Setting the record straight by going to see an Ayurvedic physician for a proper diagnosis

Discovering my Ayurvedic mind-body constitution is to me a vital first step to know how to fine-tune my diet and lifestyle in order to optimize my health and be harmonious with the elements that have created me as a person. I have done online test, lengthy questionnaires, everything I would find to help determine my dosha. And yet, all my results -- that I am Vata, no maybe Vata-Pitta -- have been proven wrong!

Today I went to an Ayurvedic physician, trained in India, graduating from a long intensive education, and practicing for many years. She took her time asking me many questions, taking into account that it was a Pitta time of day (midday), Pitta season (summer), and that I am in a Pitta lifestage (30's). She took my pulse and carefully diagnosed my dosha and various physical conditions through this art. In the end, I am definitively, and likely have always been, a Pitta-Kapha. My mind was blown.

The reason for my earlier mix-up is simply that what I saw as a Vata trait (being active) was actually Pitta energy, and Vata's digestion issues in my case were due to Kapha's cold sluggishness. Sometimes a little information is misleading. This reminds me of how I used to try to take care of my health according to my readings but once I went to see a Naturopath, she recommended the opposite of everything I had been doing, and she brought my health back in check.

This post is a reminder to myself that an art and philosophy as beautiful, rich and complex as Ayurveda cannot be understood through self-teaching and reading alone. I think we can certainly follow food and habit guidelines as outlined in multiple sources once we know our dosha, but that essential first step of determining your mind-body constitution is, quite simply put, best left to the professionals. If you have even one Ayurvedic specialist where you live, I certainly urge you to pay a visit, even if you choose not to continue the relationship. Find out your constitution, get your personal list of do's and don'ts, and be on your right path. Of course, if you have some ailments, health complaints or weight issues, by all means open your heart to following this most natural of healing forms with a professional.

What is PITTA?

The three Doshas - vata, pitta and kapha - are based on the 5 elements: air, space/ether, fire, water and earth. Pitta is the dualistic combination of fire and water, with an emphasis on fire. The nature of both these elements is dynamism, ferocity and passion, and together they are hot and wet; volcanoes are Pitta, as is the Sun.

The nature of fire is to consume, hence Pitta is the ruler of digestion. Pitta is digestive fire, which makes Pitta types generally ravenous and have no problem eating lots of unhealthy food. Pitta is also mental digestion, making Pitta types acutely intelligent, have sharp wits and a great memory -- but the heat of fire also makes them argumentative and hot-headed.

If your constitution is predominantly Pitta, it means fire dominates how your mind and body function. Characteristically, Pittas tend to have a medium, muscular build with moles and freckles, and may have fair or reddish hair or skin. Pitta is transformative and strong, so Pittas tend to be athletic, and have tempers that flare up out of nowhere. Their fire and water makes them prone to acne but have excellent digestion and elimination. Not surprisingly, heartburn may be the only digestive complaint.

Because Pittas are all fired up, the best activities for you are calm, slow, cooling ones. Meditation can soothe you, getting plenty of rest is important, and gentle activities like yoga, walking and swimming are great. Pittas like to take the lead and be right all the time, so exercising humility is challenging but an excellent and important way to balance your constitution and get more joy out of life. Take time for leisure and don't overwork. Ease off of the things that aggravate your Pitta fire, such as cigarettes, alcohol, spicy or fried food, and competitive activities. Pitta's natural gift to society is their great intellect.

My foodlist for before and after labour

I am now officially just 4 weeks away from having my baby! This is a very exciting final month of pregnancy, with discomforts eased by the cooling weather and ceasing work, having time to focus on the new life ahead. One of the things I want to do is indulge in a healing ayurvedic diet for before and after delivery.

My instincts tell me that in this time, I should have fresh, nutritious meals that are either tridoshic or that pacify Vata. My constitution is Pitta-Kapha (and have certainly been feeling it!), but feel that Vata-pacifying foods will be easy to digest, moist, soothing, and full of fibre, all important qualities in preparing for the big challenge to come and for healing my body afterwards.

