Ed Harrold and Larissa Carlson explore how Ayurvedic principles and breathwork can inform a more seasonal, embodied health practice.
Ed Harrold with Larissa Carlson. Originally published on YouTube March 5, 2021. Watch the original conversation on YouTube.
Ed Harrold and Larissa Carlson explore how Ayurvedic principles and breathwork can inform a more seasonal, embodied health practice.
00:13.1 Welcome everyone. I'm Ed Harold, and today in our Life with Breath Expert Series, I'm honored to have Larissa Hall Carlson with me, and she's simply, uh, an American treasure. She's done so much work- ... uh, in improving the quality of her life, but not only the quality of lives of all of her students throughout the world. And when I, when I look at, uh, Larissa's, uh, bio, it, it's very, very intense. She's worked- Yeah ... with world-class teachers across the board in Ayurvedic mindfulness and yoga teacher trainings. She's the former dean of the Kripalu School of Ayurveda. Uh, she's worked with Stephen Cope at the Institute for Extraordinary Living at Kripalu.
00:59.5 She leads transformative and empowering, inspiring classes and workshops and trainings around the world. She's known for her exceptional knowledge of yoga and Ayurveda, deep practice, and professionalism. So welcome, Larissa. It's so lovely to be back here with the two of you. I miss you. Miss seeing you in person, uh, but I can feel our charged prana together, which, which fills me up with, with lots of goodness. So thank you for having me. No, it's ... Well, we're super excited to spend some time diving into the science of Ayurveda, and how that, uh, can weave seamlessly into the science of pranayam. Mm. And I don't think there's any better person on the planet to have speak of these two amazing Eastern concepts in our Western world than you, Larissa.
01:50.3 Mm. I love them both so much, and they really support one another so intimately. And one without the other feels, uh, quite incomplete, so I'm glad to be able to dovetail them together for, for your audience today. Mm. But, you know, the mind-body connection is something that we hear a lot of today, and when, when I look at the West, if I could just put it under an umbrella, it's basically top-down learning. You take it in through your five senses, and it drops down into the body, and you know, the body remembers it, but it's not right like Ayurveda and pranayam, which is an Eastern art, which where the information rises up from the intelligence of the body and supports optimal neural activity.
02:34.1 Ayurveda is a lifestyle, you know, just, just as yoga is, and so we have to live it, you know? It, it doesn't work just theoretically and philosophically, and so it is an embodied science. Mm. And Ayurveda, you know, Ayurveda is, is known as the science of life. That's what it means in Sanskrit, the science or the wisdom of the physical body, the senses, the mind, and the spirit. So Ayurveda is a holistic science that covers everything that we experience in this incarnation. Mm-hmm. And so Ayurveda gives us diet practices, lifestyle practices, uh, massage techniques, herbology. Uh, it covers prenatal care, geriatric care, surgery, Ayurvedic psychology.
03:26.0 It's just a huge, vast science, much like traditional Chinese medicine or Tibetan medicine. Mm-hmm. And so it's very much a lived and embodied science. Mm. It, it's much beyond what we're getting from our primary care physician, uh- ... for sure. You know, you've been in this game of transformation a, a long time. You know, where did your journey begin? Well, I, I have always been a teacher. Uh, I've been teaching about 25 years. I was trained as a high school English teacher, and I taught college English for a number of years. And I was also a controller, and so I ran a finance department in New York for, for many years while I was teaching in night, night school for human
04:12.6 college, because I, as, as the audience will cer- soon get to know, I'm a Pitta dosha, and so I have a lot of drive and, uh, like to get things done and multitask and check things off of lists. And so that is my primary constitution. And, and so I was, I was living and working a very rigorous schedule in New York for a long time. And I'd grown up an athlete. You know, I grew up doing gymnastics, swimming, uh, lacrosse, field hockey. I coached lacrosse for a while. And, uh, so I've always been a, an athlete and I've always been a teacher. But I had lost, I'd lost a lot of the wholesome practices when I was in my, in my 20s.
04:56.8 I'm now 45, and in my 20s I really was, um, just working with the grind, caught up in the grind, um, staying up late, eating, you know, eggplant Parmesans for lunch, and slamming lots of coffee, and smoking cigarettes back then. And you know, it was a really different life. And, uh, and, and one day I was introduced to yoga. I was given a, a VHS tape, you know, back in the day- Oh, my gosh ... a VHS tape of yoga, and I put it in the, the VCR, and I just wept the whole way through the yoga practice because it had me, um... It hooked me, you know, connected me back to, to what I'd known as a child and as an adolescent, you know, connecting back to nature
05:45.8 and truth and spirit, uh, which had gotten kind of veiled or covered up or neglected in all those hard, hardworking years. And so I started doing yoga every day. I went onto the Gaiam website- ... which is a, a lovely website here, and I ordered, like, one of those gigantic, huge boxes of yoga props, like wedges and blocks and straps and yoga outfits, and all the VHS tapes that they were selling, you know? And I just got this huge yoga box, you know? And, um, and in it there was... Uh, so I started doing yoga every, every day, like twice a day, and, you know, quit smoking, and started eating better, and walking more, and journaling.
06:24.7 And, um, in, in that big box from Gaiam there was a flyer for a strong women's summit. Mm. And so it was for six months away, and so I put in my resignation as a controller, uh, f- for the day before that summit so that I would have six months to, like, really work on myself and then, and, and find a replacement. You know, one can't really walk away from a finance job, you know? You have to skillfully- No prep ... and, you know, responsibly r- turn it over. Um, and so, uh, I went away on this weekend in Upstate New York to Mohonk Mountain, the beautiful, um, beautiful resort
07:05.0 hotel there. And the woman who was on the VHS tapes do- teaching yoga was teaching there live, and so I took every yoga class that she was offering. Her name is Suzanne Deason. She's a Iyengar Yoga teacher. And at the end of the weekend, I went up to her and, and offered her some appreciation. And, and as I was walking up to her, she, she, uh, said, "Hey, it's been great to have you in all, all of my classes this weekend. Um, are you a yoga teacher?" And I was like, "No, I'm not a yoga teacher. I've just been taking your classes on the VHS tape for all these months," you know?
07:47.0 And she planted the seed that I could actually move into a different career path. I didn't know what I was going to do after, after I left, you know? I, I had been accepted to grad school, and so I was planning on that. But that planted the seed, and then I ended up moving, uh, to Massachusetts. I got a job at Kripalu Center, um, where I've been for the last 17 years, and, uh, my whole life changed. You know, my whole life changed, and it was just moving back into who I always was. You know, just peeling off the armor of, you know, work and intensity, you know, and the grind, and coming back to who I was.
