Introduction To Ayurveda Part Two

In this second talk in my Introduction to Ayurveda series, we will dive more deeply into the concepts of the doshas, the bio-energetic forces of Vata, Pitta and Kapha. These concepts can be used as a guide to connect us to our unique nature and to practices that best suit our individual needs. We will explore how the dosha show up in our body and mind in both a healthy state as well as in states of imbalance and how through an understanding of the play of the doshas within us, we can connect to our unique nature and create rhythms that support health and balance in our lives.

Transcript

Thank you for joining me for part 2 of my Introduction to Ayurveda series.

In this talk,

We'll dive more deeply into the concepts of the doshas and how we can work with them to better understand our prakriti,

Our birth constitution,

And our vikruti,

Our current state imbalances.

These concepts can be used as a guide to connect us to our unique nature and direct us towards practices that are best suited to our individual needs.

As I spoke about in part 1,

Ayurveda comes from the Vedas and Samkhya philosophy,

The understanding that the universe around us is in constant transmutation from the subtlest of consciousness into material form.

Through this eternal movement,

The five great elements take form,

The pancha-mahabhuta in Sanskrit,

Ether,

Akash,

Air,

Vayu,

Fire or agni,

Water,

Apas,

Earth,

Or prithvi.

It was observed by the early sages of Ayurveda that as the elements themselves moved towards greater form and manifestation,

They could be categorized into three forces,

Which came to be known as the doshas,

Vata,

Pitta and kapha.

Vata,

Air and ether is the kinetic force.

Pitta,

Fire and water is the force of transmutation.

Kapha,

Water and earth,

Potential energy,

Stability,

Stasis.

The doshas exist in nature and are reflected in us as nature in human form.

To begin our exploration of the doshas and how they manifest in our mind and body,

Let's look more closely at the elements and the qualities that create their form and function.

As I'm speaking,

Where do you notice the elements?

Do you feel more of one or the other in your being or in nature around you?

We begin with ether,

Akash in Sanskrit,

All pervasive,

Omnipotent,

And the first expression of consciousness.

Ether or space is expansive,

Empty and has no resistance.

It is clear,

Light and immeasurable.

When this first expression of consciousness as ether moves,

It creates air.

Air or vayu in Sanskrit is mobile,

Dry,

Light,

Cold,

Rough and subtle.

When it moves,

It creates friction and is responsible for all movement in nature and within us.

Where there is movement,

There is friction and where there is friction,

There is heat.

Fire or Agni governs all transformative processes,

Including digestion,

Body temperature and energy production.

Agni is hot,

Sharp,

Light,

Dry and subtle.

Fire manifests as perception and intelligence.

It brings light and illumination.

It is a radiant solar energy.

It dissolves and liquefies.

As fire dissolves,

We come to water or apas.

Within the medium of water,

All the elements maintain their function,

Carrying oxygen,

Nutrients and waste to be absorbed or excreted within its continuous flow.

Water is cool,

Liquid,

Dull,

Soft,

Oily and slimy.

It manifests as body secretions,

Plasma,

Lymph and digestive juices.

And it's found within connective tissue and the cytoplasm within the cell.

And finally,

We come to earth,

Prithvi,

Which is heavy,

Dull,

Static,

Dense,

Hard and gross,

Holding all living and non-living substances together.

Earth is solidity,

Stability,

Resistance in action,

Holding all living creatures,

Providing food and shelter to all life forms.

All of the elements are present in each person.

The proportions,

Combinations and manifestations vary from person to person,

Creating our unique natures.

From the Ayurvedic perspective,

Maintaining the balance of the five elements and their doshik representation within us is necessary for health,

Balance and longevity.

When we connect to rhythms that support our unique nature,

We bring energy and momentum to our lives.

We can explore this through an understanding of our prakriti,

The proportion of the doshas at the time of our birth,

And our vikruti,

Our current state in balances of the doshas.

I'll speak more about determining your prakriti and vikruti towards the end of this talk.

For now,

Particularly if you don't know your prakriti and vikruti,

Pay attention to what comes up as I speak about the doshas.

Where and how are you experiencing them?

Which of the doshas reflect specific characteristics or signs and symptoms of imbalance that tend to crop up throughout your life?

Like constipation,

Common for vata prakriti.

Or heartburn,

Common for pitta prakriti.

Or sinus infections,

Common for kapha prakriti.

Or maybe you're experiencing one of these symptoms for the first time,

More likely reflecting your vikruti,

Your current state in balances.

