I’m feeling these symptoms, what do they mean? Do I have a dosha imbalance? Or do I feel pretty balanced?

Each dosha has its qualities so the simplest way to gauge a dosha imbalance is to see which of these qualities is getting increased for you. For example, your skin is feeling too dry and rough. These are qualities of vata and mean vata has risen too high. You are feeling hot all the time which shows pitta is high as hot is one of pitta’s qualities. Your sense of heaviness could be coming from increased kapha as that is one of kapha‘s qualities. As always with Ayurveda, connect with your body and mind and notice what is going on for you. Then, use the old Ayurvedic adage of ‘like increases like, opposites decrease‘, to choose nourishment and lifestyle options which have opposite qualities to those which have increased.

There are also these handy guides below for some key symptoms which show a particular dosha imbalance. If you spot any of your symptoms, you can have an insight into which dosha might be out of balance for you.

vata

An increase or vitiation in vata results in an increase of the qualities of vata.  These qualities of light, cold, dry, rough, mobile and subtle manifest to show the following signs and symptoms.  The colours of vitiated vata are black and red-brown and the taste (including that in the mouth) is astringent.

pitta

An increase or vitiation in pitta results in an increase of the qualities of pitta.  These qualities of light, hot, slightly oily, sharp, liquid/fluid, flowing and odorous manifest to show the following signs and symptoms.  The colours of out-of-balance pitta are yellow, green and red and the tastes (including that in the mouth) are sour and bitter.

kapha

An increase or vitiation in kapha results in an increase of the qualities of kapha.  These qualities of heavy, cold, oily, dull/slow, smooth, soft, stable and sweet manifest to show the following signs and symptoms.  The colour of vitiated kapha is white and the tastes (including that in the mouth) are sweet and salty.

Do you have any of these symptoms? Or are you blissfully balanced?

If you need any more help, book a consultation, get an online assessment, join our Introduction to Ayurveda course or find a practitioner near you .


4 Comments

anira · November 1, 2022 at 05:57

It was so helpful.

Arathi · November 7, 2022 at 08:57

Thank you for sharing this amazing blog

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