One of the most fundamental concepts of Ayurveda is that of the Three Doshas. Understanding the nature of the Three Doshas is an essential part of discovering one’s unique makeup of physical, mental, and emotional tendencies. By understanding the functions of these life-maintaining elements at play within and around us, we can learn how to use these tendencies to our advantage.
A dosha is a force within us that strives to maintain health and bodily organization. The Three Doshas work together to support the many systems of the body and see that everything is flowing in its proper way, in the correct amount and in the right timing, according to the individual. A dosha will act as a buffer between the constantly changing external environment and our internal environment, so that our bodies and minds can remain relatively stable and functional as we move about the world. A dosha will be the first bodily process to get vitiated, should imbalance occur, in an attempt to protect the deeper tissues and organs. This is why we usually feel a subtle feeling of “not feeling right” before we get sick. Our doshas are asking us to pay attention.
The Three Doshas express themselves as Vata (wind), Pitta (fire) and Kapha (water). Each dosha has specific and vital roles to maintain within us, and we need a healthy balance of each one in order to be healthy.
Vata, made of the elements Air and Ether, is responsible for all kinetic energy, and controls all bodily movements. Vata maintains everything that can move in the body, including the entire nervous, digestive, and reproductive systems.
Pitta, containing the elements Fire and Water, is responsible for all transformational processes. The functions of transforming food into energy, thought into understanding, and desire into action are all controlled by Pitta.
Kapha, composed of the elements Water and Earth, is responsible for stability and lubrication. The strength of our muscles, the stability of our bones, the regularity of our systems, and the softness of our hearts and minds are all nurtured by Kapha. Every individual has a unique ratio of these Three Doshas, called Prakruti. Understanding one’s Prakruti, or constitution, is the fundamental first step to achieving health. One’s personal constitution was established at conception and cannot be changed. It is the way one’s entire being expresses itself, through preference in taste and activity; mental and emotional strengths and challenges; habits, and proneness to certain disease and illness.
We can see the doshas expressing themselves when we look at the millions of ways that people can vary from one another, as well as share similarities. Why is it that some people can eat almost anything without any digestive troubles (pitta), and someone else will be sensitive to the foods they eat (vata)? Why can one person work out and eat right and still remain overweight (kapha), while another person can eat seven meals a day and remain stick thin (vata)? Why does someone have a good memory (kapha) and another person has a poor one (vata)? Why, in children who share the same birth parents, can there be tremendous differences in physical, mental, and emotional tendencies? Why is one person hyper-active, another is driven, and another, lazy?
The answer lies in the doshas, and the individual's Prakruti.
We can also see the same phenomenon in nature. While one flower needs a moist and stable environment, another flower can thrive in dry and barren place. One bird prefers the frigid temperatures of Arctic, another lives in the sweltering heat of the jungle. There are countless examples of doshas expressing themselves both in humans and the rest of the natural world.
Copyright 2008 Candice May.