect on vata skin leaving it looking tired and lifeless.
* Recommendations for care
With a little knowledge, you can preserve and
protect the delicate beauty of your vata type skin. Since your skin
does not contain much moisture, preventing it from drying is the major
consideration. Eat a warm, unctuous diet (ghee and olive oil are best)
and favor sour, salty and sweet tastes (naturally sweet like fruits,
not refined sugar) as they balance vata. Avoid drying foods like
crackers. Drink 6-8 glasses of warm (not cold for vata types!) water
throughout the day and eat plenty of sweet, juicy fruits. Going to bed
early (before 10 PM) is very soothing to vata and will have a
tremendously positive influence on your skin. Avoid cleansing products
that dry the skin (like alcohol-based cleansers) and perform Ayurvedic
oil massage to your whole body (abhyanga) in the morning before you
shower.
Pitta Skin.
* Description: Pitta dosha is composed of the
elements of fire and water. If you have a pitta skin type your skin is
fair, soft, warm and of medium thickness. When balanced, your skin has
a beautiful, slightly rosy or golden glow, as if illuminated from
within. Your hair typically is fine and straight, and is usually red,
sandy or blonde in color. Your complexion tends toward the pink or
reddish, and there is often a copious amount of freckles or moles.
* Potential problems: Among the many beauty
challenges of pitta skin types is your tendency to develop rashes,
rosacea, acne, liver spots or pigment disorders. Because of the large
proportion of the fire element in your constitution, your skin does not
tolerate heat or sun very well. Of all the three skin types, pitta skin
has the least tolerance for the sun, is photosensitive, and most likely
to accumulate sun damage over the years. Pitta skin is aggravated by
emotional stress, especially suppressed anger, frustration, or
resentment.
* Recommendations for care
Avoid excessive sunlight, tanning treatments and
highly heating therapies like facial or whole body steams. Avoid hot,
spicy foods and favor astringent, bitter and sweet foods which balance
pitta. (Again, naturally sweet, not chocolate and refined sugar!) Sweet
juicy fruits (especially melons and pears), cooked greens and rose
petal preserves are especially good. Drinking plenty of water helps
wash impurities from sensitive pitta skin. Reduce external or internal
contact with synthetic chemicals, to which your skin is especially
prone to react, even in a delayed fashion after years of seemingly
uneventful use. Avoid skin products that are abrasive, heating or
contain artificial colors or preservatives. Most commercial make-up
brands should be avoided in favor of strictly 100% natural ingredient
cosmetics. And be sure to get your emotional stress under control
through plenty of outdoor exercise, yoga and meditation.
Kapha Skin.
* Description: Kapha dosha is composed of the
elements of earth and water. If you have a kapha skin type your skin is
thick, oily, soft and cool to the touch. Your complexion is a glowing
porcelain whitish color, like the moon, and hair characteristically
thick, wavy, oily and dark. Kapha skin types, with their more generous
collagen and connective tissue, are fortunate to develop wrinkles much
later in life than vata or pitta types.
*Potential problems If your skin becomes
imbalanced, it can show up as enlarged pores, excessively oily skin,
moist types of eczema, blackheads, acne or pimples, and water
retention. Kapha skin is also more prone to fungal infections.
* Recommendations for care
Kapha skin is more prone to clogging and needs
more cleansing than other skin types. Be careful to avoid greasy,
clogging creams. Likewise, avoid heavy, hard to digest foods like fried
foods, fatty meats, cheeses and rich desserts. Eat more light, easy to
digest, astringent, bitter and pungent (well-spiced) foods as they
balance kapha. Olive oil is the best cooking oil and a little ginger
and lime juice can be taken before meals to increase your
characteristically sluggish digestive fire. Take warm baths often and
use gentle cleansers to open the skin pores. Avoid getting constipated
and try to get some exercise every day to increase circulation and help
purify the skin through the sweating process.
Inner Beauty: Gunam.
Happy, positive, loving, caring individuals have a
special beauty that is far more than skin deep. Conversely we all
experience the quick and deleterious effect on our skin from fatigue
and stress.
Inner beauty is authentic beauty, not the kind
that shows on a made-up face, but the kind that shines through from
your soul, your consciousness or inner state of being. Inner beauty
comes from a mind and heart that are in harmony, not at odds with each
other, causing emotional confusion, loss of confidence, stress and
worry. Inner peace is the foundation of outer beauty.
Maintain your self-confidence and a warm, loving
personality by paying attention to your lifestyle and daily routine and
effective management of stress (I highly recommend the TM technique for
its scientifically-verified benefits on mental and physical health and
reduced aging.) You will also be healthier and feel better through the
day if you eat your main meal at midday and make a habit of going to
bed early (by 10 PM is ideal.)
