Ayurveda Basics: The Three Doshas

To begin changing your life with Ayurveda, grab a copy of my book In Your Elements on Amazon!

According to Ayurveda, all that exist in the Universe (and planet earth, down to our teeniest cells) are 5 things: space, air, fire, water, earth.

As those 5 things combine in a gazillion different ways, we end up with mountains and dining room tables (lots of earth element), oceans and cups of tea, (lots of water element), bon fires and candles (fire, duh), and wind (our breath!) as a few examples. So these 5 elements combine to create our material world.

Therefore nature is part of us and we are part of it. In Ayurveda, this is the principle of macrocosm and microcosm: the large nature (great universe!) and the tiniest nature (our cells) are made of the same things!

So let's go a little further.

At conception we were created with a unique blend of the 5 great elements (space, air, fire, water, earth).

That unique blend is called our, prakruti, or our individual balance of doshas. Nobody else has the same balance we do! Have you ever known anyone to be completely identical as someone else? Nope. Not even identical twins because there subtle are variations. This is a CORE principle of Ayurveda — we are all unique.

Our prakruti is a combination of the three doshas. And the doshas are created from the 5 great elements.

Vata is the energy of movement, made of space + air
Pitta is the energy of transformation, made of fire + water
Kapha is the energy of lubrication and structure, made of water + earth

In a nutshell, disease happens when the doshas go out of harmony in our bodies.

So you will want to find out whether you are vata, pitta, kapha or any combination of the three. Once you know your dosha, you can make decisions accordingly to keep your body, mind, and spirit balanced and healthy. Find out your prakruti and take the dosha test here!

So many aspects of our life are customized to our dosha including: diet, digestion, exercise, skincare, stress management, seasonal balance/remedies, emotional and mental tendencies. The more knowledge we have of ourselves, the more we can use these customizations for disease prevention and cures. And that is the tippy tippy top of the Ayurvedic iceberg :)

There's much more to learn and I'm glad to have you here. Keep exploring and learning as we bring Ayurveda to life!
xo!
Monica B.

Want to know more about the doshas? Get the 3-page summary with these Dosha Snapshots.