08:32.8 And so it was, um... I was very lucky that right at the beginning I got yoga and Ayurveda together, and so I had the two of them, those two, two paths, two sciences to carry me with diet, lifestyle, self-care routines, and the yoga asana and pranayama meditation all at once. Mm. That's a beautiful story. Amazing. Yeah. Amazing. It's really a life lived. Uh, you know, every human being on the planet, you know, we kind of live in two worlds. You know, we live in the inner world, the human being, the embodiment of who we are and who we'll always be, and we also live in the outer world, drawn into the senses and the beauty of, uh, of nature, the doing world.
09:25.4 And it, it seems in this time of COVID and this uncertainty of the future that we, we seem to be out of balance in regard to how we're interacting, you know, with that inner voice, that inner guide. And I, I think that Ayurveda and, and pranayam i- is one of the most amazing ways that in a short period of time we can adapt to different environments with a lower heart rate. We can feel better about ourselves when some of these thoughts come that maybe tell us that, you know, it's not gonna work out, or, you know, we don't have a, a beautiful happy gene anymore.
10:07.4 Mm. And when we think about Ayurveda, when I think about Ayurveda, I think about initially the three main doshas that Ayurveda gives us to help us understand the inner world and how we react to the sensory perception of the outer world. Mm-hmm. So as we move into spring in, in, in 2021, could you explain to us a little bit about the three doshas that Ayurvedic uses to begin the diagnosis of the patient? Absolutely. So, so Ayurveda and yoga, they are... They're considered sister sciences, as they both come from the Vedas, or from the wisdom texts of India. And, and many consider them to be one science, and that they can't actually be pulled apart.
10:60.0 They really are one science. And we can look at yoga, of course, as the path of awakening. Yoga is the path of, of self-discovery, of discovering truth or reconnecting to truth, of enlightenment, of freedom, of bliss. Although it's not always blissful when we're practicing the yoga. Um, you know, it's hard work. It's a discipline. Um, and Ayurveda gives us the diet and lifestyle and massage and self-care practices to keep us on the yoga mat or keep us on the pranayama cushion. And so what, what that really means is that- Ayurveda gives us practices to clear out the discomfort of the physical body, to clear out the clutter in the mind so that we can go deeper in the yogic path.
11:48.6 So for those, you know, uh, who are doing pranayama, uh, it's difficult to do pranayama when congested, right? It, you know, it, it, it's a workout. It's hard. It's difficult to sit and do pranayama when working with a sinus infection or a headache or being sleep deprived or feeling really anxious, um, or achy, you know? And so when the physical or the mental body are suffering in some way, it often prevents us from really thriving in the yoga path. Mm-hmm. And so Ayurveda gives us practices to heal, to nourish, to balance, to harmonize the physical mental body so that we can do the yoga work, and we can do the pranayama, we can awaken.
12:34.3 And so one of the ways that Ayurveda supports that is by looking at three energies, known as the three doshas. And these are not the only energies that Ayurveda focuses on. There are many. Um, but these are, are three, three common ones that we look at, kind of the doorway in. And so Ayurveda sees that everything in the universe is made up of five elements, space, wind, fire, water, and earth. Space, wind, fire, water, and earth. So everything is made up of those five. I have all five elements. You have all five elements. You know, my, my cup has all five elements in it, just in different proportions.
13:17.6 And these five elements, they merge together. They j- join together in pairs to create the three doshas. Mm-hmm. So we have first dosha is space and wind, and that's known as vata, vata dosha. The second dosha is made of fire and water. That's pitta, pitta dosha. Not pita bread, but pitta dosha. Okay. Then we have water and earth, water and dirt joining together to make kind of like a mud. This is known as kapha or kapha, kapha dosha. Okay? So these are the three doshas. And the doshas show up in the macrocosm of nature, in, in the weather, in the seasons, and in the microcosm
14:00.3 of the body/mind, in our makeup, in our constitution. And so, so with these three doshas, vata dosha, space and wind, governs the winter season, the fall and the winter. So it's space and wind, so it has no substance. There's no fire, so it's cold. There's no water, so vata is, is dry. There's no earth element there, so vata's light. And so the, the fall and winter are the seasons of coldness and windiness and dryness. Mm-hmm. And this is the vata season of the year. And no matter where you are on the planet, there'll be a drier, lighter season, even at the poles and at the equator.
14:43.6 And so that vata season can affect us because we are immediately affected by the weather. We're exposed to windiness and coldness and dryness, and, and those qualities can, can start to cause trouble in the body, so we'll talk about that. Pitta dosha, the, the second one, made of fire and water, is like hot acid, right? And so we s- experience that in the macrocosm of nature during the summer season when it's hot and humid in the weather, in the season. And so that, um, hot, humid time of year is going to affect us. You know, we're going to change our habits based on, on what's happening in the season.
15:24.1 And, uh, if, if we don't, then we'll be overheated and kind of overly oily, right? Pitta'd out, yeah. The third, the third season, which is what we're moving into right now in, in, in New England, um, I'm in Vermont, is the spring season. So water and earth coming together like mud, like muddy water, dampness, freezing rain, sleet, kind of moving into cold rain. You know, the early, early spring, this is the beginning of kapha season, and we're exposed to that weather and those qualities as we go out into nature. And so this time of year, folks often feel kind of bogged down, a little bit congested, a little heavy, a little sluggish, lethargic, lack of motivation.
16:09.9 You know, there's this muddiness in nature that we often feel kind of energetically slimed by, you know, or, or it accumulates in the system. So Ayurveda focuses on adapting lifestyle and diet and exercise and pranayama to meet the needs of the season. So when certain qualities are elevated in nature, we wanna choose opposite qualities. It's really a law of common sense. We wanna choose opposite qualities in diet and lifestyle to balance it out. Mm-hmm. So we have in the very... Uh, we'll focus on springtime right now, but vata winter season, when it's cold and dry and light, we focus on warm and wet foods, right?
16:59.7 Foods that are really nourishing, soups and stews and hot teas and things like that. We put on more clothes, right? Wear warmer clothes. You know? So these are our choices of common sense. Right. But in, in the yoga world, we'll be doing more slow and grounding and warming practices in winter to ensure that the body has good metabolism and that there's good groundedness in that kind of wintry season. In the, uh, summer season, the pitta season of, of, of summer- We shed the clothes, right? It's a, we wear less clothes, right? And, uh, do activities that are cooling, like swimming and hanging out in the shade and, and things like that.