Remember, kindness, friendliness and sincerity
naturally attract people to you. On the other hand, being uptight or
tense makes people want to walk the other way, regardless of your
facial structure, body weight, or other outer signs we associate with
attractiveness.
Lasting Beauty: Yayastyag
In order to slow the aging process and gain
lasting beauty there are two additional key considerations beyond those
already discussed,
1. Eliminate toxins and free radicals in the body:
The main deteriorating effects of aging come as toxins and impurities
(called ama in Ayurveda) accumulate throughout the body. These toxins
may begin as free radicals in the body, or over time may become
oxidized into free radicals, all of which contribute to premature aging
in the body. For lasting health and beauty it is essential to avoid and
neutralize free radicals, to prevent impurities of all kinds from
accumulating and to remove those that have already become lodged in the
body.
The most powerful cleansing therapy in Maharishi
Ayurveda is "panchakarma" therapy, a series of natural treatments
ideally performed twice yearly, that involves 5-7 days in a row of
massage, heat treatments and mild herbal enemas. Ayurveda emphasizes
the importance of undergoing this cleansing program once or twice a
year to prevent impurities from accumulating, localizing and hardening
in the tissues. Just as we change the oil in our cars regularly for
optimal performance and lifespan, Ayurveda recommends that we cleanse
the “sludge” from our tissues on a regular basis
through panchakarma treatments.
Best of all, panchakarma treatments are luxurious,
blissful, and make you feel (and look) completely rejuvenated in just a
few days time. I have had many a patient who told me that friends asked
them afterwards if they had gotten a facelift, they looked so fresh and
youthful!
Other free radical busters include: reducing
mental stress, eating antioxidant foods like leafy green vegetables,
sweet, juicy fruits and cooking on a daily basis with antioxidant,
detoxifying spices like turmeric and coriander.
2. Add rejuvenative techniques to daily living:
The daily activities of life in the modern world
systematically wear us down and speed up the aging process. Ayurveda
maintains it is crucial to practice daily rejuvenative regimens to
counteract the stressful wear and tear of everyday life. According to
Ayurveda the most important rejuvenative routines for your life are:
Going to bed by 10:00 PM. This simple habit is one of the most powerful
techniques for health and longevity, according to MAV. Meditate daily.
Any meditation that does not involve concentration (which has been
shown to increase anxiety) can be very helpful. I highly recommend the
twice-daily deep rest and enlivenment of the Transcendental Meditation
(TM) technique, whose benefits have been verified by over 700 published
research studies. Eat organic, whole fresh food that is freshly
prepared. There is an Ayurvedic saying: "Without proper diet. medicine
is of no use. With proper diet, medicine is of no need." Be sure to
avoid those leftovers, processed and microwaved foods for better
nutrition and vitality. Perform Ayurvedic oil massage in the morning
(abhyanga). Morning oil massage purifies the entire body, reduces
anxiety and stress, helps prevent and heal injuries and supports
circulation. It is especially helpful in creating a radiant complexion
and keeping your skin youthful. Research shows it may also help prevent
skin cancers. Practice yoga asanas. Maintaining flexibility and
circulation is key to health. Practice pranayama (yoga breathing)
techniques. Pranayama enlivens the mind and body. Ideally practice the
following sequence twice a day. Asanas, pranayama and meditation.
Summary
Everyone's unique beauty shines forth when they
have radiant health and personal happiness. Beauty is a side effect of
a balanced, fulfilled life. Supreme personal beauty is accessible to
everyone who is willing to take more control of their health in their
day-to-day life through time-tested principles of natural living.
For most of us, beauty is not a gift but a choice.
Every woman can be radiantly beautiful simply by beginning to lead a
healthier life. You will be rewarded by the glowing effects you will
see in your mirror each day and the powerful, bliss-producing effect
your special beauty has on everyone in your life.
About the Author
Nancy Lonsdorf M.D. received her M.D. from Johns
Hopkins and did her postgraduate training at Stanford. She has studied
Ayurveda with some of the world's most renowned Ayurvedic physicians in
India, Europe and the U.S. Dr. Lonsdorf has 17 years of clinical
experience with Ayurveda and is currently the Medical Director of The
Raj Ayurveda Health Center in Vedic City Iowa.
Dr. Lonsdorf has authored two books on Ayurveda
and women's health: A Woman's Best Medicine (Penguin/Putnam 1995 ; ISBN
0-87477-785-2) describing the Ayurvedic approach to the major issues in
women's health A Woman's Best Medicine for Menopause
(Contemporary/McGraw Hill 2002; ISBN 0-8092-9335-8) describing the
Ayurvedic approach to menopause
Doctor Lonsdorf's contact information is:
Nancy Lonsdorf M.D.
1734 Jasmine Avenue
Vedic City, IA 52556
641-472-8246
web site url: http://www.ayurveda-ayurvedic.com/
info@ayurveda-ayurvedic.com
