Ayurveda - Vata: Aspects of Clarity and Awareness

  Arg-nit is the archetypal remedy for fear of heights and for the fear of being closed in.  These symptoms are actually addressed by the Nitrogen element. Nitrogen's contribution to the action of the remedy can be seen from the rubrics of gaseous Nitrogenium.

 FEAR - causeless
 FEAR - crowd, in a
 FEAR - elevators; of
 FEAR - flying; of
 FEAR - narrow place, in
 FEAR - strangers, of
 FEAR - tunnels; of
 FEAR - walking - of walking

The fears found in the gaseous elments, Oxygenium and Nitrogenium, are highly characteristic of a derangement of the air element - called Vata, in Ayurvedic Medicine.

The characteristics of Vata these gases show are light, dry subtle, mobile and clear.  The light quality gives alertness to our awarness. Too much of the light quality causes ungroundedness and spaciness.

Oliness creates cohesion.  Without oiliness Vata dosha becomes too dry, which creates a feeling of isolation and separation.  This feeling is enhanced by the  subtle and clear qualities of the Vata mind.  The mobile quality manifests as restlessness.

There are 67 remedies in the rubric FEAR - narrow place, in.  The most significant being:
ACON, ARG-N, STRAM followed by Aur-m-n, Bamb-a, Calc, Ign, Lac-d, Lyc, Puls and Tritic-vg.

Can you see how these five aspects of the air element contribute to the overall symptomology of each one?

The morning after

Symptoms, by definition portray negative states. These frequently emerge under the influence of alcohol!  When the alcohol starts to flow we can play a romantic tune and begin to feel sorry for ourselves, usually reminiscing about the good old days when we we younger.  This is the state described by the Antimony rubric "reminiscing by moonlight" (if so, it is an excellent remedy for the morning after).


In that particular moment that is our focus and that is what needs to be cured.  The mood lifts when the remedy is given. Was it just the drink that brought this on though?  If so, everyone would have a similar experience, it is fairly common but not always so.  Ignis Alcohol has the rather similar symptom "outpourings of friendliness", so there is definitely a tendency for alcohol to produce a gentler mood.

If we find ourselves relying on alcohol quite frequently another aspect emerges.  It may be that we need it to improve our social life,  if this is the case we are no longer proving alcohol just for fun - there seems to be a deeper problem, a layer of loneliness, that is temporarily ameliorated by a few drinks and a bit of "pub cheer".  Antimony at a higher potency could be indicated, its a Stage 15 remedy and that is the stage where we start to disconnect.

Other remedies for hangover include Ran-b, Cocculus, Coffea and Nux-v.  If the alcohol induced mood is dull, morose and confused with a turmoil of recriminations, Cocculus may help. Nux vomica has even darker aspects than Antimony.  It's well known for its ambition, and that leads to impatience and fault-finding, and an intolerance of contradiction under which lurks a deeper layer of despondency.  These are perhaps the guys who will give you a black eye for accidentally spilling their drink!