Constantly Feel Awful? Ayurveda Can Change Your Life

Do you ever feel like your stomach is a simmering vat of acid after eating something spicy? Maybe instead you’re a little “backed-up” after a healthy attempt at a salad? Or perhaps it seems at least two elephants are sitting in your gut after eating a dense helping of mac n’ cheese?

But hey, it doesn’t have to be all about what you eat to make you feel like utter garbage. You could become instantly pissed off if the temperature that is graced by your presence even thinks about being over 75 degrees. Maybe the twentieth idea you have for your “big break project” pops into your head before you’ve even written anything down for the first project you had in mind. Or, maybe you’d rather just hang out in bed all day, do nothing, plant your roots, and shoot spray cheese into your mouth to make sure you’re properly nourished.

If any of these things seem relatable in any way, you may have a Pitta, Vata, or Kapha imbalance in your body or mind. Now you may be asking yourself, what the heck are those words even? Well, my friends, Pitta, Vata, and Kapha are something called, “Doshas” and they are the foundation of a 5000-year-old medicinal practice called Ayurveda - the sister science of yoga that could seriously change (or save) your life.

Although it is a deeply complex system, Ayurveda is based simply on what we, as humans, and what we need to survive, are made of - the elements of nature. These would be - fire (Pitta), air (Vata), earth (Kapha), and water - which is associated with the previous elements. When you think about it, the fire within us is our passion. The air is how we breathe and think. Our bodies - our bones, muscles, and skin resemble the rocks, soil, trees, and grass of the Earth, and the water is the blood that flows through our veins. Therefore, it is no surprise that our bodies need the same balances as nature does to thrive - in both our bodies and our personalities.

When balanced, all of us are a combination of all three doshas in our minds and personalities, but when it comes to our bodies - we are primarily one dosha over the others. So what does it mean to be balanced or unbalanced in regards to our doshas?

Within our minds, being balanced means we are relatively at peace, lacking anxiety, anger, procrastination, or idleness, and happy with how we are working towards our goals and with our sense of fulfillment and our purpose. When our doshas are unbalanced within our personalities, we have more of a tendency to submit to any rage we may be feeling, can be more scatterbrained, be more susceptible to mental illnesses, and feel relatively lost in life. The same sort of idea is applied to when our bodies and organ systems are balanced or suffering an imbalance.

When our bodies are balanced with our specific dosha types, our skin is clear and healthy, we don’t suffer many or any stomach pains or digestive issues, we can poop like champions, and overall, feel energetic and ready to get after the day in whichever way inspires us most.

If our diet, which consists of our environment, the food we eat, the people we surround ourselves with, and the information we consume, is the opposite of what our body’s dosha needs though, we will suffer digestive issues, our immune systems will be weak and we’ll get sick more often than usual, our body temperatures will be out of whack, our skin will likely be inflamed, dehydrated or brittle, our hair won’t look as lustrous, our mental health will be all over the place, and overall, you’ll feel awful a majority of the time. That’s why it’s so important to understand what dosha you are and how to find that mind/body balance to live a healthy, happy, and fulfilling life.

So...how do we do that? The first step is getting an idea of what dosha you relate to most, whether it’s fire(Pitta), Air (Vata), or Earth (Kapha). After you’ve come to terms with what dosha you are, especially in terms of your body, the process from there is really about ingesting everything that is the opposite of your element to become more balanced. For example, a Pitta would want to ingest cooling foods and live in a calm environment, because when you think about it in terms of the element fire, you wouldn’t want to start a fire in a place that’s already hot, nor would you want to add yet another flame to a forest fire.

Pittas, the fire dosha, in regards to personality, are driven and passionate individuals who hustle hard, are competitive and organized, to-the-point, and will stop at nothing to achieve their goals. Pittas love a challenge and hate being anything short of the best. Examples of well-known Pittas are entrepreneurs and investors like Grant Cardone, Jeff Bezos, and Donald Trump.

However, Pitta body types are athletic and muscular, run especially hot in terms of body temperature, have both oily and dry skin that’s a relatively-medium thickness. They often have fine but healthy hair and light-colored and piercing eyes. All of these traits reflect a Pitta when they’re balanced, so what does a Pitta look like with a Pitta imbalance?

Because they have such high body temperatures already, if a Pitta lives in a hot climate or experiences a sweltering day, which essentially adds fuel to the fire, they are more likely to be constantly irritable, angry, and lash out. An unbalanced Pitta may also be a workaholic, drinking tons of caffeine, and due to their busy schedule, likely eating a very poor diet - which is especially terrible for a Pitta. Foods like ice cream, french fries, burgers, chicken nuggets, macaroni and cheese, you know - all of the delicious things in life, are inflammatory foods, which start a fire in a Pitta’s stomach, which is already super acidic.

This is also why Pittas feel like their insides are falling out after eating something spicy - is because they are adding more flaming fuel to their digestive system that already runs super hot. All of this inflammation, results in things like acid reflux, super red skin and rosy cheeks, increased blood pressure, breaking hair, more toxins building upon the tongue, sweating non-stop, and really, constantly being on the brink of going Hulk on the world. Assuming it’s okay to speak for us all in terms of not wanting our heads smashed in or bitten off by an out-of-control, hot-head (or to be that hot-head), let me share with you how a Pitta becomes balanced.