A few more general points about the doshas before we dive in.

Each dosha has two elements associated with it.

One supports and controls the other.

For example,

Pitta,

Which is fire and water.

Fire protects from excess water accumulating,

And water tempers fire from blowing out of control.

Vata,

Air and ether.

Pitta,

Fire and water.

And kapha,

Water and earth,

Are underlying energetic forces within the body-mind.

And they're also translated to English as fault.

Meaning,

Through doshic imbalances,

Illness can develop.

So let's dive in and see how the doshas show up in nature and in ourselves.

We'll start with vata,

Air and ether.

Vata is the propulsive or energetic force responsible for all movement,

Including the wind in nature,

Our body movements,

Such as the blinking of our eyelids and the beating of our hearts.

Vata is responsible for the circulation of lymph and blood,

And the discharge of all nervous impulses,

The movement of the stool and the menstrual blood.

Vata acts principally in the nervous system,

Through which it flows like an electric current.

Prana,

The life or vital force,

Is intimately related to vata,

As the flow of consciousness throughout our body and mind.

The colon is vata's main seat in the digestive tract,

And its main site in the disease process,

Where waste gases can accumulate.

Vata also has a tendency to accumulate in the hips,

The low back,

The pelvis,

The hollow spaces of the bones and the joints,

And the mind,

As a kind of hyperactivity,

Excess movement,

Or excess spaciousness.

The characteristics,

Functions and tendencies of vata are related to its particular constellation of qualities,

Or gunas.

Vata,

In its expression of air and ether,

Is light,

Clear,

Dry,

Rough,

Erratic,

Mobile and subtle.

For example,

With a vata prakruti,

The mind is quick,

Curious,

Creative,

Flexible and adaptable.

There is good perceptive,

Imaginative and introspective ability,

With an excellent capacity to understand immediately,

Particularly the big picture of things,

And also to forget quickly.

Often there is clairvoyance and a strongly intuitive nature.

Easily excited and often impulsive,

Energy levels can be variable or erratic.

There is a tendency towards a scattered mind,

Swinging moods,

Indecisiveness and difficulty following through on things.

When vata accumulates,

We can feel fidgety and restless,

Ungrounded,

Anxious and fearful.

These are fast-walking,

Fast-talking,

Multitasking people,

Generally cheerful and positive.

They don't like being idle and seek constant movement or action.

They have light,

Flexible bodies,

Tend to be skinny or underweight,

With less muscle and skeletal development.

Hypermobility and cracking,

Popping joints are common.

Agni,

The digestive fire,

Is often erratic and variable,

And so thirst,

Hunger and the movement of the stool can be variable.

When vata is out of balance,

We can see dry skin,

Nails,

Hair,

Feet and stool,

With a tendency towards gas and bloating,

Constipation and small,

Dry,

Pellet-like stools.

There can be poor circulation,

Cold hands and feet,

With a dislike of cold things and a desire for warmth.

The nervous system can feel raw,

With a low tolerance to pain,

Noise,

Bright lights and overstimulation.

There can be feelings of overwhelm,

Anxiety and fear.

Sleep can be light and restless,

Particularly disturbed around 2-6am.

When vata is part of your prakriti,

Your birth constitution,

You'll notice tendencies to some of these qualities throughout your life.

They may come and go,

Aggravate regularly with vata season or stress.

You might also be experiencing the signs and symptoms of vata imbalance as a current state imbalance,

An unusual occurrence,

A new symptom that's never occurred before.

In which case,

Vata may be part of your vikruti,

Your current state imbalances.

For example,

Maybe you tend towards loose,

Hot stools typical of pitta dosha,

And for the first time you're experiencing constipation with dry stools,

More typical of vata dosha.

In Ayurveda,

It's said to treat vata first,

As it is the most easily provoked and thrown out of balance of the three doshas.

When vata is out of balance,

It's harder to stabilize and balance the other doshas,

Because it is so subtle,

Mobile and erratic.

The modern lifestyle,

Particularly in city life,

Expresses the qualities around us that aggravate vata,

With its hectic rhythms,

Multitasking,

Attention deficits,

The loud noise,

Sensory overload,

Excessive work schedules and high states of stress in general.

Chronic states of stress disrupt the natural adaptability of the nervous system of vata tissue.

Supporting vata is helpful for most people at one time or another,

Particularly when there have been high states of stress,

A lot of anxiety,

When we're in convalescence or recovering from illness.

