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.
