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  • Balancing Your Pitta Dosha

    October 19, 2021 2 min read

    Have you ever had the feeling of “burning the candle at both ends”? This idiom does well to explain the sensation of being “burnt out.” In Ayurvedic medicine, this feeling of being overworked and overheated can be understood as an excess of Pitta dosha. Small but significant lifestyle changes can be made to bring the system back into balance.

    What is the Pitta dosha?

    In Ayurvedic tradition, there are five elements that combine to form both the external world around us and our unique inner worlds. These elements (space, air, fire, water and earth) combine to form three doshas types - Vata, Pitta, and Kapha. The Vata dosha is a combination of air and space, Pitta dosha is made of fire and water, and Kapha dosha is a combination of water and earth. Each of us is said to be born with a primary dosha called your prakruti, or your natural state of being. Despite your prakruti, it is important to maintain a harmony between all three doshas to prevent emotional and physical imbalances. When the doshas are out of alignment, signs of imbalance can manifest as disease in both the mind and body.

    What are the symptoms of Pitta Imbalance?

    • Heartburn or acid reflux
    • Inflammation and joint pain
    • Loose stools
    • Frustration, anger, impatience and irritability
    • Overall feeling of excess heat in the body

    Balancing Pitta

    Balancing Pitta Dosha | Mukha Yoga

    There are many advantages of having Pitta in the system, but it can lead to burnout if not brought back into balance with rest and relaxation. To balance excess Pitta, you want to support your body to rest and to ‘cool down’ through lifestyle and dietary changes. Ayurvedic medicine recommends balancing Pitta with foods that encourage cooling such as raw foods, fresh vegetables and herbs like cilantro and fennel. Stimulating substances like caffeine, nicotine, and spicy foods should be limited.

    How can we balance excess Pitta?

    • Cooling foods and herbs ( Try our Mint Salad recipe)
    • Mindfulness and meditation practice
    • General rest and relaxation

    Asanas for Balancing Pitta

    Try our guided meditation for letting go of worry.

    • Supine yoga poses. Encourage a calm mind and healthy circulation throughout the body by practicing asanas while laying on your back.
    • Inversions. Combat fatigue and soothe the nervous system with perspective-changing inversions.
    • Other naturally cooling asanas: Child’s Pose, Forward Fold, Butterfly Pose, Half-Lotus Pose.

    To encourage balance in the system, those with Pitta prakruti should make sure to balance their busy, high-achieving lifestyle with moments of rest and recovery. Pitta imbalance can be greatly impacted by making time for slow and mindful moments throughout the day. For example, waking up a little earlier and sitting for a short guided meditation, pranayama practice or herbal tea will encourage a slower more restful state of mind and body compared to a rushed morning commute in a high stressed state.

    Victoria Maybee l Mukha Yoga
    By Victoria Maybee; All Rights Reserved @2021

    Victoria Maybee l Mukha YogaBy Victoria Maybee; All Rights Reserved @2021