In Ayurveda,

The doshas accumulate in nature and the environment at particular times of day and year.

Vata accumulates daily between 2 and 6 a.

M.

And p.

M.

And is most active in nature in the change of seasons in general,

And fall in particular,

When the cold wind picks up,

The weather turns erratic and everything around us dries up.

Let's talk now about pitta dosha.

The word pitta is derived from the word tap in Sanskrit,

To heat or purify.

Like tapas,

The heat and purification we build in yoga practice.

Pitta is the fiery or transformative force responsible for digestion,

Warmth,

Metabolism,

Perception and vitality.

Pitta's gunas or qualities are hot,

Sharp,

Penetrating,

Liquid,

Light,

Sour,

Mobile and spreading,

Like hot oil.

Pitta manifests with the burning,

Boiling,

Fermenting action of fire.

Its main seat in the digestive tract is the small intestine,

Where it acts as agni,

The digestive fire,

Digesting and transforming the food we eat.

The blood,

As the body's basic thermogenic heat and metabolic power,

Is considered a pitta tissue.

Pitta can also accumulate in the eyes,

The blood,

The skin,

The liver,

The spleen and the heart.

Its natural inclination is to flow upward like a flame,

Although it can also move erratically and in all directions through the body and mind.

In its upward movement,

It can manifest as flushes of heat,

Anger,

Headaches,

Nosebleeds and high blood pressure.

The whites of the eyes can have a red or yellow tinge.

And as it moves upward in its healthy state,

Pitta is the enlightening force in the mind.

The pitta prakruti mind is sharp and intelligent.

Concentration,

Comprehension and memory come easily.

There's a strong ability for learning and understanding.

When balanced,

These people are warm,

Confident,

Adaptable,

Cheerful and goal-oriented with great focus and determination.

Driven by the solar force,

The natural energy and ambition of pitta transforms ideas into reality.

Discipline is created easily.

There are good leadership abilities and often a desire for fortune and fame.

When pitta is functioning normally,

We're able to transform our experience into wisdom.

With excess stress or excess pitta building up,

The mind's focus can be over-penetrating and sharp,

Showing up as hyper-focus,

Lack of patience and irritability.

These people can be arrogant,

Hot-headed,

Short-tempered,

Aggressive and over-confident.

There can be a tendency to being overly critical and perfectionistic.

Pitta types love to eat and to compete.

Anger is the hallmark emotion for pitta dosha,

Where,

For example,

The emotion associated most often with vata dosha is anxiety and for kapha,

As you'll see,

Is depression.

Physically,

When pitta is part of your prakruti,

People tend to have a medium body frame with good muscle development and an ease of building strength and muscle.

Rarely gaining or losing weight,

There's good digestive capability,

A strong agni and corresponding strong appetite with the ability to digest almost anything well.

The eyes are clear and bright with a sensitivity to bright light.

It's common to see flushed skin,

Cheeks and nose and a low tolerance for heat and sunlight unless they are addicted to its stimulation.

These people generally have soft,

Oily skin,

Hair and stool.

There can be excess urine,

Sweat and thirst,

A high body temperature,

Early greying of the hair,

Receding hairline and gums.

When stress or pitta accumulate,

Agni accumulates in the digestive tract,

Bringing excess appetite,

A lack of satiation,

Burning quickly through your food or a warm burning sensation in the digestive tract.

The stools can be loose and unformed and hot,

Low blood sugar or hypoglycemia and the experience of being hangry,

Angry when hungry is common.

If pitta increases and moves upward in the digestive tract,

There's a tendency for hyperacidity or heartburn and ulcers if it moves erratically,

Burning through the delicate tissues of the digestive tract.

The liver and gallbladder are also considered pitta organs and are vulnerable to pitta imbalances.

Excess pitta can show up in metabolic and hormonal dysregulation or as things like agni and boils,

Inflammation and allergies.

If excess pitta accumulates and is not softened or released,

It can become stiff,

Hot and too tight in both body and mind.

Pitta accumulates during the day between 10 and 2 a.

M.

And p.

M.

And seasonally in the summer.

So let's move now to kapha dosha.

Water and earth give kapha dosha its definitive qualities.

It's the sustaining or conserving force responsible for tissue formation,

Substance,

Cohesion and support.

Kapha makes up all of our cells,

Tissues and organs.

It acts primarily through the plasma or lymphatic system as the fluid and the underlying nutrient solution making up the bulk of the body,

Providing nourishment to the tissues as a substance called ahara rasa.

