You have constant bloating and you are usually distracted. You have a hard time making decisions and cold weather freaks you out. While other people talk about smoothies, you get a hard time digesting one.
You have been looking for a plausible explanation but nothing seems to answer all your questions about your personality. You want to know exactly who you are and why you are like this. If you are nodding while reading this all of this, you are clearly a Vata dosha type.
Chances are people in your Yoga class or Facebook groups have been telling you that you are a Vata dosha. And now you want to dig deeper into what Vata dosha type really is.
Ayurveda is a 5000-year-old science that talks about bodies and constitution. According to it, our bodies are made up of five elements namely, water, fire, earth, air and ether.
The combination of these 5 elements gives rise to three different doshas or body types, Vata, Pitta and Kapha. These body types are your basic inherent constitution.
Body types or doshas as in Ayurveda, are a group of energies that define the personality of a person. At any given time or moment a person has one dominant and two passive doshas.
The ideal human state is having all three doshas in perfect balance. In reality, based on our environment, genetics, food habits and emotional state, one dosha is prominent. This dosha determines your personality, your life and your predisposition to diseases.
Based on your dosha, you can even take decisions that matter in your life. You can create the healthiest and emotionally best version of yourself.
What is Vata dosha?
Vata dosha is a combination of air and space. The main characteristic of Vata dosha is wind. The wind is what causes coolness and calm in the body.
It is one of the most powerful forces in the body that controls our breathing, our blood circulation, cell division, heart rate and elimination of waste.
But Vata most importantly controls movement. Your body’s flexibility and range of motion are dependent on Vata. Healthy Vata keeps your joints sturdy and lubricated for a long time.
Vata dosha is a combination of air and ether which gives rise to highly creative people.
Because of the influence of wind and ether, it can quickly go out of balance with changing seasons or flow of wind. Emotional stress, too much exercise, a boring job can all make Vata go out of balance.
How to know if your dominant dosha is Vata dosha?
Emotional characteristics
Imagine a unicorn floating in a flurry of clouds, hopping from one bed of clouds to the other. If you can vividly portray this, chances are you are a Vata dosha type.
Vata people are one of the most creative people on the planet. When in balance these people can achieve great success with their creativity and unorthodox thinking.
They are very lively and enthusiastic people. They love adventure and exploring new people and places. They are great conversationalists and can practically talk to anyone.
They love expressing themselves. They are extremely loving and caring people.
But Vata people are often distracted, have a lot of ideas and keep flipping in their decisions. Vata people usually have a problem being grounded.
Their digestive system is sensitive and one bad meal and makes it go haywire. They are often bloated and can’t figure out what is causing it.
They are prone to mood swings and are the happiest one day and depressed the next.
Physical Characteristics
Their bodies are lean or athletic. They are like the wind, they love movement. They are good at sports or anything that involves movement like a dance.
They are very energetic and agile.
They love warmer places like a beach. They have a hard time in cold weather.
Their bodies cannot generate enough heat to keep them warm. Their skin is cold, dry and rough and needs a lot of moisturizer in winters. Their hair is mostly fine, dry and curly.
They have a sensitive digestive system and are frequently bloated or constipated.
Vata strengths
Vata people are creative and imaginative. They are futuristic thinkers and often are the ones to bring about a revolution.
Vata people can adapt to any situation quickly. They are very enthusiastic and love adventure. They are very intuitive and are great leaders.
Vata Weakness
Vata people can be very indecisive in life when unbalanced. They spend a lot of their time in their heads and often worry about world problems.
They are prone to become depressed if something doesn’t go accordingly to them. They worry a lot and become quite anxious.
They live in the future which means they also give themselves a very hard time by thinking about future problems that may or may not occur.
Vata colours
Vata people favour earthy and warm colours. Avoid cool shades.
Include a lot of browns, off whites, earthy red and warm yellows in your wardrobe.
Vata Fragrances
Vata dosha types favour earthy and warm fragrances like clove, cinnamon, orange and cinnamon, vanilla and cinnamon, lavender etc.
How to balance Vata dosha?
