Your Constitution
You Are a Vata-Pitta Type!
Vata and Pitta share some inherent qualities but possess some opposing ones as well. This naturally yields benefits as well as challenges for the Vata-Pitta type.
Hot and oily are Pitta’s primary defining characteristics, while cold and dry underlie Vata. Care and attention, therefore, are necessary to keep these opposing forces from creating a cycle of constant conflict for the Vata-Pitta person. Maintaining balance in both of these doshas can yield great advantages for you. For instance, Pitta’s fiery nature, strong will, perseverance, and determination, coupled with Vata’s subtle, refined, and insightful nature, makes a well-balanced Vata-Pitta person perfectly suited for benevolent leadership roles and higher levels of personal development. When out of balance, however, these same qualities can lead to self-sabotage, frustration, and an overall lack of fulfillment in life.
More About You …
PHYSICALLY
DIGESTION and APPETITE: You have a naturally strong appetite and can get away with eating pretty much anything you want. This opens up the possibility that you might not always make the healthiest food choices and may tend to overindulge in foods that are not particularly good for you.
The social aspect of eating is important to you as well. You like to share meals along with conversation and boisterous times, or when eating alone, multi-tasking (like working on your computer or playing on your phone), all of which can cause you to eat too quickly or prevent you from not adequately chewing your food, leading to digestive problems. Your mental state also plays a significant role in your digestion. When stressed or agitated, you can experience constipation, diarrhea, or both.
ENERGY LEVELS: You are blessed with an abundance of energy, which makes it possible for you to maintain an active, on-the-go lifestyle. Your enthusiasm and drive are usually able to keep pace with your passions, making you more than capable of getting things done. This can, however, sometimes lead you to take on too much, and you need to be mindful of overexerting yourself and burning out.
SLEEP: For you, sleep can be variable, and you might have frequent bouts of insomnia. You generally do not sleep too long, probably less than 6-7 hours on average, though you do need more. Even so, you generally wake up feeling fresh and alert, anxious to get going on your day. At the end of the day, you can still find yourself with enough energy to work well into the evening, or the opposite, tired and ready for bed early. Vata-Pitta types often find themselves collapsing, exhausted into bed at night, but then lying there for a long time trying to fall asleep.
TEMPERATURE: Vata is inherently sensitive to cold, while Pitta is sensitive to hot. This makes you susceptible to both extremes of temperature, and it is essential to take steps to always be comfortable. When you catch a chill, it can depress your digestion, and cause physical tension and mental irritability, while overheating can lead to rashes, inflammation, acidity, emotional outbursts, anger, and frustration.
MENTALLY / EMOTIONALLY
You are an intense and highly-motivated person, coupled with good social skills and a friendly and fun demeanour. The combination of strong Vata and Pitta influences create a unique passion for things that interest you. Along with your keen insight and broad vision, you are naturally capable of taking leadership roles in innovative and creative environments. You can, however, tend to overextend and overcommit yourself, which can lead to stress, anxiety, depression, and physical exhaustion. It’s important to pay constant attention to your mental and emotional state and avoid getting too consumed with work or other responsibilities. Setting realistic goals for yourself and proactively managing stress will help you to achieve your fullest potential in life.
Does this sound like you? Understanding the doshas and how they relate to us individually can help us to make the most of our strengths and to mitigate our weaknesses.
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Our Recommendations …
HEALTH RECOMMENDATIONS
The most important thing you can do for your health, both mentally and physically, is to adhere to a lifestyle that will keep both Vata and Pitta in check. As a Vata-Pitta type person, you have the inherent ability to make great achievements, along with the potential to fall off track and for things to spiral in a counterproductive direction. If either Vata or Pitta becomes aggravated, then it’s important to recognize this and make immediate changes to your surroundings and your situation and avoid continuing with any activity that will exacerbate an imbalance.
The best way to balance your active, mobile lifestyle is by embracing as many grounding, stabilizing influences as you can, such as yoga and meditation, spending time in nature, and establishing some routine in your daily life.
It is also important for you to balance your fervent outputs with relaxation and rejuvenation. Take naps, get plenty of rest, and don’t work or occupy your mind too much at night. You perform best when you go to sleep early and wake up early.
While Pitta’s intensity can keep you driving relentlessly towards your goals, you also have a healthy enthusiasm for life and a capacity to enjoy yourself along the way, if you remember. Don’t forget to take time to stop and smell the roses too!
One important way to manage your dual dosha is according to the seasons. In hot summer months, follow a Pitta-pacifying regime and diet, while taking steps to keep Vata in check during the fall and early winter, when the weather is cold, dry, and windy.
When Pitta is aggravated, try:
- Getting a relaxing massage.
- Seeking calming and soothing smells, sounds, and environments.
- Practicing yoga, meditation, and other stress-relief practices.
- Spending quiet time in nature.
- Cooling off with a swim or a cold drink on a hot day.
When Vata is aggravated, try:
- A warm bath (and keeping warm in general).
- An oil massage (and soothing aromatherapy too).
- Yoga/meditation and other ‘grounding’ practices.
- Spending quiet time alone reading or doing something calm and meditative.
- A warm, soothing cup of tea before bed (spend quiet time before going to bed to calm your mind).
DIETARY RECOMMENDATIONS
When it comes to food, we all need to indulge our cravings from time to time. Making a religion out of the food we eat misses the whole point of living a happy, healthy life. Adhering to a diet that mostly includes the foods that are good for us and avoids those that can throw our dosha(s) into an aggravated state, is a sane and realistic dietary approach.
Important in Ayurveda are the principles of “like increases like” and using “opposites as medicine.” Being a Vata-Pitta type can make eating a bit challenging, as many foods that are good for one dosha are bad for the other. However, there are similarities as well. Both Vata and Pitta are aggravated by pungent foods, while sweet tastes have a calming effect on both.
Focus on eating three square meals daily and slowing down while you eat, offering your full attention to each meal.
Food Do’s:
- Emphasize foods that are naturally sweet.
- Eat lots of sweet fruits, such as apples, berries, coconut, dates, melons, oranges, etc.
- Eat warm, well-cooked grains, such as oats, rice, wheat, etc.
- Eat beans (and all legumes) in moderation only.
- Use oils in moderation. Best are olive, coconut, and sunflower.
- Use natural sweeteners such as brown rice syrup, fruit juice concentrates, maple syrup, etc.
- Use spices, but don’t overdo it (i.e., not too hot).
Foods to Avoid:
- Foods that are pungent.
- Sour fruits, such as sour apples, cranberries, green grapes, cherries, etc.
- Pungent vegetables like beets, carrots, radish, garlic, onions, peppers, tomatoes, etc.
- Raw grains and puffed cereals, such as oats, granola, wheat bran, and millet.
- Refined sugar, molasses, and honey.
- Coffee, carbonated drinks, sour juices and teas, pungent teas, tomato juice, etc.
Use dairy products in moderation and avoid heavy cheeses, sour cream, yogurt, etc.
