Balancing Your Doshas for Inner Peace: Ayurvedic Techniques for Women on the Go
By: Naveera Perera
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Unlocking the Secrets of Ayurveda: A Collaboration with Siddhalepa
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In this series, you'll:
Gain insights from the source: Learn directly from Siddhalepa's registered Ayurvedic doctors, all People of Color (POC) experts preserving this heritage.
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This collaboration takes you to the very heart of Ayurveda in South Asia. Get ready to embark on a transformative journey towards a healthier, happier you.
Today, a woman is many things - working professional, mum, breadwinner, homemaker or the primary caretaker of aging parents. Regardless of the role they undertake, according to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) statistics of 2022, women aged between 25-54 are more likely to experience significantly higher rates of work-related stress, anxiety and depression than men, especially if they are juggling many roles. Additionally, The Stress in America survey conducted by the American Psychological Association, notes that, women who have been recommended or who have attempted to make a lifestyle change or behaviour change find it quite difficult to do so because they simply do not have the time.
With a history spanning over 5000 years, ayurveda is a science of life that emphasises the importance of balancing doshas for inner peace. Simply put, without a deep understanding of how your body works, not only are you ignoring the underlying causes for some of the conditions you may have, but any amount of general healthy practices you follow may not yield effective results and help you find stillness.
To give you some guidance on how you can address these imbalances in your body, we spoke to an Ayurvedic expert, Dr Gihani Weerasekara who is a registered ayurvedic doctor at Siddhalepa Hospital in Sri Lanka where every ayurvedic treatment begins with a personalised consultation and diagnosis of "Prakurthi" which is your biological constitution according to the basic principles of vata, pitta and kapha.
Dr. Gihani Weerasekara is a registered ayurvedic doctor at the leading Siddhalepa Ayurveda Hospital in Sri Lanka where local and international patients receive therapeutic ayurvedic treatments.
Weerasekara has completed her BAMS (Bachelor of Ayurveda Medicine and Surgery) at the University of Colombo, a diploma in Ayurvedic Panchakarma and a certificate in Herbal Cosmetology.
Why Inner Peace Matters for Modern Women
“According to Ayurveda, each person's constitution is influenced by a combination of three fundamental energies called doshas. These doshas are Vata, Pitta, Kapha.” says Weerasekara. She went on to explain that “Optimal health occurs when the doshas are in harmony. So when any of the doshas become excessive or deficient it can lead to physical or mental imbalances.”
Women's bodies in particular undergo many cycles of change. In ayurveda, the cycle of doshas in one’s lifetime explains why women should focus more on balancing doshas for inner peace. Each of these doshas, collectively known as tridoshas, dominates your body in different phases of your lifetime. For instance, kapha dominates from the time you are a foetus until you reach young adulthood. Next, pitta starts to increase during adolescence, until subsequently it starts to dominate in your early 30s. This is also when your body is statistically more likely to get diseases like high blood pressure, ulcers and heart diseases. This is further regarded as the prime time for female disorders to surface. Lastly, when you reach your 60s, vata will start to increase until subsequently it dominates during your 70s, creating changes in your body based on old age.
While men generally experience each transition smoothly, for women, it’s more complicated. This is because a woman's body experiences significant changes when they undergo “additional cycling of doshas every month” during their menstrual period, during pregnancy and as well as when experiencing menopause. These additional cycles women face make women medically more complex than men according to ayurveda. As such, for those of you affected by the busy woman syndrome, there is a greater need to start work on achieving inner peace as early as possible.
To help you balance your doshas in this fast-paced world, here is a quick run down of some of the most important points in balancing doshas in daily life.
The Key to Personalised Wellbeing is Understanding your Doshas
In Ayurveda, it is believed that energy can manifest in five states of matter. This includes solid, liquid, gaseous/air, luminous or combustive, and pure space devoid of matter. It is the combination of these states that creates the tridoshas. For instance:
Kapha includes solid and liquid which creates structure. It is oily, slow, cool, moist, heavy, smooth, and steady in nature.
Pitta refers to luminous and liquid which create the potential for metabolic activity. It is hot, oily and sharp in nature.
Vatta consists of gas and space elements, which controls movement such as blood flow and breathing, communication, cognition and perception.
