Ayurveda to Appease Asthma: Week 1

During the beginning of the experiment I was very motivated to see if living a more pitta soothing life would make a difference for my asthma. I was lucky that week one happened during the Ayurveda section of our class. I felt very supported my classmates who were also working hard, and Beth Sanchez who was very available to help with any questions that arose. Upon reviewing Dr. Lad’s and the Ayurvedic institutes guidelines for what would help soothe pitta dosha and asthma I realized that I was going to have a very measured week ahead of me. During the week I followed the sleep wake guidelines: waking up at 5:30AM and falling asleep by 10:00PM. When I woke in the morning I did a 30 minute mediation practice focusing my pranayama practice on nadi sodhana and sitali. Following my meditation practice I did a very short, (15 minute) grounding asana practice. I had to certain that I was finished with this practice by 7:00AM so that I could eat breakfast at the appropriate time. For breakfast each day I ate oatmeal with sweet apples. I noticed on the first day how much more alert and motivated I felt when I stepped into the workplace. Asthma aside I enjoyed how I felt. For the entire week I diligently followed the eating times: 7AM for breakfast, 12PM for lunch 6PM for dinner. I ate a rather bland diet (as suggested), and cut out what seemed to be every food that I loved. In addition, each morning and night when I showered I infused the air with Eucalyptus or Cedar essential oils. I could feel the menthol of the Eucalyptus seeping into my body and almost calming my airways. By the end of the week my bronchial tubes only felt constriction very rarely. During this week I used my inhaler on average twice (2 puffs) per day. This was a drastic reduction from my normal usage.