Understanding Vata pitta kabah

 SPARK VASI YOGA ALCHEMY 🔱 🧘‍♀️ 

The five elements

In Ayurveda, human anatomy starts with the five elements—ether (space), air, 

fire, water, and earth. The elements create three compounds that govern specific 

functions and energies in the body, namely, movement, transformation, and cohe-

sion (holding things together). According to Charaka, when these compounds, known 

as doshas, are in balance and working harmoniously, you will enjoy smooth-moving 

processes (digestion, circulation, and so on), clear senses, the proper elimination of 

wastes, and happiness. 

Each of these five elements manifests as qualities in the body that can be recog-nized simply by paying close attention to physical sensations. For example, air and 

space are cold and light, fire is hot and sharp, and earth and water are heavy and 

moist. Imbalance is brought on by too much or too little of any of these qualities. 

Too much dryness, say from living in the desert and eating dry crackers, will result 

in a symptom like dry skin. These elements can have corresponding effects on the 

mind, such as the heavy, moist qualities of earth and water resulting in brain fog, 

or the light, mobile qualities of air and space inhibiting focus. Ayurveda manages 

these imbalances by introducing opposite qualities and reducing similar qualities.

For example, in the case of brain fog, introducing light, dry foods like barley and 

reducing heavy, moist foods like wheat will begin to alleviate the symptom.

Everyone requires all five elements, but they occur in different amounts in different 

bodies. Understanding your individual elemental makeup can take some time. By 

paying attention to your body over the course of changing seasons, you’ll begin 

to recognize the major players. If dry skin, scalp, stool, and so on are a part of your 

world, it’s likely there’s a good deal of space and air elements in your body. Once this 

becomes clear, start feeling for the subtle qualities of these elements in your mind and 

moods. Space and air, for example, can manifest as an anxious, sometimes spacey, 

ungrounded, or sensitive mind or mood due to the porous nature of these elements.

Here’s where you will find the five elements (Pancha Mahabhutas) in your body.

Space: Intestines, ears, center of the bones

Air: Anywhere there is movement, including belching, gas, and cracking joints 

Fire: Stomach acid, bile, enzymes in the small intestine, red blood cells, metabolic 

processes

Water: Mucous membranes, lymphatic fluid, digestive juices, saliva, synovial fluid

Earth: Fat, muscle, bones.

While it is important to understand how Ayurveda views the physical body, in 

this we will be looking mostly at the mind. Ayurveda considers the functions 

of body and mind to be so interconnected that balance and imbalance are rooted 

in both physical and mental spheres. It is important to our overall well-being to 

understand both. 

what is a dosha?

You have probably heard of the doshas. According to the Ashtanga Hrdayam, dosha 

literally means “that which is faulty.” But doshas aren’t a problem until imbalance 

has been hanging around awhile. These energies, each a synergy of two elements, can 

hurt or help you, depending on whether or not they are in a relative state of balance. 

That’s why it is more important to understand how to maintain balance than it is to 

dwell on doshas as the “bad guys.”

There are three doshas, known as vata, pitta, and kapha. These are the compounds 

that arise naturally when the five elements come together in the human body. Each 

performs a specific function in the body and manifests as a recognizable group of 

qualities. While the primary energies that affect the mind are different from the three 

doshas, when one or more of the doshas accumulate in your body, you are likely to 

notice the same qualities in your mind.

Vata (“VA-tah”) is the energy of movement.

Pitta (“PITT-ah”) is the energy of transformation.

Kapha (“CUP-hah”) is the energy of structure and lubrication together; cohesion 

(think glue).

VATA

Where there is space, air begins to move, and together these elements manifest as cold, 

light, dry, rough, mobile, erratic, and clear qualities. Think of vata as the currents 

of the body. The body knows the food goes in the mouth, then down and out; vata 

ushers it along. Vata also moves the attention and is responsible for the movements 

of the five senses and the activity of the brain and nervous system. The expansive nature 

of its qualities makes for a creative, mobile energy. There is nothing problematic about 

the qualities of space and air, or their function, unless your body has accumulated 

too much. Too many vata qualities can result in signs of imbalance such as gas and 

constipation, increasingly dry skin, and racing thoughts and anxiety.

