What is a Dosha?
Ayurveda is known as the ‘science of life’ and not only is it a complete system of medicine but it teaches us how to stay in balance with a personalised and preventative approach to wellness.
A couple of decades ago you may have raised an eyebrow if someone mentioned yoga, but now you’d be hard pushed to find someone who didn’t know what it was.
The Doshas; ‘vata’, ‘pitta’ and ‘kapha’ are fast becoming the latest wellness buzzwords and like yoga, the doshas are going to be sticking around for the long haul (they’ve already been around for 5000 years!). Ayurveda is known as the ‘science of life’ and not only is it a complete system of medicine but it teaches us how to stay in balance with a personalised and preventative approach to wellness.
Tea India have teamed up with Ayurvedic Practitioner and author of Ayurveda – Ancient Wisdom for Modern Wellbeing, Geeta Vara to bring you regular blog posts inspired by Ayurveda, the sister science of yoga. And at Tea India, we believe that you will enjoy reading these blogs so much more when you get to know your ‘dominant dosha type’.
What’s a Dosha anyway?
According to Ayurveda, the doshas effect all aspects of life and play a central role to health and healing. The doshas are the driving forces in your body that determine your constitution / Prakruti (in Sanskrit), also referred to as your mind/body – or dosha – type.
You are born with a unique balance of the three doshas that make up your constitution (just like your fingerprints), and this is what sculpts your physical characteristics, habits, personality, likes and dislikes and your susceptibility to health issues.
The doshas are comprised of five elements, ether, air, fire, water and earth.
Vata
Vata formed of ether and air is the force behind all movement and creativity of the body/mind.
Pitta
Pitta formed of fire and water is the force behind all metabolic and chemical transformation in the body/mind.
Kapha
Kapha formed of water and earth, is the force behind the structure, stability and lubrication of your body/mind. Without any one of the dosha’s, life would not exist.
Not only do dosha’s form your constitution, they regulate every function and process that takes place in your mind, body and soul.
As you get to know your constitution, you will identify with various characteristics of the three dosha. Although we are all completely unique, you will typically identify with the characteristics of one or two of the doshas more strongly.
Why it helps to know your dosha type?
Learning whether your dominant dosha is vata, pitta or kapha can help you create and tailor a diet and lifestyle that is personalised to you. With Ayurveda, diet and lifestyle habits are just as medicinal as medicines themselves. It puts you in the driving seat of your wellness and helps you to become the healthiest version of yourself.
Feeling balanced
Vata
When a vata type is in balance you are likely to be flexible, creative and full of enthusiasm, but with a diet and lifestyle that doesn’t foster balance, a vata dominant person might become fatigued, restless and anxious.
Pitta
When pitta types are in balance they are focussed, assertive and lead well, but out of balance they can become impatient and hot-headed.
Kapha
Kapha types in balance are calm and compassionate but out of balance they can become insecure and procrastinate.
Dosha Qualities
Each dosha has distinct qualities for example, vata is light, dry, cold, rough, subtle and mobile; pitta is hot, light, penetrating, liquid, spreading, odourous and oily; kapha is heavy, cold, soft, slow, smooth, stable and dense. Understanding how these qualities affect your mind / body type will enable you to align your activities, habits and foods to foster balance, and stay strong, vibrant and energetic.
Take our Dosha Test now to identify your dominant dosha and learn how to create balance. It takes just a few minutes.