What are the three Doshas? An overview of their characteristics, common health ailments and a short guide to tailoring diet, lifestyle and yoga practices to balance your dominant dosha.
What is “Dosha” and how is it useful?
Let’s start at the beginning 🙂
Based on Ayurvedic principles, “dosha” is one of the ways to interpret your unique constitution.
We all have a combination of these three doshas in our constitution, in relative proportions. One of these is usually most dominant.
Learning about your dominant dosha can help you understand the ailments you’re more prone to, diets that your body loves or hates, and the yoga asanas that could balance or reduce your dominant dosha so that you feel better. Depending on your health goal, it helps in choosing diets and exercises that will help you effectively lose weight, explain why you may experience bloating more easily, and how to avoid the situations that may aggravate your tendency to feel frustrated or stressed.
Even your personality traits are tied to it 🙂
Here are the three types of doshas, let’s dive a bit deeper.
- Vata Dosha
- Pitta Dosha
- Kapha Dosha
Vata Dosha:
Typical characteristics: Just like the qualities of air and space, Vata-dominant people have an “airy personality”, they may be those with lots of ideas, their head in the air, and like to move around a lot, have an agile mind. They can be extremely creative, however they may also be prone to mental confusion, anxiety and a lack of security and “groundedness.
Sleep: They may be prone to waking up around 2am or 3am at night, as during this time, the vata dosha is higher.
Common health concerns and emotional issues: Constipation, digestive issues associated with gases, poor blood circulation, anxiety, fear, mental confusion
What to avoid: Prone to becoming cold and dryness (qualities of air) avoid getting into situations where you become excessively cold or are exposed to noisy, busy environments with excess movement.
What feels good: To get back to a grounded and more balanced state, introduce the opposite qualities of warmth or calmness and quietness
Suitable Yoga practices:
- Pranayama or breathing exercises, is suitable to calm the mind and reduce anxiety, restlessness, and mental confusion
- Balancing postures such as tree pose helps to refocus the mind and increases concentration
- Stretching postures are also suitable for tension relief and release anxiety
- Meditation and yoga nidra to empty the mind and counter excessive thoughts
- Yin and restorative yoga helps to restore calmness and sense of being grounded
- Avoid “fast-moving” styles like vinyasa, which will further aggravate vata dosha
Diet:
- Vegetables and fruits which are packed with polyphenols are suitable for improving cognitive functioning
- Aloe vera for cell regeneration
Ayurvedic Therapies:
- Oil massage, especially with rice bran which is rich in Vitamin E, helps to increase the blood circulation
- Cleanse skin frequently as Vata dosha is prone to accumulation of dead skin cells, which causes breakouts.
Pitta Dosha:
Typical characteristics:
Just like qualities of fire, Pitta dosha dominant folks generally are very passionate, fiery, “hot headed”. They also generally have a strong “digestive fire” and immune system.
What feels good: A cool place and climate
Common health concerns and emotional issues: Rashes, ulcers, acid stomachs and heart problems
Suitable Yoga practices:
- Yin yoga
- Yoga Nidra and meditation
- Cooling poses (eg fish pose, cobra pose)
- Avoid back bends, power yoga, inversions, ashtanga vinyasa, core yoga — which further increases the fire in the body
Diet:
- Drink water
- Fresh, whole foods (both cooked and raw) that are cooling, hearty,
- energizing, comparatively dry, and high in carbohydrates.
- These foods decrease internal heat, prevent inflammation, balancing the digestive fire, grounding the body, and by absorbing excess liquid and oil.
Ayurvedic Therapies:
- Cooling therapies such as Mud Bath, or pouring coconut oil over the head to cool the body.
- However in the winter time, these should be modified in order not to catch a cold!!
Typical characteristics:
Just like the qualities of Earth, Kapha dosha in their constitution is moist, heavy and generally slower, calmer and more grounded. They are caring, loving, forgiving individuals with a placid, easy—going nature. They have
strong, solid bodies but may be more prone to weight gain, lethargy and heaviness.
What to avoid: Lack of activity and control over food intake
How to counter: Physical exercise and more attention to diet
Common health concerns and emotional issues: obesity, asthma, frequent
phlegm accumulation, increase in synovial fluid (a variant of arthritis), dull stomach and lethargy. Water retention
Suitable Yoga practices:
- Avoid yin or restorative yoga
- Suitable Styles: Ashtanga vinyasa
- Energizing breathing: Kapalbati, Nadi Shodana (start from right nostril as this is heating)
- Asanas: Front bend, arm balances, sun salutations, backbends
Diet:
- Eat light 🙂 Reduce tendency to snack
- Fruits and vegetables are your friend 🙂 An abundance of fresh fruits and vegetables, a variety of legumes
- Alcohol: little to no alcohol (oh no)
- That said, finding a diet that is appropriately satisfying is crucial
- to your success; so it’s extremely important that you enjoy the foods that you do eat!
Ayurvedic Therapies:
- Deep tissue massage and Lympathic massage to reduce water retention
- Steam bath
- Aromatherapy
- Powder massage
That’s it for a quick introduction to the Doshas, how to avoid situations that make you feel worse, and how to live in greater balance with your unique constitution 🙂
PS: If you’re wondering what is my Dosha, I’m a Vata dosha dominant individual. My constitution is Vata-Pitta (those are my most dominant doshas) with a small percentage of Kapha.
Try this test by Banyan Botanicals if you’re curious:
https://www.banyanbotanicals.com/info/dosha-quiz/
Upcoming articles:
I hope you found this useful; I will be publishing more articles that discuss the diet suitable for each dosha, as well as how Doshas are connected to energy channels, nadis, and also about Chakras.
About me:
Helen is a Yoga Therapist and Ayurvedic Therapist based in Hong Kong and at the time of publication of this article, she is completing her advanced Yoga Therapy and Ayurveda Training at Anahata Yoga in Hong Kong.
Ways to get in touch:
- Follow her on Social Media!
- Instagram: @yoga.with.helen.e
Youtube: https://youtube.com/@yoga.with.helen.e?si=DyGSeEQThZA9r9r-
- Send her an email: [email protected]
- Subscribe to her posts! 😀 If you enjoyed this article, consider subscribing to my posts with the link here!
Final note…
Did you know? If you want to read more stories and want to try earning an income from your stories, there is a Medium Partner Program which costs $5/month or $50/year. Consider joining the club and meet other hardworking writers today, it will be fun, rewarding and who knows how much you can earn 🙂
—
This post was previously published on medium.com.
***
From The Good Men Project on Medium
 |
 |
 |
 |
***
Join The Good Men Project as a Premium Member today.
All Premium Members get to view The Good Men Project with NO ADS.
A $50 annual membership gives you an all access pass. You can be a part of every call, group, class and community.
A $25 annual membership gives you access to one class, one Social Interest group and our online communities.
A $12 annual membership gives you access to our Friday calls with the publisher, our online community.
Register New Account
Need more info? A complete list of benefits is here.
—–
Photo credit: Oswald Elsaboath on Unsplash
