The Ayurveda Experience Blog
Sometimes people think I have magical powers because I can often predict peoples’ diet and lifestyle habits even if I don’t know them very well.
The way someone behaves (and eats!) gives me a lot of insight into their doshic make up. And not only that, but also gives glaring information about the dosha that is imbalanced. In Ayurveda, when a dosha is increased (imbalanced), the person will crave foods and habits that will keep increasing that dosha. Meaning, they will crave the completely wrong things!
Let’s take vata for example.
Vata people talk a lot, move a lot, do a lot, lose focus, forget things, skip details, are creative, are dramatic/moody, love to be spontaneous, and are naturally bubbly. My brain automatically says, “Vata.” Now, when I observe one of these vata people drinking a lot of coffee, skipping meals yet eating candy as a food group, drinking lots of diet Coke or carbonated beverages with ice, I say to myself, “Vata imbalance.”
Why?
Because a balanced vata would not crave those things.
In my observation, the most common vices for vata are: icy and/or carbonated beverages, coffee, candy, fake sugars, and gum.
I swear it. I’ve seen it too many times and these are the vice-favorites (Vice-rites? Anyway…). They all give a fast and false jolt of energy, which vatas have enough of naturally, so these vices put them into manic over drive.
Buzz, buzz, buzz!!!
In addition, anxiety, racing thoughts, insomnia, extra cardio (because they are worried about weight gain), constipation, and dramatic changes in mood are all common and often arrive together. No bueno! It’s all too much movement, too much activity, too much cold.
If you are you thinking, “Um, this is me,” then welcome to holding the power of change in your own hands. 🙂 And if you are thinking, “Naw, I like soup and yoga.” Then great! You are on the right track.
Since I’ve given you vatas biggest vices, I will also give you some of their greatest virtues.
In my observation, a balanced vata craves: warm food and drinks, a whole foods diet, early bed and early rise, craves a scheduled routine and downtime.
When vatas follow what balances them, their positive qualities will majorly outshine the qualities they need to work on. If there was a bubbly, dramatic, unfocused person in front of me, and they grabbed a cup of herbal tea while enjoying their morning oatmeal, I would guess that they are much closer to their original balance.
Unless they just read HeyMonicaB last night and are putting their learnings into practice. 😉 So there’s the secret and I’m not magical, just observant (watch, I’m going to get a bunch of pittas asking for what their vices are…just watch).
And yes pittas and kaphas, I’ll do your vices next.
But while we are still on vata, any vatas out there have other vices they want to share? We won’t judge. Maybe we can give you an alternative to help you shine like the sparkly ball of energy you are! X!
Start Balancing Your Vata!
is sunflower or pumpkin seeds good for vata?? thanks
in aggravation (and im a vata person) i crave junk food, preferably sweet but also salty. i do want to smoke more than usual, i do think a lot, i want to do a lot of things and now that i think about it i may tend to stay awake late in the night in such cases. remedies in these cases would be abhyanga, head oiling and most important pranayama anuloma viloma in the morning.
Iced coffee in the winter…everyday :/
When I’m out of balance my sleep schedule is all off. I can’t fall asleep and I toss and turn all night even if I have woken up early, exercised and avoided caffeine. I get manic at night, and often incredibly productive until 2am at which point I start to freak out about how tired I will be the next day and the whole cycle starts again!
Often I wake with no appetite and then feel sick later if I haven’t eaten. Someone recommended starting the day with hot water, lemon and honey and I find that helps for some reason. Or quiet time in the morning with some strange concoction of noni juice, lemon juice, water, cranberry and whatever spices I have on hand. I drink it slowly while I do stretches and then I feel balanced to start my day 🙂 it means that I take a long time to get ready in the morning, but it’s worth it.
When I feel utterly right and balanced, I crave stillness. When I feel out of whack, I want wind to whip through my hair and keep life tousled!
Sweets, cookies and staying up way too late are my biggest Vata vices. I love Abhyanga and do it daily for myself. Gives heavenly sleep. Especially oil on the crown of your head.
When out of balance, I crave anything artificially sweet, as well as coffee and chocolate. I gave up coffee a few weeks ago and was doing well without it, but recently, I find I miss the taste of coffee. I do enjoy salads in the spring and summer. I just make sure I eat them at room temperature (never cold, straight out of the fridge). Fall and winter are all about hearty soups and stews for me. Recently, I have started maintaining a vegan diet 80% of the time, and I find I’m feeling much better on this nutritional plan, after eating heavier foods for five very cold months.
Chips. Crunchy foods. When my vata gets imbalanced I reach for them any time stress has built up.
yes! when i can’t go without pumpkin seeds or carrots for one more minute i know my vata is out of whack.