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 Ayurveda, the 5,000-year-old healing system founded in ancient India, is derived from the Sanskrit words ayus meaning life, and veda meaning wisdom. Ayurveda, the wisdom of life, offers a proven guide for a life of happiness, vitality, love and purpose. From the Ayurvedic perspective, human beings are not viewed as mere thinking physical machines, but rather as fields of intelligence in dynamic exchange with the energy and information of the environment. Health is a state of vibrant balance in which all the layers of one’s life are integrated.
Ayurveda teaches that health is maintained by the balancing of three subtle energies known as Doshas - individually they are Vatha, Pitta and Kapha.
This system teaches maintenance and protection of the whole person (mind, body and soul). Ayurvedic medicine is based on an individual's characteristics and body frame rather than oriented toward treating disease or sickness.
The Concept of Self
The Self, as this inner dimension of our nature is called in Ayurveda, is the central point of our being, the hub of the wheel. It is the true inner center of our diversified lives. Thought, feelings, speech, action, and relationships all originate here, deep within the personality. The whole person-and the whole field of interpersonal behavior-can be spontaneously enhanced by the process of self-referral, or looking within to experience the Self. This is analogous to the natural process by which all the branches, leaves, flowers, and fruit of a tree can be simultaneously nourished and enlivened by watering the root.
The Self can be directly experienced. Those who do experience it find it to be deeply peaceful, yet a reservoir of creativity, intelligence, and happiness that spills over into all phases of living.
The Five Great Elements
Ayurveda believes that everything in this universe is made up of five great elements or building blocks. These are earth, water, fire, air, and ether.
Earth represents the solid state of matter. It manifests stability, permanence, and rigidity. In our body, the parts such as bones, teeth, cells, and tissues are manifestations of the earth. Earth is considered a stable substance.
Water characterizes change and represents the liquid state. Water is necessary for the survival of all living things. A large part of the human body is made up of water. Our blood, lymph, and other fluids move between our cells and through our vessels, bringing energy, carrying away wastes, regulating temperature, bringing disease fighters, and carrying hormonal information from one area to another. Water is a substance without stability.
Fire is the power to transform solids into liquids, to gas, and back again. In other words, it possess power to transform the state of any substance. Within our bodies, the fire or energy binds the atoms together. It also converts food to fat (stored energy) and muscle. Fire transforms food into energy. It creates the impulses of nervous reactions, our feelings, and even our thought processes. Fire is considered a form without substance.
Air is the gaseous form of matter which is mobile and dynamic. Within the body, air (oxygen) is the basis for all energy transfer reactions. It is a key element required for fire to burn. Air is existence without form.
Ether/Space is the space in which everything happens. It is the field that is simultaneously the source of all matter and the space in which it exists. Ether is only the distances which separate matter. The chief characteristic of ether is sound. Here sound represents the entire spectrum of vibration.
Every substance in our world is made up of these five substances. All substances can be classified according to their predominant element. For example, a mountain is predominantly made up of earth element. A mountain also contain water, fire, air and ether. But these elements are very small compared to the earth. So, its classification is the earth.
Ayurveda defines a human as the assemblage of the five great elements plus the "immaterial self."
Uniqueness of Individuals
Ayurveda views each and every person as unique, with a unique mind-body constitution and a unique set of life circumstances, all of which must be considered in determining either natural healing approaches or recommendations for daily living. This view is in alignment with the modern science which views individuals as unique in the universe with a unique DNA.
According to Ayurveda, because we each have a unique constitution, our health prescription must be unique to us. This means that in order to be healthy, you need to eat certain foods that are beneficial for your body type and stay away from others. Your exercise program must be personally suitable as well. Your constitution determines very much about you - your body, your personality, even how you relate to other people. Understanding it lets you know what you need in order to be healthy.
From the viewpoint of Ayurveda, the first step in the treatment of any health-related condition is to determine your individual constitutional type (prakriti). This is determined by the proportion of each dosha and guna which occurs in each individual. The dosha/guna which is predominant will reflect the energies and metabolic tendencies within. Knowing your Ayurvedic Constitutional Type will allow you to understand your mind and physiology and will allow you to interpret with great specificity your metabolic signals.
The three doshas are called Vata, Pitta and Kapha. Although they regulate thousands of separate functions in the mind/body system, they have three basic functions:
Each of us are made up of a combination of the three types of doshas. The three doshas are comprised of these five universal elements:
- ether/space
- air
- earth
- fire
- water
Vatha is a combination of air and space.
Pitta is mostly fire with some water.
Kapha is mostly water with some earth.
The Vata dosha controls movement.
The Pitta dosha controls metabolism/transformation.
The Kapha dosha controls structure.
