CREATIVE & ENERGETIC
Elements air (vayu) + ether (akash)
Qualities dry, light, cold, mobile, rough
Season fall thru mid-winter
Nature wind
Main Location colon
Vata is referred to as the ‘king of the doshas’ because it is responsible for every movement in the body. Without vata, pitta and kapha cannot move. Eyes blinking, heart beating, talking with your hands, jumping, circulation, elimination, are all because of vata.
Since vata people are made of air and ether, they don’t have a lot holding them together. They will quickly go out of balance and quickly come back into balance – think of the wind. Vatas tend to get cold easily and are prone to dry skin due to the dry, cold and rough qualities.
Vata personality. You can pick out who has vata as their dominant dosha because they tend to talk a lot, move a lot, and worry a lot. They are creative worriers and usually have twelve million things going on at one time. Their mind is constantly going and they have a very hard time sitting still. This is due to the movement quality of Vata/wind – mind and body are zipping everywhere often times finding it hard to find peace and grounding within themselves. Because vatas have such creative energy, they make good teachers, artists, actors, and professional speakers. And believe you me, vatas like to talk! And wiggle. And complain. Because something usually hurts, including their brain. They also forget things, tend to be late and change their mind all the time. Balanced vatas are contagiously energetic and are the people you might say, “light up the room.”
Vata body. Vatas tend to be slender and can be tall or short. Bones are prominent, their hair is dry and usually curly. Face is oval in shape and eyes are small with teeny lashes. Fingers are long and nails are brittle with a tendency to split. Dry and thin skinned, vatas are easily browned by the sun.
Vatas need grounding. Vatas like to run around (mentally and physically), so one of the best things they can do for themselves is to slow down – or even stop. Meditation, yoga practice, and pranayama are all wonderful for bringing some grounding and nourishment to vata. Remember, vatas are air and ether so they need grounding to keep them from flying away. Nutritionally, vatas can do this by adding oils (ghee!), fully cooked vegetables, milk, and grains to their diet. Vatas need to keep warm and oiled. In the day-to-day, having a solid reliable schedule is best to ease and ground their fluttery mind. They love the sun and warm, humid weather. Steam rooms are great too.
Vata digestion. Vata appetite is erratic and vata digestion is usually sluggish. Yep, constipation. To help vata digestion, they need oleation (ghee!) and warm foods. Oils & sauces lubricate the body to counterbalance the rough & dry qualities in vata and warm foods will help balance the cold qualities.
25 responses so far ↓
1 BeeW // Feb 25, 2009 at 10:53 am
This is me ! With one point shy of being equal part Pitta. :) Makes sense!!!!
2 Monica // Feb 25, 2009 at 8:39 pm
Yes!! Makes total sense! You and I are same Vata/Pitta :) :) Thanks for signing up. I thought you’d dig it.
3 JP // Apr 3, 2009 at 5:56 am
Hi, I am 99% vata person..Often I am getting throat probelms, is it because of vata imbalance ? Is there any QUICK remedy for this once we get this problem ? Thanks
4 Monica // Apr 4, 2009 at 11:27 am
Hi! Hm, not sure. It would depend what kind of throat problems you have. The problem could be vata, but could also be either of the other two doshas. For example, mucus points to kapha, burning points to pitta and dryness points to vata. So depending on the problem and the person, the treatment will be different. Send me an email and maybe we can go into a little more detail. Thanks for asking!!
5 Karen // Sep 8, 2010 at 12:42 pm
Hi Monika
I am told by a Herbalist I am very vata.
