Your ayurvedic body type determines what energy you are made of. Discover your dosha, tips & lifestyle habits you should build in this guide
Hey there, star child! As you set forward on your spiritual journey, there’s a very important thing we need to tackle. You can’t pour from an empty cup, and so, it becomes vital that we develop our body to accept spiritual energy from the cosmos. Forget the conventional things people may say, you know your body the best. All you need to do is listen.
For me, my journey started with understanding my ayurvedic body type. As I evolved into a better relationship with my body, I was able to feed it well and use its energies to fuel my life. This body, this vessel for your soul, is invaluable.
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Let’s learn to cherish it, together.
What Are Ayurvedic Body Types or Tridoshas?
To understand your ayurvedic body type, we need to figure out your doshas. The word “dosha” means “energy” in Sanskrit. There are three energy types based on the five elements.
Vata is a combination of air and space.
Pitta is a combination of fire and water.
Kapha is a combination of earth and water.
To keep it simple, just think:
Vata = air
Pitta = fire
Kapha = earth
Our personality, our constitution, and our mind are all a unique combination of these energies— it offers us the strengths, interests, and talents we need to fulfill our dharmas.
The cosmos decides our fates. It’s what makes the painter more creative, the entrepreneur more ambitious, the life coach more compassionate so that they may fulfill their dharmas. We need those doshas because they guide us to the ways we were meant to live. If you’d like to hear me talk about this in detail, click here!
Your doshas can shift and fall out of balance throughout your life, depending on your lifestyle, diet, stress levels, etc., and that, my dear, is why we need to know our ayurvedic body type, to take care of it better!
Benefits of Knowing Your Ayurvedic Body Type
Knowing your ayurvedic body type can be very useful! The things you eat, your exercise regimen, and your life can be shifted to a way of living that’s more natural for your body. It’s like learning to swim with the current for the first time; you’ll be saving so much energy and taking better care of yourself.
Here are a few that I’ve noticed.
1. Emotional regulation
I became faster to notice when my emotions were getting out of hand and learned to take care of my responses as well. This led to me understanding my triggers better!
2. Understanding myself
Each dosha type is naturally drawn towards certain kinds of artistic pursuits and passions! Knowing my doshas helped me understand my dharma better. It helped me connect with myself once more, and nurture myself.
3. Better physical health
Knowing your dosha type can help you figure out what foods work for you and what don’t, as well as the kind of exercises that suit you best. This helps you work around any inherent weaknesses and evolve into a better version of yourself!
4. Falling in love with your body
The moment I embraced my dosha type, I understood why my body looked the way it did. I didn’t need to pick at it and hate it. It is beautiful, and it is serving my purpose. I’ve never loved my body more! It helped me connect back to how I was put on this earth to succeed in helping others find their way!
The Three Ayurvedic Body Types: Vata, Pitta, and Kapha
In Ayurveda, there are three principal forces of nature. They are invisible forces that have a deep impact on our body, our mind, and our soul. They are what we call the “doshas”.
Everyone is born with a unique combination of these three doshas, which make up their mind/body type. When the doshas in your system are balanced, you are truly balanced in spirit as well. Maintaining this balance is vital to our spiritual paths, that’s partly why a lot of spiritual coaches tell us to start taking care of the smaller things like our diets to have a healthier body, and in turn, a healthier mind and soul. Simple changes to our diet, our exercise, and our lifestyle can make such a huge difference.
Let’s take a deeper dive into how the Tridoshas manifest in people’s bodies!
1. Vata
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People with a Vata dosha type are usually thin and find it difficult to gain weight. Because of this, Vatas often find themselves with little to no energy and can tire easily. They are the thinkers, the free spirits!
They are more open in expressing themselves, and are active and also profoundly creative. The vata dosha controls all movement in the body, including breathing, digestion, blood flow, etc. When it is out of balance, anxiety and other nervous disorders may be present. Digestive problems, constipation, cramps, etc., can be a vata imbalance exhibiting itself physically.