Many people may be experiencing one or two dominant doshas, thereby requiring you to put in the effort to balance all three. According to Weerasekara, “ayurvedic wisdom states that like increases like, while opposites balance”.
Accordingly, “to balance specific doshas we need to cultivate qualities opposite to those doshas”. For instance, Weerasekara notes that “if someone has an excess of doshas associated with air and movement, they need to introduce more grounding and stability. Similarly, if there's an excess of pitta, cooling practices and foods can help restore balance”. On the other hand, “kapha imbalances may benefit from stimulating activities and lighter foods”.
So the first step to understanding your doshas and creating your personalised lifestyle is to know your current state of doshas.
Quick & Easy Ayurvedic Techniques for On-the-Go Balance
Based on what your dominant doshas are, here is a customised list of tips you can follow to balance it.
Warming, grounding and nurturing tips for Vata Dosha
Are you someone that often has cold hands and feet, suffers from constipation, is naturally thin and finding it difficult to put on weight? Do you also have dry skin and hair and occasionally experience waves of tiredness? This might be an indication that you have a vata dosha imbalance. Keeping in mind that “opposites balance”, vata dosha which are typically cool, light, and dry, benefits from things that are warming, grounding, and nurturing.
As such, Weerasekara notes that you should “keep warm by dressing in layers and consuming warm foods and beverages”. This includes consuming “warm, cooked and moist foods” such as steamed veggies and homemade soups, drinking herbal teas and avoiding “excessive raw or cold foods”. As a practice, she says that you should “eat at regular intervals to prevent erratic hunger and imbalance”.
As the vata imbalance moreover tends to result in one having a scattered mind, Weerasekara advises to “establish a regular daily routine to provide stability” and “engage in grounding activities like yoga, meditation or walking in nature”.
Cooling tips for Pitta Dosha
How often or fast do you get angry and irritable, find it difficult to fall asleep and is subject to skin breakouts and rashes? Are you also experiencing heartburn or acid indigestion, frequent migraines, loose bowel movements and have workaholic tendencies? This may mean you have a pitta dosha imbalance.
To control your skin flare ups, Weerasekara says you should “opt for cooling food like cucumber, mint and coconut”. She also recommends “avoid excessive spicy, oily or acidic foods”, to particularly stay hydrated and practice moderation. A good way to control your anger and mood swings is to “practise relaxation techniques such as meditation or deep breathing”. At the same time, she notes that “limiting exposure to direct sunlight during peak hours” would help alleviate any skin irritation and migraines.
Stimulation tips for Kapha Dosha
If you constantly find yourself lacking motivation, exhausted, craving for sweets, overweight and finding it difficult to lose a few pounds you possibly have a kapha dosha imbalance. This is further confirmed if you are someone that sweats a lot, has thick and oily hair, and is not much of a fan of rainy or humid weather.
To balance your kapha, Weerasekara says movement is key. Therefore you should “engage in regular exercises to stimulate circulation and metabolism”. Moreover, since your body is prone to gain weight, she further says that you should have moderate potions and “choose light, warm and spicy foods and minimise heavy oily and sweets”. Having cooked vegetables for instance is a good option. As a rule of thumb she also advises to “use warming spices like ginger, cinnamon, turmeric, cumin and coriander”.
Daily Lifestyle Tips to Balance Your Doshas
While practising dosha-friendly rituals in isolation work to a limited extent, embracing a lifestyle that helps you with dosha-balancing and finding inner peace is effective in the long term. It is this lifestyle-building element that will help you with building resilience with ayurveda while cultivating self-compassion and navigating stress triggers which are an unavoidable part of life.
Here is how your daily journey of inner stillness can look life according to Weerasekara.
Get out of bed before the sun rises
According to ayurveda, waking up before the sun rises, between 4.00am and 6.00am is great for your mental clarity and positivity, also known as sattva. This stems from the belief that waking up early instils positive energy to the body as the atmosphere and ambiance during that time is intensely soothing and serene.
Morning meditation and yoga
It is recommended to mediate and engage in yoga before 6.00am to create a greater sense of self-awareness. The traditional practice is to engage in Asana (movement), Pranayama (breath and energy awareness and containment) and Dhyana (meditation) respectively.
