In This Chapter
A look at the qualities of each Dosha Assessing which attributes relate to you
Balancing Doshic qualities with your diet and lifestyle Evaluating how your choices affect your body
Addressing the underlying causes of your imbalances
Now that you’ve read Chapter 4 and have an understanding of the Doshas and which relate to you, let’s dive further into each of their qualities.
Each Dosha has various attributes that associate with mental and physical traits.
In this chapter, I break down these characteristics and then ask you a series of questions so you can see which relate to you. You may connect to qualities of more than one Dosha because they often overlap. For example, water is present in both Pitta and Kapha, so both have oily characteristics.
Keep in mind that you are not stuck with the qualities you were born with. The choices you make influence the way you are today, including your weight, skin, hair, digestion, and energy levels. After assessing what qualities you have, I give you more questions to help you determine how your dietary and lifestyle choices affect these characteristics. Are you ready to dive in?
Understanding the Doshas as Qualities
To really get a grasp of the Doshas, you must first understand them as elements.
As mentioned in Chapter 4, the Doshas are made of the five elements—air, ether (space) fire, earth, and water. Here’s how each are aligned:
Vata = air + ether Pitta = fire + water Kapha = earth + water
You were born with a certain amount of each element, but they change
throughout your life due to the season, your diet, your stress level, your exercise habit, your emotional state, and a host of other factors.
Remember, Vatas have more airy, dry, and moving characteristics like dry skin, bloating, constipation, creative personalities, and desire to move. Pittas have more fiery, oily characteristics, including strong appetites and digestions, heartburn, loose stools, oily skin, strong personalities, and desire to achieve.
Kaphas have more earthy, grounded characteristics such as a tendency toward weight gain, thick hair, sedentary bodies, and moist skin.
These are overall guidelines about what someone of only one Dosha is like.
However, we are all a combination of the three Doshas, and our imbalances actually relate to specific qualities within each.
Each Dosha has a series of attributes, such as coldness, oiliness, or heaviness.
Let’s look at what each of these attributes are and what they mean for you. Then I ask you some questions so you can gauge your own.
Vata Attributes
Attribute Manifestations in the Body
Attribute Manifestations in the Body
Dry Dry skin, hair, lips, tongue; dry colon, tendency
toward constipation; hoarse voice
Light Light body frame, muscles, bones; scanty sleep
Cold Cold hands, feet; poor circulation, hates cold
and loves hot weather; body stiffness; menstrual irregularities
Rough Rough bumps on skin, callused feet; cracked
nails; rough hair; cracking joints
Subtle Subtle twitching; delicate features; anxiety;
muscle tremors
Mobile Mobile, flexible bodies; quick-moving, fast
walker and talker; multitasker, constantly moving; moving eyes; many dreams, often about fleeing or flying; loves travel, can’t stay in one place for too long; mood swings,
uncertainty, changes mind easily
Clear Intuitive, clear and open mind, philosophical,
needs space to think
Astringent Dryness in throat; burps, gets hiccups easily;
loves moist and mushy food; craves sweet, sour, and salty food
Which relate to you?
Vata
Pitta Attributes
Attribute Manifestations in the Body
Hot Strong digestive fire and appetite; high body
temperature; doesn’t do well in heat and humidity; goes gray/loses hair early; acne;
inflammation
Sharp Sharp mind, teeth, jaw line; penetrating gaze,
pointed nose, tapering chin; sharp memory, can
recall facts well
Light Sensitive to bright light; fair skin, light-colored
eyes; agile body
Oily Oily skin, tendency toward acne; oily hair; oily
stool; digestion and hair made worse by deep-fried or oily foods, including nuts
Liquid Tendency toward loose stools; excess sweat,
thirst, and urination
Spreading Acne, rashes, and inflammation spread around
the body; desire to spread their name around the world
Sour Sour stomach acid, acidic pH; sensitive teeth
and skin; excess salivation
Bitter Bitter taste in mouth; nauseated, vomits easily;
bitter personality, cynical
Pungent Heartburn, burning sensation in stomach and
mouth; irritability, anger
Putrid Foul-smelling odor in underarms, mouth, and
feet
Which relate to you?
Pitta
Kapha Attributes
Attribute Manifestations in the Body
Heavy Heavy feeling in body, bigger boned, tendency
to become overweight, sedentary; heaviness in heart
Slow Walks and talks slowly; slow digestion and
metabolism; slow to initiate change
Cool Cold body temperature; gets colds easily; cold
digestive fire leading to slow metabolism; head colds
Oily
Tendency toward oily skin, hair, and stool; well-lubricated joints
Damp Clammy hands; congestion in chest, sinuses,
throat; headaches
Smooth Smooth skin and hair; smooth bowels; calm
nature; smooth voice
Dense Dense bodies, padding of fat around midsection,
thick and dense legs; thick skin, hair, nails, and stool
Soft Soft features, big eyes, soft skin and hair;
compassionate, loving, gentle
Static Sedentary, loves to sleep, sits many hours a day,
habitual
Sticky Loyal, loves to hug, attached; firm joints and
organs; sticky stools
Cloudy Often has cloudy mind, unable to think until
after morning caffeine
Sweet Craving for sweets; sweet personality; highly
fertile, strong desire for sex and procreation
Salty Retains water; long-standing energy; grows
quickly; may crave salty foods
Which relate to you?
Kapha