What is Ayurveda?
Ayurveda means the “Science of Life” in Sanskrit and is a system of traditional Hindu medicine and type of alternative medicine. It kind of goes hand in hand with yoga which is why we had a little introduction to Ayurveda during our teacher training course. Ayurveda was developed in the Vedic Period (ca.1750-500 BCE) and is said to offer one of the fastest paths to health.
Ayurvedic practices include oil massages, herbal medicines and a specific diet which is adapted to three dosha types: Vata, Pitta and Kapha. The aim of Ayurveda is to achieve balance in your dosha type which is said to lead to health whereas imbalance leads to disease so in order to do this, we have to find out our specific dosha type.
Dosha Tests
The basic three dosha types are Vata, Pitta and Kapha which are also linked to the 5 elements of air, fire, water, earth and ether. Ayurveda is a huge topic and for accurate recommendations on conditions it’s best to see a qualified Ayurvedic practitioner but there are also lots of online resources to get started with and to find out your basic dosha type.
I would start with the following dosha tests (I’ve tried quite a few and found these ones to be straight forward):
It’s good to do a couple of online tests at least as the questions asked can sometimes be a bit confusing but they should all lead to the same results! If you’re still in doubt, then try the one from the Chopra Centre which is a little bit more comprehensive.
Diet according to dosha type
Once we’ve established our dosha type we can then start looking at the main principles and what sort of food will lead to better health. Click on each of the different dosha types below to find out how to balance them with a correct diet.
Vata Pitta Kapha
I’ve written this post to give you a little taster of what Ayurveda is all about but if you want to know more and discover some Ayurvedic recipes have a look at joyfulbelly.com which I have found to be a fantastic resource and is free of charge (you only have to register to get access to certain parts of the site)!
My dosha is Pitta whereas my husband’s is Kapha so I’m currently having fun trying to determine what sort of diet would be good for each of us! I found that the descriptions are actually very accurate so while it will be difficult to live a complete ayurvedic lifestyle (especially with two kids who basically only eat pasta…) I will definitely try to pay more attention to what we eat and if it corresponds to our dosha types.
I’d love to hear about your experience of Ayurveda. Have you ever tried Ayurvedic treatments or recipes? Do you know your dosha type?
Really enjoyed reading this blog post. x