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The
Maharishi Ayurveda Natural Medicine Approach to
Beauty
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by: Nancy
Lonsdorf M.D.
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The Maharishi
Ayurveda Approach to Beauty and Skin Care
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.
1. 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.
2. Sweet juicy fruits like grapes, melons, pears,
plums and stewed apples at breakfast are excellent
for the skin in almost everyone.
3. 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.
4. 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).
5. 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.
6. Use spices like turmeric, cumin, coriander, and
black pepper to improve digestion, nourish the
skin and cleanse it of impurities.
7. 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:
a) Going to bed by 10:00 PM. This simple habit is
one of the most powerful techniques for health and
longevity, according to MAV.
b) 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.
c) 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.
d) 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.
e) Practice yoga asanas. Maintaining flexibility
and circulation is key to health.
f) 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 is currently the Medical Director of
The Raj Ayurveda Health Center in Vedic City Iowa
http://www.ayurveda-ayurvedic.com
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