When Vata goes out of balance, your digestive system becomes stressed. You get frequent bloating and constipation. You can become depressed. You are prone to diseases like arthritis, hypertension, anxiety disorder or insomnia.
Vata can go out of balance due to any one of these reasons. If you have been dealing with a lot of stress lately, or have been eating a lot of raw food, indulging in excessive workouts, all these factors can aggravate Vata.
When Vata is aggravated you have a tendency to avoid food which leads to weight loss.
If you have been noticing these signs lately, chances are you have an unbalanced Vata. An unbalanced Vata can also be diagnosed if you suddenly have an ashen complexion and dark lips.
Balancing Vata at an early stage is not very difficult. Learn to listen to your body. These simple steps can bring your Vata back to balance.
Diet for Vata dosha
In Ayurveda, food can be used to balance doshas. Since Vata people are prone to bloating, flatulence and constipation, it is important for them to eat a lot of warm and soothing foods.
Vata people should favour warm, cooked and oil-based food instead of raw, dry and cold food like salad.
Eating too much raw food can aggravate Vata and cause a lot of digestive issues.
Favour sweet, salty and sour foods over astringent and bitter foods. The sweet flavour is very good for Vata but don’t overdo it.
Vata people favour fats and dairy. Warm milk taken before bed soothes increased Vata.
Eat naturally sweet fruits, vegetables and sweeteners like jaggery instead of processed food with tons of sugar.
Eat sweet fruits like banana, oranges, melons, kiwis, pineapples, peaches, apricots, plums, figs. Limit your intake of apples, pomegranates,
Eat a lot of nuts and seeds. Nuts and seeds have a lot of oil which helps in nourishing the lightness of Vata.
Stick to a routine
When Vata is out of balance it is important to do activities that keep you grounded.
People with Vata dosha have a high affinity to get disturbed sleep. It is best to fix the sleep and wakeup time. Waking up at the same time allows your bowels to move regularly at a set time.
Have a fixed morning routine. Waking up, meditating, drinking water or having breakfast. When you have a fixed morning routine your body clock works accordingly.
Also, including a gratitude journal in your routine can help you appreciate little things about life. When Vata people feel warmth and love around them, they feel grounded and relaxed.
Daily massage
A daily self-massage with warm and nourishing oils like sesame and almond can help you get your Vata back in balance.
This can be done every day for 10 mins before bathing. The warm oils nourish your body and your soul.
Exercise
Indulge in easy, and light exercises. Vigorous workouts will leave you exhausted and ashen.
Hatha yoga, taichi, qigong, dance and walking. Vata does not go well with rigorous exercises like cross-fit. It aggravates Vata even more.
Meditation
A daily seated meditation practice helps in grounding Vata tremendously. A 10-min concentration meditation or silent zen meditation is ideal. If you are new to meditation, read this beginners guide to meditation here.
This can be done in the morning or evening. If you are having a difficult time focusing on your breath, you can take a powerful affirmation like “ I am grounded” and repeat it in your meditation. This is a powerful mantra for Vata people and helps them greatly in the long run.
Panchakarma
Panchakarma or a five-step Ayurvedic detox is the most potent way to balance your doshas. Get in touch with an Ayurvedic doctor or do a home-based panchakarma to get your doshas in check. It clears all the toxins and negative energies from the body and rejuvenates it.
Additional Note
Avoid getting cold. Layer yourself in warm clothes. Drink warming ginger tea twice a day and keep your head covered.
A person with a balanced doshas has clear glowing skin and a strong mind. These few simple steps can be included in your life to eliminate excess Vata. Avoid stressing about your health.
Just keep taking small steps and your body will react accordingly. Stop worrying about the future and be like the wind, just flow and let life take its own course.
If you enjoyed reading this, you should also read my guide on balancing Pitta dosha and Kapha dosha.
Do you relate to this? Comment below and share your stories.
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Chakshu is a US alliance certified yoga teacher, a biotechnologist and an Ayurveda evangelist. Her passion is to help people live a toxic-free life, emotionally and chemically. She loves reading self-help books. When she is not writing, she is busy thinking about life.
