Is Your Dosha Out of Balance?
Mascari, Brooke. May 31st, 2024.
Ayurveda aims to help you achieve balance, vitality, and an overall sense of well-being through an array of simple tools.
We all have qualities of all three doshas: Vata, Pitta, and Kapha. But most of us have higher proportions of one or two of the doshas.
Each of the mind-body principles—Vata, Pitta, and Kapha—has a balanced expression and an out-of-balance expression. When these principles are circulating in the mind-body physiology in appropriate proportions, we feel healthy and happy, and all our bodily functions work in harmony with one another. Healthy lifestyle habits and choices can be the outcome of this harmony and feeling good state and increase momentum to help us continue in this state! Unhealthy lifestyle choices can imbalance the doshas and sometimes create momentum to keep us out of balance. When we follow an improper diet and make unhealthy lifestyle choices, these principles may become disturbed and cause distress in the mind or body.
Let’s talk about what these imbalances can look like so we can make the proper decisions to correct imbalances.
VATA Dosha
Imbalances in Vata often lead to dryness of the skin, hair, fingernails, and large intestine. Symptoms of Vata imbalance include irregular appetite, delicate digestion, constipation, gas, and bloating. Since the Vata principle governs movement in the body, a Vata imbalance can lead to feelings of restlessness and insomnia. People with a Vata imbalance may feel anxious, isolated, or fearful. Symptoms caused by an imbalance of Vata often come and go (a reflection of its irregularity) and may be precipitated by times of change or instability.
PITTA Dosha
Imbalances in Pitta create an excess of heat and acidity in the body. This may lead to symptoms such as skin rashes and irritations, burning pain in the digestive tract, indigestion, and heartburn. Emotions may become inflamed when Pitta is out of balance, and people with a Pitta imbalance may become angry, intolerant, and hypercritical. Pitta imbalances are more likely to develop when we feel pressured or have too much on our plate.
KAPHA Dosha
Imbalances in Kapha can lead to weight gain, retention of fluids, diabetes, allergies, and sinus congestion, which all reflect an excess of the earth principle. Someone with a Kapha imbalance is likely to feel sluggish, congested, and lazy. Kapha imbalances may also manifest as depression, stubbornness, and an inability to let go. Imbalances of the Kapha principle are often chronic. People with a Kapha imbalance may be slow to react and unmotivated to change.
As we become familiar with the characteristics of the three principles and how they interact within our mind-body constitution, we can recognize and correct existing imbalances in our physiology. When we start to know what “being in balance” means for us, it becomes easy to know when we start to become out of balance.
We use the senses of sight, sound, and smell to balance the mind. And we use the sense of taste and touch to balance the body. Meditation is also a powerful tool for balancing the mind, no matter which dosha is out of balance! In our next article, we will discuss some practical steps to balance each dosha type.
In Ayurveda, we bring the opposite property into our lives to balance what is out of balance. For example, I am predominantly Pitta dosha and when I am out of balance in my life, it is usually because of too much Pitta element. To balance Pitta (fire), I do something cooling and soothing. Perhaps use some cooling essential oils like lavender, or turn on an indoor water fountain so I can hear the cooling calming sound of water. Or I can also eat something light and cool, like a salad. I also like to go swimming or perform some light movements. I know that I will continue to feel worse and further out of balance if I do something that will stoke the flames. Like eating something heavy, spicy, or too hot. Or performing exercise that is too intense or in the hotter parts of the day. Doing something like this will only proliferate the feelings of a Pitta imbalance and make me feel irritable, frustrated, and cranky. Even making a small change if I am feeling out of balance can make a huge difference.
What will change your life and your experiences is putting what you learn into practice.
Begin thinking about yourself as a multidimensional being—as a dynamic field of energy and information. Pay attention to Vata, Pitta, and Kapha as the patterns that express your qualities in the world.
We each contain a unique mixture of all three doshas—our own individual blend of space, air, fire, water, and earth. There is no “good” or “bad” dosha type—only balanced and imbalanced doshas. Each dosha has many gifts and powerful qualities. And when we’re in balance, we’re able to experience the full expression of these gifts.
Love and blessings on your journey to health and wholeness!