I live in damp rainy Ireland and I moved near the mountains 3 months ago and got job that involves taking the bus for 50mins both ways. I only work 5 hours a day but I am so tired and feel motion sickness and stressed after travel. I will work on my routine and I eat very healthy and take lots of superfoods and green juices and soups. I feel so tired. Taking valerian and magnesuim has helped and I sleep better but my mind is always switched on. I do practice yoga and walk in the country. The travel just floors me. Any ideas thanks
6 Vickie // Sep 15, 2010 at 12:18 pm
So true for me on so many levels emotionally. I talk a lot, worry obsessively, sleep poorly, complain. I do not have a classic Vata body though. I am short and very pear shaped even before I developed an ED and gained an enormous amount of weight. I have small hands, so short fingers, but I do have very dry skin, and as for hurting. That is my middle name.
The kitchiri is lovely, I am already enjoying my healing process thru Ayurveda and the gentle spirit of Monica.
V. xx
7 Monica // Sep 15, 2010 at 2:23 pm
:) xoxo, V.
8 sumira // Oct 20, 2010 at 6:13 am
oh god i feel as if we have met before the way u are talking about vata dosha thank u so much i am always suffering from cough may be because of this any solution
9 Monica // Oct 21, 2010 at 10:18 am
If your cough is dry (vata), be sure to have healthy fats (balances vata) like oils, avocado, nuts, ghee in your diet. Also try sipping ginger tea every day in the morning. A combo of these should help a dry cough.
10 Raj from Palladio International Campus -connected to Delacorte! // Dec 2, 2010 at 12:28 pm
Ayurvedic guidance requested as comments for this site.
11 Eat your (healthy) fats!!! | Barbara Sinclair Holistic Health // Jan 7, 2011 at 1:40 pm
[...] along with protein and carbohydrates to properly assimilate nutrients. For certain body types like Vatas, healthy fats are extremely important, internally and externally, especially in fall and winter [...]
12 Jules // Mar 17, 2011 at 1:46 am
Hey Monica!
I LOVE your site, so glad I stumbled upon it! I am also vata-pitta, and am having issues with what I am assuming means both of my doshas are out of balance. My skin is very dry, my joints are cracking and achy, but my skin is also breaking out in acne and I feel like I’m getting over heated…..what would you recommend doing? Should I try to get my vata or pitta under control first?
13 Monica // Mar 17, 2011 at 10:10 pm
Hey Jules! Thanks so much for stumbling upon my site! I love that you’re here!! :) So for both vata-pitta problems (and without me knowing toooo much detail about you) I would say to favor the “sweet” taste. And that is in a nutshell, carbs. Have rice, pasta, oatmeal, bread, and any other healthy grains. Enjoy plenty of fruits and make sure to include healthy fats like avocado, nuts (almonds, walnuts), ghee (!!), and oils in the diet. Also to calm pitta and pacify vata, milk in the diet helps also. With all of these, you will be balancing BOTH vata and pitta. Soooo…that’s my short diagnosis. I hope this helps!!
14 Jules // Apr 7, 2011 at 1:07 am
Oh….HERE’S where I posted this comment! I couldn’t remember which topic it was under! THANK YOU so much for you kind and thoughtful response, I truly love your site…..keep up the great work!!!!
xo
15 susan // Jun 6, 2011 at 12:34 pm
Hi Monica,
I am a very Vata person, but find that in order to fit in to the adult working world I have become accustomed to fighting my Vata insticts to try and appear more Kapha, even when not at work. this seems to have led to weight gain, and anxiety. Should I still be making an effort to soothe my Vata self or my Kapha symptoms?
16 Monica // Jun 6, 2011 at 9:41 pm
Hi Susan! Hmmm…so the goal is not to fight your vata self, the goal is to embrace & balance it. By balancing, that doesn’t mean that you try to become another dosha :) The truth is, you can’t become another dosha if it’s not in your nature…as you’ve found out, you just end up imbalanced as another dosha. Don’t worry. If you feel more kapha now, you will want to balance the kapha to get back to your original self. HOWEVER, anxiety is a vata trait, not a kapha trait. So I wonder in which places you are kapha imbalanced and vata imbalanced. I know, it can be really confusing.
