Know your a, b, c’s

So we now know that Ayurveda teaches that the world is made up of 5 building blocks, earth, water, fire, air and ether. These elements combine to create 3 mind-body types, called doshas:

Air & ether combined form Vata dosha 💨

Water & earth form Kapha dosha 🌳

Fire & water form Pitta dosha 🔥

There’s so much clever information I could give you about how the doshas are formed, what they are and what they mean, which I will in good time, but being limited by the size of a post, let’s just get to the fun part for today. Here is a short test to assess what your body-mind type is. Meet you at the end of it.

a) Are you either very tall or short and thin?

b) Are you of medium height?

c) Are you solid and quite big?

 

a) Is your silhouette light and narrow?

b) Are you of medium musculature?

c) Is your silhouette large and broad?

 

a) Are you slim and find it difficult to put weight?

b) Are you of medium weight?

c) Do you gain weight easily?

 

a) Do you often suffer from dry, brittle skin?

b) Is your skin soft and fairly warm?

c) Is your skin moist and cool?

 

a) Do you have a dark complexion?

b) Is your complexion fair and pink?

c) Is your complexion pale?

 

a) Do you have an average amount of hair?

b) Do you have soft fine hair, fair or red?

c) Is your hair thick, lustrous and brown?

 

a) Do you have small, narrow or sunken eyes ? Dark or grey?

b) Are your eyes an average size? Blue, hazel or green?

c) Do you have big, prominent eyes? Blue or brown?

 

a) Do you have low stamina?

b) Do you usually have good stamina and strength?

c) Do you move steadily but slowly, have good endurance?

 

a) Are you happier in a warm climate than in a cold environment?

b) Do you prefer to be in a cool spot than anywhere hot?

c) Are you cooler than most even if carrying extra weight?

 

a) Do you suffer from constipation more often than not?

b) Do you often have loose stools?

c) Do you have normal bowel movement?

 

a) Are you restless with lots of ideas buzzing?

b) Are you precise and logical?

c) Are you logical and stable?

 

a) Do you speak quickly? In a low tone, weak or quavering voice?

b) Do you talk with conviction and precisely?

c) Do you speak slowly?

 

a) Do you struggle to fall asleep at night and sometimes suffer sleepless nights?

b) Do you fall asleep quickly but wake early, or in the night?

c) Are you a big sleeper, lying in bed late into the morning?

 

a) Do you become anxious or worried frequently?

b) Are you impatient, easily irritable and prone to bouts of anger?

c) Are you generally sweet-natured, serene and affectionate?

 

Mostly a’s – you’re a Vata dosha 💨

Vata qualities are primarily cold, moving/movement, quick, dry and rough. Slight in build with dry skin and a tendency to feel cold and get tired easily. Your energy comes in bursts. You  have a very quick, restless, imaginative mind. You are easily excitable, active, curious, impulsive, adaptable and have good short-time memory but don’t retain information for long periods. You love speed, excitement and change, you’re the enemy of routine which of course would give you some needed grounding. Your speech is fast and chaotic or uninterrupted. You are prone to fearfulness and insecurity. In balance you are happy, enthusiastic and energetic.

Mostly b’s – you’re a Pitta dosha 🔥

Pitta qualities are primarily hot, sharp, moist, sour. Medium built and muscular with easily recognisable features such as pale/pink skin, blond/blue eyes, or red/sandy hair. You like sport and competition. Intelligent, determined, courageous and passionate you can be a bit forceful, aggressive, jealous and irritable. You have very strong digestion and will feel ravenous if you miss a meal. You will tend to feel hot and have warm hands and feet. You are articulate with strong opinions and sometimes critical or sarcastic. You love a challenge that you will meet head-on. In balance you are sweet, joyous, confident and brave.

Mostly c’s – you’re a Kapha dosha 🌳

Kapha qualities are primarily heavy, sweet, steady, soft and slow. Of a larger built you gain weight easily and find it difficult to lose it. You tend to have cool pale oily skin. You are strong, powerful and also attractive, charming even. Your pace is slow but steady and secure. You go about life in a calm, relaxed manner. You must be careful not to fall into lethargy, greed, attachment or depression . Your speech is slow and melodious. You have excellent stamina and rarely feel fatigued. Your energy will last you into the night. You love storing, possessions, energy, food. You’re a slow learner but have very good retention and will master your subject. In balance you are affectionate, tolerant, compassionate and forgiving, motherly would be a good description. You’re a nurturer if there is such a word.

Gave you any insight? Note that the human constitution or Prakriti is made of all three doshas, each person with different degrees of each dosha. You can find more elaborate tests on the net. Those that are thorough will offer to test your physical and mind types separately because although we are one “ecosystem” the mind and body can have different tendencies. Most people will have one predominant dosha, some will have two predominant doshas and very rarely someone will have all three doshas in equal proportion.  If you’re unsure, visit an Ayurvedic practitioner and (s)he should be able to read your dosha by taking your pulse.

Once you know your dosha, your true nature, the next step is to assess wether you are in balance (your Prakriti state) or have aggravated dosha energy (your Vikruti state) in which case you will want to follow an Ayurvedic daily regimen of nurturing rituals to bring the doshas back into their “seat”. You’ll also know what diet will truly nourish you personally, what exercise will strengthen you or on the other end make you hyper, or not challenge you enough. You’ll have a very good idea how to care for yourself and what treatments will work for you specifically, which is genius if you ask me. More next time…