Yoga for your Doshas

Tonight is my night with the Yoganjali Teacher Training program to teach the Yoga Instructors more about Ayurveda. We've already learned about the forces of the Elements (doshas) in the body & mind and the importance of digestive fire or Agni. We've touched the concepts of Ama (toxic ick) and Ojas (Spiritual nectar). We've laid the foundation for meditation, mindfulness and eating pure foods (Sattvic) to support our coverings made of food ...the body. Now we get to move to the meat and potatoes which is developing a yoga practice for your element (dosha).

To find out what body type you are, take the quiz.........CLICK HERE (The quiz on my website is statistically weighted to push you more to your body's dosha than your mind. This is done with intent as I can get to your body more effectively with online education than to your mind).

Here is your practice and why: Overall, the point of practicing yoga is to balance the energies of the elements in your body, to improve the physical condition of your body, to facilitate ease, to increase Ojas (prana, vitality and lifeforce) in your body and mind and to create a mind that is calm, focused and clear.

Vata types resonate with the elements of Wind and Space. They tend to be a little more brittle and dry. Muscles are not so pronounced. Just like the Wind, they do like to move quickly and they tend to be more flexible. As we all age...all the doshas...the force of Vata increases and that makes us dry out a little bit from the inside out. Especially for Vatas, this can mean that flexibility and agility diminish. Of the 3 doshas, Vatas need yoga the most. They need a slow, gentle and grounding practice. If your Vata is blocked, you will experience pain in your body. If you have low Vata, you will experience lethargy, low body weight and be supersentistive to the 5 senses.

Body...Warm, Calm and Gentle B
Breathing....deep, calm and steady breath. The emphasis is on the inhale
Your Mind...focus inward...use mantra during your practice

Pitta types resonate with the elements of Fire and Water....just a wee bit of moisture. Pittas (Fires) tend to have a good muscular structure. The wee bit of moisture in their system gives them loose joints and so they are flexible. Fire types love their asana practice, but tend to keep it pretty "straight" up as the crazier poses are just not appropriate for their bone structure...bones are shorter. Fires need yoga for their mind more than anything else. They need to soothe that spark in their mind that can quickly turn to anger, tension, hostility and stress.

FIRE BODY AND MIND SHOULD NEVER EVER EVER DO HOT YOGA! WAY TO AGGRAVATING.

Body: Cool, gentle
Breathing: Cooling and relaxed. If you get too hot...exhale through the mouth
Your Mind: detach from your practice. be aware if you are critical to self, to others in the room or to the instructor.

Kapha types resonate with the elements of Earth and Water...a good dose of water. Kaphas (Earths) tend to put on weight easily and are always watching what they eat. (You should be a Vegan if you are Kapha). They tend to be the least flexible of the 3 body types, yet their endurance and steadiness far surpasses the other 2. Earths need to move. They need stimulation. They have endurance. Kaphas should challenge themselves with Vinyasa, Ashtangha and other powerful practices.

Body: Warm with effort and invigoration
Breathing: Very deep and rapid breathing to keep your Vata moving up...remember, you need uplifted and stimulated.
Your Mind: Open to the movement. Actively engage with stimulation in the process. Learn.

So let's take a pose.....

Warrior Pose II is good for all body types. The expression of it, however, varies:

The Wind...Hold it for a long time. Ujjayi breath. Still focus
The Fire...Short holds, long breaths, light mind
The Earth...Long holds with repetition, any breath, stay committed

Plank Pose is good for all body types:

The Wind...long holds, Ujjayi breathing
The Fire..Short holds, light breathing (Ujjayi okay, just light)
The Earth...Long Holds with repetition, normal breaths...Ujjayi good


You see there is a pattern. If you follow this pattern, you would expect that the Hatha Yoga and Slow Flow would be very good for The Wind and The Fire. The more powerful classes are reserved for the Kaphas.


This is not correct, however, because there is one more layer to consider and that is the 'quality' of the person coming to yoga. Most of us are living in the real world. That means that we are constantly on the go and making not the best nutritional choices. For this reason, we have a lot of dullness build up in our system, or what is called "Tamas". So, first we need to get the dullness moving and then we need to get the heat settled, "Rajas". After that, we can create the still quality of what we call "Sattva".


A great practice for our Western life:

Hatha Yoga

• Begin with relaxation to let go of your crazy day.
• Warm up inflexible joints and muscles.
• Move through Sun Salutations to move the dullness and create heat
• Cool down with Sun Salutations and start to cultivate peace in your body and mind
• Move deeply into seated postures
• Meditate
• Relax

While you are doing this, focus your breath and mind according to your Dosha.

In a mixed dosha yoga room, empower yourself to move faster or slower than other's (even than the instructor) to get the most out of your practice.

The next time you come to EOM, do notice that we always end class with a 10 minute covered Shavasana! Consider it honey for your pure mind.