17:46.7 And the earth gives us all of these really cool, refreshing foods to eat. So salads, and watermelon, and cucumbers, and coconut water, and stuff like that. So we're adapting, you know, our clothes and our diet to the season. And with yoga, we would do more cooling postures. You know, so less yoga in hot temperatures, you know? A, practicing during the cooler times of day and practicing, um, lots of postures that air out, you know, like stretching open, airing out the armpits, uh, clearing out extra heat, you know. Uh, these kinds of techniques are really useful in the summertime. Now in the springtime as we're moving into this Kapha season, and the, the weather creates this kind of heaviness and sluggishness
18:35.6 and lethargy. I know I've, I've been feeling it this last, this last month, you know, that kind of heaviness where we wanna stay in the cozy comfort food wintertime habits, but we can't. You know, it's springtime, it's time to do spring cleaning, it's time to lift and radiate and, and energize, you know? And, and so we can get, um, stuck in naughty habits that were good in the winter but they're not good in the spring, you know? And so in the springtime, the earth is going to start giving us really antioxidant rich foods and scrubbing light bitter greens. We're going to get dandelion greens, mustard greens, kale, Swiss chard, asparagus.
19:16.9 You know, we're not getting pumpkins. There are no nuts falling from the, from the trees, you know. It's not time for fatty, heavy foods. Yeah. It's time for light foods in the spring. It's time for lots of greens, you know, and berries and such. Uh, and still cooked, 'cause it's cold. So you know, uh, green soups and, and veggie soups, things like that. But in the yoga, now it's time to not only heat because it's still cold out, so we need hot warming practices in the spring, but we also wanna energize and enliven and kind of burn off or evaporate that extra water that tends to accumulate in the body, congestion, water
19:58.0 retention, weight gain, feeling just heaviness in the, in the gut. Uh, these are, are the common signs and symptoms of elevated Kapha in the Kapha season of spring. And so we wanna, we want to, uh, heat and circulate, heat and circulate, heat and circulate to balance the warmth, uh, balance the coldness of the season and to evaporate that extra water and earth element. Mm. So I'll just pause there, 'cause I know that's a lot. Well, and what I was gonna say is, 'cause that's great information, and then Ayurveda takes it a step further. If we look at, okay, we have the different seasons, but then we also have the doshas as they relate to us.
20:44.5 Mm-hmm. So maybe you can talk about the doshas, and then how we would adjust that with pranayama techniques- Mm-hmm ... based on the season and maybe your dosha, so that you can- Great ... be really living in balance. Yeah. So we're all made up of all five elements, and we all have all three doshas. But we each have a constitution or a, a, an individual recipe of the five elements and the three doshas. And no dosha is better than any other dosha. They're all incredibly important. So we all have Vata dosha, which governs movement, right? Vata is made of space and wind, so Vata dosha governs, yeah, the movement in the body and in the mind.
21:32.2 Vata governs everything that moves in the body/mind for everybody, so the pumping of the heart, the movement of blood, the um, swallowing, movement of food through the digestive tract, the release of waste products, the movement of nerve impulses through the nervous system, the movements of thoughts through the mind, the inhalation and the exhalation of the breath, the vibration of the vocal cords when speaking. Mm. Everything that moves is governed by Vata, and we want Vata to be moving fluidly and gracefully to have Vata in balance. And when Vata gets out of balance, when there's too much wind, when there's too much Vata, when, when that Vata accumulates, which it tends
22:19.7 to do in the fall or winter when it's cold and dry outside, we get kind of cold and dry inside, that Vata starts to accumulate and increase, and often that wind gets momentum. So it turns from a, from a fluid breeze, fluid movement, into choppiness or, you know, tornado-like- Yeah ... movement. Yeah. So when something's not moving well in the body, Vata has vitiated, Vata has somehow spoiled. The word dosha itself means at fault or that which can vitiate. So the doshas aren't good or bad, they're just either balanced or they're out of balance. Yeah. So when Vata gets out of balance, when there's too much of that, we often feel too windy.
23:04.3 So gas and bloating. Uh, feeling dry hair, dry skin, dry nails, too much dryness. Windy is... Wind is drying, right? We put clothes out in the wind to dry them, right? Right. Um, we get too much windiness in the system, too much movement, feeling restless, ungrounded, fidgety, spacey, having trouble sleeping. You know, it's like that wind gets too much momentum. Mm-hmm. And that happens to all of us because we're affected by the weather and, and other things that increase vata. Um, but it affects folks who have a vata constitution a little bit more because they are sensitive to those qualities and, and, and energies. And so someone who has mostly vata in their constitution is going to be someone who, um...
23:54.6 And I'll stereotype here just to, to wrap our, our heads around it. But, um, vata has these qualities of being cold and dry and light, and mobile, and subtle, right? Just like we can see through everything, right? It's, it's subtle instead of gross. And so someone in the, with a vata constitution, they tend to have, um, skinnier frames, you know, long and wiry frames. Um, less, less, uh, coating, less meat on the bones, you know? Yeah. Um, and so we can often see the joints easily on a vata constitution. We can see the veins pretty easily on a vata constitution because there's not a lot of packing, not a lot of meat on the bones.
