The Tridosha Principle - Basis for a Balanced Body and Mind
In the late 1970’s several research colleagues and myself were influenced by a visit by Belgian Nobel Prize winning physicist Ilye Prigogine. He had shown that all that is necessary for non-equilibrium systems to create order out of chaos is the influx of energy. He demonstrated the simplest and most elegant example of this, a thick, viscous fluid in a beaker over a source of low heat. As expected, after a while the fluid at the bottom rose to the top, cooled, and sank to the bottom, at first in a haphazard way. But with time, if the beaker and heat distribution were symmetrical, the rising and falling fluid would create convection cells, with a smooth laminar flow. Eventually on the top of the beaker you could see a dozen perfectly polygonal columns surfacing at the top where the rising fluid turned around. Symmetry and order had been created out of the chaos of the fluid.
The ingredients of this system are 1) the container 2) a source of energy, and 3) a flow of material. These are the requirements of any living system, because biological systems are essentially structures that create and maintain order amid chaos. Bacteria, amoebas, fungi, ferns, trees, insects and mammals all contain these three ingredients: (1) a physical structure or channel through which (2) flows a material due to (3) the release of energy. In a nutshell, we take in food; we move it via channels throughout the body where it gets burnt to release its energy which we then use to maintain order (keep our temperature constant, repair tissues, seek shelter, etc.). Health is simply a matter of keeping this dynamic in balance.
The ancient Vedic rishis (seers) also observed this biological phenomenon and recognized the same 3 elements: an element of movement or flow (vata); the release of energy or metabolism, (pitta); and the structure (kapha). They recognized that disease was a dysequilibrium between these three physiological operators called the three doshas.
For example, vata, being movement or transport in the body, is like the wind: light, cold and always moving or shifting. Vata governs elimination, nervous system activity and locomotion. If imbalanced, vata creates a drying, cold, brittle and irregular influence. Think of a tree at high altitude, exposed to the wind and cold: it becomes dry, brittle, cracked, and irregular in shape. Vata dosha has a similar influence on our physiology, and vata imbalances include osteoarthritis and osteoporosis (rough joints and brittle bones), insomnia and anxiety (excessive and irregular movement in the mind), constipation (irregularity and internal dryness) and aging, where we begin to look like that tree. There are many ways to aggravate vata in your constitution, but one of the best is to take on excessive activity, staying up late, and keeping irregular hours.
Pitta dosha, being metabolism or transformation of energy, is by nature hot, red, sharp and penetrating. When imbalanced it expresses itself as inflammation or heat, so any disease ending in –itis (meaning inflammation) is generally a pitta disorder. Hot flashes, heartburn, rosacea and most other skin disorders are also due to aggravated pitta. Spicy or sour foods, overheating exercise, anger and frustration are examples of causes of pitta aggravation.
Kapha dosha governs the fundamental quality of structure in the physiology, so its nature is solid, stable, heavy and inert. When aggravated (or increased out of proportion), kapha manifests as obstruction as well as heaviness or swelling. Sinus congestion, obesity, diabetes, and edema are examples of kapha disorders.
One important principle of Ayurveda called the law of similars and opposites states that the presence of a quality in your life or environment increases the effect of that quality in your physiology; opposite influences decrease that quality. Health can be maintained or restored by using this principle to structure balance in your diet, routines and environment. In other words: eat heat, get heartburn; eat fat, get fat. If a tissue is dry and brittle, it needs to lubrication and nourishment. These may seem like simplistic principles to guide one’s health behaviors, but I am sometimes amazed to see how we choose to ignore this practical concept.
By nature, we are all born with certain predispositions that play a role in the diseases we may eventually be afflicted with. Modern medicine has figured out by now the most obvious of these relationships. We know that heavy, kapha people are predisposed to kapha disorders like heart disease, diabetes and edema. Sun-sensitive pitta people are prone to rosacea and other inflammatory skin diseases. Hyper, wiry, ectomorphic vata types may be prone to insomnia or anxiety. Your mind-body type, called prakriti in Sanskrit (nature or constitution) has been the basis of many popular self-help books on Ayurveda. In this scenario, you determine your mind-body type and follow the corresponding dietary and lifestyle recommendations for that type.
There are several problems with this logic, most importantly, this is not how Ayurvedic physicians think. Most people have medical problems resulting from a lifetime of immoderation or neglect that may not be related to their body type. For example, the average American vata-type person is statistically highly likely to have disorders related to our sedentary American lifestyle and rich diet, including risks of heart disease. Such a vata person is best prescribed a kapha-pacifying regimen including more exercise and a diet that reduces sweet, rich foods. A diet and exercise program based on her body type, however, would recommend liberal amounts of sweet, salty, oily foods and moderation in exercise, a prescription that would only make these chronic disorders worse.
When we take our car to the shop, we say, “Fix my brakes,” and not, “Fix my car because it is a Chevy.” Similarly, an Ayurvedic doctor focuses on your imbalances and their underlying causes when formulating your treatment plan, while keeping your “make and model” of in the back of her mind. In fact, even after the symptoms have completely disappeared and health is restored, your treatment should still be based on your previous imbalances and not your body type, because it is wiser to anticipate the recurrence of a previous disorder instead of the hypothetical predisposition to disease based on your body type.
To link to a short quiz, Dosha Imbalance Self-Assessment, that uses the logic of an Ayurvedic physician to assess your imbalances, click here...
Ayurveda is a satisfying science because the ancient texts describe the effect of nearly every environmental or dietary influence in our lives on our natural state of equilibrium: different kinds of drinking water, fruits and vegetables, hundreds of kinds of birds, fish and animals. The texts describe what to avoid or favor to treat chronic disorders, making it easy and motivating for us to follow the proper program.
For vata, naturally, we take warm, rich, nourishing foods with sweet, sour and salty tastes. Pitta disorders need a cooling diet favoring sweet, bitter and astringent foods. Kapha disorders are the least fun to manage, because they are helped by culinary restraint: light diets with less fat, sugar and salt, but plenty of spices and bitter, astringent tastes. Similarly, vata imbalances are helped by calming, soothing influences in the environment like classical music vs. hard rock. Kapha imbalances require more stimulation, like salsa, dancing and avoidance of siestas and television. Avoiding heating influences during exercise and improving your choices of music, inflammatory entertainment or frustrating relationships can help pitta imbalances.
Proper Ayurvedic treatment of these and many other diseases invariably involves more than balancing the doshas, including strengthening the digestive fire, eliminating plaque or toxins, nourishing the tissues, and other interventions.
One satisfying benefit of Ayurveda for the patient is its intuitive and simple nature. As you see, in only a few minutes you have grasped a critical principle of this complete science.
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