12 Aug So, what is Ayurveda?

Ayurveda is a form of medicine from Ancient India.

With its three distinct ‘doshas’ or energy forces, Ayurveda takes a more personalised approach to healing. Read on to find out which dosha you are, and learn how this 5,000-year-old wisdom can enhance your unique health and wellbeing!

Like yoga, Ayurveda teaches us that health is based not only on the body but on the mind, the soul and the senses. Ayurveda uses food and herbs to heal, and encourages listening to nature and our intuition. By teaching us how to create harmony in our whole selves, Ayurveda can help us feel and look our best through good and bad times.

According to this ‘knowledge (veda) of life (ayus)’, bad moods and symptoms are caused by a lack of harmony between the five elements that flow through all living beings, including our bodies:

• Water
• Air
• Earth
• Fire
• Ether (Space)

More specifically, it is an imbalance of these five elements that have come together in us to form three distinct doshas:

• Vata – controls movement in our bodies
• Pitta – controls heat in our bodies
• Kapha – controls structure in our bodies

Vata, Pitta and Kapha exist in all of us.  But they exist in different degrees in different people. One of the doshas will be dominant in each of us.

Our dosha makes us who we are, influencing everything from the way we act to the way we look. It can tell us the type of yoga that suits us best, right down to the essential oils and gemstones that most benefit our energy force.

Ayurveda provides great lessons in how to eat for our mind/body type to be more confident in our own beauty. We know how our emotions can cause pains in our bodies, and how heartbreak and stress can show on our skin. Understanding our dosha can help us practise better self-care, and ultimately accept and love ourselves as we are, as individuals. No one dosha is better than another, each has its own special strengths.

Ayurveda is all about finding the right balance for you. It works on the science of opposites. So, for example, if Pitta is governed by heat and is oily by nature, then too much Pitta can cause moodiness and skin breakouts. The way to heal with this is to attract coolness and dryness instead, starting with eating cool, dry foods.

So, which dosha are you?

The Qualities of the Doshas

Vata – Dry, cold, light, rough, subtle, mobile, clear

Pitta – Hot, sharp oily, spreading, light, liquid

Kapha – Heavy, slow, cool, oily, smooth, dense, soft, stable, sticky

Some Characteristics of Each Dosha:

Vata (Ether-Air)

Skin / Hair Dry

Build Petite, small or slim

When stressed…Nervous, fearful

Emotions Enthusiastic, lively

Sensitive to… Noise

Eating habits Changeable, skips meals

Learning Easily learns and forgets

Sweating Light, no smell

Sleep Light

Walking speed Fast

Vata keeps your body moving and mind active. It controls bodily motions from blinking to the heartbeat. Emotionally it supports imagination and helps with your thought processes, aspirations, and balances anxieties.

Vata People are…

Creative, restless, changeable and can talk forever! They love to be involved. They talk fast, walk fast and eat fast. They are likely to blame themselves after an argument.

When out of balance they suffer from…

Dry skin, insomnia, increased anxiety, low confidence, weight loss, forgetfulness.

Tips for balancing yourself…

Try eating foods that are naturally sweet, sour and salty as well as herbal teas, warm foods and spices like cinnamon, and fruits like prunes and berries, which are found in HRI Teen Skin’s berry complex. The live cultures in Teen Skin also help with dryness and sensitivity, and Vitamin A promotes natural moisture. Iron will also help prevent nail breakage, and make dry skin glow. Zinc will keep you looking and feeling well-rested, stopping you waking up so much in the night!

Listen to soothing music, practise hatha yoga, burn sweet scents, and wear rose quartz, jade, amethyst and gold.

Watch out for…!

Getting cold and excessive exercise. Avoid bitter, pungent, astringent foods, icy drinks and cold/raw foods, rough, dry foods, black coffee and black tea.

Pitta (Fire-Water)

Skin / Hair Oily, warm

Build Medium build

When stressed… Irritable, impatient

Emotions Warm, perceptive

Sensitive to… Bright light

Eating habits Strong hunger/“hangry”

Learning Easily learns and stores

Sweating A lot, with smell

Sleep Deep, short

Walking speed Medium

Pitta is the only hot dosha. It stimulates your hunger and thirst, and brings warmth to your body, colour and shine to your hair, skin and eyes. Emotionally it helps you judge, control, and to laugh and be joyful! 🙂

Pitta people are…

High achievers, confident, opinionated, competitive. They need to laugh a lot in order to relax. They are likely to blame others before themselves.

When they are out of balance they suffer from…

Excessive sweating, bad breath, criticising self and others, being a ‘workaholic’, excessive hunger, breakouts/acne and sensitive skin.

Tips for balancing yourself…

Try eating foods that are naturally sweet, bitter and astringent (the taste found in under-ripe bananas, and also in cranberries found in HRI Teen Skin). Eat cooling foods like watermelon, coconut and cucumber. If you suffer from sensitive or irritated skin, the live cultures in HRI Teen Skin will help cultivate good skin bacteria. Vitamin C in Teen Skin helps combat redness, and Vitamin A prevents breakouts too!

Listen to nature sounds, practise yin yoga, try burning sandalwood, rose, jasmine or lavender essential oils, and wearing moonstone, amethyst and silver.

Watch out for…!

Too much sun. Avoid foods that are sour, salty and pungent, like onion, ginger and chilli.

Kapha (Earth-Water)

Skin / Hair Oily, cool

Build Curvy, stocky

When stressed… Depressed, withdrawn

Emotions Calm, loyal, stable

Sensitive to… Smell

Eating habits Craves food steadily

Learning Learns slowly and stores

Sweating Moderate

Sleep Deep, long

Walking speed Slow

Kapha forms tissue, bone, muscle and body fluids. Mentally it controls memory, compassion and contentment.

Kapha people are… 

Calm, gentle characters who don’t like to rush! They have kind hearts and make loyal friends and partners. They dish out good hugs.  And they love to sleep!

When out of balance they suffer from…

Quick weight gain, frequent colds or flu, lack of motivation, being possessive of things and people.

Tips for balancing yourself…

Try eating foods that are pungent, bitter, astringent, warm foods, honey, spices like cinnamon and ginger, lots of veggies, and fruits like strawberries, raspberries, cherries, and prunes, found in  HRI Teen Skin. The iron content in Teen Skin will also keep up your energy levels, and Vitamin A will improve breakouts/acne that can happen when you’re out of balance.

Listen to music that makes you dance! Try dynamic forms of yoga and walking meditation. Balance your senses with eucalyptus, and wear red stones and warm metals like copper.

Watch out for…!

People that drag you down. Cold and fizzy drinks. Getting cold or caught in the rain. Avoid foods that are sweet, salty and sour, canned and frozen foods.

…Have you figured out which dosha you are yet? 😉

*(Some people have two doshas in equal balance, but typically people identify with one.)

Across the doshas, Ayurveda promotes good morning and good evening routines, and eating at the same time each day. It’s also really into getting a good night’s rest, and yoga. Try adding lots of fresh foods that suit your dosha into your everyday meals, along with two daily capsules of HRI Teen Skin to make sure you’re healthy and your skin’s clear and glowing!

“Namaste!” xoxo

Join our HRI Facebook Community and get more mood-boosting tips and natural ways to support your health.