24:38.4 Um, they often run cold, and so the vata constitutions, they will often want extra layers all year because they tend not to have a lot of fire in them. And, and because vata has wind and, uh, is a, is an energy that is about lightness and movement, vatas tend to be very creative. Yeah. They tend to be very excited, peppy, energized. Um, they like variety. They love to try different things. You know, it's, it's the- Fun ... the energy of movement. Yeah. And so, so, um, vata constitutional folks will be more affected in, in the vata season, um, by, by the cold, dry weather. And, and in that season or for someone with a vata constitution will want to apply the Ayurvedic
25:33.0 law or the Ayurvedic rule that like increases like, and opposites decrease. Like increases like, and opposites decrease. Mm-hmm. And this is a law of common sense, but we don't always apply it to choices. Right. So, so if it's cold and dry and light outside, and we're eating cold and dry and light foods like smoothies and rice crackers, right? They're not good or bad. They're just cold and dry and light, yeah. And so those qualities will start to accumulate and can overflow and cause elevated vata, right? Whereas opposites decrease, opposites harmonize, opposites balance the dosha. So when there's elevated vata in the cold, dry season, or when someone is just feeling excessively cold or excessively dry or excessively
26:28.6 light and feeling kind of, uh, spacey and, and, and a little too energized, you know, when there's a little too much of that energy, then we want to use opposite to bring it down. So warm, oily, grounding, stabilizing foods, self-care practices, yoga, and pranayama. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Well, if you- So... Yeah, I'll let you. No, that's great. You look pretty safe there. Yeah. No, I, I... What I- Go ahead ... what, what I wanna talk, what I think would be great for the folks is, number one, where do they find out what their dosha is? And number two, will your dosha change as you age? So there are lots of online questionnaires, uh, that, that, you know, you can just Google Ayurveda questionnaire
27:25.3 or dosha questionnaire, and there are lots of them out there, uh, that are lovely. Um, Dr. Douillard, uh, who, who's been on the series, Dr. Douillard, uh, from Lifespa.com, he's got a lovely, uh, a very thorough, very long intake form that, that can be helpful for assess- self, self-assessment. But the questionnaires, they often tend to assess the current state of the doshas and not always the original constitution. And so it's really ideal to work with a certified Ayurvedic health counselor or Ayurvedic practitioner, uh- Like myself ... like myself, yeah. In, in order to really assess and look at the, the... look at everything holistically, to identify the original constitution which never changes versus the
28:21.6 current state of the doshas which is always changing. Mm-hmm. You know, it's similar in some ways to, um, like the horoscopes in that, um... Uh, totally different sciences and all of that, but, like, just thinking of it this way, one's constitution never change, changes. It's set at the moment of conception according to Ayurveda. The moment of conception, your constitution is set. It will never change, but it will be influenced by the seasons of, of the year, the seasons of life, the times of day, accidents, traumas, things like that. It'll be affected by that. So for instance, I'm a Virgo. That's my, my horoscope. I'm a Virgo.
29:08.7 I will always be a Virgo. It doesn't matter what season of the year. It doesn't matter how old I am. I'm always a Virgo. But I'm affected by Mercury retrogrades and what state of the moon, you know, and things like that, and that will change what's going on. So the same is true in the doshas. You know, I'm a pitta dosha. My pitta will never change, but it's affected by the seasons. Like right now in this, the spring kapha season, I'm feeling more wet and heavy, right? Mm. In the winter season, I was feeling more dry and a little bit kind of windblown, you know?
29:40.9 And so, um, the first season of, of life is said to be the spring season of life. So childhood into puberty is the kapha season of life. It's the spring of youth. Mm. And so, you know... And think of like how soft and rolly- Mm ... kids are, you know? And, and, and bouncy and, and, and gooey you know, kids are, right? They're in the kapha stage, and, and they need opposite qualities to balance that kapha stage of life. You know, they need lots of exercise and being outside and taking in lots of knowledge and, you know, going, going and going, you know, that sort of thing.
30:26.0 Then we move into the pitta stage of life, which are the, the active years of life, where, um, you know, essentially puberty-ish to menopause-ish, you know? That's the, the pitta stage of life, where we're all affected by that pitta flavor, that pitta drive. So these are the years of building a bank account, building a career, building a home, building a family, you know, getting things done. And so we're all affected by that, no matter what's happening in, you know, individually. And then we move into the vata stage of life. Mm-hmm. Mid-50s, 60s-ish, we start to transition. These are considered the wisdom years. And the vata stage of life is a time of, of, of lightness, right?
31:10.1 Vata's light as opposed to being heavy, and it's subtle as opposed to being gross. And so those wisdom years, we're all affected by those years, and those are meant to be years of slowing down, using opposite qualities to balance. You know, slowing down, s- focusing on spiritual study, focusing on self-care. Mm. Uh, downsizing the house. You know, lightening up. Having lighter or fewer responsibilities, you know? Spending more time in nature, more time in, in prayer or spiritual practice or meditating, right? These are the wisdom years, and so we're all affected by that. And so the constitution never changes, but it is influenced by the time of day, the season of the year, and the season of life.
31:59.5 And if we're not skillfully choosing opposite qualities in diet, lifestyle, and exercise, those changing seasons can really throw us. Mm-hmm. Right? The pitta stage of life, those middle years- Mm ... we can get overheated, overworked, burned out, you know, inflamed, exhausted, angry, burning bridges. You know, like that, that fire can explode, right? And in the vata stage of life, if we're not slowing down and spending more time doing, doing self-care and spiritual work, we can be overly dried out in the vata stage, and have a lot of chronic trouble sleeping and chronic constipation and, uh, issues with bones and joints and things like that, which don't...
32:50.0 In, in the West, we've accepted them as, as part of aging, but Ayurveda doesn't see it that way. There is no need to suffer. We can thrive- Mm-hmm ... in these stages if we're, if we're skillfully using opposite qualities. That's beautiful. So how do we then adjust... If we look at the three different doshas, how do we adjust our pranayama practice moving into spring if we're vata, pitta, or kapha? Great. That's just too good. So in the, uh, vata s- vata season, we're working on, um, grounding, soothing pranayamas. So a lot of belly breathing is really nice in the winter, a lot of alternate nostril breathing, a lot of counting of the breath, ujjayi pranayama.
33:42.2 These are all warming and grounding pranayamas that are really excellent in the wintertime, or for folks who have a lot of vata in their constitution or who are in the vata stage of life. You know, they can use a lot of these grounding, warming pranayamas. But now as we're moving into spring, we still want the heat, we still want the warmth, because it's cold out. Yeah. But instead of grounding, we want to lift. So we want pranayamas that are going to be energizing, purifying, drying, stimulating, energizing, and, uh, uh, awakening. And so now's the time to add a little robustness to the pranayama practice. Right.
34:25.6 So instead of like the, the comfort foods and the comforting pranayamas in the, in the winter, now we move into warming, lifting, rising kinds of, of practices. So some of my favorites are ujjayi with sun breaths, so moving the arms up and down with the breath to get more movement, more lift, more expansion of the ribcage. Mm. I love the, uh, dirgha, the three-part breath. The- Complete yogic breath, dirgha pranayama, is wonderful for expanding the lung capacity, airing out the lungs, getting good oxygen and carbon dioxide exchange, stretching the intercostal muscles between the ribs, in which there are many lymph nodes. And the lymph system is like the garbage disposal system of the body, and that's where a lot of congestion, a lot of mucus, a lot of kapha dosha- Yeah ...
