Yoga International

HEALTH | AYURVEDA & NATURAL REMEDIES

TUMMY TROUBLES? HOW TO IGNITE AND MAINTAIN AGNI

by Shannon Sexton

It isn’t a pleasant scenario: your stomach is upset and it’s telling everyone in the room. You
can apply your willpower and ignore it for a while (and hope that the people around you do
the same), or you can pop a pill for temporary relief, but sooner or later indigestion will take
its toll.

Efficient digestion nourishes and sustains every tissue and organ in our bodies.
Why? Because, as ayurvedic expert Robert E. Svoboda explains, “Indigestion is the base of
all physical disease, the condition from which all other conditions arise.” According to
ayurveda, the key to good health is properly functioning agni, which in the form of digestive
fire helps us assimilate nutrients and get rid of waste, or ama. Efficient digestion nourishes
and sustains every tissue and organ in our bodies. When agni is balanced and strong, we’re
blessed with:

Efficient digestion
Minimal toxic buildup
Internal warmth
Energy and vitality
Clarity of mind
Courage
Robust health
But when agni is weak, digestion is incomplete and leaves behind toxins, which interfere with
the flow of blood, lymph, and energy throughout the body. When we’re unable to rid
ourselves of these wastes, ama accumulates and leads to disease. Warning signs include:

Inefficient digestion (bloating, gas, constipation, diarrhea)

Evidence of toxic buildup (coated tongue, unpleasant body odor, excess mucus, and
foul-smelling, cloudy urine)
Internal coldness
Low energy
A dull, forgetful, confused, unfocused mind
Mental/emotional weakness
Illness
The truth is, most of us could use a digestive tune-up. Here are a few suggestions.
Activate Your Solar Power
Agni’s home is in the solar plexus. By generating heat and strengthening the muscles in this
region, we can “fan the fire” and increase our digestive power. Here’s how.

Get regular aerobic exercise.

Ayurveda’s general rule is to exercise daily until sweat forms on the forehead, under the
arms, and along the spine.

Strengthen your abs.

Do sit-ups, crunches, or leg lifts for 5–10 minutes a day.

Practice agni sara.

This pranayama practice is the most important exercise for improving digestion and
maintaining overall health. Although agni sara must be learned under a qualified practitioner,
you can learn two preliminary steps—the abdominal lock and abdominal pumping.

Before You Eat

Do five minutes of diaphragmatic breathing. This activates the body’s rest-and-digest
response, relaxing the nervous system and enhancing blood flow to the digestive organs.

Make sure that your right nostril is open.

According to the yogis, nostril dominance has subtle effects on our energy and can help or
hinder our digestion. When the left nostril is dominant (open), our energy is more “yin”—cool,
receptive, and passive. When the right nostril is dominant the energy in our body is more
“yang”—hot, aggressive, active, and ideal for digestion.

According to the yogis, nostril dominance has subtle effects on our energy.
Hint: If your nostril dominance changes from right to left mid-meal, stop eating. This is a
subtle signal that your body has had enough. Also, lying on your left side for five minutes
after a meal will stimulate digestion, since it helps to keep the right nostril open.

The Dos & Don’ts of Eating

Ayurvedic physicians believe that it’s not just what you eat, but how you eat that stokes (or
chokes) your digestive fire. Here are six tips for effective eating.

DO

Follow a balanced, vegetarian, whole-foods diet.

Eat your largest meal around noon, when agni is the strongest.
Fast daily for at least 12 hours (e.g., 7 p.m. to 7 a.m.).
DON’T

Dilute your digestive fire by drinking cold beverages at meals.

Overwhelm agni by overeating.
Pollute your system with late-night snacks or junk food.
A Belly Massage
A little tender loving care works wonders on an upset (and previously ignored) stomach.
Here’s the recipe: warm up some organic sesame oil, find a quiet room, dim the lights, lie
down, and slowly rub the oil on your belly in a clockwise motion for up to five minutes. This
will soothe a gaseous stomach, promote digestion, and help you tune into your body and
breath.

Related Topics

BANYAN BOTONICS

"The digestive fire in the intestines (jataragni) is the root of all the digestive fires in the body.
As it causes the increase or decrease of the elemental and tissue digestive fires it should be
treated with great care."

- Ashtanga Hridaya Samhita

Ayurveda considers that health of the digestive system is at the center of optimum health. If
you can absorb and assimilate life's experiences, whether physical or emotional, then you
are healthy. This means that you can manage life's challenges and will not be held back by
past 'meals' or experiences. An undigested meal leaves discomfort as can an undigested
experience. Ayurveda teaches you the way to enhance your digestion and digest all your
experiences!

The ancient Indian Vedic culture revered agni or fire. It gave them light, warmth and cooked
their food. Agnideva is the Fire god who acts as a messenger between the mortal world and
the heavens. In Vedic rituals humans offer oblations to the sacred fire. The fire takes a
portion for itself and then vaporizes the rest for the benefit of the gods. The gods imbibe this
nutritious fragrance and in return give life-giving waters and favorable environmental
conditions from which crops flourish and humans feed themselves. This benevolent cycle
continues as long as both parties are happy.

It is a metaphor of our own digestive system. We eat and 'offer' food into the fire of our
bellies. Agni digests this food and the control centers in the brain are nourished by these
fragrant "vapors". This nourishment releases the nervous impulses, which in turn release
enzymes and hormones. This stimulates systemic metabolic activity so that the whole
body-mind complex functions efficiently.

