online yoga forum

My friend always talks about people being different types - vata, kapha and pitta. I'm not sure about this at all, I mean is this not a bit like horoscopes. Can anyone explain how people can fall into these categories so easily, think about the thousands of different people in the world I just don't get it. Can anyone shed any light?

Hi JuanV. Ayurveda classifies people into three main categories called doshas according to many factors: physical (like body frame, hair type, eyes, teeth, height, skin, etc.), sleep patterns, digestion, elimination, faith, intellect, mental and physical activity, speech, pulse, and many more.

Everyone has all three doshas in them, but the percentage varies. It is said that most people are so called bi-doshic, they have two doshas predominant. Only a few percentage of the population has only one dosha strongly predominant or have an equal percentage of all three doshas.
To have an idea, you might have a look at some of the very basic doshic test online, for example of Deepak Chopra's website: Chopra Dosha Quiz

The doshas can be balanced or out of balance. Therefore, the understanding of them can be very helpful for us to see which food, habits, type of activity, climate, etc. and also which type of yoga practice is most suitable for us, meaning what balances our doshas or what brings them out of balance.

Robert Svoboda and Vasant Lad are great authors who write very clearly about ayurveda if you feel you would like to know more about it.
Hope it helps .

Thanks for this Viparita it is great, but a question. How do you know if they are out of balance, for instance you mention food as an example of how you can tell - if you are 2 types of doshas then how do you know if it is one or the other? I guess what I'm really asking is how is it possible to be so specific? Also do you change doshas depending on what is going on in your life or do you always stay the same just in balance or out of balance? Thanks for answering these interesting questions!

Hi JuanV. The composition of the doshas remains the same for your entire life. As you say, they can just be in balance or out of balance.
Getting a deeper knowledge of the characteristics of each individual dosha helps to tell you which is possibly out of balance. For example, the pitta dosha gets usually aggravated by too much heat. And if aggravated, a person with a high percentage of pitta dosha can become irritable, impatient, angry, etc.
Hope it helps a bit. I find ayurveda totally exciting and love it!