Kapha, Pitta, Vata: Understanding Ayurveda’s Three Body Types with Akshay Bhat

0:00 Hey there, before we get started on this week's episode, I would love to ask for your support by reviewing this podcast. We want to share yoga with as many people as possible and this free resource, this podcast is one of the ways that we can do that. And the best way that you can help support us is by giving us a review.

0:16 So if you go to Apple podcast or Spotify or whatever podcast platform you use, Scroll down until you find that star review and then give us some love. Thank you so much, and let's get started with this week's episode. If you are Vata, you have to take care of body really well.

0:34 The Kapha person can be careless, he naturally have growth and repair. He can naturally be lazy and you know do push himself very well in yoga, in hiking or run, can do whatever he wants to do. Naturally he will recover.

0:54 But Vata person compare and do that to himself or herself. They're going to have injuries like very quickly the the body won't support. So they have to understand maybe Vata persons are very creative people. They are intelligent people. They they might need to go for a dance where Kapha person cannot dance like a Vata person.

1:20 Welcome to the Going Pro Yoga podcast. If you love yoga as much as I do, then this podcast is for you. We talk all things yoga related for teachers in order to supplement and complement and even support after a 200 hour yoga teacher training.

1:38 Or if you've never done a training before, this podcast is all about just learning more about yoga in an authentic way. Together with Paul Teodo and Byron De Marseille, we put together this podcast to provide you with a free resource to learn more about yoga. Whether you want to share yoga or teach yoga or just practice yoga, this podcast is talking all things yoga related. And we're trying to talk from the teachers perspective and also the students perspective to

2:01 make sure we get a full 360° angle on what yoga is all about and how it's evolved in the modern world. Welcome to our podcast. Hello, and welcome back to the Going Pro Yoga podcast. Michael here your host. And this week is a continuation from last week where we have Akshaya Bhat joining us again to continue the conversation about Ayurvedic medicine and Ayurvedic health.

2:26 So dialing a little bit more into the elements and the doshas kafa, vata and pita. So if you haven't already listened to the previous weeks episode, I suggest doing that first as this is a continuation from last week. And of course, if you want to dial in and listen to a little bit more Bakshi, I'll remind you about this at the end of the episode. But we do have his introduction or his biography of where he came from in his story.

2:51 Episode 138, Healing through Tradition with Akshay Bot and how he shares a lot of mantras and how mantras have been such a important part of his life and, and growing up. As well as episode 139 and 1:40 where we dial a little bit more into Patanjali's Yoga Sutras and really understanding how to cultivate healthy habits and spiritual growth.

3:13 Otherwise, for this week's episode, we're going to continue that conversation from last week about Ayurvedic medicine. Thank you and enjoy. Ayurveda brings a little bit more element into this concept of health. It says Samadosh Samagnishcha, Samadhatu Malakriya prasanna aatma indriya manaha, swastiya ityabidiyate.

3:41 So health according to Ayurveda is called as swastiya swastiya. So one who is completely established in himself and like in a very healthy way that is swasta means completely free from all this disease. So they give like a holistic definition of health. This is Ayurvedic definition is of what health is. And if you see that they mention first doshas. Right.

4:25 Which I think is what a lot of people think of when they hear Ayurveda. They're like Dosha. Yes. So let's just pretend no one knows what that is. Yes, everybody is like, oh, I am Vata, I am Pitta and kafa. That's so that's like people think about themselves when they see Ayurveda is just about this doshas, but it is actually beyond all of this.

4:51 It takes us to complete liberated state from all these diseases and all this especially the mental health conditions like where mind is wavering. So sama dosa, balanced dosas, sama agni, agni have to be in balance. Agni is a fire which governs the metabolism.

5:18 So samadosa, samagnischa and then samadhatu means body tissues have to be in balance and then malakriya means the the cleansing process of the body also have to be in balance. So this is basically they are talking about a physical body, physical manifestation. And now Prasanna, they mentioned that complete contentment, complete immersion of atma means the soul have to be here, I have to be here, my mind is somewhere else, then I'm not healthy. Prasanna, Atma indriya means my

6:02 senses also have to be here. And my atma is here, but my senses are thinking about, oh, maybe I need to grab some sugar, I need to have a coffee ice cream like this. So then the I'm not healthy. So Prasanna, Atma, Indriya, mana and mind had to be like a beautiful garden.

6:26 There is no, it's not a rustic, you know some place where noise is there. This had to be very beautiful garden. So when all of this is fulfilled, then he is called as Vastiya. So see how holistically Ayurveda is telling us that what is healthiest. So it's not only the physical health, but it's, according to Ayurveda, I think none of us are healthy. Yeah.