Did you know that pain is a Vata characteristic? If pain is a part of labour, then soothing my Vata will hopefully prepare my body to feel it less acutely. Also in this last month of pregnancy, my digestion is more sluggish than ever, and Vata foods help stimulate digestion and elimination naturally. And for my recovery after my child's birth, what could be more soothing and healing than soft, comforting, healthful Vata meals!

Here is a list of the foods I'll be preparing:

~ Creamy Kale Soup substituting zucchini or artichoke
~ Dahl Soup with Squash
~ Detox Soup
~ Yoga Mung Beans and Rice
~ Carrot Apple Soup
~ Rice Pilaf
~ Milletto substituting rice or quinoa
~ Coconut Mung Bean Soup (recipe to come!)
~ Warming Kichadi (recipe to come!)
~ Stew of autumn vegetables
~ Rice pudding
~ Stewed fruits

After some weeks of following this diet after delivery, I'll ease into a Kapha-pacifying diet. The weather will be Kapha (cool and wet October/November), and it will help me lose the extra weight I've gained. Hopefully I'll be able to maintain that for some time, as it will also give me energy and warm me up throughout the winter!

Pitta, the liver, anger and weight issues

I've been having revelations around my liver lately that I thought I'd share with fellow Pitta types. (I'm actually Pitta-Kapha.)

Despite not having any Kapha in my mind-body constitution, I've long struggled with weight and have a life-long history of dieting. In this past month, however, I've inadvertantly dropped several pounds without changing my lifestyle, save for one addition to my health practice: cleansing my liver. (My naturopath has put me on liver cleansing herbs, and advised several cups of dandelion tea every day plus monthly colonics.)

The liver is a filter that manages fats and toxins coming through the body; metaphysically, it is the seat of anger, and anger is a Pitta manifestation (fire). Anger (even suppressed anger or passive aggressiveness, etc), toxins (drugs, pollutants, etc), bad fats (hydrogenated, saturated, rancid, deep frying, etc), all contribute to overloading this beautiful, hard working organ. In cleansing it of toxins, it can better process fats in the body (hence the weight loss). In dealing with anger, I believe we can also cool the fiery liver to also help it function better.

In all, love your liver. Give it love, treat it well, address anger issues. Pitta is the fire of transformation, a power that we can choose to use for great creations, or for (self-) destruction.

Weight & food allergies

A light bulb just went off in my head! What do all the following foods have in common?

~ oats, wheat
~ seafood
~ soy products
~ nuts and peanuts
~ refined sugars
~ cheese and dairy

These are common foods that many people have allergies to (some are completely unaware but don't have optimal health). AND, these are all foods that exacerbate Kapha in people of any dosha*. I don't think it's coincidence but this seems to be a major correlation between food allergens and gaining excess weight.

A widely held belief by natural health practitioners is that if you have an allergy to a food, it will not be properly digested and cause a host of ill-health consequences, including excessive weight gain. Lo and behold, these foods are common allergens AND Ayurveda categorizes them as Kapha-increasing (weight gaining) foods as well!

For my entire 20's I was vegetarian, the latter half specifically vegan. When I became vegetarian I gained weight, as I ate plenty of wheat and dairy products. As a vegan, I originally lost weight (omitting dairy products was a major factor), but then gained weight again as I increased my soy, wheat and nut intake. A few years ago I went to a naturopath who identified allergies to oats, wheat, dairy, soy, nuts, peanuts, sugar, cheese and dairy. Go figure! So I omitted these from my diet and lost 30 pounds.

* If you haven't read some of my earlier blog entries, Kapha is composed of the elements water and earth. Water and earth in our bodies manifest in various forms, but fat and mass are forms of Kapha associated with excess weight. A dosha is a mind/body constitution according to Ayurveda, and people fall into 3 main types: Vata, Pitta, or Kapha, or a combination of these. Vata is composed of air and space, and Pitta is composed of fire and water.

