Constitution describes what are the dominant natural attributes and elements your body and mind are made of.Constitution is determined in the early stages of conception, pregnancy, birth and early childhood, and is permanent for life.
Knowing your constitution has many benefits for life and health. By understanding your constitution you can better understand your psychological tendencies, your strengths and your weaknesses, as well as your physiological strong and weak areas. You may see that your habits and tendencies, such as erratic life style (Vata), irascibility (Pitta), or laziness (Kapha), or physical problems such as constipation (Vata), ulcers (Pitta), over weight (Kapha), are directly related to your constitution. The tendency towards such imbalances is inherent in the way your mind-body system is designed. When you can anticipate the kinds of illnesses and imbalances you are likely to have, you can take precautions to prevent them from arising. You can adjust your life style, daily routine, diet, amount and type of exercise, and so on, to keep your constitution in balance and health at its best.
Constitution information is essential for designing a personal treatment plan, and is very helpful for life in general. Knowing your constitution explains your strengths and weaknesses, serves as a personal “manual guide” how to restore and preserve health and vitality.Ignoring this guide will most probably result in health challenges and difficulties. Knowing someone else’s constitution helps to understand and communicate better. To succeed in relationship, it is helpful to know the constitution of your life partner, your children, and your friends and even of people you meet only occasionally. Understanding another’s constitution brings clarity which in turn brings compassion and acceptance and the knowledge how to act and react with a certain person. When your Kapha daughter is clumsy, your Vata son is oversensitive and your Pitta wife/husband is barking commands at you, the reasons are all clearer and the situation much more acceptable and your reaction could be much more appropriate and sensible. Constitution knowledge can open a new dimension of understanding of emotional reactions in the relationship
Your constitution serves as a baseline, marking your personal proportion of each of the universal attributes in your system. This baseline balance proportion between universal attributes in your system is neither good nor bad in essence; rather it is what you make out of it. Once you have this knowledge, you check your current imbalances. If your constitution and imbalances are of the same nature, as is most often the case, then treatment strategy will be uniform. If your constitution and imbalances are of different nature, the treatment strategy will be to first address the current imbalances and follow with balancing your baseline constitution.
Finally, remember that balance never means equal amounts of your universal attributes. Rather it means maintaining your proportion of the universal attributes or Dosha’s, according to your constitution. It is not a static state, but a dynamic equilibrium that needs constant renewal. Changing constitution is not an objective, but rather keeping the universal attributes, great elements and Dosha in balance, to achieve positive progress in life, success and well-being
Constitution first determines the physical attributes of the body, is the body Hot or Cold? Dry or Oily? Heavy or light?
Single quality type of constitution:
When the elements Space and Air are dominant – constitution is Vata, the movement principle of nature, the attributes Dry, Light, Cold.
When the elements Fire and Water are dominant – constitution is Pitta, the transforming principle of nature, the attributes Hot, Light, slightly Oily.
When Water and Earth are dominant – constitution is Kapha, the nourishing principle of nature, the attributes Heavy, Cold, Oily.Â
Double quality type of constitution:
The combination of Vata and Pitta
The combination of Pitta and Kapha
The combination of Kapha and Vata
Triple quality type of constitution:
The combination of Vata, Pitta and Kapha
The description of 7 constitutional types does not restrict all humanity to fit into a 7 type model. Each type has more or less of the different universal attributes, what makes each constitution personal and unique. The use of the 7 model type serves to describe the doe’s and don’ts for each type, in order to manifest and realize life in the best personal way.
How to understand the Dosha’s
Your body type shows you how you use energy. Vata spends energy, Pitta manages it, and Kapha stores it. That’s why Vata tends to be underweight and depleted, Pitta tends to be medium weight and focused, and Kapha tends to be overweight and congested.
Talking about Dosha constitution can seem confusing at first, since everyone has all three Doshas. But with experience and understanding of this concept the dominant Dosha can be revealed. Your constitution is simply your background and general tendencies. If a person has a Vata body type, they have the gifts of Vata but also the tendency to get Vata type illnesses. Dosha affects your body physically, mentally, and spiritually. Vata people tend to be hyperactive and inspired. Pitta people tend to be disciplined and logical. Kapha people tend to be passive, but nurturing. Dosha is just a broad approximation. The benefit of Dosha is perspective, like looking at the forest instead of the trees. Every individual has a different constitution and perfect health is different for each person. Your wishes show you how you use your energy and spend your time, thus revealing your Dosha.
Balancing the Doshas
Ayurveda helps people heal by balancing and regulating the Doshas. When the Doshas are balanced, the body is in homeostasis (a state of dynamic balance), and that is a state of good health. When the body is healthy it automatically repairs and protects itself. When Doshas are aggravated or provoked, they stress the body and cause disease. Generally, to balance a Dosha, Ayurveda uses opposites. For example, if the body is cold, Ayurveda recommends heating foods.
How do you come to discover your constitution?
Every constitution has physical, emotional and mental attributes that indicate what universal attributes and great element are dominant. This discovery process is done by questioning and body diagnosis.