35:16.7 accumulates. And so when we start stretching and airing out the ribs, we massage the lymph, move out mucus, clear out the kapha. So dirgha works really well for that. The breath of joy works really well for that, that kind of dirgha in motion. You get a little pep, you know, with that. Bhastrika pranayama, the bellows breath, and, and really emphasizing that nice, even, rhythmic expansion and contraction of the ribcage. Yeah. It's a beautiful massage for the respiratory and circulatory systems. So really getting things to move well instead of being stagnant and stuck in the mud- Right ... as we sometimes experience in the kapha season.
35:58.5 Kapalabhati is another beautiful spring technique. So kapalabhati is, you know, it's g- it's, it's used as a pranayama, but it's, it's technically a kriya. And a kriya is a cleansing practice, so it's much like using a neti pot or scraping the tongue or doing exfoliation massage. Kapalabhati is meant to scrub and clear out mucus. It's meant to l- l- move out excess kapha. So it's really ideal in the spring. And, um, it will help to clear out sinus congestion, lung congestion, and congestion in the throat, as well as kind of clear the fog from the mind, you know? Which we often get in the kapha season.
36:37.9 I, I know some of the listeners today are, right now are feeling some of that sluggishness and sloth and torpor that kind of sneaks in this time of year, you know? And kapalabhati is the skull polishing breath. So it's designed to cut through that fogginess. And so these are some of like the best techniques for the spring. However, we want to kind of, um, like bookend those stronger practices with soothing practices so that it's not too rough or too intense. You always wanna temper it so that it's a- appropriate for the practitioner. You know, some of those techniques are a little, uh, rough for some people.
37:18.5 Um, so kind of like a nice bell curve, warming up, peaking with, you know, some, some nice active energy movement, and then smoothing it back out is, is a very safe way to practice in the spring. Yeah. Yeah. You know, when we're practicing pranayam, you know, I look at it as a very feminine practice, where it allows new awarenesses. It allows a spring cleaning. It, it, it, it doesn't need that male energy of having a carrot out in front of you, and here's your goal, right? The pranayam doesn't, doesn't need that. What it, it simply needs is for us to execute the technique with great care- Mm ...
37:58.5 and try to integrate the higher energies of the pranayam as the practice cools down. Right. Absolutely. You know, and, and classically the spring and the fall are the ideal times to practice the deeper pranayamas, and that in the winter, you know, we really wanna do more nurturing practices, you know, and quieting practices, more meditation. You know, pranayama into deeper meditation. And in the summer it's so hot we wanna do practices that are more cooling, like sheetali through the tongue. Mm. Sitkari through the teeth. Sighing exhalations. You know, bhramari, the bumblebee breath. Kind of just buzzing and clearing the head. So in the summer, um, the stronger techniques can be too heating.
38:46.4 And so really the, the fall and spring are ideal pranayama time. I mean, like the- Yeah ... the weather a few days ago was in the 40s, and I was like, "It's pranayama time," you know? Like, "I am ready to, ready to go," you know? And there's just this natural, you know, the... There's a, an, a natural desire to start applying the opposites, you know, when we get into a, a, a rhythm over the years. And as the seasons change, there, there's like a, a switch, an internal switch that says, "Mm, it's time to shift up the practice," just like it's time to shift the diet and the clothing,
39:20.5 you know? That's beautiful. I, uh... You know why I love this, the whole practice of yoga and Ayurveda, I'll give a personal example that's coming back to me. Um, because we really do need to shift based on seasons and dosha. And me as a pitta, I remember I would be so drawn initially to all the hot yoga, right? Mm-hmm. And then in the summer, um, in the hot yoga, 'cause my pitta's like, "Yeah, let's just go get it," you know? And so I'd come out of there and think, "Why am I so agitated?" Like, I'd be leaving the parking lot and be cursing at people who were getting in my way, and thinking, "Come
40:02.7 on." And I'm thinking, "I just took a yoga class. I should feel really relaxed. Like, what's going on here?" But between the pranayam and the hot yoga class in the summer, it's not serving us. It's creating too much fire. It absolutely is, Wendy. And this is, you know, s- speaking to, I, I broke down vata a little before. I can go into to pitta and kapha a little more so, so your listeners get that full picture. But, you know, so much of living with awareness, living mindfully has to do with paying attention to changing rhythms, the rhythms of nature, you know? The changing of the daylight, you know, and adjusting practices to that.
40:51.4 Changing of the temperatures and adjusting our, our lifestyle practices to that. And just so much of it is common sense. Yeah. But, but because we live with electricity and because we have access to- Any kind of food at the market, any time of day or night, any season of the year, so many of us have lost connection to the seasonal adjustments. Yeah. You know, we've lost some connection to that. And so Ayurveda is all about that, and returning to the seasonal rhythms and adjusting to seasonal practices. And so, so Pitta dosha, Pit- pitta dosha made of fire and water, we all have it, and, and pitta governs digestion.
41:32.0 So it's the hydrochloric acid and, um, enzymes and digestive fluids that break down food and transform food into bodily tissues and biologically useful product. Pitta also governs the digestion in the mind, so the ability to take in information and digest it, organize it, learn from it. Pitta is the fire that kind of cooks us from one stage of life into the next, or cooks us from one experience in- into a, an hopefully an elevated level of understanding and of living. So it is the, kind of the, the cook of the body is, is the pitta. And so we all have pitta governing digestion and, and transformation, but some of us have a pitta constitution,
42:18.6 like, you know, Wendy and I. Ed has a fair amount of pitta in his constitution too. Um, and so pittas run hot. We're made mostly of fire and water, right? We have all five elements, but we have mostly fire and water, so we're hot doshas. And so, you know, pitta constitutions, they typically have a medium frame and a medium build, a little bit more meat on the bones, a little bit more of an athletic build often in a pitta. Uh, they often have very intense eyes, very intense focus, very intense speaking. Uh, you know, they move like they're blazing a, a trail of fire, you know?
42:53.0 They move with intention. They often are goal-oriented. They like to get things done. They like to be in charge. They like to check things off of lists, you know? Uh, pittas like to add things to a list just to check it off, because then that's more satisfying, you know? Yeah. So those of you listening- That's true ... yeah, you do that. You probably have. You're dopamine addicts out there. You guys get off that dopamine. We're like, "Yes. Yes." It's a lot. So Va- vata doshas are really, um, creative and energized and innovative, right? Pittas are the ones that like to get it done and make it happen.
