Ayurveda & Natural Health - What's My Mind & Body Type?

Using a natural health approach to healing can be a maze of confusion for a lot of people. There's a lot of information "out there".

Ayurvedic medicine can be very helpful for healing chronic health problems, all you need is a little bit of knowledge and guidance.

The first step is to determine your constitution, or "dosha" as it is called. Every one has a predominant type. They are called: Vata, Pitta, and Kapha.

Summer is the time when people who are primarily Pitta in their nature may find themselves out of balance with ailments or illnesses that are the result of too much heat in the body.

When this happens you will find yourself heading into fall and winter with more imbalances as the heat intensifies and aggravates the dryness of winter.

12 QUALITIES OF PITTA

~ HOT Good Digestive fire, strong appetite, body temperature tends to be higher than normal, hates heat, gray hair with receding hairline or baldness, soft brown hair

~SHARP Sharp teeth, distinct eyes, pointed nose, tapering chin, heart-shaped face, good absorption and digestion, sharp memory, and understanding, irritable.

~LIGHT Light to medium body frame, does not tolerate bright light, fair, shiny skin, bright eyes.

~OILY Soft oily skin, hair, does not like deep fried foods, (which may cause headaches)

~LIQUID Loose liquid stools, soft delicate muscles, excess sweat, urine, and thirst.

~SPREADING Pitta spreads as rash, acne, inflammation, all over the body or on affected areas, pitta types want to spread their name/fame.

~SOUR Sour acid stomach, acidic pH, sensitive teeth, excess salivation.

~BITTER Bitter taste in mouth, nausea, vomiting, repulsion toward bitter and cynical behavior.

~PUNGENT Heartburn, burning sensations in general, strong feelings of anger and hate.

~FLESHY Tending towards good old "smelly feet", socks, body odor.

~RED Red flushed skin, eyes, cheeks, and nose,

~YELLOW Yellow eyes, skin, urine, may tend to over production of bile and those types of disorders.

Again, these just give you a general idea of how these qualities may show up in the body. Any of them starting to sound familiar? Are you starting to put the pieces together?

If you see some of your more common characteristics on this list you can be certain that you have a fair amount of Pitta as your predominant constitution. If you are experiencing any of these "negative" qualities there is an imbalance. The main healing principle in Ayurveda is "like attracts like". If there is too much heat in the body you must apply cooling principles to draw the heat out and return to balance. This can be done with food, diet, and herbs .