According to Ayurveda, everything you can see, hear, smell, taste and touch is experienced as a mixture of 20 Qualities. These Qualities represent two ends of a spectrum, with 10 on one side and 10 on the other – positives and negatives, yin and yang. They are used to describe the way we feel and understand the world.
These co-existing opposites are how nature keeps a balance, and in being able to identify them, and then work with them, we can help our health stay on course – this points the way to effectve diagnosis and treatment of illness in Ayurveda. The premise is simple: like increases like, and only an opposite Quality can combat it to bring balance. So, if it’s hot then add some cold, and if it’s smooth then add something rough.
Ayurveda has identified the 10 pairs of opposites that are most useful as medicine. Notice that sometimes a few words are used – trying to find the perfect translation for Sanskrit, which is such a rich language, is like trying to simplify Shakespeare! Start to get into the language of describing your world through these adjectives to help you view life as nature – it’s a much more romantic and in-tune approach.
These Qualities are all found within the Elements and are the descriptors of all things: from the five Elements to their corresponding Doshas (including the mental, emotional and physical aspects); for food (its texture and its six Tastes); and for the seasons.
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BUILDING QUALITIES |
LIGHTENING QUALITIES |
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1 |
Heavy |
Light |
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2 |
Dull/slow |
Sharp/quick |
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3 |
Cold |
Hot |
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4 |
Oily/unctuous |
Dry/brittle |
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5 |
Smooth |
Rough |
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6 |
Dense/solid |
Liquid |
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7 |
Soft |
Hard |
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8 |
Static |
Mobile |
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9 |
Gross/large |
Subtle/small |
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10 |
Cloudy/sticky |
Clear |
Those in the left-hand column are called the building Qualities because they are anabolic, bringing weight, warmth and structure. In food they are the comfort foods such as hot milk, root vegetable soups, porridges and meat. Opposite to those are the lightening Qualities (they lighten the body, rather than being a fork of electrical energy!) which reduce, eliminate and enliven – think of the steamed vegetables, salads, broths and fresh fruit. As you can imagine, if you are feeling overweight, eating more lightening foods can help, but if you go too far you tip the balance and are left with reduced energy and immunity. We need both building and lightening foods, in the right amounts. By understanding the Qualities you can intuitively go about your day-to-day life knowing what you need less or more of.
For example, an oil massage on a regular basis is grounding and therefore extremely beneficial for Vata types, who are generally flighty, dry and light from all that Air and movement. The oil helps to pacify those Qualities of Vata because the Qualities of oil are opposite. Since those Qualities are similar to Kapha (for example, oily, heavy, slow and cold), oil will only serve to aggravate Kapha and make them more congested and lethargic if used on a regular basis. Heating the oil first would go some way toward helping, but even better is a dry powder massage, which increases light, dry and hot Qualities.
In a broader sense, when we are feeling unloved or under the weather, we crave a soft bed to to cradle us, in a foetal position, surrounded by pillows. When we are feeling hot and bothered, or our personal space has been invaded, we crave an open space with a cool breeze or fresh air.
THE QUALITIES OF FOOD
All foods can be described using these 20 Qualities. For example, heavy foods include grains, cheese, yoghurt, salty processed food and red meats, whereas light foods include leafy veggies and spices and herbs like turmeric and coriander. Cold foods include cucumber, watermelon and fennel, which also happen to be wet, while hot foods include ginger and chilli peppers. Dry foods include millet, barley, dry fruits and toast, whereas oily foods include butter, oils, nuts and seeds, and fried foods. It is helpful to start thinking of food in this way, in order to know which foods to eat to balance Qualities that prevail in your everyday life.
For example, toasted or raw oats every morning, which have Vata Qualities of ‘dry, light and airy’, would aggravate Vata in time, yet well cooked as a soupy porridge with a dollop of ghee would lubricate, hydrate and pacify Vata. Another example, is the different preparations of dairy – the Qualities of milk are very different to those of butter, ghee and yoghurt, and hot, cooked milk is very different (much easier to digest) than raw or fridge-cold milk.
As you consume these Qualities, they come together in the body to form a ratio. Since trying to work out these Qualities from the meals you eat can be quite a job and a subtle art, we can look to the smell and taste of foods, which handily combine these 20 Qualities into six Tastes. For example, foods that have heavy, oily, cool and sticky Qualities of Water and Earth Elements taste sweet (think of milk and cream). Foods that have dry, cool, light qualities of Space and Air taste bitter (think of kale). It’s the subtle Tastes that we’re also tuning into.