The Vata dosha is vital because it tends to influence the other doshas. If we balance our Vata dosha, it balances the other two as well. Read more on the health resolutions for Vata dosha here.
2. Pitta
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Those with the pitta dosha are generally more big-boned and curvaceous. They are focused, driven, and passionate. Pitta individuals are all about action. They move through life with steadfast determination, never faltering. However, they sometimes tend to be quite hot-tempered as well. The pitta dosha is in charge of how we absorb food, water, and air. It is the dosha whose energy pushes people to new heights! Read more on the health resolutions for Pitta dosha here.
3. Kapha
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Those with a dominant kapha dosha tend to be physically strong and big, even in stature. They have a great deal of strength and stamina. They are also very resistant to diseases. These are the folks who drift through life at their own pace, dancing to their tunes. When they are balanced, you can rely on kapha doshas to bring in peace during stressful situations. When the kapha dosha is impacted, it tends to make them too stubborn and rigid in their approach to life. They love taking their time with anything, from learning to their other passions. They are very methodical in their approach.
The kapha dosha controls the moist tissues in the body, leaving kapha dominant types prone to cold, or allergies. an imbalance may show up as a cold, allergies, or asthma. In terms of mental health, they tend to dwell in the past and resist any kind of change. Read more on the health resolutions for Kapha dosha here.
Now you must be wondering, how do I know what type I belong to? Where do I learn more about my ayurvedic body type?
Well, I have the perfect solution!
Find Your Body Type Using Our Dosha Quiz
The only way to know your true Ayurvedic constitution is to visit an Ayurvedic Practitioner who has undergone training to analyze your doshas. You can schedule a consultation with me here or visit another reputable Ayurvedic Practitioner. Quizzes are highly simplified and there is only so much we can find out from them. So, the results you get from these will only be partially answering your questions. It’s like referring to Web MD vs visiting a doctor. Web MD may give you an idea but only a doctor’s visit will give you personalized attention.
Take my free dosha quiz here
Don’t be afraid to explore and learn more about your doshas, from the kind of diets that work best for your ayurvedic body type!
Balance and Imbalance in Doshas
One of the most confusing things about doshas is figuring out whether you have an imbalance. But what does an imbalanced dosha look like?
Your dosha is called your Prakriti — meaning your true nature.
Vikriti means “your current state of imbalance.”
When your dosha goes into vikriti, your life may feel all over the place. You feel weak physically and mentally. The way you approach life changes — you may become more impulsive or brash, depending on your dosha. There’s also a very huge chance of persistent infection or disease that has been affecting you for long periods, anywhere between months to years!
The sooner you feel like you might be affected by your doshas, the more urgent the need for care! A great place to implement a change to balance your doshas is through your food. Check out my recipe book here for simple, great recipes to start with!
Can You Have Dual Doshas?
Yes, you can! Sometimes, one dosha is stronger than others.
When you are a dual dosha type, it means that these doshas alternate and overlap in your body. They influence you in different ways at different times. You may have qualities of each of the two doshas. Each combination of doshas has different kinds of energy, so it helps to have a breakdown of it like we do in our ayurvedic mind/body type quiz!
Different ailments stem from different dosha imbalances. If you are a dual dosha type, make sure you customize your life to suit the dosha you relate to the most, at the moment! This maintains the synchronization between your mind and body.
Ayurveda is an old medicinal treatment system that has forever focused on building a better connection between the mind and the soul. By working on your doshas, you’re giving yourself the most precious thing of all — love. The path ahead will not be easy, but that is why I’m here to guide you, every step of the way. All you need to do is reach out and ask.
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Everything you’ve been chasing is right within you, and as you explore your doshas, you’ll discover that you were truly destined for greatness. Everything that has happened to you, and that will happen to you, are all part of the divine plan. Trust the universe, she takes care of her own. The strength, the discipline, the resilience? It’s all within you. It always has been, sun being! All you need to do is trust your instincts and follow them.
I’m so proud of you and the steps you’re taking to become a better version of you. Be kind to yourself and manifest everything you desire. I wish you the best in the coming year!
Much love,