Summer is Pitta season, when the heat is highest, the days longest and brightest, and everything in nature all around us is busy blooming and fruiting and transforming the elements into high production. When Pitta dosha is high in the environment around us, it elevates the level of Pitta within our bodies and minds too, causing us to potentially feel (or experience others as being) a bit more impatient, irritable, hot-headed, quicker to anger, shorter of patience, or even burnt out. Here’s why and what to do to rebalance and soothe ourselves during the heat and height of the season.
UNDERSTANDING PITTA DOSHA
Pitta dosha is one of the three functional energies that animates all of life. Pitta energy is made up of the elements of fire and water, and its qualities are light, hot, sharp, intense, moist, sour, penetrating, and spreading. This means that during Pitta season, which spans the summer months, there are more of these qualities in the environment, which naturally increases them in our bodies and minds.
When Pitta dosha is balanced, it brings us clarity of mind, sharp senses, strong and healthy digestion and absorption (both physically and mentally), and plentiful energy, passion, motivation, and radiance.
On the other hand, when Pitta dosha increases into excess and gets out of balance, we can feel irritable, hot-headed, easy to anger, sort of stuck on overdrive, and burnt out. Too much Pitta can also cause physical symptoms like migraines, skin rashes, heartburn, indigestion, acid reflux, and inflammation.
BALANCING PITTA DOSHA
The good thing is that there are many simple shifts and easy actions we can take to rebalance Pitta energy and return to a more harmonious state. Ayurveda, which is an ancient and comprehensive system of healing and wellbeing, teaches a simple principle for returning to balance: Like creates more like (and imbalance) while opposites soothe (and restore balance).
Where there is an excess of anything, take the summer heat for example, anything physically or metaphysically “heating” will accumulate more heat and cause imbalance in our bodies and minds, while anything physically or metaphysically “cooling” will help reduce that heat and restore balance.
The same goes for Pitta’s intensity: anything intense in our work, diet, or experiences (including music we listen to or shows we watch) increases that intense energy and can make us feel more volatile, while anything soothing and relaxing helps decrease that intensity and brings more ease and contentment. It’s a wonderfully simple and logical rule of thumb.
ACTIVITY RECOMMENDATIONS
During Pitta season, try to reduce or avoid intense work and workouts, especially during the heat of the day, and try to do the most demanding work either in the morning before the day’s heat or after the day’s light and heat have passed. Instead of running or a gym workout, opt for a long walk, which is less intense, or opt for a soothing yoga practice with cooling inversions and using the cooling shitali breath technique are great options too.
If you are working weddings and events, summer is likely your busiest and most intense season, so make sure to create and protect your “weekends,” or a few days between events when you really take time off and give yourself a break to relax and unwind. Rest, explore, play, and take it easy. This will help alleviate the increased Pitta energy and help you avoid burnout.
This is also a great season to go to any body of water near you, from the ocean to lakes to rivers, where you can wade or float and enjoy the cooling and fluid beauty of water. Spend time in nature around soothing green plants and in peaceful and verdant landscapes. Meet a friend in the park in the shade of a big tree or go for a walk in the cooling moonlight before bed. All of these activities help soothe and balance Pitta energy.
NUTRITION RECOMMENDATIONS
Try to reduce or avoid intense and heating foods and drinks, like spicy foods, fried foods, alcohol, black coffee, and anything excessively sour or strong. Moderation is the goal, rather than feeling like you have to “intensely” cut something out, so just make a goal to become more mindful of the nature of your food and drink, how you feel when you have it, and then make small shifts to adjust.
Try to increase foods and drinks that are cooling in nature, incorporating coconut water, cucumber, lime, aloe, cilantro, and more fresh salads, especially for lunch, which is during the time of day when Pitta energy is highest. Take your meals outside in the shade when you can or at least away in a peaceful environment that is calming for you. Also aim to eat on time so you don’t get “hangry” when your digestive fire starts to burn up waiting for nourishment!
LIFESTYLE RECOMMENDATIONS
During the summer months, balance your Pitta dosha with more breaks, more time to relax and play, and more time in nature. We need less intensity in our work and daily life this season especially, or we’ll get irritable and can burn out. Pitta season has great energy for getting things done, so use it! Just balance that fiery energy with breaks and devoted time to rest and play.
Listen to groovy chill music, and spend more time wandering and exploring, even walking in the moonlight, which is by nature cooling and soothing. Aim to be asleep ideally between 10-11pm, if not earlier, so you don’t “catch the second wind,” which is also driven by Pitta energy. It is best to be asleep before that late night wave of energy hits because it is a specific time that your body and mind need to digest and process the day’s intakes and experiences.
THE GIFTS OF PITTA DOSHA & PITTA SEASON
As a person who naturally has a lot of Pitta in my constitution, I’ve learned quite a lot about this dosha. Its fire, drive, passion, and radiance are such gifts; and at the same time, those same gifts, if not balanced, can be exactly what leads to irritability and burnout. My Ayurveda teacher told me to remember that “Pitta is a blessing, as long as it is contained.” No matter which dosha or doshas make up your constitution, Pitta season will increase your Pitta, so keep in mind ways to contain that bright, sharp, powerful energy by cooling off and giving yourself space to relax and enjoy.
In short: Summer is Pitta season, so everyone is running hot and feeling more short-fused and irritable — What we all really need is a lush cove with a swimming pool and time to be “off” and feeling good about it. More plants. More swims. More walks. More play. That’s how we counterbalance the power, heat, and intensity of beautiful summer and how we support more harmony our bodies and minds as we ride the big energy waves of this abundant season.
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