Recently, little iconic clips from the series GIRLS has been all over my algorithm. Seeing these characters again took my mind back, circa 2012, to the living room where I watched the show and the characters in my own life at the time.
As someone with alot of Kapha dosha in my constitutionI have the tendency to stick with things waaay beyond their expiration date. I also tend to sit with ideas for a looong time before pulling the trigger to take action.
(If you’re feeling this, there is a Kapha balancing yoga practice for you at the end of this post)
There was one episode of my life where I lived with a ‘girl’ who Initially I thought I was super aligned but pretty quickly after moving in I realised just because we use the same kind of eco-friendly products doesn’t mean we share the same values. Things got so bad I avoided going home at all costs. I patiently waited, hoping things would improve. It wasn’t until I was on a sketchy late night train that would get me home long after she was asleep that I finally realised; I wasn’t actually stuck in this living arrangement. I could make a change.
Over the years I have ‘gotten better’ at managing these tendencies. Not necessarily changing the timeline but changing my relationship to the pace that can feel impossibly slow, even unmoving at times.
In the past I have felt mildly frustrated at this apparent inability to action, but not fired up enough to motivate a change. I’ve felt mildly anxious, that low-level but constant ‘waiting for the other shoe to drop’ feeling. When things get into this territory it becomes depleting, energy zapping.
But, not every seemingly slow situation is like this. Sometimes we are not procrastinating, we are percolating. We are building our energy reserves in preparation for the next big evolution.
Practice being ok with slow-ness. Most women only benefit from slowing down our thoughts, timelines, to-do lists, the way we eat, move, make love - it can all get slower. Trust the timing of your life.
Taking action from a place of force, rushing, pushing is just as depleting as inaction. To take action before things are ripe and truly ready is not going to feel good. Shifting focus from endless outcomes to the process. The process must be enjoyable which only happens when you’re ripe and it's the right time.
Not to get to ‘yoga’ but this point can be boiled down to one of the core Bhagavad Gita teachings
“You have the right to work, but for the work's sake only. You have no right to the fruits of work. Desire for the fruits of work must never be your motive in working. Never give way to laziness, either.”
One of the most common correlations with Kapha is laziness. Nobody likes feeling lazy, but slowness, relaxation and ripeness are different from laziness.
If you’re not ready to make your big change out of your cozy rut, a routine that is no longer working for you, a relationship going sour, then use this time intentionally. Get ready. If you're feeling stuck, start by moving your body. 10, 20, 30 minutes a day and the stagnancy will lift. Walk, yoga, swim, dance, star- jump. Whatever works.
When I stop moving my body it’s usually a sign that things are getting out of balance. Either I’m making myself so busy that I’m not prioritizing my practice or I’m getting into that stagnant realm.
Below is a 30 minute yoga practice that I recorded specifically to balance Kapha dosha. It included a breathing technique and a meditation to move stagnant energy from body-mind >life.
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