It bases this advice on an understanding of the constitution of the individual. As witches, we are aware that most of us have one element or another that is stronger in our makeup than the others, and some of us have one element or another that is lacking. Ayurveda defines this in terms of a PRAKRUTI or constitution. Determination of one's constitution takes into account physical attributes, patterns of thought, emotions, and dreams.

In Ayurveda, the constitutional types are based on three elements or DOSHAS. These are VATTA, composed of air and ether, PITA, composed of fire, and KAPHA, composed of earth and water. If the three doshas are well balanced in an individual, and if the processes of digestion and elimination work well, this person is likely to be and stay healthy. If one or more doshas is clearly in excess, disease processes characteristic of that dosha can develop. Hence, one of the underlying principles of Ayurvedic health-care is to bring the doshas into as even a balance as possible. This is generally done by avoiding foods, herbs, states of mind, and activities that will increase that dosha, and incorporating habits and foods that will decrease it.

Vatta, the dosha of air and ether, is light, dry and cool; it can be increased or aggravated by cool dry weather and winds, and any foods or herbs whose nature is predominantly light, dry or cool. Pita, the dosha of fire, is hot, heavy, and wet in terms of oily; it is aggravated by hot weather, particularly if it is hot and humid. Kapha, the dosha of earth and water, is heavy, cold, and wet; it can be alleviated by warm, dry weather, particularly if it is also breezy. These properties are shown in the diagram below.

Much more detailed information on the three constitutional types can be seen in the table below, which is designed to let you determine your own prakruti.

The major point of offering this information here is that I have found that if one is looking for a particular type of remedy, it is often useful to try to find one that will tend to balance your constitution rather than one that will put it further out of balance. For example, Vata, the airy type, can often feel anxious and might need something to help with sleep on occasion. If they use a remedy that is cooling, they may make their airiness more pronounced, and require more and more sedative to achieve the desired relaxation; if they use a warming nervine like Valerian, they may settle the airiness that makes their minds race, and get to sleep without the same danger of dependence. On the other hand, if a fiery person uses the Valerian, it might actually make him more anxious...I have seen it happen.

Sometimes, symptoms may be superficially similar for people of all three dosha types, but they should be treated very differently. For example, all three doshas can cause joint pain if they are present in excess. In Vata excess, the joints will be dry and lacking lubrication; in Pita excess they may be inflamed; in Kapha excess they may be loose and have an excess of water. So a demulcent remedy, which moistens, may help a Vata person, but would make the condition worse for a Kapha. Similarly an anti-inflammatory, which cools and dries, will help the burning joints of a Pita person, but might make the condition worse for a Vata person.

Go through this questionnaire as honestly as you can. If more than one answer applies to any given question, check both. Add up the checks for each dosha.

Find Your Constitution

Characteristic	VATTA	PITA	KAPHA
Frame	thin, irregular	moderate	thick
Bones	light	medium	heavy
Shoulders	narrow	medium	broad
Chest	thin, small	medium	broad
	narrow		well developed
Weight	low	moderate	heavy
	difficult to gain	hard to gain	gains easily
Skin	dry, cold	oily, warm	oily, cool
Skin tone	brownish	pink	white
	narrow	medium	broad
Hair	dry dandruff	oily, thin	slightly oily
	kinky, curly	blond, straight	thick, wavy
	dull	greying, bald	strong
Teeth	crooked	gums bleed easily	strong
Lips	thin, small, dry	medium, soft, red	full, smooth
Eyes	small, active	sharp, penetrating	large
	busy	intense, burning	attractive
	dry	bloodshot	watery
Eyebrows	thin, dry, scaly	moderate	thick
Hands	small, thin	moderate	large, thick
	dry, rough	pink, moist	oily, firm
	cold	warm	variable
Appetite	variable	excessive	moderate
	low blood sugar	feed me now	can go without
Hunger every	two hours	four hours	six hours
Reaction to	quick	moderate	slow
Medication	side effects	sensitive to ASA	need high dose
Thirst	variable	excessive	scanty
Stool	dry hard	soft	thick, oily
	constipated	loose	slow
	every 1-2 days	2-3 daily	1 a day
Urine	scanty	profuse	moderate
	colourless	yellow, strong	milky
Sweat	rare	profuse	moderate
Menstruation	scanty, painful	moderate to heavy	regular
Activity level	very busy	moderate	little
Endurance	low	moderate	lots
Sleep	restless	little but sound	deep, prolonged
Prefered climate	warm, wet	cold	warm, dry
Diseases	neurological	haemorrhage	excess mucus
	MS, Parkinson's	inflammation	respiratory
	neurosis	infections	swelling
	anxiety	depression	depression
Mind	restless, active	intense	calm, slow
	lively, curious
	easily influenced	influential	hard to influence
Emotions	fearful	impatient, angry	indifferent
	anxious	jealous	love, affection
	cool	warm	steady
Beliefs	changeable	fanatical	steady
Memory	recent, good	sharp	slow
	long term poor	selective	prolonged
Dreams	flying	colourful, intense	watery
	running away	passionate	romantic
Speech	quick, talkative	sharp, convincing	slow, definite
Money	poor	moderate	rich
Spends on	everything	quality	acquisitive
Career	inventive	engineer	manager
Sex drive	mental	active	slow to arouse
Remembers	sound	sight	feeling
Reaction	anxiety, fear	anger	denial

Some people will be strongly one type. Others will be more a balance of two, with one other very weak. Some will be fairly evenly balanced. You can help balance your system by eating foods, choosing exercise, and using herbs (when they are needed) that will decrease the doshas that are in excess.

It is beyond my purpose here to give detailed diet advice based on constitution. In general, each of the six tastes recognised by Ayurveda will increase one or two of the doshas and decrease the others. Sweet foods include grains and some fruits. Salty foods are those high in salt. Sour foods include citrus fruits, cheeses, and fermented foods. Pungent foods are those that taste hot and spicy, like garlic or cayenne. Astringent foods are those that make one's mouth feel dry. Bitter foods include certain bitter vegetables such as endive, dandelion, etc

	Increased by	Decreased by
Vatta dry, cool, light	Astringent Bitter Pungent	Sweet Sour Salty
Pita hot, light, wet	Pungent Sour Salty	Bitter Astringent Sweet
Kapha heavy, wet, cool	Sweet Salty Sour	Bitter Pungent Astringent

For more information on how foods fit into these six tastes, and how they affect the doshas, see the references at the bottom of the page.

In the herb pages, I give information on the taste of the herb, whether it is warming or cooling, it's effect on each of the three doshas, and another piece of information called VIPAKA, which is the post-digestive taste. The sweet and salty tastes become sweet, the pungent, bitter, and astringent become pungent, and the sour stays sour...in general this seems to have much less effect on the doshas than the initial tastes.

In general, if a herb increases a dosha that is already in excess in your system, you might do best to avoid it and try to find one in the same category that will help balance your system. For example, Marshmallow is often added to pulmonary formulas to soothe irritated tissues, but for a Kapha person, it just might increase their mucus and make the situation worse. Mullein might be a better demulcent to use in this case.

This information adds a dimension to herbalism that can allow one to tailor remedies to the individual in a way that will increase overall health while treating a given problem. It also provides useful information for those who are suggesting herbal formulas to support a system that is still healthy but under stress.

Suggested Reading:

Chopra, Deepak, Perfect Health
Frawley, David, and Lad, Vasant, The Yoga of Herbs
Lad, Vasant, Ayurveda, the Science of Self-Healing
Svoboda, Robert, Prakruti: Your Ayurvedic Constitution