Understanding Your Dosha
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The Doshas and Your Ayurvedic Body Type
There are three doshas (bodily humors) according to Ayurveda: Vata, Pitta, and Kapha. The doshas, or some combination of them, can be identified in various seasons, climates, landscapes, activities, plants, and animals. Each of them embodies a combination of elements and qualities to create a functional entity—an energetic force of nature.
All three doshas are present in everyone, but the ratio between them varies a great deal from one person to the next. This difference determines the mosaic of uniqueness we witness in human beings.
Each of us has a combination of these three doshas in our bodies at any given time. There is a combination of doshas we are born with, called our constitution, Ayurvedic body type, or Prakruti in Sanskrit. We also have a state of Vikruti, which measures whether the doshas are in balance in the body at any given time. If the doshas accumulate beyond healthy limits (those determined by one’s constitution), they can wreak havoc on our health.
The Difference Between Constitutions and Imbalances
Knowing both your Ayurvedic constitution and your current state of balance is incredibly helpful. This knowledge will allow you to adjust the most basic components of your day—like how you exercise or when you eat—to better support your overall well-being. However, there are key differences between the doshas that comprise your constitutional makeup and the doshas that can be imbalanced within you.
Understanding Constitutions
As mentioned before, your constitution, Prakruti or Ayurvedic body type, is established within you at conception and remains constant throughout your lifetime. It represents your natural state of equilibrium and your blueprint for perfect health.
Ayurveda recognizes seven basic constitutional types:
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Vata-Type: A greater amount of vata, lesser amounts of pitta and kapha.
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Pitta-Type: A greater amount of pitta, lesser amounts of vata and kapha.
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Kapha-Type: A greater amount of kapha, lesser amounts of vata and pitta.
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Vata-Pitta-Type (or Pitta-Vata): Greater amounts of both vata and pitta, a lesser amount of kapha.
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Pitta-Kapha (or Kapha-Pitta): Greater amounts of both pitta and kapha, a lesser amount of vata.
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Kapha-Vata (or Vata-Kapha): Greater amounts of both vata and kapha, a lesser amount of pitta.
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Tridoshic (or Vata-Pitta-Kapha-Type): Equal amounts of all three doshas within the body.
Your constitution influences your physiology, your likes and dislikes, your tendencies and habits, your mental and emotional character, and your vulnerabilities toward imbalance and disease. Therefore, learning how to manage your constitution can be truly enlightening.
Understanding Imbalances
Discovering your current state of balance will show you the present level of the doshas in your system. In contrast to one’s constitution, the current state of balance can and does change over time as we move through different climates, different seasons, and the various stages of life.
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A vata imbalance occurs when vata is in excess. This can cause fear, anxiety, physical and emotional constriction, ungroundedness, poor circulation, constipation, dry skin, cracking joints, emaciation, insomnia, twitches, tremors, and other abnormal movements.
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A pitta imbalance occurs when pitta is in excess. This can cause anger, jealousy, inflammation, excessive heat, heartburn, loose stools, migraines, rashes, bruising, bleeding disorders, sharp hunger, an overactive metabolism, and difficulty sleeping.
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A kapha imbalance occurs when kapha is in excess. This can cause attachment, greed, resistance to change, lack of motivation, heaviness in the mind and body, excessive sleep, depression, a sluggish metabolism, congestion, water retention, hardening of the arteries, and the formation of masses and tumors.
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It is also possible for more than one dosha to be out of balance at a given time, or for all three doshas to be imbalanced.
As mentioned earlier, Ayurveda teaches that like increases like and that opposites balance. For example, let’s say your pitta is aggravated. You’ve had a short temper lately, are overly judgmental, and have some acidity in your digestive tract. Which qualities should you be interacting with to find balance?
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Qualities that are hot, sharp, light, liquid, spreading, and oily.
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Qualities that are cool, slow, heavy, dense, stable, and dry.
If you said “B,” you’re learning quickly! When we know which particular qualities are aggravated, we can be even more precise in our treatment strategies, finding specific practices to incorporate the necessary opposite qualities into our lives to find balance.