With such a strong fire in their digestive system, Pittas become balanced by eating cooling foods like smoothies, berries, fruits, and salads; the same goes for raw or cooked vegetables like carrots, sweet potatoes, and mellow soups. Staying away from acidic foods like onions, garlic, coffee, meats, and of course, spicy foods is really what will help a Pitta and their digestive system thrive. In the same atmosphere, a Pitta body-typed person should live in a place where it doesn’t get too hot for a majority of the year, stay away from major crowds and cities as best as they can avoid consuming any sort of media outlet that tends to evoke negative feelings, participate in both competitive or challenging activities and exercise such as yoga followed by meditation, and make sure to incorporate time into their schedule for starting the day at a peaceful pace and ending it the same with no work distractions or tasks that need to be done. These are suggestions because they promote a sense of soothing, in both pace and comfort, for a mind and body that is always stimulated and ready to attack if the situation were to arise. Vatas on the other hand are quite the opposite.

Vatas, or the air dosha, in regards to their minds and personalities are especially creative, energetic, and whimsical. They always have new, out-of-the-box ideas that often pile on top of each other. They enjoy the arts, travel, history, and are deeply interested in the beauty of humanity and the wonder of things. Some examples of well-known Vatas are people like Anna Kendrick, Audrey Hepburn, and Meryl Streep. Physically, Vatas are especially skinny and frail with thin skin and hair. They don’t often have much meat on their bones or are pretty lean, so they are usually cold in terms of body temperature. So what happens when a Vata becomes unbalanced?

In being referred to as the air dosha, Vatas, when they’re unbalanced, can often be stuck with their head in the clouds, happily smothered by the hundreds of wonderful ideas they’ve come up with while they’re up there. They often lose touch with reality trying to think of the next thing they want to do before even taking action on the first thing that came to their mind five years ago. Therefore, they have twenty-million things they want to do but haven’t started on any of them. This can cause a Vata extreme anxiety - which is often one of the main mental illnesses a Vata mind possesses. If a Vata body-type is unbalanced they often have trouble digesting foods because their digestive “fire” is so weak. This causes them to become constipated on the regular. Also, if Vatas can’t properly digest their foods, this causes them to not be able to absorb the nutrients of the foods they eat - resulting in frail bones, constant injury, lack of muscle, and because of a weakened immune system, they will get sick more often.

To become more balanced, Vatas should eat warming and grounding foods at routine times each day such as thicker, heartier, and blended soups as well as warm oatmeal, bananas, eggs, and cooked vegetables so they are easier to digest and more able to absorb the nutrients from the foods they eat. Vatas should avoid cold, raw, and uncooked foods like most vegetables, salad, and beans, and legumes as they are especially difficult for them to digest and will lead to our nemesis constipation. Living in a warmer or versatile climate compared to settling in a place that’s always cold is also a great idea for Vatas to help both their skin and their creativity blossom. To help facilitate a more balanced Vata mind and environment, Vatas should consistently practice yoga and meditate to help them ground themselves, but also participate in creative exercises such as dance and HIIT to build muscle and manage better blood flow. Keeping a detailed planner and task list, downloading time-management apps, and, and creating a priority checklist will also help to keep a Vata on track with their goals.

Now, let’s talk about the Earth Dosha - Kapha. Kaphas are especially sweet-natured, loving, caring, and nurturing. They have an inner peace to them that many gravitate towards as a safe haven and to find a sense of healing. They are very much of the Earth, are grounded, and very natural beings. Well-known Kaphas are people like Oprah Winfrey and Deepak Chopra. Physically, Kaphas are very well-built with sturdy bones, thick and glowing skin, hair, and nails, and have large eyes. They have a very slow, calm, and steady nature to them which makes them ideal teachers, therapists, managers, and mothers.

When Kapha is unbalanced they tend to be lethargic, wanting to stay in bed, eat all day, and do nothing. This type of sedentary lifestyle causes a Kapha to easily gain weight, lack motivation, and often become depressed. Being that Kaphas are especially dense human beings, to begin with, in regards to their structural makeup, eating heavy foods like plates of pasta, potatoes, creamy cheeses, and rich desserts often leave them feeling like they’ve got a bag of bricks in their stomach as their digestive system processes foods extremely slowly, much like the nature and pace of a Kapha in their day to day lives.

Therefore, to help balance a Kapha out, they should be eating light, warm and cooling foods such as berries, mangoes, turkey, scrambled eggs, brothy soups, and curries with cooked bitter or spicy vegetables like carrots, beets, cabbage, and peas. Taking routine walks outside after eating and keeping moving every fifty minutes of the day is also essential to the energy and health of a Kapha. Eating smaller portions of foods at the same times each day, refraining from taking naps, and keeping their daytime hours within their schedule relatively full to keep them from planting their roots and wanting to stay sedentary is also a great idea.

Healthy practices for all doshas include creating a consistent daily routine that starts with tongue scraping after brushing your teeth to remove the toxins built up over the night. Then, after you get dressed, doing a series of yogic stretches, maybe a short yoga practice, followed by a cup of tea before you eat anything, and a walk in the morning after breakfast, then after lunch and dinner helps to keep your digestive system and circadian rhythm on track. Then, before you got to bed, having another cup of tea to settle your stomach for the night and then tongue scraping again after you brush your teeth are a few great and life-changing practices to make into habits. Oil massaging your body with coconut, sesame, or almond oils and then afterward, dry brushing the dead skin cells off your body once or twice a week is also a great ayurvedic remedy to help hydrate your skin and keep it healthy.

Were you able to relate to any of the doshas and some of their imbalances? Did some of the remedies and suggestions to help create more of a balance make sense to you? I’m a Pitta body type with a Vata mind, and ever since I discovered Ayurveda about three years ago now, my life has changed for the better. I’m eating healthier than ever, I don’t remember the last time I was sick or had digestive issues, and boy, I’ve never felt more energetic, beautiful, and alive.

Although this is only just a brief introduction to the magic and healing that Ayurveda provides, I hope it’s inspired you to check it out for yourself if you’re looking for a natural way to heal your body and your mind.