Agni is seen as the metaphor for all metabolic functions in the body. This includes the
digestive function, sense perception, cellular metabolism and mental assimilation.
Agni: Meaning fire, spark, digestive fire. Both "ignite" & "agni" have the same linguistic root.

Qualities: Hot, Light, Dry, Sharp, Penetrating, Pungent, Luminous, Transforming.

Functions: Absorption, assimilation, metabolism, digestion, perception, taste, touch, hearing,

vitality, clarity, alertness, regular appetite, combustion.

It includes the digestive function, sense perception, cellular metabolism and mental
assimilation, linking mental well being and digestive health.
It gives immunity, a sparkle in the eyes and luster to the skin.
When agni is balanced, it causes emotions that are beneficial to health: courage,
cheerfulness, lucid, intelligence. When agni is out of balance it causes emotions that are
destructive to health: fear, anger, confusion, idiocy.

Effects of Low Digestive Fire

All forms of imbalanced agni create undigested residues (ama) that form toxins.

The dosha accumulate at their site - kapha in the stomach, pitta in the abdomen, vata in the
colon. This starts the cycle of imbalance and must be avoided if you want to stay healthy.

Left untreated the accumulated dosha can become disturbed. This results in the dosha
leaving their site and overflowing, a very dangerous situation.

Kapha can manifest as mucus, coughs, asthma, diabetes and obesity.

Pitta can manifest as skin problems, heart problems and inflammation.
Vata can manifest as bone problems, nervous conditions and degenerative conditions.
Toxins (ama) become present in all chronic conditions such as high cholesterol, blood
disorders, fatigue syndromes, tumors, cysts, skin conditions, allergies and cancers.

The Thirteen Digestive Fires

The central digestive fire (jatharagni): This is located beginning at the mouth ending at the
anus and is present throughout the gastro-intestinal tract. Its main function is to help digest
complex foods to a simple form known as 'ahara rasa', the food essence. This agni exists in
four types; (visham) irregular, (tikshana) intense, (manda) sluggish and (sama) balanced.

Five elemental fires (bhutagni): These metabolic fires digest the elements. They act on the
food essence to release the five elements contained in food: ether, air, fire, water and earth.
The bhutagni exist in the liver.

Seven tissue fires (dhatu agni): These are specific "enzymes" that help to transform the
unstable tissue portion that helps to build the tissues. These are the seven tissues of the
body that give it material structure: skin, blood, muscle, adipose tissue, bones, nerve tissue
and reproductive tissue.
The Four Types of Agni
Ayurveda classifies four different states of agni that point to certain constitutional tendencies.

Visham agni: This is an irregular appetite and digestive system with signs of variable hunger,
bloating, indigestion, intestinal cramps, constipation, dry stool and gas. It is common in vata
types. Use sweet and pungent flavors. Include Asafoetida formula (hingashtaka), Trikatu and
ginger before you eat.
Tikshna agni: Intense hunger but with poor digestion is a pitta sign. Also thirst, parched
mouth, dry throat, loose stool and a burning sensation in intestines. Use mild sour flavors to
dilute excess acid. Include shatavari (Asparagus racemosa), guduchi (Tinosporia cordifolia)
and Amalaki to balance pitta.
Mandagni: Weak hunger is a kapha sign. Also slow digestion, heavyness after a meal,
sluggish bowels, bulky stool, feeling cold, sweet craving, stimulant craving. Use pungent and
bitter flavors. Include trikatu, ginger and cinnamon.
Samagni: Balanced hunger and digestion; food is digested within four hours with no excess
craving or lack of interest. Use triphala to maintain a healthy digestive system.
Use all six flavors and a balanced diet to maintain balanced digestion.

Therapeutic treatment for balancing agni

The best advice is to follow the body. Try to eat only when hungry, gently stoking the
digestive fire with small meals and trying not to smother it with foods that are excessively
cold, heavy or wet. Do not aggravate it with excess spicy, oily or fried foods.

A Few Ayurvedic Dietary Rules:

Leave 4-6 hours between meals with no snacking.
The sign that the previous meal is digested is when the breath is fresh.
Eating in between meals weakens the agni.
Eating foods with cold, wet and heavy qualities weakens the agni.
Drink hot water to stimulate agni.
Treat agni with occasional fasts; use a mono-diet (rice, kicharee), hot lemon water and a
seasonal cleanse to keep digestion healthy.
Agni is increased by pungent, sour and salty flavors. It is beneficial to start a meal with these
flavors.
A low dosage of bitter taste taken before a meal increases the secretion of hydrochloric acid
in the stomach.
Agni stimulating and increasing herbs are ginger, black pepper, cayenne pepper, cinnamon,
long pepper (Piper longum), guduchi (Tinosporia cordifolia), kalmegh (Andrographis
paniculata). Use a small dose (1-2g) before meals to enkindle the digestive fire.
Agni tonic herbs that build enduring digestive strength are pushkaramula (Inula racemosa),
cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum) and musta (Cyperus rotundus).
Yoga exercises to balance agni: stimulating the fire practice (Agnisara kriya), abdominal
massage (nauli), lighting the skull breath (kapalabhati), bellows breath (bhastrika), peacock
(mayurasana), forward bend pose (paschimottanasana), fish pose (matsyendrasana), sun
salutation (surya namaskar).

--

Sebastian Pole Lic OHM, Ayur HC has trained in Ayurvedic and Chinese herbal medicine in
India and the UK and has practiced for 15 years.

Please note: Articles appearing in the Banyan Vine do not necessarily reflect the opinions of
Banyan Botanicals. This information is intended to apprise qualified health practitioners of
possible Ayurvedic approaches. It is not intended as medical advice.

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