424: Questions about Ayurveda body types and anxiety
In this week's episode, we're answering questions from our private Facebook Group about Ayurveda (India's ancient science of life) and how the different body types experience anxiety.
Questions covered in this show include:
- Can illness affect your mind/body type?
- Does anxiety manifest differently in different types?
- Does your type influence how trauma affects you?
- Will you always be one type, or can your mind/body type change over time?
Questions from our Facebook Group members:
Will you always be one type, or can your mind/body type change over time?
We always have a set constitution or body type (dosha). That’s called our prakriti - our constitution, or dosha, at birth. As time passes, we tend to stray from that constitution and develop a present state of imbalance called vikriti. The aim in Ayurveda is to look at that imbalance and help bring us back to working at our best in our individual constitution.
Whatever our constitution, our mind, being more subtle, is easily influenced by our company, environment and choices.
Whatever we are going through, there is much we can do with the guidance of Ayurveda to support our mind and improve our mental and physical wellbeing.
I am a kapha-pitta type according to the surveys done, but with my anxiety, I wonder why my vata gets so easily upset. Is that because I don’t ‘look after’ my primary kapha dosha. So I guess my question is if you don’t look after your primary dosha does it cause vata disturbance?
The nature of the doshas is to accumulate and go into excess. So poorly cared for kapha would show in sluggishness, congestion, low moods and mental lethargy. Understanding and looking after our primary dosha is always of key importance for our overall health and that’s not a static thing, we need to adjust our diet and lifestyle with the changing seasons and with changes in our lives.
As a kapha-pitta type seasonally you would follow a pitta balancing diet and lifestyle in the Summer (as pitta is provoked by heat) and gently move over to a kapha balancing diet and lifestyle in the winter (as kapha is increased by cold and damp). These seasonal adjustments are quite simple and easy to implement and help us feel at our best.
To respond to your question about vata getting easily upset. We live in a very vata disturbing world, and anyone can become vata disturbed. Factors that upset vata include: overstimulation, noise, change, movement, travel, screens and social media, shock or trauma, overexertion, stress, and coffee. All things we are surrounded by every day.
Looking at how many of these things you are exposed to daily and making adjustments were you can along with supportive dietary and lifestyle measures will help you calm your vata and feel more peace of mind.
Please listen to the full episode to hear the additional questions covered.
You can schedule a personal Ayurveda Discovery Session with Ananga at anxietyslayer.com/coaching
General Self Care Tips for all Types:
Value emotional health. Experiment with tools and techniques to help you manage your mind and thoughts.
Focus on kindness, to yourself and others.
Be careful with your senses, protect yourself from noise and too much stimulation.
Establish a simple daily routine that allows for healthy bathing, eating, hydration, exercise, contemplation and rest.
It's easy to start adding some Ayurvedic wisdom to your life. You can start by making little changes and upgrades and add more over time.