Ayurvedic Interior Tips to Create a Calming Space
Ayurvedic home decor tips to soothe your mind are not totally different to the calming interior tips you encounter on a daily basis but The physical environment you live in plays a vital role in helping you to balance your doshas.
You can make intentional changes to your home environment whether its adding essential oils, organic materials such as wood and stone and colours that soothe you.
Drink warm water with a dash of ginger and honey
As you wake up, the first thing you should do is drink a glass of warm water, a process known as Ushapan. This helps you to flush out all the toxins, clear out your intestines and hydrate your body. Adding a dash of ginger and honey is also good for digestion.
Connect with nature
Plant your feet on the ground and walk barefoot within nature. As vata, pitta and kapha are made up of five natural elements, the more we are in nature, the more we are in tune with it. Being with nature also influences us to think that we are whole and connected, allowing us to be more mindful of our surroundings and be less self-centred.
Practise Abhyanga
Engage in the daily practice of Abhyanga, a process wherein you massage yourself with oil by warming it between your palms before application.This helps with blood circulation, lymph drainage, and building strong and firm limbs, among others.
Take Balancing baths
Warm baths using natural ingredients like rose petals, lavender or epsom salts offers soothing effects and vitality for your skin and contributes to balancing your doshas.
Daily Exercise
Engaging in daily exercises helps to get rid of heaviness and stiffness of the body. You do not always have to go to the gym and lift heavy equipment. Instead, even a brisk walk or short yoga session would do. Essentially, engaging in an activity that gets you to move your body for a period of at least 30 minutes is recommended.
You need a Balanced diet and hydration
Keeping in mind that you should particularly consume the right type of food based on your most dominant dosha, it is a must to eat in moderation and on time.
You should also be hydrating yourself throughout the day with water and not consider juices and milk as a substitute.
Listen to a calming relaxing mantras
There are dosha specific mantras you can listen to depending on your dosha. An example for each include, Aum Namah Shivaya for vata dosha, Om Shanti Shanti Shanti for pitta dosha, and Om Gum Ganapataye Namaha for kapha dosha.
Prioritise sleep
Your body and mind needs adequate sleep to function properly. Ayurveda recommends that you at the very latest sleep before 10.00pm and have six hours of uninterrupted sleep. Take note to have a gap of two hours between your dinner and bedtime.
Keep Reading: Ayurvedic Sleep Hygiene: Tips for Restful Nights & Renewed Energy, from an Ayurvedic Doctor
Ayurvedic Must-Haves for Women On-The-Go
For women that are constantly on the go, Weerasekara recommends the following quick tips that will help to contribute to the process of balancing your doshas throughout the day.
Carry fresh ginger slices or ginger tea bags
Ginger can help reduce cramps, symptoms of PMS such as mood swings and fatigue, and menstrual pain during your moon cycle. It also helps with bloating and eases abdominal discomfort. Moreover, as ginger contains around 40 antioxidant compounds, your body will experience a healthy inflammatory response
Stay hydrated with warm liquids
Warm herbal tea can especially help your body to balance doshas. Having a cup of ashwagandha can help you to reduce anxiety while brahmi can help you to alleviate your stress.
Take Immune Boosting Supplements
Consider taking an immune boosting supplements such as those rich in vitamin A and C, garlic and probiotics.
Keep Reading: The Essential Guide to Multivitamins for Black and Brown Communities
Maintain Consistency
Maintain a regular routine where you strictly have your regular meals on time and have consistent sleep patterns.
Practise Abhyanga
Spend a few minutes of your day with a self massage using an oil of your choice. More particularly, target massaging your low back, feet and ears.
Carry Ayurvedic Oils
A nasya oil and lavender oil can be a girl's best friend wherever you go. Apply a few drops of nasya oil to protect yourself against sinuses and to have a clear mind. On the other hand, apply a drop of lavender oil in your mask for a calming aromatherapy.
Triphala
Triphala is a powerful ayurvedic formulation consisting of Amla, Bibhitaki (Terminalia bellirica) and Haritaki (Terminalia chebula). It can help with digestion and dental health. However, this should be avoided if you are pregnant or are lactating.
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https://headachejournal.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/head.12363Ayurveda – The Science of Healing, Trupti Gokani MD, Journal of Head and Face Pain, 10 June 2014
