Kapha Busting Sequence

It’s Kapha season here in the midwest and this week Mother Nature is bringing all of the kapha gunas (qualities). It’s cold, it’s wet, and it’s heavy (ice, wet snow, sleet). These are the kind of days that make you want to hide under a blanket and read a good book. But remember, in Āyurveda, like increases like. When we give into the qualities of kapha they tend to accumulate. Make sure that while you’re inside, staying warm and out of the weather, you’re also moving your body, taking in warm, light, kapha pacifying foods, and warm drinks.

Kapha tends to accumulate in the lungs and the stomach. Yoga āsana that stretch, compress, and otherwise stimulate these areas are ideal for busting up that stagnant kapha. Building heat by drawing on kapha’s inherent strength and stability in standing postures is another sure fire way to shake off the heaviness of kapha and feel lighter and more expansive in both body and mind. I developed the following sequence with an eye toward Āyurveda and pacifying provoked kapha.

Cat/Cow

Begin in table top posture, with your hips stacked above your knees and your shoulders stacked above your wrists. You could spread your hands wider than the width of your shoulders to access more expansiveness across the chest.

As you inhale, lift your seat, extend your spine, and broaden from shoulder to shoulder. As you exhale, tuck your tail, flex your spine and look back toward your navel. Focusing on expanding the space between the shoulder blades. Repeat 7-10 rounds.

Gomukhāsana (arms only) - Cow Face

From table top, sit back on your heels (if this isn’t comfortable swing your legs around and have a seat on your bottom). Raise your right arm out to the side, turn your palm toward the ceiling, and lift your arm alongside your ear. Bend the right elbow and lower your hand down between your shoulder blades as if you are giving yourself a pat on the back. Lift your left arm out to the side with your palm facing the floor, rotate your shoulder forward to turn your thumb toward the floor, then bend the left elbow and sweep the hand up behind the back to grasp the right hand. If the hands do not touch use a belt or long strap to connect the hands (as shown). Press the back of your head into the right forearm, and press both elbows toward the back of the room. Hold for 5 full breaths. Repeat on the other side.

Anāhatāsana - Heart Melting

Return to hands and knees. Keeping your hips stacked above the knees, begin to walk the hands forward, allowing the heart to melt down toward the floor. If the head does not reach the floor a block can be placed under the forehead. If more mobility is available in the shoulders, the gaze can be forward with the chin resting on the mat. Focus on extending the thoracic spine (upper back) and stretch the front of the armpit (pectoralis minor). Hold for 5 breaths then press back into Child’s Pose.

Sālamba Bhujaṅgāsana - Sphinx

From Child’s Pose slide forward onto your belly. Bring the elbows beneath the shoulders, with the forearms parallel to one another and the palms turning down to the floor. Press down with the forearms and the pads of the fingers, and isometrically pull back with your hands, as if you are trying to slide yourself forward on your mat. Focus on expanding across the chest from shoulder to shoulder, and hugging the shoulder blades toward the center of your back. Hold for 5 breaths, rest down, and repeat two more times.

Adho Mukha Śvānāsana - Downward Facing Dog

From sphinx pose, slide your hands beneath your shoulders and press up to hands and knees, returning to table top. Keeping the hips stacked above the knees, take the hands forward one handprint in front of the shoulders. Tuck the toes. Press down and forward with the hands as you press into the toes, lift the knees, and straighten the legs. Keep the knees bent to maintain an anterior (forward) tilt of the pelvis, reaching the tailbone toward the ceiling. Keep pressing down and forward with the hands and in this version of downward facing dog, focus on extending the thoracic spine (upper back) by imagining that you are compressing your chest to your thighs. Hold for 5 breaths.

Āñjaneyāsana - Low Lunge

From downward facing dog, step your right foot forward between your hands and lower your left knee to the ground, behind the line of the hip. Activate the hip joint by isometrically dragging the right heel toward the left knee as you press the left knee toward the right heel. Lift the torso and release the right hand down to a block on the outside of your right hip (or to the top of your right thigh if blocks are not available). Raise your left arm beside your ear. As you inhale reach up through the fingertips of the hand and gently extend your spine, lifting your chest toward the ceiling. Hold for 5 breaths, then return to downward facing dog and repeat on the other side.

Utkaṭāsana - Chair

From downward facing dog walk your feet toward your hands and slowly come to standing. With the feet about hip distance apart bend the knees and sit back as if you are sitting into a chair behind you. Raise the arms out to the sides, bent at the elbows like a cactus. Tip the fingertips back and the elbows foward to feel the bottom edge of your shoulder blades lift your heart. Hold for 5 breaths and then come to standing.

Uttānāsana - Standing Forward Fold

From standing take the hands behind the back and clasp together into a fist. Draw the shoulder blades toward one another and press the palms toward one another (they do not have to touch, just have the energetic action of pressing them together). Hinge forward from the hip creases, keeping the knees slightly bent, lifting the tailbone, and continuing to extend the spine. Once folded, lift the clasped hands away from the lower back and broaden across the chest from shoulder to shoulder. Hold for 5 breaths then come back to standing.

Prasārita Pādottānāsana - Wide Leg Forward Fold

Turn toward the long edge of the mat and separate the feet wide. Start with feet at least as wide as your wingspan and adjust as needed. Hinge forward from the hip creases and place the hands on the floor (or on blocks) under the shoulders. Take a breath in and lengthen your spine. As you exhale, fold deeper. If your head is near the floor you can use a block to fill in the space (but it’s okay if your head is not in contact with anything). Hold for 5-10 breaths then lengthen the spine for the next posture.

Parivṛtta Prasārita Pādottānāsana - Twisted Wide Leg Forward Fold

Bring the hands together so the thumbs touch underneath of the nose. Press the left hand down and bring the right hand to the waist. Begin to rotate the torso to the right. The hand can remain on the waist, or raise the right hand toward the ceiling. Hold for 5 breaths, return to center, and repeat on the other side.

Complete this sequence by spending a few minutes resting in śavāsana or seated meditation. As you take your rest notice the energetic quality of your experience. Has the heaviness and dullness lifted? Has the cloudiness in the mind dispersed?