Kapha dosha brings in the qualities of heavy,

Dense,

Slow,

Static,

Cold,

Slimy,

Smooth and sticky.

The stomach is kapha's main site in the digestive tract as a layer of mucus lining the membranes of the stomach and providing liquid to begin to churn and emulsify our food.

When kapha accumulates,

The mucus accumulates,

Dampening agni,

The digestive fire.

And so appetite,

Metabolism and the movement of the stool can be slow and sluggish.

There may be burping or hiccups.

Kapha is also responsible for the lubrication of the joints and the organs and the protective fatty sheath around the nerves.

There's a tendency for kapha to accumulate in the chest,

The sinuses and head,

The lungs,

The joints,

The hips and the belly as excess weight or water retention.

The kapha prakruti mind is steady,

Calm and tolerant,

Nurturing,

Compassionate and stable.

There's a naturally deep faith and a devotion to the people and causes they love.

The embodiment of both stoicism and grace,

They have a smooth,

Gentle mind and nature.

These are deep contemplative people with excellent memory retention,

Although they may learn,

Speak and move slowly.

When kapha is high or there's a lot of stress,

The mind can become overly attached,

Narrow,

Stubborn or complacent,

Easily caught up in envy and greed,

Attachment to others and material possessions.

The emotion most commonly associated with kapha dosha is melancholia or depression.

And it also shows up as lethargy,

Lack of motivation,

Inertia,

Sluggish thinking,

Low energy.

Fatigue and desire to sleep for long hours are common and there can be a sense of heaviness in the mind and body.

It can be hard to find motivation to make change.

Physically,

When kapha is part of the prakruti,

People will have large body frames and strong bones.

There's a firmness and solidity of the muscles and compacted,

Condensed tissues.

It's common for these people to have large eyes and luscious lashes,

Thick,

Shiny hair and smooth,

Oily and hairy skin with lubricated,

Unctuous joints and organs.

The appetite is slow and steady with a tendency towards sluggish digestion and metabolism.

There can be lack of hunger with weight gain or water retention and difficulty shedding pounds.

There can be excess salivation,

Large,

Oily,

Mucousy stools and a tendency to congestion in the chest,

The sinuses,

The throat and the head.

Energy is complacent and resistant and must be energized and stimulated to further action.

The time of day associated with kapha is between 6 and 10 a.

M.

And p.

M.

And seasonally we see it reflected in the winter and early spring.

Kapha accumulates over winter and melts and moves out of us with the influence of vata accumulating in the spring.

As we come to the end of the description of the doshas,

It's my hope that you have a greater idea of which of the doshas are prominent for you to work with.

You may even relate strongly to two of the doshas.

It's common for one or two doshas to make up part of your prakruti or birth constitution.

For example,

People can have similar proportions of vata and pitta,

Pitta and kapha or vata and kapha as part of their prakruti,

Their birth constitution.

It's also common that your vikruti,

Your current state imbalances,

Are unrelated to your doshic prakruti.

For example,

You may have a vata prakruti and are experiencing kapha imbalances like congestion in the chest,

Throat and sinuses in kapha season.

At a very basic level,

You can explore your relationship to the doshas by working with these energies as part of seasonal adjustments to your lifestyle,

Connecting more closely to the rhythms of nature.

For example,

Work with vata in fall and change of seasons,

Kapha in winter and early spring and pitta in summer.

To go further in determining your prakruti and vikruti,

The simplest way is to fill in a dosha questionnaire.

These are readily available,

Often free,

Online and in every good introductory book on Ayurveda.

The questionnaires are an excellent way to uncover more information,

Particularly about your prakruti,

Your birth constitution.

There are also many Ayurvedic doctors,

Both in India and abroad,

Who are practicing Ayurveda and incorporate pulse diagnosis with questioning and other diagnostic tools as a more definitive way of determining your prakruti and vikruti.

Today,

In the West,

There are also many trained Ayurvedic health and lifestyle practitioners that can support your exploration of the doshas.

It's particularly helpful to work with a qualified Ayurvedic doctor and health practitioner if you have multiple chronic health concerns or are taking contemporary medical treatments.

Your needs are more complicated and it can be more difficult to tease out the doshic predominance and what approach to take in these instances.

In part three of this Introduction to Ayurveda series,

I'll speak more about lifestyle remedies such as nutrition,

Herbs and yoga that we can work with to balance and ameliorate the doshas.

Thank you for joining me for this talk.

Wishing you ease and peace in your day.

Namaste.