Ayurveda

What is Ayurveda?

Ayurveda is an ancient system of health care that has been practiced for thousands of years in India, Nepal and Sri Lanka. It has now become popular even in the western countries. Ayurveda is about healing and balancing the body, mind and spirit. It includes different physical and mental exercises such as Yoga. Ayurveda puts also great focus on the Ayurvedic Diet.
The central concept of Ayurvedic medicine is the three Doshas: Vata, Pitta and Kapha. Health exists when there is a balance between these three Doshas.

• Vata = Impulse – Mobilizes the nervous system
• Pitta = Energy – Directs digestion and metabolism into the venous system
• Kapha = Body fluid – Carrier of nutrients into our arterial system

Ayurveda – The Three Doshas

Every person has all three Doshas within themselves but one is more dominant at different times in our life. Different illnesses occur when there is an imbalance in the Doshas. According to the Ayurvedic philosophy, to bring balance to the Doshas it is important to eat the right kind of foods and to do certain types of exercises depending on which Dosha that is the most dominant.

For example, if your Doshas are in perfect balance you will not have to think about matters such as losing weight because your body will adapt naturally. You will not have the urge to eat excessively or unhealthy because you will automatically listen to your body. Your body will naturally prefer healthy food and this is important if you want to lose weight. Many health problems may also disappear when your Doshas are in perfect balance, including premenstrual syndrome (PMS).

How to Balance the Three Doshas

In Ayurveda, it is believed that the six tastes: sweet, sour, salty, pungent, bitter and astringent affect the balance in your body. In order to have a healthy and balanced body, each Dosha type (Vata, Pitta, Kapha) should include and exclude some of these six tastes in their diet. Furthermore, Ayurveda also considers if the food is oily, heavy, warm, dry, cold, or light, in order to balance the body.

According to Ayurveda, there are some general guidelines for all three Doshas that need to be considered. They are:

• Don’t eat cold food! You should not eat food directly from the fridge and you should not drink ice cold drinks.
• Be present while eating
• Don’t eat snacks between meals
• Chew your food properly

Besides a proper diet that suits your Dosha, it’s also important to do certain physical and mental exercises. For example, a Vata person needs to relax their mind. They would also benefit from meditation and Yoga exercises, whereas a Pita person tends to be very competitive and would be better off with a more playful attitude when exercising. American football or other team sports are great for a Pitta person. A Kapha person needs to stay more physical active compared to the other Doshas, and would benefit from tougher sports that requires endurance, such as long distant running.

Ayurveda – What’s Your Dosha?

Ayurveda believes that you can stay healthy by eating and exercising in a certain way that is recommended for your Dosha. The key is to find out your Dosha. Then you learn what to eat and what types of exercises that are best suited for you. What’s good for one person doesn’t mean that it’s good for the other person. By balancing your Doshas, your body and mind will become healthier and you will feel much better.

With this overall health improvement, it’s even possible for an automatic loss of excessive weight. According to the Ayurvedic science, overweight depends on your dominant Dosha. This means that if you know your dominant Dosha, you will know how to balance your body and lose weight automatically. Ayurveda can also help in easing symptoms of premenstrual syndrome (PMS).

Which Dosha is predominant within you? If you don’t know the answer, take the Dosha Test now!