Vata, pitta and kapha: the three doshas

Spend a week in Kerala and somebody will ask what your dosha is. It is usually meant kindly and it is usually a prelude to being sold an oil.

The concept is worth knowing properly, because it is genuinely useful and because the popular version of it — a personality quiz with three outcomes — is a thin shadow of the real thing.

The idea underneath

Ayurveda begins with five elements: space, air, fire, water and earth. They combine into three functional principles, the doshas, and these describe not what you are made of but how things behave in you.

• Vata — space and air — governs movement.
• Pitta — fire and water — governs transformation.
• Kapha — water and earth — governs structure and cohesion.

Everyone has all three. Your particular proportion is called prakriti, your constitution, and it is considered fixed from birth. What changes day to day is vikriti, your current state, and that is what Ayurveda actually works on.

This shares its logic with the three gunas in yoga philosophy — a system of qualities rather than substances — and the two traditions grew up alongside each other.

Vata: air and space

Qualities: light, dry, cold, rough, mobile, subtle.

Vata governs everything that moves: breath, circulation, nerve impulses, elimination, and the movement of thought. When it is balanced there is energy, quickness, creativity and enthusiasm.

When it is aggravated — and it is the dosha most easily disturbed — you get dryness, cold hands and feet, irregular digestion and constipation, broken sleep, restlessness, and a mind that will not stop. Travel, irregular meals, cold weather and too much stimulation all increase it. A long-haul flight is close to a vata-aggravating machine, which is one reason arriving in India leaves people so scattered.

Settled by: warmth, oil, routine, heavier cooked food, early nights, slow practice.

Pitta: fire and water

Qualities: hot, sharp, light, oily, spreading.

Pitta governs transformation: digestion, metabolism, body temperature, and the digestion of ideas. Balanced, it gives strong appetite, clear thinking, sharp intelligence and the ability to get things done.

Aggravated, it shows up as heat — acidity and heartburn, skin rashes, inflammation — and as irritability, impatience, sharpness with other people and perfectionism. Hot weather, spicy and sour food, missed meals, alcohol and competitive pressure all raise it. Kerala in April raises it in almost everybody.

Settled by: cooling, sweetness, shade, moderation, and not practising in the hottest part of the day. This is why a 7:30 am or 3:30 pm class makes sense here and a midday one would not.

Kapha: water and earth

Qualities: heavy, slow, cool, oily, smooth, stable, dense.

Kapha gives structure, lubrication, immunity and endurance. Balanced, it produces steadiness, patience, physical strength, calm and loyalty — the person who is still there when everyone else has got bored.

Aggravated, it becomes heaviness: sluggishness in the morning, weight gain, congestion and mucus, fluid retention, and mentally a kind of stuckness or reluctance to change. Heavy sweet food, dairy, daytime sleeping, damp weather and inactivity all increase it. The monsoon is a kapha season.

Settled by: stimulation, warmth, dryness, lighter food, early rising, and vigorous practice.

Which one am I?

Almost nobody is one dosha. Most people are a blend with one or two more prominent — vata-pitta, pitta-kapha, and so on. A genuine assessment of constitution is made by a practitioner over time, including pulse reading, and an online quiz will at best tell you what is bothering you this month.

That is not useless. What is bothering you this month is exactly what Ayurveda wants to address.

Balance, not type

The single most useful principle in the whole system: like increases like, and opposites bring balance.

If you feel dry, cold and scattered — vata qualities — the remedy is not "vata food" in the abstract. It is warmth, oil, weight and regularity. If you are hot and irritable, you want cooling and slowing, whatever your constitution. Heavy and congested, you want light, warm and stimulating.

You do not need a diagnosis to apply that. You need to notice which qualities are currently too much.

What it means for practice

This is where the doshas earn their place for a yoga student, because it explains why one practice suits one person and not another.

• Vata high: slow, grounding, warm. Steady holds, forward bends, plenty of floor work, a long relaxation. Same time every day. Avoid fast, cold, erratic practice — and avoid dropping the relaxation, which is what a scattered person always wants to do.
• Pitta high: moderate, cooling, non-competitive. Practise in the cool part of the day, avoid heated classes, and resist measuring today against yesterday. Cooling breaths such as sitali suit this well.
• Kapha high: warming and vigorous. More sun salutations, standing postures, backbends, and a genuinely early start. The hardest part is beginning, so make beginning easy.

A good teacher does much of this by eye without naming it — offering one student a longer hold and another a lighter version, in the same room. It is easier to do in a small class.

Being careful with it

Two honest cautions.

First, Ayurveda is a traditional medical system with a long history, not a proven substitute for medical treatment. Some herbal preparations interact with medication and a few have been found to contain heavy metals. If you are taking medicine, are pregnant, or have a diagnosed condition, talk to your doctor before starting treatments or supplements.

Second, treat dosha language lightly when it comes to people. It is a useful description of tendencies, not a personality verdict, and "that is just my pitta" is a poor excuse for being short with someone.

Used as it was meant to be — as a way of noticing which qualities are running high and gently applying the opposite — it is one of the more practical inheritances Kerala has. There is more on how the two traditions sit together in Ayurveda and yoga in Kerala, and the daily application of all this is dinacharya, the Ayurvedic daily routine.

Common questions

What are the three doshas in Ayurveda?

Vata (space and air, governing movement), pitta (fire and water, governing transformation and digestion) and kapha (water and earth, governing structure and stability). Everyone has all three in a personal proportion.

How do I know which dosha I am?

Most people are a blend, with one or two more prominent. A real assessment of constitution is made by a practitioner over time. An online quiz mostly reflects what is out of balance right now, which is still useful information.

Can your dosha change?

Your constitution from birth, prakriti, is considered fixed. Your current state, vikriti, changes constantly with season, food, sleep, travel and stress — and that is what Ayurveda actually works on.

Is Ayurveda safe?

Its dietary and lifestyle guidance is generally sensible. Be more careful with herbal preparations and supplements: some interact with medication and a few have been found to contain heavy metals. Speak to your doctor first if you take medicine, are pregnant or have a diagnosed condition.