43:28.2 You know, like vatas come up with wonderful ideas, and pittas execute those, those ideas. You know, that's, that's pretty typical there. And so pittas, um, often run around without, uh, you know, extra clothing on in the, in the winter. You know, they'll run out to the car without putting on their jacket. They like to have the air conditioning on and the windows open, and often sleep with one foot out from under the covers because they're so hot that they're always airing out, you know? So- ... pittas are, they run hot, right? Ah. And that's, that's their natural state. But they can overheat. Yeah. Just like a vata is naturally creative and peppy, but they can get too much momentum and turn from peppiness to spazziness, you know?
44:12.7 And so we go from the original constitution to the current state of elevated dosha. So we always wanna come back to the ba- to the, the core. So pittas will overheat mostly in the summer when it's hot and humid in nature. And if they're eating foods that are hot and wet, hot and oily, like fried foods, coffee, alcohol, um, the acidic foods, tomatoes, garlic, onions, you know, fried food, things like that, those will accumulate the pitta qualities, and at some point, those will overflow and cause suffering, cause that elevated pitta. And so in the summer season, or for folks with pitta in their constitution, they're always going to be a little extra careful to use cooling, relaxing
45:01.1 practices, because pitta's very hot and focused. So pitta often needs quiet and stabilizing coolness in order to stay relaxed. Uh-uh. Yeah. Right. And so, you know, pittas will be drawn to the hot, intense, you know, disciplines. Yeah. Um, but those don't always serve. And so it's important to temper it, to, to follow the drive, and to make sure that we're not always slamming on the gas, and that there's enough, you know, pause and, and cruise time, you know? So that's really, really important for, for pitta dosha, and of course, uh, probably most of, uh, of the listeners today are in their pitta season of life.
45:45.3 You know, it's a, it's a big season, you know- Right ... puberty to menopause-ish. And, um, so it's easy at this time of life and in our culture to overdrive, to overdo, to want to succeed, to need to get things done, you know? And we can really, really burn out that way. So, so much of Ayurvedic practice is, is to skillfully temper that. And I found myself, you know, I was, as I said in the beginning of, of our session today, you know, I was slamming coffee. I was working two jobs. You know, I was a controller. I ran a finance department in New York, and I taught evening classes, you know, for, for, for night school, for, for college.
46:25.9 And I was the department chair, so I ran the, the department as well. And I mean, I was just going and going and going and going and burning myself out, and, um, there's no need for that. There's n- there's no need for it. And so when I found yoga and Ayurveda, um, part of my drive was of course like go, go, go. I'll do every yoga class, I'll take every yoga training. I will breathe louder than anyone else in the room, you know? Like, I had that pitta drive, and it wasn't until I started working with an Ayurvedic clinician that I learned that I was burning myself out.
47:04.2 You know, and I would crash. I would get sick, or I would just, you know, like wanna, you know, drink and sit on the couch and watch movies in order to kind of cool myself down. Yeah. And so Ayurveda taught me how to not go full throttle, and, and to really live in that middle path, which has served me so like, just so immensely the, you know, this last d- decade and a half of like really living in a way where I don't overheat myself anymore, and I'm not interested in jockeying for position and being overly competitive. And I really allow the goodness of pitta to thrive without burning myself out.
47:49.0 But it, it took some time, you know, to really experience how to do that. That, that's amazing. You know, 'cause a lot of times I tell folks, "You know, if life's a race, it's a race you wanna come in last." Yeah. When you think about, when you think about pitta and this super high level of stress that, that folks are experiencing, uh, from the outer world, it, it seems that we can almost rewire our brain to accept the fact that this is the way it is, this is the way it's always gonna be. You can fire up your amygdala, and you can rewire your brain, and this can become the norm for us.
48:27.3 We become used to always reacting. We're catching up to time. There's never enough of this, and I've got to go do that. I- is there a breathing technique or a listening skill that, that worked for you where you could kind of check in with yourself- Mm-hmm ... and maybe have an opportunity to be neuroplastic in regard to maybe changing that perception of the doer of the pitta? So I worked with one, one teacher. He's actually, he's, he's... I, I'm not gonna say who it is, but I, I, I worked with a teacher for a while. He, and, um, I'll, I'll see him actually later today, but who, um, did a lot of, uh, demolition on me.
49:09.7 A lot, a lot of deconstruction. Yeah. I know that pitta. Ah. I had a lot of, uh... You know, always an athlete, and, um, I'm very flexible, very strong. I can bring myself into lots of postures. Uh, I've, being a swimmer, I've always had a very deep lung capacity. Very, very strong pra- and pranayama's always been my most favorite thing of all of life, is pranayama. It's my favorite thing to do. It's my favorite thing to teach. And, um, I would overdo it. You know, I would really huff and puff, and like get pushy with the breath, and hold my breath too long, and get grippy, you know, and think that I was, you know,
49:51.4 no, in the no pain, no gain state. Mm-hmm. And I had a teacher who would, and I don't recommend anybody ever do this to any other student, but like would flick me in the forehead sometimes. You know, like move around the w- room and be like, "Stop it." Right. "Stop it." Like, literally w- you know, like... And, and talk about l- and he, he's a pitta dosha, so like only a pitta can kind of provoke another pitta in this way, you know? Right. And I'm like, "Okay, you're in charge. I'll stop." You know? Um. And, and I actually... Like, he had to poke at me in order to get me to see that I was actually hurting myself instead of nourishing myself.
50:30.4 And so I, I actually had to learn to back out of some of my postures, to not, not go so deeply into certain practices, to not breathe so loudly, to not hold my breath with so much intention, intensity, and to actually soften and be receptive during the breath retentions. And so I think that of the techniques, I would say that, that the, um, the uddiyana bandha, the agnisara- Mm-hmm ... was, was my biggest teacher, because it's really easy for me to over fire, and to over push, and to over pump. Yeah. And I really learned how to stabilize the fire and harmonize the fire instead of over- Stoking
51:21.0 it ... stoke the fire. Mm-hmm. And so that was a huge teacher for me, and I know that that's an advanced practice. Not everybody can, can, can work with that technique. Um, but that was perhaps my biggest teacher, was working with, with the external breath retention and pumping of the belly. That's beautiful. But what, uh, my, I think, most nourishing practice was, uh, ha- has actually always been the bhramari pranayama, the bumblebee breath. Because as a, as a pitta constitution and wanting to always drive and excel and succeed and move forward and get things done, um, the pranayama is so effective, as you, as you said, for, you know, resetting to create new neural pathways, you know, to find a new way of
52:11.2 thriving. And the bumblebee breath kind of gets the job done really quickly and efficiently and effectively without overdoing it. And so I find that when I tone and go, go into several rounds of the bumblebee breath, it does exactly what I need. It kind of buzzes the beehive of my mind. It c- it sweeps the slate clean. And it brings radiance and luster to the head without heat. You know, it's not a hot breath. Mm-hmm. And so it does all of the things that I love about Kapalabhati and Bhastrika without the heat. And so I found that to be one of my, um, absolute non-negotiable pranayamas.
