Ah we meet again, along the path of Ayurveda once more, and now we’re going to dig deeper into another topic within this ancient system. If you’re not familiar with Ayurveda it is the traditional medicine system of India. It is over 3000 years old and is still practiced to this day and has made its way to the West. You can even get a degree in Ayurvedic Medicine if you choose to head down that path. So, we will dive into the elemental constitutions known as Doshas. Let’s begin. The Doshas are the elemental makeup of a person mentally, emotionally, and physically. So first we’ll talk about the lightest element that someone could be, which is Vata (air). Vata has gunas (qualities) such as cold, light, dry, irregular, and rough. People who are Vata dosha tend to have cold extremities quite easily, are super dry-skinned in the winter, are prone to insomnia, and tend to have a lot of joint problems like arthritis. The seasons they have to be most careful are in Late Fall and Winter when the Vata can get aggravated by the times of year that have the most air quality in it. They need to have a lot of warming, sweet, and Kapha (earth) food during these times to keep balanced. Next is Pitta (fire), which has the gunas of hot, oily, light, liquid, and mobile. These types of people are very energized day to day and are prone to things like anger. They can be competitive, driven, and on the go all the time. They can tire themselves out or ‘burn’ themselves out rather easily if imbalanced. They’re sensitive to heat and humidity, which can lead to that oily quality in their skin. Summer is the season in which they need to be more aware of their constitution and eat more cooling foods like melons for example. Our final elemental constitution is Kapha (earth), which is the densest element in Ayurveda. Their gunas are cool, wet, oily, thick, heavy, and static. They are the most prone to depression, heavy sleepers, and can oversleep in some cases. They’re often ‘down to earth’ in personality and very loving overall. They also don’t tolerate the cold very well, much like Vata doshas. The times of year they need to be most aware of possible imbalance is Winter and Early Spring. With all that being said some people can be tri-doshic, which is rare, and some can have two prominent doshas. One example of such doshas could be Vata-Pitta or Pitta-Vata depending on which dosha is most dominant that will be seen first. So, keep that in mind if you go to a friend and they are two doshas or maybe you are. I encourage you to continue to learn and engage with Ayurveda as it is vast and filled with wonderful knowledge. So get out there and do some learning.
