The exceptional system of Ayurvedic body typing is based on the characterization of three doshas, or “primal metabolic forces”. These “master forces” of well-being are responsible for promoting and sustaining balance in the daily and life-long health of the individual. Ayurveda defines disease as an imbalance in the doshas. 

Ayurvedists teach that the constitution is already determined by the time birth occurs. Characteristics of a particular constitution are already evident in infancy.

The fire type, pitta, tends to be, well, fiery! They are likely to be a leader, passionate, colorful, argumentative, competitive, decisive and convincing. The air type, vata, is the creative, nervous type. They are restless, disorganized (in other words, “spacey”). The kapha type is destined to be (what else?) down-to-earth: conservative, loyal, slow, calm and steady. The very descriptions —earth, air and fire—evoke perceptions that influence our perceptions of people to a large extent.

VATA: The Energy of Movement in Ayurveda

Vata is the principle of mobility that regulates all activity in the body —from how many thoughts one might have during a given period to how efficiently food moves through our intestines. Vata is in charge of functions such as the pulsation of the heart, respiration, circulation and elimination. It is responsible for joy, happiness, creativity and speech. Vata is also in charge of the vital life essence, or prana. Thus when vata (prana) leaves the body, life ceases.

PITTA: The Energy of Digestion and Metabolism in Ayurveda Pitta represents the Fire principle in the body. Everything that enters the body must be “digested” and assimilated, from sensory perception to food for nourishment. In addition to the gastric fire, pitta also includes the enzymes and amino acids that play a major role in metabolism, and even the neurotransmitters and neuropeptides involved in thinking. Some of the responsibilities of pitta are to regulate the body heat through the chemical transformation of food and to give a person appetite, vitality, and the capacity to learn and understand.
Pitta is hot, sharp, light, oily, liquid, and spreading in nature. It is sour, bitter, pungent to the taste, and has a fleshy smell.

KAPHA: The Energy of Lubrication and Structure in Ayurveda Earth and Water give kapha its definitive qualities. Kapha comprises all our cells, tissues and organs. Kapha molecules tend to stick together to form dense masses and give the body a chubby shape. Lubrication of joints and organs, strong muscles and bones, cellular secretions, and memory retention, are all part of kapha’s function.
Kapha is heavy, slow, cool, oily, liquid, hard, smooth, dense, soft, static, viscous, and cloudy. It is white in color and has a sweet and salty taste.

When you have one dosha that is clearly dominant, your entire health maintenance scheme is concentrated on suppressing that one dosha. If you are vata constitution, than vata is what wants to get inflated in comparison to the other two, and bring you out of balance; your vata tendencies will cause certain fundamental vulnerabilities to flare up or show themselves as symptoms. Thus your efforts—the way you eat, exercise, supplement and live—should be angled toward keeping vata under control.

Balance can be achieved by strengthening the other two non-dominant doshas, in effect raising their profiles, which is conceptually the same as working to suppress or calm the dominant one.

Have fun identifying your underlying dosha or dosha combination by using the questionnaire.