Every cell in your body has to contain all three of these principles. To remain alive, your body has to have Vata, or motion, which allows it to breathe, circulate blood, pass food through the digestive tract, and send nerve impulses to and from the brain.
It has to have Pitta, or metabolism, which processes food, air and water throughout the entire system.
It has to have Kapha, or structure, to hold the cells together and form muscle, fat, bone and sinew. Nature needs all three to build a human body.
Although there are only three doshas, they can be combined in ten possible ways to arrive at ten different body and behavioral types:
3 single - Dosha types
6 two - Dosha types
1 three - Dosha type
The single Dosha type
Vata
Pitta
Kapha
If one dosha is much higher than the others, you are a single-dosha type. A true single - dosha type displays the traits of Vata, Pitta or Kapha very prominently.
Your next highest dosha will still show some influence in your natural tendencies but to a much lesser degree.
The two Dosha type
Vata - Pitta or Pitta - Vata
Pitta - Kapha or Kapha - Pitta
Kapha - Vata or Vata - Kapha
If no dosha is extremely dominate, you are a two-dosha type. This means that you display qualities of your two leading doshas, either side by side or in alternation. The higher one comes first in your body type, but both count.
Most people are two - dosha types. In some, the first dosha is very strong which would qualify them as a single-dosha type except for the prominence of another dosha. In other cases, the difference is smaller, the first dosha still predominates, but the second will be almost equal. And in still others, one dosha will stand out but the other two are exactly tied.
The three Dosha type
Vata
Pitta
Kapha
If your three scores are nearly equal, you are a three-dosha type. This type is considered rare, however.
Interpreting body types
Your body type is the mold you were cast in and is genetic, it is inherited at birth. Knowledge of your body type enables you to evolve to a more ideal state of health. Understanding it's corresponding behavioral characteristics gives you a better appreciation for the inherent behavioral traits and instincts that you display so easily, without thinking. To grasp hold of yourself and attempt to develop a life of balance, the way you approach the world through your thoughts may be more important than even your body type. Everything you create in your life first starts out as a thought and even your body follows the directions of these same thoughts.
| Vata type |
Pitta type |
Kapha type |
Light, thin build
Quick to grasp new information, also quick to forget
Performs activity quickly
Tendency to worry
Irregular hunger and digestion
Tendency toward constipation
Enthusiasm, vivaciousness, imagination
Tires easily, tendency to over exert
Excitability, changing moods
Erratic memory
Insomnia and restlesness
Ability to acquire money quickly (and spend it just as quickly)
Difficulty in sustaining relationships
High Sex Drive
Mental and physical energy comes in bursts |
Medium build – not too heavy not too light
Thin Hair – prone to baldness
Enterprising character, likes challenges
Medium strength and endurance
Sharp intellect
Sharp hunger and thirst, good appetite, strong digestion – not prone to weight gain
Precise, articulate speech
Tendency toward anger
Cannot skip meals
Irritability under stress
Blond, light brown or red hair
Fair or ruddy skin, often freckled (or reddish undertones)
Moderate sex drive
High intelligence but a tendency to anger and be judgmental
Openness to new ideas
Decisiveness and leadership qualities |
Solid, powerful build; great
Slow to grasp new information, physical strength and endurance but good retentive memory
Steady energy; slow and graceful
Tendency to obesity in action
Slow digestion, mild hunger
Tranquil, relaxed personality; slow to anger
Affectionate, tolerant, forgiving
Cool, smooth, thick, pale often
Thick oily hair and skin
Tendency to be possessive
Complacent
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Understanding the single Dosha type
If you are a single dosha type, one dosha will be much higher than the other and may be as much as twice as high as the second highest score. A single dosha type displays traits of the pure Vatta, Pitta or Kapha characteristics listed above. Your next highest dosha will still show some influence in your natural tendencies but to a much lesser degree.
Understanding the two Dosha type
If you are a two dosha type, no dosha is extremely dominant. This means that you display qualities of your two leading doshas, either side by side or in alternation. The higher one comes first in your body type, but both count. Most people are two-dosha types.
Understanding the three Dosha type
If you are a three dosha type you start off with the best chance for remaining in balance, because your ratio of Vata, Pitta and Kapha is nearly even. This balanced dosha body type will tend to provide you with lifelong good health, ideal immunity and longevity, but is difficult to correct if out of balance.
What Dosha type are you ?
The most reliable way to discover your Dosha type is to visit an Aurvedic physician and have him or her measure your pulse. From a simple pulse reading and through a basic examination and series of questions, your type can be ascertained.
Overall well-being and striving for longevity depends on keeping your doshas balanced. Any imbalance among the tridoshas causes a state of unhealthiness or disease. Factors that can bring about balance of the tridoshas are diet, exercise, good digestion, and elimination of toxins. |
