Ayurveda ‘short’

Vata dosha

Welcome to this weeks 2-minute read. I’m continuing to talk about the doshas. You can find the first Ayurveda ‘short’ on the doshas here and the second here.

Doshas

In the last two Ayurveda ‘shorts’ I have been looking at the doshas of vata, pitta, and kapha, how they are three aspects of natural intelligence that govern our body, allowing for all biological processes to take place – every physical, mental and emotional process within the body is controlled by these energies.

Each of us has a unique ratio of them which forms our constitution, determining how we look, our emotional and psychological tendencies, and our behaviour. The doshas show how the 5 elements determine who we are – our body frame, our temperament, our stress response, our health and wellbeing needs.

When you understand your balance of the doshas and can recognise when any are shifting out of balance, you can choose to live in balance with your nature, and correct any imbalances as you notice them. To begin with, the symptoms will be mild – stages 1/2 of the 6-stage disease model, and relatively easy to correct.

If we want to be well and happy we need to live in balance with our nature.

Balance

Balance and harmony are central to the Ayurvedic view of health and disease. When the balance of the doshas that you were born with – your constitution/nature – moves out of balance you are creating the ground for disease. Imbalanced diet, wrong health and life choices and seasonal changes, all have a big influence on your doshic balance.

Understanding the doshic balance of your constitution, recognising when any of the doshas are moving out of balance and knowing the remedies to apply, gives you an important foundation for creating an Ayurvedic preventative healthcare plan.

Vata

When vata dosha is in balance within a vata type who is in balance, you’ll find an energetic personality, flexibility, creativity, they’ll be a lively communicator, take the initiative easily, love excitement and new experiences, they will be quick to anger and quick to forgive.

When vata dosha is out of balance in any of us we start to feel nervous, fearful, anxious, develop twitches, tremors, tics and spasms, there can be body stiffness and muscle pain that comes and goes, dry or chapped skin, low body weight, gas, bloating, constipation, light or interrupted sleep, tingling in hands or feet, sensitivity to loud noises, we will struggle with cold and wind, become dehydrated, our mind starts to race, there can be excessive talking, life begins to feel out of control, we can feel overwhelmed, and start to skip meals. Diseases usually involve pain or debility, dryness, cold, wasting of tissues and anything to do with the nervous system. A reactive tendency when stressed is ‘what did I do wrong?’.

Next week we’ll take a look at pitta dosha, the following week kapha dosha, and then I will talk through some ways that you can bring the doshas back into balance.

If you enjoy these Ayurveda ‘shorts’ a like will let me know to carry on!