The Maharishi Ayurveda Approach to Beauty and Skin CareThe Three Pillars of Beauty
Maharishi Ayurveda (MAV),
modern, consciousness-based revival of ancient Ayurvedic medicine tradition, considers true beauty to be supported by three pillars; Outer Beauty, Inner Beauty and Lasting Beauty. Only by enhancing all three can we attain balanced state of radiant health that makes each of us most fulfilled and beautiful person we can be.
Outer Beauty: Roopam
The outer signs of beauty - your skin, hair and nails - are more than just superficial measures of beauty. They are direct reflections of your overall health. These outer tissues are created by inner physiological processes involved in digestion, metabolism and proper tissue development. Outer beauty depends more on strength of your digestion and metabolism, quality of your diet, and purity of your blood, than on external cleansers and conditioners you may apply.
General Recommendations for Outer Beauty
As we will discuss, key to skin care is matching your diet and skin care routine to specific skin type you have. Meanwhile, there are some valuable recommendations for lustrous skin, hair and nails that will be helpful to everyone, regardless of skin type.
1. Diet: Without adequate nourishment, your collagen layer thins and a kind of wasting takes place. Over time, your skin can shrivel up like a plant without water from lack of nourishment. To keep your skin plump and glowing:
A. Eat fresh, whole organic foods that are freshly prepared. Avoid packaged, canned, frozen, processed foods and leftovers. These foods have little nutritional value and also they are often poorly digested which creates impurities that localize in skin. The resulting buildup of toxins causes irritation and blocks circulation depriving skin of further nourishment and natural cleansing processes.
B. Favor skin nourishing foods. 1. Leafy green vegetables contain vitamins, minerals (especially iron and calcium) and are high in antioxidant properties. They nourish skin and protect it from premature aging. 2. Sweet juicy fruits like grapes, melons, pears, plums and stewed apples at breakfast are excellent for skin in almost everyone. 3. Eat a wide variety of grains over different meals and try mixed grain servings at breakfast and lunch. Add amaranth, quinoa, cous cous, millet and barley to wheat and rice you already eat. 4. Favor light, easy to digest proteins like legume soups (especially yellow split mung dhal), whole milk, paneer (cheese made from boiling milk, adding lemon and straining solids) and lassi (diluted yogurt and spice drinks). 5. Oils like ghee (clarified butter) and organic, extra virgin olive oil should be included in diet as they lubricate, nourish and create lustre in skin. 6. Use spices like turmeric, cumin, coriander, and black pepper to improve digestion, nourish skin and cleanse it of impurities. 7. Avoid microwaving and boiling your vegetables. They lose as much as 85% of their antioxidant content when cooked in this way. Steaming and sautéing are best.
Caring for outer beauty through knowledge of skin type
Besides these general recommendations key to Outer Beauty is to understand difference in skin types so you can gain maximum benefit from your individualized skin care regimen. MAV identifies three different skin types based on which of three main metabolic principles (doshas)- present in everyone, but to different degrees- is most dominant in your body.
Vata Skin
* Description: Vata is composed of elements of air and space. If you have a vata skin type, your skin will be dry, thin, fine pored, delicate and cool to touch. When balanced, it glows with a delicate lightness and refinement that is elegant and attractive. When vata skin is imbalanced, it will be prone to excessive dryness and may even be rough and flaky.
* Potential problems: The greatest beauty challenge for vata skin is its predisposition to symptoms of early aging. Your skin may tend to develop wrinkles earlier than most due to its tendency to dryness and thinness. If your digestion is not in balance, your skin can begin to look dull and grayish, even in your 20’s and 30’s. In addition, your skin may have a tendency for disorders such as dry eczema and skin fungus. Mental stress, such as worry, fear and lack of sleep, has a powerful debilitating effect on vata skin leaving it looking tired and lifeless.
* Recommendations for care With a little knowledge, you can preserve and protect delicate beauty of your vata type skin. Since your skin does not contain much moisture, preventing it from drying is major consideration. Eat a warm, unctuous diet (ghee and olive oil are best) and favor sour, salty and sweet tastes (naturally sweet like fruits, not refined sugar) as they balance vata. Avoid drying foods like crackers. Drink 6-8 glasses of warm (not cold for vata types!) water throughout day and eat plenty of sweet, juicy fruits. Going to bed early (before 10 PM) is very soothing to vata and will have a tremendously positive influence on your skin. Avoid cleansing products that dry skin (like alcohol-based cleansers) and perform Ayurvedic oil massage to your whole body (abhyanga) in morning before you shower. Pitta Skin. * Description: Pitta dosha is composed of elements of fire and water. If you have a pitta skin type your skin is fair, soft, warm and of medium thickness. When balanced, your skin has a beautiful, slightly rosy or golden glow, as if illuminated from within. Your hair typically is fine and straight, and is usually red, sandy or blonde in color. Your complexion tends toward pink or reddish, and there is often a copious amount of freckles or moles.
* Potential problems: Among many beauty challenges of pitta skin types is your tendency to develop rashes, rosacea, acne, liver spots or pigment disorders. Because of large proportion of fire element in your constitution, your skin does not tolerate heat or sun very well. Of all three skin types, pitta skin has least tolerance for sun, is photosensitive, and most likely to accumulate sun damage over years. Pitta skin is aggravated by emotional stress, especially suppressed anger, frustration, or resentment.
* Recommendations for care Avoid excessive sunlight, tanning treatments and highly heating therapies like facial or whole body steams. Avoid hot, spicy foods and favor astringent, bitter and sweet foods which balance pitta. (Again, naturally sweet, not chocolate and refined sugar!) Sweet juicy fruits (especially melons and pears), cooked greens and rose petal preserves are especially good. Drinking plenty of water helps wash impurities from sensitive pitta skin. Reduce external or internal contact with synthetic chemicals, to which your skin is especially prone to react, even in a delayed fashion after years of seemingly uneventful use. Avoid skin products that are abrasive, heating or contain artificial colors or preservatives. Most commercial make-up brands should be avoided in favor of strictly 100% natural ingredient cosmetics. And be sure to get your emotional stress under control through plenty of outdoor exercise, yoga and meditation.
