Jody Vassallo - The Yogic Kitchen

HOW VATA MANIFESTS IN THE BODY

Cold– Coldness appears in the hands and feet. Vatas will have a tendency to avoid cold temperatures and love warmer climes. They have poor circulation and can suffer from cold bones and stiffness.

Dry– Dryness is a major issue for Vatas. They often have dry skin, hair, lips, tongue and a husky voice. Dryness in their colon usually leads to them suffering from constipation.

Light– Vata individuals are generally light in body weight with fine muscles and bones. They sleep lightly and wake easily, with little noise needed to disturb them.

Rough– Roughness appears in the body as cracked skin, nails, split ends, cracked lips, teeth and joints that creak and crack when moved.

Subtle– They will suffer from an underlying subtle anxiety, fear or insecurity. Vata types are prone to goose pimples, muscle twitches and tremors.

Mobile– Vatas can’t sit still: they walk fast, talk fast and tend to be those people who are incredible at multi-tasking. They are good at making money and great at spending it. Their eyes will dart around the room as they talk to you with their hands or shake their leg or tap. They love to travel and find it difficult to stay in one place for too long. Their moods are ever changing, as are their faith and their thoughts. Vatas love change and do what they can to make it happen often.

Clear–This quality gives Vata their clairvoyant ability, as this is related to the element of space. They can understand easily but forget abruptly, and they often experience a deep sense of loneliness.

Astringent– They can suffer from a dry choking feeling in their throats, and they will often find themselves with hiccoughs or burping. They enjoy oily, sweet, sour and salty foods.

BALANCING VATA

Vatas need routine, warm fluids, rest, massage, steady nourishment, warmth, decreased stress, and they need to avoid skipping meals, eating on the run, fasting and alcohol.

Activities that will calm Vata

Gentle calming exercise such as yoga, quigung (qigong), dance, golf, walking, swimming, listening to calming music, gardening, pottery, cooking, massage, meditation and getting to bed early all help Vatas to settle.

Warming grounding remedies– walking barefoot on the grass, warm sesame oil massage, foot massage, gardening, warm milky drinks with cardamom and cinnamon, ghee added to food and drinks

Warming grounding lifestyle choices– gardening, yoga, guided meditation, creative pursuits, listening to calming music

Lifestyle factors to limit– constant change and movement, overexercise, excess meditation without proper supervision, too much time on devices such as computers, TV, phones

So-called healthy foods that may imbalance you– raw food diets, juices, chilled smoothies and smoothie bowls, sparkling mineral water

Emotions and diet

Vatas are often attracted to cold, dry, crisp foods but these are best avoided. They can easily become imbalanced if they eat too many of these foods. Too much bitter, pungent and astringent food can also have a negative impact on the digestive system of Vata. The skin and body can become very dry in the colder weather and so Vatas should introduce warming spices and increase the amount of protein they are eating.

Soups and slow cooked stews made with plenty of root vegetables are the perfect choice for Vata types in the cooler or more unsettled months, and they do really well to warm their meals with spices like cinnamon, clove, star anise, cardamom and ginger that will help stimulate their digestion. To calm themselves they need to increase the amount of naturally sweet, salty and sour foods they are consuming. A glass of sweet warm milk before bed is a perfect remedy for any Vata that has trouble sleeping.

Routine and exercise

Vatas need to allow plenty of time for stillness in their day. Moving is what comes naturally to Vatas so they will often want to exercise and be on the go when they are feeling fragile, anxious or emotional. This is not the healthiest option, especially at the Vata time of 2pm–6pm. Their fragile nature demands they don’t allow too much space between meals. For continued wellness, Vatas should eat their meals at the same time every day. Skipping meals is one way to quickly imbalance these people. The digestive system is where Vata types are most susceptible and they may have issues with gas, bloating and constipation. They have sensitive tummies that do best with nourishing home-cooked meals.

Eating on the run or snacking instead of eating a proper meal is not a good idea for these types. If they do want to move their body, they are best to try grounding practices like yoga, tai chi or even a gentle walk. More strenuous types of exercise should be done between 6am and 10am in the morning at Kapha time.

Quiet time, listening to music, reflecting, drawing or journaling will help to calm them. Before bed they are better to read than be on their phone or computer, as any device will aggravate the Vata energy in the body.

We enter the Vata stage of our lives at around 75 years of age so it is not uncommon for these types to become more dreamy, vague or fragile as they age. The best diet for Vatas includes warming and soothing foods that are stabilising for a light, airy constitution. (See charts at the back of the book, pages 240–5.)

PITTA

Pitta individuals are dominated by the element of fire. This creates heat in the body and is responsible for metabolising, transforming, digesting and processing all of our thoughts and all we eat. Pitta is also in charge of maintaining our digestive fire (agni); if our digestive fire is low, we will have problems with digestion and suffer from heartburn, reflux and indigestion.

Pittas have quick, sharp minds and tongues, a moderate body frame and tend to be able to maintain their weight better than the other two doshas.

Elements

Elements that dominate this dosha – Fire and Water

Element that aggravates this dosha – Fire

Elements that calm this dosha – Air, Water and Earth

Tastes that aggravate the dosha – salty, sour, pungent

Tastes that calm the dosha – sweet, bitter, astringent

Time of day

10am–2pm and 10pm–2am is the time of day when Pitta will be more obvious in the body and mind.

Time of year

In summer Pitta can be more aggravated in the body. It is the season when Pitta health issues such as eczema, heartburn, reflux, headaches, hay fever, insomnia or burnout can arise. Summer is known as Pitta time (bile). Energy and heat rise up in the body in summer so it is important to keep cool. We are naturally drawn to cooling summer fruits and higher carbohydrate grains like rice. We drink more juices made from seasonal fruits and fill up on salads with cooling herbs.

More fiery Pitta types need to eat with more awareness in this season, and so too does anyone who starts to show any signs of heat in the body, such as skin issues, headaches, reflux, indigestion or insomnia.