The Ayurveda & Yoga Experience

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 Āyurveda, the traditional health system of India, centres around the concept of three doshas—vāta, pitta and kapha—instrumental to how Āyurveda understands the human body, and its health and healing approach. But in the human body the doshas are not readily quantified, seen or touched; they are neither food nor physical tissue. So exactly what are the doshas, and why are they so important?

For Āyurveda, Yoga, and all Indian traditions, the five great elements of Mother Nature—earth, water, fire, air and ether—are the foundation of the physical body, the world we live, and the foods we eat. 

The three doshas are the subtle energies that manage these five great elements within the human body. 

Altogether, the three doshas can be conceived as intelligent biological forces that judiciously manage all combinations and differentiations of the elements to achieve all levels of growth, function and structure. 

In particular, each of the three doshas manages two of the five great elements: 

• Vāta dosha manages air and ether.
• Pitta dosha manages fire and water.
•  Kapha dosha manages water and earth. 

When an egg and a sperm meet, the relative proportions of the five great elements present largely decides which one or more of the three doshas will dominate our constitution. 

From an Ayurvedic perspective, the relative proportion of the five great elements and three managing doshas determines the essential personal nature of each individual. 

The Sanskrit term Prakriti refers to Mother Nature, the essential creative nature of the material universe. At the personal level, prakriti refers to the essential creative nature inherent in ourselves—a nature that follows universal laws, yet is unique based on our karma and mix of the five great elements.

Our prakriti, or essential nature, is the mix of elements and doshas representing our most natural, harmonious state. For this reason, our prakriti is synonymous with our own perfect health balance. 

Once created, our dosha prakriti remains essentially unchanged through life (although may be impressionable while we are in the womb and during early childhood; and is influenced by the larger cycle of life). 

Throughout life, our prakriti influences our physical growth and development, metabolic tendencies and many aspects of lifelong health. As the body includes the mind, our innate constitution also influences how we sense the world, how we think, and traits of temperament and personality. 

All elements and doshas are always present in the body, but some are stronger or more plentiful than others. 

• If the elements of air or ether are strong, vāta dosha dominates, as do its primary qualities of dryness, lightness and coldness. 
• If fire rules, pitta prevails, and its key qualities of slight oiliness, sharpness and heat. 
• If the water and earth elements are dominant, kapha dosha prevails, plus qualities of oiliness, coolness and heaviness. 

Although we are generally born in our unique version of perfect balance, everyday thoughts and actions, strains and stresses, and changing cycles and seasons introduce new elements into the body. If the elements are complementary to our innate constitution, we thrive. If they imbalance our inborn nature, they make us sick. 

Most often it's the elements dominating at birth that most readily become excessive. Especially as imbalance sets in, we are more likely to accumulate more of the elements we already have. 

The Sanskrit term "dosha" therefore, is often translated as “that which is stained,” or “that which has fault.” When all three doshas work together harmoniously they support intelligence, vitality and balance. However, when one or more doshas is aggravated or imbalanced, this flawed functioning corrupts or stains our harmonious nature, and underlies the onset of physical disease. 

Thus, the doshas are foremost in the creation and health of the physical body, and also the foremost cause of physical disease. Attempts to heal the physical body while ignoring its astute doshic guidance system are bound for a degree of failure. By becoming aware of the five great elements and three doshas, and particularly our own dosha mix, we can work with our unique metabolic nature, rather than so often against it. 

As you will see in subsequent articles, those born with a dominance of vāta’s air and ether, for example, are more prone to hyperactivity, dryness, thinness, constipation, and physical and mental mobility. Those dominant in pitta’s fire element tend to be warm-blooded, intolerant of heat, and more prone to diarrhoea and hot tempers. If kapha's cool water and earth predominate, tendencies include a sturdy physique, plumpness, congestive illness, and physical and emotional attachments. 

By observing, experiencing and working with our own unique dosha mix, Āyurveda provides an excellent method to understand our physical and mental tendencies, abilities, affinities, strengths, and weaknesses and support our unique health balance.   

Stay tuned for detailed accounts on each of the three doshas, to help you uncover your unique mix.

For detailed advice on how to discover and get to know your unique constitution, choose foods and activities to support your unique nature, change habits and so much more, check out my book, The Art of Ayurvedic Nutrition.