Urges!? I don’t have any Urges!
It's most certainly Spring. & I don't know about you but in these days of warming, moist, overcast, wistful weather the desires of the body start to take precedence over other, more sensible, things.
Photo by Strvnge Films
Ayurveda has strong feelings about the urges of the body (urges of the mind are a different matter & definitely more suspect). These natural urges are referred to collectively as vega & include: Hunger, Thirst, Belching, Farting, Coughing, Sneezing, Eliminating, Sleeping, Sexual needs, Emotional responses, & Vomiting. They are the messengers of your body's needs & communicate the most important wisdom of the body.
This is what you need to know about your urges:
They are never to be suppressed nor forced!.
They express the naturally occurring needs of the body.
Not obeying them disturbs the natural movements of vata, & out-of-whack vata causes all sorts of bad things!
Getting in touch with urges is getting in touch with the needs of your body & it will help you develop intuition about what is good for you.
Here are some details:
Thirst – Ideally you should drink water when you feel thirsty. Many people drink excess water because they are conditioned to drink constantly & don’t even know when they are actually thirsty. Drinking when you don’t need to leads to an increase in kapha & hampers digestion (making it inefficient and lazy). It might even contribute to diabetes & thyroid imbalances. Excess thirst should be seen as a sign of imbalance which needs to be fixed.
Hunger – is felt whenever the body requires nourishment (& the previous food is digested). If you are not hungry: don’t eat. If you do eat without hunger the food will rot rather than digest. If you miss a normal meal-time & are hungry – eat a small quantity of warm food that includes a bit of oil (like a cup of soup with buttered bread). Beware of false hunger which is really only boredom or cravings that trick you into feeling hunger. Real hunger can be judged when you are ready to eat food that you do not normally crave. If you don’t know if you are truly hungry; have a cup of warm water & see if you are still hungry.
Sleep — When the body requires rest the senses do not want to take in any more stimulation. Our senses must take a break & turn inward for at least 6 hours a day. The hours of sleep are important too; if you are not asleep at night your body’s subtle digestion (metabolism) will get confused & excess tissues will form (ie it makes you fat). Lack of sleep leads to body aches, mental haziness & poor judgments. If you are worried about your stress levels make sure you are getting enough sleep.
Gas – As strange as it may seem, suppressing gas causes various kinds of diseases including anxiety, heart diseases, & diseases of the eyes. It is observed that sprouts, potatoes, some lentil dishes, irregularly timed meals, excess quantity of food, heavy foods, & even stress increase gas. Avoid these or take digestive herbs to help reduce gases; but don’t suppress it!
Bowel Movement - Suppression or forcing can give rise to headaches, leg cramps, heart disease, hemorrhoids, all sorts of abdominal discomfort, & poor eye-sight. I have seen several people with a background of strict schooling (all Catholics!) as children, who regularly resisted the urge to go as permission to leave the classroom was difficult to get. They tend to struggle with constipation & digestive disorders later in life.
Urination - Of course frequency depends on quantity of liquid consumed, activities & atmospheric conditions (more sweat means less pee). Think about this if you suffer from urinary tract infections or renal calculus (as well as the symptoms mentioned from the suppression of gas and stool). If you have these problems paying special attention to your urge to pee is essential.
Coughing – Sneezing & hiccuping also fall into this category of urges. Suppressing these impacts Prana. Prana is the type of vata that allows us to take in and receive vital energy. So suppressing a sneeze seems innocent but when you do it a lot it can contribute to real problems!
Tears – Grief or sorrow must be relieved with tears. But these feelings are often suppressed leading to pain in the eyes or head, or even contribute to the development of a tumor. Sometimes loss is so shocking to a person that they are unable to express the feelings. Counseling & sleep help release the emotions. Use of wine (or another alcohol) is also recommended. But notice what happens when a person consumes too much alcohol regularly … they get melancholy & weepy. Balance is everything.
Nausea and Vomiting – Whenever the body does not want to retain something in the stomach (could be food, kapha, or pitta) it tries to expel it out by vomiting. This is not a comfortable process & many people resist it. People with hyper-acidity often have nausea & are relieved after vomiting. Taking antacids is a form of suppression & can produce skin diseases. All the diseases that come from kapha & pitta accumulations can come from resisting nausea including: hyper-acidity, skin disease, headaches, dizziness, & bleeding disorders.
Sexual urges – This is an important urge. In an ideal world we would never go without sex & affection when we wanted it & never indulge unless we really felt desire. But this is not a perfect world. So how do we deal? There are a few things that must be considered in this category: excessive masturbation, staying in unhealthy relationships, incomplete coitus used as a contraception. What will happen if you engage in these things? The result is depletion of shukra dhatu (the tissue of creation & reproduction) leading to impotency, infertility, loss of courage, loss of compassion & loss of the ability to rejuvenate (heal), depleted physical strength, reduced access to happiness, inability to feel pleasure. Not good stuff. Better cut it out….
Yawning, Burping, Sweating and Breathlessness from over exertion are other urges people unknowingly resist because of social pressure &/or trying to be proper. Resisting these urges disturbs the natural direction of Vata and can cause many serious health issues too.
Most of us are on a journey to re-connect to our body & nature. We recognize that modern urban life leads us to spend most of our time in our minds & draws us away from our physical senses. This is one of the core challenges to being Whole in body & spirit. Many of us have the intention of learning to respect our body & it’s messages more clearly. We are motivated to do Yoga, somatic work, & developing a better sense of Intuition to balance the effects of our lives. Luckily the body provides a path back to a more natural sense of ourselves. The path begins with respecting our urges.