52:50.0 Wow, awesome. That's beautiful. That, that's a beautiful- Yeah. You know, when we think about the Bhramari and its effect on the brain and, and the vagus nerve and creating comfort- Mm-hmm ... and circulation of minerals- That's awesome ... and nutrients and lymphatic drains from the brain. Mm-hmm. You know, I think about Bhramari as a, as a way of creating mental space. Mm-hmm. And, and where there's space for a moment or two, there's the absence of stress or negative stress. Mm-hmm. And when we think about space, space is something that we can move the wood of the fire of Pitta, we can move the logs further away from each other.
53:25.3 When we think about the space, we can add more energy to the Kapha. Mm-hmm. So the Bhramari is such a wonderful pranayama, and I think it's richly needed, a Bhramari practice- Mm-hmm ... in these times of challenge externally. Even with COVID. It's absolutely. Great pranayama. Mm-hmm. It's one... Eddie's been working with a lot of COVID patients, uh, long haulers- Mm-hmm ... as they call them. Mm-hmm. Um, and it's been a great practice for, for folks, um, even with COVID. Absolutely, 'cause it doesn't demand much of the lungs, but it gets the lungs moving. Yeah. And, and so, um, yeah, it's, it's so sweet for COVID times for sure.
54:09.3 It's a, it's a tri-dosha practice. It's going to be good for, for all three because it's not too heating or too cooling. It's not too stimulating or too grounding. You know, it's kind of a... It's a very potent practice. You know, it can create deep states of, um, altered awareness and, and opening up to the inner guidance, the inner wisdom, the inner truth that's always present. You know, it kind of clears the veil. So it's so good for all the doshas, um, and for all the seasons. You know, one of those techniques that can be used any season. I do love it. I do love it as a Pitta.
54:46.1 Um, but it's good in this Kapha season and, you know, for Kapha p- for Kapha folks, you know, we all have Kapha. We all have this water and earth element joining together to create a kind of muddiness or a thick wetness. And Kapha, for all of us, is like a bodyguard. It's like a buffer. So Kapha dosha is the dosha that gives us lubrication and, um, and steadiness. Kapha is a real steady dosha, and so it gives us the synovial fluid, the cerebrospinal fluid, the saliva in the mouth, the mucosa that lines the lungs, protecting the lungs from all that dry Vata breathing all the time.
55:27.7 Mm-hmm. Mucosa that lines the stomach, protecting the stomach from all those hot Pitta acids that are breaking down food. Kapha is, um... provides the steadiness of mood, gives us the ability to, um, have memory. So Kapha is the film upon which the memories are stored. You know? So it's this real steady dosha, and we all have it. But some people have Kapha as their main constitution, and so Kapha folks are going to have the most substance and the most strength of all three constitutions because Kapha has the most meat to it, right? Mm-hmm. So water and earth, it's like mud, yeah. So strong, thick bones, broad shoulders on Kapha constitutions.
56:11.4 They usually have really deep lung capacity, big, big skeletal system, big rib cage, big lungs, booming voices, strong hearts, lots of generosity. You know, really jolly people, tend to be very loving and kind. You know, we get this strength and bulk with a lot of sweetness, you know? And so Kaphas have the best endurance of the three doshas, and by far the most strength, the biggest muscles, the bulkiest, you know, bodies. So we all have Kapha, but we all get affected by excess Kapha in the spring season when it's r- rainy and foggy and damp, you know? And those who have a Kapha constitution are especially affected by this season and really feel bogged down, you know?
56:59.4 And when that extra Kapha increases, we get too much mucus, too much congestion, too much wateriness. Uh, instead of just being stable, we get stuck in the mud. We have a lack of motivation, foggy thinking. You know, all of these things that, that hinder progress and, and awakening. And so this really is the time to use the pranayamas, which all of them generally are opposite in quality. You know, they're, they're... Instead of stable, they're moving. The breath is moving. You know, instead of being stuck, there's circulation. And just by favoring some of the warmer pranayamas in the spring, we get the heat, we get the lift, we get the evaporation of water and mucus, and we get all
57:45.3 of the beautiful circulation that we want. So that, that kind of takes us full circle. That does. That's awesome. You know, can, can you speak for a moment... You know, life is about a lot of things, but it's about relationships. Mm-hmm. And when we speak of doshas, I'm naturally drawn to relationships with folks that have a strong Vata-Pitta Dosha, and I don't really have the time to wait for the Kaphas to get their clothes on because I gotta get going because I got things to do. Oh. You know? And, and our s- our friends, our circle group tend to be, for most of us, like attracts like.
58:25.0 You, you, you're drawn to people who see the world and speak to the world the way you do. Mm. And, and I, I think of, like, my corporate clients, and I... If you have a, a company out there and you're putting a team together, you know, the most efficient team- Mm-hmm ... is one that has a Vata. You got your idea person. Yes. You got your intention people. You have a Pitta, and someone who's gonna have the fire to drive this, and you have the Kapha to manifest it and see it through- Mm-hmm ... to the end. Mm-hmm. Now, these three people might not get along with each other at the personality level.
58:59.7 Right. But for their production of energy, having counterbalances around us in a team environment creates the most efficient energetically quality for a team. Can you speak a little bit about how relationships and Doshas interact with us in this human dance? Absolutely. Absolutely. I love that, Ed. So you're right. We want... We all have all five elements. We all have all three Doshas, but we have particular constitution, and, and with that behaviors, and, and mannerisms, and, and habits, and likes and dislikes, you know? And the most balanced team and the most, um, successful team is going to be one that has representation from all three. And the more that the understanding of the three Doshas is spread, you know, the, the more people who are introduced to,
59:53.8 um, this reality, you know, it's t- it's reality- Mm ... um, the more compassionate we can be to our varying habits and ways of getting things done. And so I appreciate so much now the innovative Vata constitutions and the stabilizing Kapha constitutions that keep the project going, you know, that, that give it longevity. And knowing the Doshas well now, I always have a team, you know, when I'm doing teacher trainings, when I'm running programs, I always have a team that has representation of all. And I can compassionately understand that my way of doing things is different than their way of doing things, and that they're being efficient
60:42.4 for their constitution. Yeah. They're doing their constitution, you know, like you do you. You know? Like, they're doing their constitution- ... the way that it's meant to be done. And so recognizing that there is variety in the seasons of the year, right? Variety in the weather and the change in seasons. Right. There's variety in the Doshas in humanity, and that all three are needed, and that allows me to be really compassionate and understanding, and not get annoyed by the way other people are doing things because I can recognize, "No, that... I know that an answer from a certain person is gonna take a little longer to get," you know?
