The Combination of Vata, Pitta, and Kapha — Learning to Know Yourself
Vata, Pitta, and Kapha always work together, but one dosha may be more dominant.
A balanced interaction between them helps you feel well.
Being “out of balance” means that there is a basic pattern that no longer supports your needs. This pattern needs to be adjusted.
You need to know:
- Which body type you are
- What supports your body type
- What weakens your body type
Everything in nature can be understood through the terms Vata, Pitta, and Kapha: the hours of the day, the seasons and their changes, emotions, food and drink, and impressions through sight, hearing, and the senses.
When you learn to understand more about the qualities of Vata, Pitta, and Kapha, you also understand more clearly how everything around us — and everything we eat and drink — affects us.
The next step is to begin exploring and experiencing how this works in your own body. The reward is greater awareness and a better understanding of what truly supports your wellbeing.
Do Not Let the Imbalances Take Over
We intuitively know the needs that the body signals to us.
When we are in balance, we perceive and interpret these signals correctly. When we are tired, stressed, and out of balance, the imbalances begin to guide us.
It can be helpful to map out the imbalances in order to get back on the right track more easily. It is always possible to make small changes that increase wellbeing.
HOW TO BALANCE
In “Who Are You?” you can read about the three doshas: Vata, Pitta, and Kapha.
In order to “think Ayurvedically,” it is helpful to learn the qualities of the five elements, and therefore the qualities of Vata, Pitta, and Kapha.
Simply explained:
The air element Vata is light, cold, dry, and mobile, like air in nature.
The fire element Pitta is hot, intense, and sharp, like fire. Pitta also has the quality of being acidic or sour, as fire sometimes can be.
The water and earth element Kapha is cold, heavy, and moist, like water in nature.
Balance is created through opposites. Here is the list:
- Heavy — Light
- Cold — Warm
- Mild — Sharp
- Stable — Mobile
- Soft — Hard
- Smooth — Rough
- Oily/Moist — Dry
- Solid/Compact — Liquid
- Subtle/Small — Gross/Large
- Clear — Slimy/Sticky
This is logical. If a person has an excess of Vata, the air element, which is cold, dry, and mobile, we balance it with warmth and heaviness.
A person with excess Vata should therefore avoid increasing Vata even more and instead add warmth and grounding. This can be done through food.
A simple practical example is to avoid dry and cold food, such as cold yogurt with dry muesli for breakfast, and instead choose oatmeal, which is warm and “heavy.” It is also helpful to avoid cold drinks and instead drink beverages at room temperature or warm.
For lunch, skip the cold and “dry” sandwich and choose a warm soup instead.
Ayurveda also classifies foods according to how they increase or balance Vata, Pitta, and Kapha.
Some examples of common foods that increase Vata are: white sugar, cheese, yogurt, most raw vegetables such as tomatoes and cucumber, garlic, chili, raw oats, coffee, black tea, alcohol, and cold water.
Vata-balancing foods include: cane sugar, coconut oil, fresh ginger, coriander, cumin, almonds, and all sweet fruits and berries.
Ayurveda does not view foods in the same way as the Western approach, where the focus is often on vitamins and minerals. Ayurveda looks at which foods increase or balance Vata, Pitta, and Kapha, and therefore takes constitution into account.
In addition, suitable and unsuitable foods may vary depending on your current state and the season.
The body is wise, and most people do not crave a very spicy chili stew on a hot summer day. Chili increases Pitta, the fire element, and summer is also Pitta season. It simply becomes too much fire, and the body signals this when we listen to it.
Another example is coffee, which from an Ayurvedic perspective increases Vata. Most people have experienced restlessness in the body from too much coffee. Vata is air, which can make us overstimulated and easily stressed when there is too much of it. Like wind in nature, when it starts to blow strongly, a certain restlessness arises.
Coffee increases Vata, which stimulates and increases movement in the intestines. Since the intestines are a Vata organ, they respond quickly to this. Many people have also experienced the laxative effect, which Ayurveda explains as increased Vata equals increased movement.
All types of dairy products increase Kapha. When we catch a cold, Kapha increases, regardless of body type, because the lungs are a Kapha organ. Dairy products create mucus and congestion because they increase Kapha, the heavy and moist quality.
This Ayurvedic perspective can be explored further by anyone who is curious and wants to become more aware of how the body reacts to different foods.
Where the Western focus on health may say, for example, that raw food is good for everyone because it contains a lot of fiber and vitamins, Ayurveda sees it differently.
Raw vegetables are difficult to digest and are therefore not always suitable for an irregular Vata digestion or a sluggish Kapha digestion. For these people, raw vegetables may burden the digestion and lead to bloating and constipation.
If someone has troubled skin with pimples, acne, or rosacea, it may be helpful to reduce Pitta-increasing foods such as cheese, yogurt, oranges, tomatoes, bell peppers, chili, white sugar, sour fruits, alcohol, coffee, and ice-cold water.
The explanation is that the skin is a Pitta organ. If there is a Pitta imbalance, we should not increase the fire element Pitta, but instead calm the fire and choose Pitta-balancing foods.
When it comes to skin, see the post “Skin Problems according to Ayurveda.
Living according to Ayurveda means exploring these principles through your own experience and observing how different foods, activities, and seasons affect your body and mind.
Everything in nature carries Vata, Pitta, and Kapha qualities, which influence us in different ways.
