This is part of the “Doing New Things” series where I’m trying to get out of my daily routine and explore newness by – you guessed it – doing new things. 52 new things in one year to be exact. Read more about my intention behind it here and view the complete list of things here. Today I’m writing about my consultation with an Ayurvedic practitioner to find out about my dosha combination (#34 on my list).
Anyone who is interested in Ayurveda has probably filled out an online questionnaire of some sort in order to get their dosha determined. I’ve certainly done this too. Multiple times even. But the results varied. Ever since I read somewhere that only an Ayurvedic professional can determine your dosha accurately, I knew that I wanted to get it determined; just out of curiosity.
The search for someone who could do that was easier than I thought. I put in “Ayurveda” in Google Maps and it turned out that there was an Ayurvedic center just a few blocks away from my home. Ayurveda’s World is a full-service, holistic Ayurveda Institute. They offer cooking courses, workshops, body therapies and many more things. They also have an Ayurvedic doctor on site. So I called and made an appointment with Dr. Naina Marballi, BSAM, DAC.
Ayurvedic Doshas
The three doshas (Vata, Pitta and Kapha) are derived from the five elements air, space, fire, water and air. As stated here,
“all three of them can be found in everyone and everything, but in different proportions. They combine to create different climates, different foods, different species, and even different individuals within the same species. In fact, the particular ratio of vata, pitta, and kapha within each of us has a significant influence on our individual physical, mental, and emotional character traits. But let’s begin with a closer look at each of the three doshas.
Vata Dosha (Wind Energy)
Vata is predominantly composed of the space and air elements. From a qualitative perspective, vata is dry, light, cold, rough, mobile, subtle, and clear. It is the subtle energy of movement and is therefore often associated with wind. Vata is linked to creativity and flexibility; it governs all movement—the flow of breath, the pulsation of the heart, all muscle contractions, tissue movements, cellular mobility—and communication throughout the mind and nervous system.
Pitta Dosha (Fire Energy)
Pitta is principally made up of the fire and water elements and is an amalgamation of the hot, sharp, light, liquid, oily, and subtle qualities. Pitta is neither mobile nor stable, but spreads—much as the warmth of a fire permeates its surroundings, or as water flows in the direction dictated by the terrain. Pitta is closely related to intelligence, understanding, digestion, and transformation; it governs nutrition and metabolism, body temperature, and the light of understanding.
Kapha Dosha (Water Energy)
Kapha is composed primarily of the earth and water elements. It is heavy, slow, cool, oily, smooth, soft, dense, stable, gross, and cloudy. Kapha lends structure and solidity to all things; it provides the cohesiveness needed to maintain a particular form. Kapha also hydrates all cells and systems, lubricates the joints, moisturizes the skin, maintains immunity and protects the tissues. Kapha is often associated with water energy, and with love and compassion.”
Consultation With Dr. Naina
Before we started, Dr. Naina explained to me that she was trained in both Western and Ayurvedic medicine in India. However, she was not considered an M.D. in the United States and thus couldn’t prescribe anything. All of the things she would tell me were suggestions. I began to understand that this wouldn’t merely be the determination of my dosha, but that I could also discuss my health issues with her.
Next, she told me that she would feel my pulse. I had to close my eyes, concentrate on my Third Eye and breathe evenly. She felt the pulse on my left hand for a couple of minutes. When she was done, she asked me if I was a very creative person. I said that I don’t consider myself a creative person. However, it got me thinking and I said that I always thought I was creative as a child because I loved to draw and I always wanted to become a fashion designer. It may be that I’m suppressing this side of me in my adult life now.
My Dominant Dosha(s) And Imbalances
Dr. Naina said that I’m mostly dominated by fire and my dual-dosha type is Pitta-Vata. I was a little surprised to hear that because my dominating element in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is metal and not fire which is also an element in TCM. I asked her if TCM and Ayurveda are related and she said no. Well, that makes sense then. Furthermore, she explained that I have imbalances of fire, air and space.
She further told me that I’m a determined person and that I can achieve anything I want. But, I need to be selective in the projects I’m pursuing and focus on those. I tend to be interested in many things and invest all my energy in them. I want to work on all at once. And being a perfectionist on top of that doesn’t help here situation as well.