61:20.5 Or, "I know that this one is gonna change their mind a couple of times before landing on the final choice," you know? And, and it doesn't annoy me anymore because I understand it. Yeah. You know? And so this is so much about relationships, is recognizing our interconnectedness- Mm ... and how we can, we can, you know, thrive. When balanced, we can, we can really thrive. But here's, here's the, the, the challenge, and, and this may be for a n- a talk another day. But, um, so the Doshas, this is just one aspect of Ayurveda, this one set, you know, of energies, but there are other
62:01.8 energies that are just as important as the Doshas. So like the energies of the mind are known as Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas, and this is more related to Ayurvedic psychology, which is another one of my specialties. And so when, when we are thriving in our constitution, whether it's a Vata constitution, a Pitta constitution, or a Kapha constitution, thriving means not having excess. You know? So a Vata is creative, and light, and excited, but they, you know, they can sleep, and they can poop fine, and they don't have gas and bloating. You know? Like, they're thriving, and energetic, and peppy, but they're not suffering from too much Vata.
62:53.2 And a Pitta who's thriving is goal-oriented, and really good at giving direction, and getting things done, and very focused, but they're not angry, and mean, and judgmental, and they don't have acid reflux, and they're not burning, burning eyes and stuff. You know? Like, there's not extra fire. There's the right amount of fire. And Kapha folks are... When they're thriving, they're reliable, and loyal, and dependable, and enduring, and strong, and jolly, and friendly. You know? And they're not suffering from extra Kapha. They're, they don't have extra weight. They're not holding extra water. They're not overly mucusy. They're not foggy in their thinking. They're just steady and sturdy.
63:35.5 You know? And those thriving states happen physically, but also mentally and emotionally- Mm-hmm ... when in a Sattvic state of mind, which is a state of harmony, and peace, and balance, and ease, and tranquility. And so this is actually what affects the relationships, I think, more than the Doshas, is actually these energies of the mind. Yeah. Because when we're in that energy state of wholesomeness and kindness- And mindfulness, or sattva in Sanskrit. Then all of the doshas can interact together and work really well together and kind of flow off of each other and, like, love each other's strengths, you know? Not a bad one. But when we're kind of overwhelmed by the, the two other energies of the mind, which are known as rajas and tamas, one is kind of like on overdrive and the other one is
64:35.2 stagnant, then the mind gets kind of tainted by that flavor, and it will cause, um, unwholesome cravings. It will cause bad habits. It will cause bumping up against other people instead of appreciating our differences and working together. Mm. Lovely. So there's much more to say about that, but I know that'll move us. Yeah, I know, and we are probably, um, over our time with you. You know, as I listen to you and I, I, I think about this Western modern world that we live in of social media and the computers and every- you know, uh, and we have this ancient practice of Ayurveda. I- but if I'm hearing you correctly, it, it sounds like Ayurveda is a science of adaptability- Mm.
65:24.4 Mm-hmm ... where we are evolving ourse- we're not de-evolving back into, uh, kind of this cave person type. We're actually evolving the race, the human race. Mm. And this adaptability, the ability for the brain to switch gears, the ability to keep our heart rate down in moments of stress, our ability to digest smoothly even though our emotions are raging like a hurricane out in the ocean. Mm. This adaptability, I think, seems to be the foundation of what Ayurveda is offering the human race today? It absolutely is. You know, Ayurveda's main, main purpose is to maintain health and prevent disease. And in that, the definition of health from the Ayurvedic perspective is not just having a healthy body, but having healthy,
66:18.4 um, working sense organs and, uh, uh, brightness. It, the... There's a shloka that... or a, a classic phrase from the, the classical text in Ayurveda talking about the definition of health, and it includes our digestive fire and the immune system function and the physical makeup of the body, and the lightness and sweetness and generosity and kindness, the tranquility and balance of the mind and the spirit and the, and the heart space. And so it is, uh, a holistic practice that teaches us through its many, many techniques how to adapt to the changing times of day, seasons of the year, seasons of life, pollutants, traumas, trials, chaos, you know, all of the things that we're exposed
67:07.5 to, and to adapt to the rest of humankind and, and to find a way to, to be harmonized in our interconnectedness. So it is absolutely a science of adaptability. Mm. Yeah. Well, I... Like I said, I think we've gone over our time, but maybe this makes up for some of the technical difficulties we were having the other day- ... with folks because we covered a lot of ground. Um, but I also wanna let folks know how, number one, they can work with you because you do Ayurvedic one-on-one consultations. Mm. Mm. And also tell them about your great audio program that you have a- that you have available for folks.
67:47.6 Mm. Yeah, absolutely. So folks can go to my website, larissacarlson.com. And, uh, you can... If you're interested in, in pranayama, which I know you all are, uh, I have a 10-day audio course, which is 15 minutes a day, so it's about two and a half hours total, and it's just $22. It's like a textbook but in audio form. And so it gives theory and philosophy, uh, to create a home pranayama practice, as well as daily techniques that are built over those 10 days, so at the end of those 10 days there's a really solid home practice. And so you can download that on my site.
68:24.4 And also on my site, uh, you'll find in the shop page information on doing one-on-one Ayurveda diet and lifestyle consultations to support, you know, reducing the suffering in the body and the mind, to balance the doshas, to identify constitution, to get better sleep, to digest better, to lose extra weight, things like that. And we will have all that information for folks, um, also in the description with this video so you can easily find it for yourselves ongoing. Beautiful. Yeah. Larissa, thank you. You're very welcome. It's so lovely to see and talk with you both and, uh, I miss you very much. I hope we'll get to do some pranayama practice together soon.
69:07.4 I- You really are a national treasure, and I... You know, folks can only go as far as their professor can take them, and you are definitely- Mm ... a master of many different traditions and many different sciences and are deeply needed in today's world, and I wish you every success. Mm. Sending loads of love to you. Fair. See you later. I'll send a pranic wave. A tsunami's coming your way. Oh, take care, Larissa. Okay. Thank you. You too. Bye. Mahalo.