Reducing Ama (toxicity) with Asana and Ayurveda Part 2

MAXIMIZE DIGESTION

Body

1. Eat when you are hungry.
2. Eat until you are 75% full.
3. Wait 3-6 hrs before eating.
4. Make lunch the large meal of the day.
5. Avoid ice cold food and beverages.
6. Chew well.
7. Do not eat when you are upset.
8. Do not eat too quickly or too slow. 

Mind

1. Don’t overdo.
2. Don’t overwork.
3. Meditate to develop awareness.
4. Avoid over-stimulating television programs, movies, music, etc.
5. Balance mental activity with physical activity.

TAKE IN ONLY THE PUREST

Level of the Body      

1. Eat predominantly vegetarian food.
2. Eat organic food.
3. Avoid genetically-engineered food.
4. Avoid microwave ovens.
5. Eat the freshest possible foods. 

Level of Mind / Emotions

1. Enjoy uplifting music, art, books.
2. Expect positive things to happen
3. Think positively – what you think you digest and it becomes you

 OPTIMIZE THE ENVIRONMENT FOR DIGESTION

Level of the Body      

1. Eat in a settled, quiet atmosphere with a settled mind.
2. Do not work, read or watch TV while eating.
3. Always sit to eat.
4. Eat at approximately the same times each day.
5. Take a few minutes to sit quietly before and after eating.
6. Food should be prepared by a happy, settled cook.

Level of Mind / Emotions

1. Culture uplifting friends.
2. Find a place of work that is uplifting to you.
3. Take time for yourself away from your activities to reflect on your experience.

As we have seen ama accrues and toxins build up whenever agni is low, enabling various factors to aggravate the Doshas. As agni is the principle of metabolism and exists in every tissue, organ, channel and cell it has a potent effect on the Doshas. Ideally all the types of agni mentioned above function together harmoniously. If not the Ama can affect any of the doshas and how the doshic derangement presents itself is altered by the presence of ama.
Doshic imbalance with or without ama
Determining whether a doshic imbalance is mixed with ama (sama) or is without ama (nirama) is an important distinction in presentation of imbalance. When ama is present, it must first be addressed in order to correct the doshic imbalance. Otherwise, treatment will be unsuccessful.

Vata
Sama Vata

• Constipation or dry stools and infrequent bowel movements
• Bitter smelling breath and feces
• Thick gray or brown tongue coating
• Abdominal bloating and distention
• Intestinal gas and cramping pain
• Low or variable appetite
• Heavy feeling in the abdomen or mood
• Weakness and inability to sustain physical effort

Pitta
Sama Pitta

• Loss of appetite
• Loss of thirst
• Yellow tongue-coating, urine, feces
• Heavy, thick feeling in stomach
• Pungent, spicy smelling breath
• Sour taste in the mouth
• Burning sensations in the throat or stomach
• Skin rashes or hot red inflamed skin
• Inability to see clearly or cloudy eyesight

Kapha
Sama Kapha

• Nasal mucus cloudy, sticky or thick
• Thick white coating on tongue that forms threads from saliva
• Sour or salty taste in the mouth
• Congestion especially in the nose or sinuses
• Tightness in Chest
• Mucous in stools
• Low appetite
• Dull aching pain
• Generalized fatigue or feeling of heaviness

Assessment of Ama
One of the primary ways to determine how our body is affected by ama is to monitor the coating on our tongue. This will indicate to us whether or not the diet that we are eating in balancing or causing our bodies stress. Using the chart below you can determine the amount of ama that is accumulating in your system.

Table of Tongue Surface Coatings
SURFACE COATING
CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE

Thin White
Normal (unless a change for the individual, in which cause it represents new ama)

White, thin, slippery
External ama (undigested food)

White, thick, slippery
Weak digestion resulting in ama in stomach and small intestines

White, thin, dry, pale body
Vata blowing out the Agni and creating ama and weakness

White, thick, and wet
Ama due to low agni

White, thick and dry
Ama and pitta from body’s attempts to burn out ama

White like powder
Toxic Ama

Yellow or pale yellow
Pitta ama

Yellow, slippery, greasy
Pitta from body’s attempts ot burn out ama

Bilateral yellow stripes
Pitta excess in liver and gallbladder (ranjaka pitta)

Gray or Black
Vata’s coldness affecting the Agnis

Marmani in relation to ama and agni
Marma are the doors of perception they require functional clarity, integrity and synchronization with each other. When ama builds up and they are clouded their crucial role of communication between organs and bod regions and between the individual and the external world is impaired