She said to stress less and to “avoid Hurry, Worry and Curry” in my life. Hurry and Worry should be clear to everyone. Dr. Naina explained the concept of Curry to me but I don’t remember her exact words. Anyway, Curry was not meant to be the spice but just something like stressing over things and getting exhausted. I think you get what I mean.
Then, she proceeded to say that she would provide me with recommendations to even out my imbalances. Also, she would email me a detailed summary with all of those recommendations and everything we talked about during the consultation. However, I should not follow my perfectionistic tendencies and try to implement all the recommendations at once as this would only overwhelm me and stress me out even further. Rather, she advised to pick and choose and implement things at my own pace.
Food
She asked me what my diet looked like and if I had any digestion problems. I said that I was mostly eating a plant-based diet with the occasional fish. Also, I eat quite a bit tempeh and natto (fermented soy products). My digestion is pretty good overall. However, lately, I noticed bloating when I ate fruit at nighttime.
All in all, Dr. Naina approved of my diet but had some additional recommendations. These are the ones that stood out to me (mostly because I’m doing the opposite right now):
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- Avoid all soy products (also fermented products like miso, tempeh etc.)
- Avoid nightshades (only cooked tomatoes are fine)
- No spices that increase heat (e.g., mustard, chili)
- No fruit for breakfast or after 4pm
- Eat every 3-4 hours (I tend to only eat two meals per day)
Health Conditions
When she asked me about my last period I told her about my hypothalamic amenorrhea. I also told her that some doctors (mis-)diagnosed me with PCOS. Her response was immediate and vehement: I for sure did not have PCOS. It was good to have this confirmed by her.
She said that I could heal my amenorrhea by following the recommendations she was making throughout the 60-minute appointment (again, not to stress and to implement what I can step by step). Especially reducing overall stress and eating more regularly would help me. Also, she recommended me to take 2 tablets of Shatavari after breakfast and 2 tablets after dinner. Shatavari is dried asparagus and is said to support the reproductive system. She said that it will likely take 6 months or so to see effects but that she was confident in my ability to heal.
Another thing we talked about was my thyroid. I told her that I had an underactive thyroid (hypothyroidism) but that I was never diagnosed with Hashimoto’s hypothyroidism – an autoimmune condition. She said that it might be Hashimoto’s and that she could see/feel that there was something off. Apparently, my thyroid was up and down and thus I was hypo as well as hyper in phases. She presumed that my medication needed to be adjusted and suggested I get my thyroid re-tested soon.
Other noteworthy things were that she assumed my cholesterol levels to be high and I should get this re-checked as well. She also recommended I should go to an eye doctor and get my eyes checked since high cholesterol could have an effect on eye health (if I remember correctly).
Lifestyle
Many of the things we talked about also had to do with simple lifestyle adjustments. I know that I have work to do in the stress and worry department. Thus, many of Dr. Naina’s recommendations didn’t sound new to me and just make sense. However, it was important to hear those things again. Because the more I hear them, the more progress I will hopefully make. Here are some of the adjustments she suggested:
- Practice mindfulness (e.g., spend a few minutes each day thinking about the things I’m grateful for, eat mindfully respecting every morsel)
- Avoid summer sun between 10am and 4pm (however, make sure to get enough sun exposure)
- Get full-body coconut oil massages once a week
- Avoid being judgmental and critical of myself
- Exercise regularly and to half of my capacity each time + divide exercise time into twice per day
- Cut back on caffeine
Closing Thoughts
A few days after my consultation, Dr. Naina emailed me the detailed report. It included everything we talked about during the consultation and more. It included a list of foods to include/avoid, lifestyle adjustments, yoga poses, breathing exercises and suggested meditation techniques. Everything in the report is tailored to my constitution and imbalances.
Overall, the appointment made me feel hopeful again that I can overcome my issues if I just give it time and finally start to stress less. As per Dr. Naina’s recommendation, I will ease into implementing some of her suggestions. I already made some food adjustments and will tackle some mindfulness and de-stress practices next.
Are you familiar with your dosha? Or are you interested in getting it determined?
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