Yoga, intention, and trying not to diet

One of the reasons I got involved in Ayurveda is because of its connection to yoga -- I had thought it was an extension of yoga, but it's actually the other way around: yoga is an arm of Ayurveda.

I started yoga because I needed to get flexible and strong, having been unathletic and physically stiff most of my life. Bit by bit I am getting stronger (I can do a handstand!) and more flexible (my left foot can almost reach behind my head). But the yoga classes I used to go to too closely resembled aerobics. It got quietly self-competitive, everyone started wearing Lululemon, and it even got a bit clique-ish. Personally I didn't want to sweat and get muscle burn every time I went to a vinyasa class. And it was too easy to get obsessive and have it start becoming a body issue thing. I'm convinced that for many urban yogis, this practice is a massage of our vanity, or a perpetuation of our control issues and/or exercise abuse (if there's such a term).

Luckily I somehow came across Ayurveda, and it became so clear that this yoga craze is facile, superficial and misguided despite its feel-good reputation. And it wasn't just because of an article on a disco yoga fad in L.A. (No joke.) Learning that Ayurveda explains mind-body characteristics in a categorized way made me feel... understood. I realized there was a reason for my constitution -- why I had certain medical problems and digestive discomfort and stiffness in my joints and why I hated sweating and straining in over-exertive yoga classes. It all made sense, it was okay for me to be the way I was, and it didn't matter if I couldn't explain myself to someone, because I actually fit in the grand scheme of Nature. I could just go with my flow instead of fight my nature and try to change who I was. At the same time, I began to understand what really was an "imbalance" in my mind or body, and what I could do to feel better.

So, I stopped going to yoga classes and now set up my room every night and do the postures and movements that I need, not what Madonna does to get those muscles (I'm positive she's a Pitta anyway so it's easier for her to get so toned...). I try to focus a bit more than before on what yoga is doing for my spirit and my state of mind. Inevitably, every night I feel a thankfulness that springs from this ritual. I almost feel like I'm getting closer to finding my religion.

I find that my challenge is to try to pull away from the material details around us (does it really matter if I didn't mop the bathroom before guests came for dinner?) and open my mind to the big picture. And I really feel how challenging this is when it comes to food. I know how I should approach food, but in practice it's very complicated for me. Over Christmas I had on average 4 chocolate truffles a day. And some straight-up spoonfuls of peanut butter. And okay, at least one if not two fresh warm croissants. And fries, or take-out, or pizza -- and this is daily! For a party I had, I planned what pants to wear, and when it was time to get dressed, they did not fit -- not by a LONG SHOT. For the first time since my very disordered eating as a teen... I weighed myself. 15 pounds up, out of nowhere. And now I'm determined to lose weight.

And the challenge peaks: lose weight? Diet? That's as polluted a mind-set as doing yoga to look hot! I've tasted "thin-ish" for a year, and now hate myself for getting flabby and feeling tight in my pants. This is where I struggle, to stop the self-hatred. To still accept myself, not judge, not shake my head in shame and disappointment as I towel off after my morning shower. Even my new-found knowledge of Ayurveda and all its guidance feels at a discord with my will or action.

But, this is the load I've been given to bear. It's quite light compared to most I'm sure. Food is my addiction, and it stems from some mental, emotional, spiritual disharmony. So I struggle upward with my challenges. I'm not going to stop just because it's hard. (Yes, I do have a mild martyr complex but maybe it'll work in my favour in this case.) I've already discovered that I actually need much less food to feel satiated than I once thought -- about half as much, really. I've discovered that eating junk leaves a bad taste in my mouth, and eating greens and red lentils and spices makes me happy. Green chai in the morning doesn't make me crabby or headachey like coffee does. Sometimes I'm not hungry at lunch or dinner so I don't need to eat just because of the clock. But it's also become clear to me that, hungry or not, I won't stop eating until my plate, my husband's plate, and the serving plates, are empty and licked clean. That is a little psychotic part of me. But I think I'll overcome even this in time. I'm on a path. I need to discard the scabs and armour and uncover the true me, perhaps find a pre-body me that has existed for millenia in fragments around the universe before there were weight scales or nanaimo bars or addictions or social expectations.