7:01 I mean it's the fluctuation of life, right? And trying to trying to main, not even maintain, but try to continuously move towards balance even though we'll never actually be fully balanced, right. But if we move, if we don't do that, then we move further away from balance, which can lead to disease or discomforts or, you know, all those things. That's why they call this doshas. So dosha actually means some mistakes. Oh, really?

7:34 Yeah, dosha literally means some imbalance. So why they called imbalance? Because they know Ayurvedic people know. They know that how bodies always going in some kind of imbalance, some kind of problem is there always. So it's like this, you know, I'll tell you this story that OK, we have some time.

8:00 Yes, of course. Yeah, so there is this. My mentor always tells me this story. Once father and a small child goes for a shopping and this small child gets attracted to this jigsaw puzzle and he's actually he wants to buy the puzzle and then they buy this puzzle. They come back home and then he start to build up. OK, I'm building up an elephant and he's building up and then in the end something is missing.

8:40 And then, OK, he breaks that down. Maybe camel start to build up and then something is missing and then father gets angry and then he's like what's this is something is missing in this? So he takes that to a shopkeeper and like, what is this? Something is always missing.

8:59 Then the shopkeeper says that's the game my friend. There is always something is missing. So that's what is our health status, isn't it? Right? And isn't it funny about the human mind is we're always focused on the thing that's missing? Yes, versus.

9:19 Versus what is actually there? Absolutely, absolutely. We are always focused on that one thing that is missing in my life and that get fulfilled then something else is missing. Then return our focus to. What else is missing?

9:35 Yeah. That's why they call it as doshas. So now we can see what is what Dosha is it. Basically Ayurveda is actually connecting us to the world outside. And according to Ayurvedic science outside world and inside world everything is made out of basically 5 elements.

10:05 And Ayurveda believes in the Sankhya philosophy like yoga. Yoga also connected to Sankhya philosophy where everything is governed by this five element starting from the space, air element, fire element, water and earth. So space and air are different. Those are two.

10:34 Yes, they're different. OK, so now the space and air element, together they form this principle of vata. Vata. Yeah, Vata is a principle of air, Air and Space together and water and fire together They form this principle of Pitta and Earth and water together.

11:05 It is kapha. So basically they're giving us how body is functioning based on these five elemental principles. So this is just for understanding purpose. They have, you know, categorized into vata, Pitta and kafa. So Vata as we know is a movement principle.

11:32 So which is connected to all kind of movements. Like if we see in the body basically sensory outputs and the eyes are moving all the time and there is breathing happening, breath is moving and there is a nervous system, lots of moments happening and all the motor functions, sensory functions and gastrointestinal movements, all movements in the body is connected to Vata. So when Vata is in a right place means it is perfectly well balanced then you know it helps

12:22 us to do this movements very well. So it helps us to. It's almost like fluidness. Yeah, flowingness. Fluidness, flowingness, all of this is there when Vata goes in out of shape. Then it takes us to the it's a state of imbalance, which which is degeneration, degeneration, degeneration.

12:50 For example, like very simply that we can understand this people who are practicing, you know, yoga these days in a wrong way. They're getting back pain because they are doing cobra using lower back muscles and their lower back is almost, you know, leading into slip disc.

13:14 And they are getting to know at the age of maybe after 20 years of practicing yoga, they have back pain means they have overused some joints, some muscles that leads into exhaustion. So we have to now the vata means some over using some kind of muscles, joints or some parts of the body so that that triggers the element of air there and it leads into degeneration. So like because, you know, talking about movement. So I like the summary of like, again, not to oversimplify things, but just to try to make

14:01 things digestible for the brain Vata, which is a combination of the Air and Space, which is kind of facilitating more of the movements. This in in, you know, movement is such a general term that exists in everything. Almost everything, especially in our body, everything is moving, circulation, breath, you know, cellular changes, just energy, electricity, all this stuff, heat and that balance and flow and fluidity, you know, even thinking of Chinese medicine and

14:32 the flow of Qi throughout the body and these types of things. But when that's out of balance, you know, overuse of maybe movement or overuse or or not enough rest or recovery or an excessive amount of movement or repetition in a particular area can lead to what you described as more of a degeneration.

14:52 Degeneration, yes, like basically we can, if your Vata is increased, you're getting old. So, so the skin wrinkles. That is also because of the Vata. And when Vata is in in a right place, it helps us to, you know, take all these movements becomes very fluid and very easy. But we overuse then Vata triggers and it leads into degeneration.

15:26 So is that like I'm, you know, just going to throw out some stuff? Is that kind of like almost like over exercising or like too much activity? Yes, absolutely. That's so basically there is personality type also like Vata. So Vata people are skinny, Vata people have less stamina. We can compare this to a goat or an antelope. Basically they eat like, you know, little bit and then they stop little bit and they stop, they eat all day. So and.