Here’s my suggestion. Do routine (daily!) exercise (even walking is great) for your kapha self. Have a vata diet, but watch your portions and eat less if you feel you are eating too much. Also, do a little (daily!) so hum or nadi shodhanam to calm your mind (good for all doshas and anxiety). I hope this helps and thanks for your question!! xoxo, MonicaB
17 HereIam // Jul 29, 2011 at 11:43 am
Namastay Monica,
I am vata person since colon is the place of vata, is there something in ayurveda which emphasize on colon health. or some tips to keep colon healthy. Recently I have been facing many colon related problems like constipation , pencil thin stools.
18 Monica // Jul 31, 2011 at 11:41 am
Namaste Herelam and thank you for your question.
You are correct that the colon is the place that vata rules over. There are several things you can do, mainly follow a vata balancing diet and make sure to have enough oils and liquid in your food. Anything too dry, cold or light will attribute to constipation. May I answer your question so that other people can see the answer too? I will expand on it because I know you are not the only person to ask. Also please see these posts, it might help. I’ll answer your question more in depth too.
http://heymonicab.com/2010/11/toots_about_fiber/
http://heymonicab.com/2009/07/all-about-poop/
19 deb // Oct 4, 2011 at 4:14 am
I am now 58 yrs. old with many, many more life experiences and health challenges than in my 30′s. I have a definite vata dosha now but if I had taken the quiz in my 30′s the results would have been different. Does a person’s dosh change generationally?
20 Arti // Oct 4, 2011 at 3:09 pm
OMG this is soooo meee … to think i smiled when i saw CONSTIPATION hehe
21 Monica // Oct 13, 2011 at 9:21 am
Hi Deb!
This note disappeared into my little list, I’m so sorry for the late response! This is a great question. A person’s prakruti (natural balance of doshas) never changes. It’s innate from the time of conception. BUT what does change in our life are…seasons, jobs, relationships, food, habits, traumas, emotions, etc., All these things can alter our doshas and that is where we get imbalanced. So it is safe to say that if you maintain your prakruti throughout life, you do not have any imbalances or health issues – that is perfect health. So in Ayurveda, we need to figure out your prakruti first, to understand where you started and who you are naturally. Then we examine where you are today and in how you’ve shifted from your natural state. THEN we begin to advise food, lifestyle, herbs, treatment, etc., to try and get you back to where you started. So! While your doshas are the same as when you were in your 30s, you have added many more life changes which could sway your doshas from your natural state. Does that help?
22 uma // Nov 28, 2011 at 6:33 am
hi , im living in dubai. 2 months before i came here, im having a very very dry skin on face, my face looks always dull, i dint have a livelyness in my face. especially during the winter seasons im getting more dry. while i entering to the fully air conditiond mall, or train my eyes get turned to more red colr, pl help me …. is possible dry skin people can get milky shinny skin……
23 Andrea // Mar 23, 2012 at 9:38 am
Hello Monica,
I just found this site! Thank you for doing this. I’m a VATA, and amongst other problems I have been experiencing very, very loose stools on some days and large whole stools on others with a brownish-tan substance; not quite oily, but will surround the stools. I also have very bad lower back pain. What’s up?
24 milly // Apr 28, 2012 at 4:41 am
Hi Monica, thanks for your site. I;ve done a few dosha tests and have been vata dominant but also pitta. I’m in my mid twenties and have not gained weight since i was approx in my mid teens. In fact I may have lost weight. Im not sure how to maintain health in my liver and spleen as I have had troubles. I will try a vata diet, thank you, do you have any other suggestions or things i should really focus on? Thank you for your time.
25 Monica // May 1, 2012 at 9:47 am
Hi Milly! Yes, try the vata diet and see if that helps. Remember to have foods with nice warm oils incorporated into them. Ghee, olive oil, flax seed oil, are all really helpful for vata types. And no raw veggies or cold foods/drinks. Try that and see what happens :)
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