or silk clothing. It is cool,light and allows the skin to breathe. The best colors are white, gray, blue, purple and green. Avoid red, orange, yellow and black which absorb and retain heat and aggravates pitta. Room temperature and cool drinks are best. Ice and iced drinks inhibit digestions and creates ama in the body. Do not drink them. Do mild yoga exercises. Pitta people should avoid inverted postures. Perform shitali or sheetkari pranayamas. Sex should be minimized in summer as it provokes pitta.

Winter
In winter the weather is cold, damp and heavy. It is a kapha season. Kapha individuals should adopt a kapha pacifying diet. However certain vata provoking qualities such as dry, cold, windy, clear are sometimes prominent on winter days, so vata individuals should know this. Apply warm sesame oil to the body and take a hot shower. Sesame oil is warming and is beneficial to all constitutional types. You can do vigorous yoga asanas. Sun salutation at least 12 times. Good postures are fish, locusts, cobra, bow, lion, camel, shoulderstand and the headstand. These postures help to open the chest, stretch the throat, drain the sinuses and relieve congestion in the chest. Do a few rounds of bhastrika pranayama and surya bheda pranayama. Wear bright warming colors such as red and orange. Always wear a hat outdoors. More than 60% of the body heat is lost through the head. Cover your neck and ears. Ayurveda recommends a herbal wine called draksha to improve digestion and circulation. Take 4 teaspoons of draksha with a equal amount of water before or after dinner. A good herbal tonic is chyavanprash. At the end of the day rub a small amount of sesame oil on the scalp and on the soles of the feet.
At the junction between autumn and winter individuals who tend to get kapha problems like cold, cough, flu, sinus congestion should resort to panchakarma treatment.