Balanced Vata

• Consistent elimination

• Free breathing

• Good circulation

• Keen senses

• Creativity

Vata Imbalance

• Gas and constipation

• Asthma

• Cold hands and feet

• Anxiety/feeling overwhelmed

Pitta in Balance

• Good appetite and metabolism

• Steady hormones

• Sharp eyesight

• Comprehension

• Good complexion (rosy skin)

Pitta Imbalance

• Acid indigestion, reflux

• Painful, heavy menstrual cycle

• Red, dry eyes; the need for glasses

• Acne, rosacea

• Irritability

• Tendency to overwork

• Overly competitive

PITTA

Where there is fire, there has to be water to keep it from burning everything up. 

The resulting compound is firewater, a liquid, hot, sharp, penetrating, light, mobile, 

oily, smelly grouping of qualities. (Think acid or bile.) When food gets chewed, pitta 

moves in to break it down, liquidize it, metabolize it, and transform it into tissues. 

It does the same with raw information, breaking it down, understanding it, and 

organizing it. The sharp, motivated nature of pitta makes for quick, focused energy. 

This is great, unless things get too hot or too sharp, resulting in signs of imbalance 

such as acidy burps or reflux; diarrhea; skin rashes; inflammation; or mental states 

that include irritability, obsession, and jealousy.

KAPHA

Without water, you wouldn’t be able to get sand to stick together to build a sand-

castle. The earth element requires water in this same way to get things to stick 

together. Kapha is like glue: cool, liquid, slimy, heavy, slow, dull, dense, and stable.

This group of qualities provides density in the bones and fat, cohesion in the tissues 

and joints, and plenty of mucus so we don’t dry out. Its gentle, soft, sticky nature 

makes for a mellow, sweet energy and a strong memory. Great! Unless things get 

too heavy and too sticky, which can result in signs of imbalance such as loss of 

appetite; slow digestion; sinus troubles and allergies; weight gain; or mental states 

like heaviness, brain fog, and sadness.

Kapha in Balance

• Strong bodily tissues

• Well-lubricated joints and

mucous membranes

• Hearty immune system

Kapha Imbalance

• Excessive weight gain

• Water retention

• Sinus or lung congestion

• Sadness, heavy heart

In an ideal world, we would all have a decent dose of all of these qualities and a 

balanced, well-functioning system. One person may be more fiery and prone to 

arguments, another may be more spacey and prone to forget things—that’s the 

fun of variation in nature. The body’s constitution, or makeup of the elements, is 

genetic. Understanding your constitution can help you understand which of these 

compounds is likely to get out of balance so you can make choices in your diet and 

lifestyle to keep potential doshas in check.

It’s easy to focus on dosha, that which gets out of balance. But categorizing your-

self as a dosha (“I’m so vata”) or identifying yourself with states of imbalance is not 

the aim of Ayurvedic wisdom. It may be more helpful to understand and manage 

the general causes of imbalance first. For instance, if you notice you often feel over-

heated and irritable, and your imbalances tend toward characteristics on the pitta 

list, practice eating calming foods and making time to relax. 

While the physical activity of the doshas certainly affects our mental state, Ayurveda 

is specific about subtle, energetic tools for understanding balance in the mind. 

There are three energies: sattva (the clear essence of the mind) and the two energies 

that act on it, rajas (restlessness) and tamas (stagnation). The Charaka Samhita 

considers rajas and tamas to be “doshas of the mind.” The three mental energies 

can be balanced in the same way vata, pitta, and kapha are—by noticing imbalances 

early on. We will be learning about what these energies are and how they affect the 

mind and mood in the next Artcle.

Dr.Suresh

Consultant: Holisticcare Medicine