How to Use Ayurveda to Balance Your Mind, Body, and Spirit for Optimal Well-Being
Updated: Sep 29, 2021
From time to time we all experience an imbalance in our lives - be it physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual. But, for millions of people around the world, chronic mind-body-spirit imbalance is the norm.
If you’re among the millions, I want you to know two things:
You’re not alone
Ayurveda can help
Ayurveda is an ancient whole-body healing system based on the energies — known as doshas — that circulate within your body. Depending on your unique doshic constitution, certain lifestyle choices (such as how you nourish your body, your daily routine, and the activities you partake in) can either balance the doshas or send them further into imbalance.
Many people unintentionally compromise their well-being by making choices that don’t balance their doshic needs.
In this article about how to use Ayurveda to balance your mind, body, and spirit for optimal well-being, we’ll explore:
What the doshas are
How to determine if your doshas are out of balance
3 Ayurvedic practices that will help you balance your mind-body-spirit
Let’s get started!
What are the 3 doshas?
In Ayurvedic practice, the three doshas are used to understand a person’s body type and personality. While all of the doshas exist within each of us, we each also possess a unique doshic constitution that determines which dosha is more dominant in our body. When your doshas are out of balance, it can lead to physical and mental health issues and even disease.
These doshas are responsible for your physiological, mental, and emotional health.
Vata Dosha
Vata dosha is air and space and governs all movement—inside of us. This dosha primarily resides in the colon, joints, skin, bones, ears, and brain. As such, it provides essential motion for all of the bodily processes including digestion, blood flow, and energy distribution. Keeping vata balanced is vital to attaining an optimal state of well-being.
When vata becomes imbalanced, conditions and illnesses such as anxiety, dry skin, digestive issues, constipation, premature aging, and difficulty focusing are more likely to manifest.
Kapha Dosha
Kapha dosha is water and earth and governs protection and lubrication. This dosha is primarily found in the chest, throat, lungs, head, fatty tissues, connective tissues, and is responsible for healthy psychological boundaries.
When kapha is out of balance, congestion, lethargy, depression, and weight gain are more common.
Pitta Dosha
Pitta dosha is fire and water and governs all metabolisms. This dosha resides in the lower stomach and small intestine. The Pitta dosha controls hunger, thirst, and body temperature. When imbalanced, the mind and body may overheat resulting in skin issues, fever, redness, anger, irritability, kidney infections, menstruation difficulties (painful or heavy periods), high blood pressure, and headaches.
How to determine if your doshas are out of balance
If your doshas are out of balance, you will feel ‘out of sorts.’ While the actual symptoms will manifest in different ways based on your unique constitution, you’ll notice signs such as:
Lack of energy/chronic fatigue
Brain fog and attention deficit
Greater susceptibility to illness
Increased anxiety, depression, or mood swings