You all know I love sharing self-discovery tools with you! This is because the more we come to understand all the parts of who we are – the more we are able to truly love ourselves and reach our highest potential as humans.
One of my favorite tools that has helped me to understand my mind and my body is by learning about the three Doshas of Ayurveda! Simply put, Dosha means energy and as energetic beings we are made up of these three energy types.
How much of each energy we hold inside of us, depends greatly on our body type and genetic makeup. Understanding your Dosha will help you honor your mind and body and ultimately support your journey towards reaching your highest potential!
Throughout this blog post I will be referring to the book Eat Feel Fresh: A Contemporary, Plant-Based Ayurvedic Cookbook by Sahara Rose Ketabi which is currently on sale! Click the highlighted link to check it out. This book introduces the Doshas and guides us on how to eat the right foods according to our body type. The ultimate goal regarding our Dosha energy is to understand ourselves and to work towards balancing this energy for optimum health.
The Doshas are made up of the 5 elements: water, earth, air, ether and fire.
Everyone has a percentage of each Dosha type but the highest percentage is your main Dosha. This is the Dosha we are aiming to balance! (Ketabi, 2018). Click here to take a short quiz to discover your Dosha Type and then come back to our blog post.
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lets learn about the 3 Dosha types!
VATA
The Vata energy is like the wind and it tends to be cold, dry and light! The Vata body is generally a small build, with thin bones and generally runs cold. People with a Vata body could struggle most with gas, bloating and sometimes constipation if unbalanced. The best foods for a Vata body are warm, rich in spice and moisture (Ketabi, 2018).
The Vata mind is creative, expansive and inspired! With all of the ideas flowing around, Vata minds can become anxious and overwhelmed if not well grounded and can have a tendency to overthink. Vatas can struggle with organization so it is best for this type of mind to focus on one task at a time! The balanced Vata is social, inspiring and very passionate (Ketabi, 2018). I am very familiar with this energy because I have a Vatta mind! I have found the best thing for me to do is channel my inspirations and thoughts by writing them down or speaking aloud and getting outside to get grounded in the fresh air, sunshine and grass. Take your shoes off and walk around barefoot for a few minutes to be instantly grounded when feeling too much air energy! This will help.
PITTA
The Pitta energy is like fire. The Pitta body generally has a medium build and can build muscle easily! Their digestion is fast and they have normal to medium size skeletal structure. Pittas run hot and are more prone to sensitive, oily skin and inflammation when unbalanced. The Pitta energy causes excess heat that needs to be released, this can cause red flushes in the skin and excess sweat when off balance! Pittas have a strong sense of hunger due to their fast digestion, so they do best when they eat every few hours (Ketabi, 2019). This body type will honestly struggle when they do not eat often enough. The Pitta body does best with cold, refreshing and cooling foods and drinks and should stay away from spice, caffeine and alcohol as much as possible.
I am no stranger to excess acid and hangry moments when I do not need every couple of hours! I am a pitta body type and it really helps me to not drink alcohol, avoid spicy foods and to indulge in cooling nourishment and simple foods as much as I can! The Pitta mind is ambitious, driven, hard working and could be overly competitive. When unbalanced they can be aggressive, angry and really hard on themselves. When in balance the Pitta mind can be great leaders and capable of amazing things (Ketabi, 2019). The Pitta mind could benefit from meditation, physical expression, breathing techniques and anyway to calm and channel the fire of their minds!
KAPHA
Kapha energy is moist and heavy! Kapha builds are generally curvy, bigger boned and have slower digestion then the other types. However, the Kappha body has the most endurance of all the types because it’s steady and sturdy. When the Kapha body is balanced Kaphas can have beautiful, strong figures and strong bones to perform fitness and movement! The Kapha body can be cold and clammy if they are unbalanced as they need to increase their fire inside! Kapha bodies do best when they eat two bigger meals in a day due to their slow digestion. Kapha generally do best with less protein and lighter foods to avoid heaviness. Movement is recommend for the Kapha body so it doesn’t become too heavy energetically (Ketabi, 2019).
The Kapha mind is calm, patient and grounded when in balance but when the Kapha mind is unbalanced Kapha’s can suppress their emotions, retreat to solitude and have self-indulgent behaviors especially with food! It’s important for the Kapha mind to reflect on their emotions and express them. The Kapha mind has to practice putting themselves first! A balanced Kapha mind will attract others to appreciate and love their enjoyable nature and they will create beautifully detailed work and accomplishments in life (Ketabi, 2019)!
So what’s your main Dosha and how will you work to start balancing them? Leave me a comment and let’s chat! Also don’t forget to share this post with someone who could benefit from it!
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As always, I’m sending you love for your self-healing journey 🙂
Adriona Gaia
Adriona I love these blogs on healing, healthy, loving yourself, in these times we live in ,it is so valuable for us as humans and with all the stay home we all have been doing its a great time for self ……..thank you for reaching out, sharing and caring about everyones well being…….your awesome 👌👏😎👍