By May the pitta has risen with the sun.
Pitta, in Ayurveda, is the dosha of fire and water — heat, brightness, the sharpness of digestion. It is not the bad one. It is the part of you that says yes. In summer it comes to the surface, and the whole system runs a little hot.
Some find the heat settles in the chest, or the face, or behind the eyes. The mind turns bright and busy. Sleep grows thin.
Sheetali, the Cool Breath
There is a breath for this. It is called sheetali — the cool one. Inhale through the tongue, rolled into a tube, so the air passes along a wet channel and arrives cool. Exhale through the nose. The faint whistle is not a mistake.
In the Himalaya the Bhagirathi in May is louder than anything in the plains, and the water in the shade of the deodars is colder than the air. That is where a hot body wants to be.
Small cool things help too. More water. Less heat, less hurry. A walk before the sun is high. The evening moon, looked at without strain, which many find settles a heated mind faster than any argument.
Slowing the Fire
Pitta does not need to be defeated. It needs somewhere to go.
That is all a cooling practice is. A slower breath. A quieter step. A morning given back to itself.
The old Ayurvedic texts speak of a day with its own rhythm and a season with its own rhythm, and of the simple art of matching them. Give the summer less fire. Give it more water.
The heat will pass. It always has.