It sounds like it would be a very free me.

What is KAPHA?

The three Doshas - vata, pitta and kapha - are based on the 5 elements: air, space/ether, fire, water and earth. Kapha is both water and earth. The nature of both these elements are heavy, while water is cool and wet, and earth is stable and inert. The moon is Kapha.

Kapha manifests in our bodies as all the heavy liquidy substances: water, mucus, lubrication and fat. Kapha moisturizes the air as we breathe it into our lungs, our food as we chew and swallow it, and keeps our membranes and moving parts lubricated and functional.

If your constitution is predominantly Kapha, it means water and earth dominate how your mind and body function. Characteristically, Kaphas have a solid build and tend to hold on to their weight, having trouble with weight loss. Your skin is supple and smooth, and you have broad, balanced features. You are slow in making decisions but are steadfast in your convictions once you get there.

Because Kaphas are placid and sedentary, the best activities for you are invigorating ones. Doing 15 minutes of vigorous exercise each day will do wonders for your physical health and mental energy. When stressed, Kaphas tend to withdraw and numb out. Meditation will calm you and heating alternate nostril breathing will vitalize you. A little food goes a long way, so pay attention to just how small your appetite really is and stop eating before you get full. Don't over-sleep -- in fact, waking up at dawn and having a reasonable bed time will help keep your energy high and level throughout the day.

In my view, Kapha is all love. Kaphas exude love and need love, like a warm blanket around lucky receivers. Though this openness leaves you vulnerable, be proud of the strength in your ability to have love and compassion for all life.

What is VATA?

The three Doshas - vata, pitta and kapha - are based on the 5 elements: air, space/ether, fire, water and earth. Vata is the culmination of air and space. The nature of air is movement, changeability, and it is cold and dry; the wind is Vata.

Vata manifests in our bodies in several ways: as space, it is present in the hollow structures within the body, like the colon, bladder, uterus, lungs, and spaces between our joints. As movement is causes functions of motion and transmission, like nerve impulses.

If your constitution is predominantly Vata, it means air/space dominates how your mind and body function. Characteristically, Vatas tend to be thin with fine hair, restless or anxious, and have quick minds. Vatas might prefer to graze than sit down to a big meal. Vata promotes irregularity, so Vatas might have uneven physical features, have irregular bowel movements, and be unpredictable. Vata is characterized by dryness, so Vatas tend to have dry, rough skin.

Because Vatas are a little high-strung, the best activities for you are calm, slow, soothing ones. Meditation can ground you, getting plenty of rest is important, and gentle activities like yoga, walking and swimming are great. Keeping a daily routine also helps the Vata mind find some structure. Conversely, the lightness of Vata gives you an afinity for creative and spiritual thought. You can be "out there" on your perception of life compared to the more grounded Pittas and Kaphas, but this ability to see and feel so acutely is a wonderful gift.

What is your mind/body constitution?

[ CLICK ON CHART TO ENLARGE ]

Time to figure out your dosha! You can do this test above or try the online quiz at What's Your Dosha, Baby? For an indepth look at the doshas, go to the AyurBalance website.

Keeping score on paper, read through the characteristics listed in the chart, and pick one characteristic from each column per row. Make your way down the rows and tally up all your Vata, Pitta and Kapha characteristics. Whichever scores highest is your predominant dosha, the one you need to balance, through food, activity, breathing and meditation.

If out of the 30 points you have 2 doshas that are high (ie. 15 Vata, 11 Pitta, 4 Kapha), then you have 2 predominant doshas (ie. you are Vata-Pitta) and should keep both in mind but work more on the highest one (ie. Vata). If one dosha way outscores the other, you are purely that dosha.

Have fun and post a comment if you have any questions! If you figure out your dosha then a lot of the future posts will make more sense and be more rewarding!!