16:04 Like a grazer. Grazer Yes. Grazing animal. Grazing animal and then you know that they are not very strong so the tiger just attacks once and then antelope dies very quickly. So their body type is Vata and they cannot do a lot of like marathons or you know running a lot. They're just Vata being also the birds in the nature. And so the Vata people, people who have Vata dominant personality, they should understand their body is born out of this constitution.

16:49 They have to know that there is, you know, restriction for my body. I cannot go to gym and lift weights like Kapha person and I cannot do marathons. I can train step by step. Maybe anyone can, you know reach anywhere. But in the beginning stage we have to understand what is my body type.

17:12 So Ayurveda believes that if one follows their own body type, they live very healthy and happy life and they change their body type. These days everybody want to be Pitta person. And if somebody wants somebody says I'm you know, kafa and they're oh, you're lazy and you are like, you know, it's like Kafa persons are not liked much.

17:39 Kafa is the Constitution which actually helps us to build and protect. When we discuss, we'll talk about this. Talk more about those ones. Yeah. So yeah, we'll get into the other ones as well. The pizza, the Kafa pizza being more the fire. Pizza is fire.

17:58 Yeah, the fire and water blend and then Kafa more the earth heavier, which is kind of why, you know, the laziness kind of comes into that situation. And then I also think again, just to assume that people don't know this, that, you know, where we are, all of them. And there's a, you know, that we might be more predominantly one with having like a secondary and then obviously 1/3. So when you were saying things like, you know, if you're more of a Vata constitution, it's

18:25 like, you know, the percentage of your being is mostly Vata and those people manifest their figure form is usually taller, skinnier, lankier, these types of things, fair skin, I think things like that versus for example, and we're going to get into them, but like Kapha is usually like not necessarily shorter, but more stocky and like stronger and these types of things. So yeah, just for the the audience to kind of understand a little bit in case it's new for

18:54 them. Yes, yes, absolutely. Now the Pitta is actually interesting. It's it's fire and water right which governs the metabolism. And all cooking happens from Pitta like the food that is digested. So if if I am eating fruits, fruits are broken into fructose and it is taken to the cell.

19:22 So assimilation also happens from the Pitta and Pitta helps us to digest, assimilate and then create energy in the body. That is Pitta's main activity, where Pitta goes out of balance then it leads into inflammation. So all inflammatory disorders are connected to pithar disorders like sinusitis, all itis itis, Yeah. Congenitis.

19:59 Yeah. Itis meaning inflammation. Inflammation. Yeah. And colonitis. All of this, all the inflammation in body. Dermatitis, tendonitis, tendonitis. Yes. Later fasciitis. Yes, so many itises. All this in so Ayurveda clearly just takes like, oh, this is because of imbalance of fire. And so they take us to root cause of this 5 elemental imbalance.

20:31 Instead of treating the, you know, like problem, like there is a skin problem and dermatitis and I apply something to my skin. That's the solution. But Ayurveda doesn't believe in that. That's, that's not only the solution.

20:51 You have to go into yourself. What food I'm eating. Why? Why is the inflammation there instead of covering it up? Yeah, why inflammation is coming and you know this is like a modern medicine I think doesn't directly supports this. It just gives the solution like OK on symptom based treatment. Exactly.

21:17 And here it is going into the roots where Pitta imbalance is there. That's why all of this is happening. So there must be something, maybe spicy food or over exercising, overthinking or maybe something that that is causing imbalance of Pitta.

21:40 Over exercising. Overthinking spicy foods. Emotions Intense emotions can also lead into Pitta imbalance. Intense emotions, writing these things down. Yeah, and the Pitta persons are actually basically like a, like a, let's say, like cheetah. Like a cheetah.

22:04 Like a cheetah, yeah. Or an Energizer Bunny. Yeah, just never stopping. And cheetah, as we know is one of the fastest springs, very fast and appetite is very strong. It can eat meat, digest anything and and if you look at the cheetah, morning takes a long walk. It's always walking, walking so long. Yeah, their metabolism is like crazy fast. Isn't it Yes, they have a very good metabolism and then when they Sprint, they Sprint so fast but they cannot run more than 300m, they would they have to

22:45 stop right? Because their body gets overheated. So that's why they're like, they can go very fast but they they stop. So it's like a high intensity workout. Yeah, they're like a sprinter. Sprinter yes yeah so Pitta people are they have to compare themselves and like a cheetah and their lifestyle should be like you know, taking long walks and understanding my body can get overheated and I can have inflammation very fast. So I have to avoid having oily

23:20 spicy foods and doing over exercising is also not good for them. They high intensity workout is they can they can manage very well. So would you say it's better for a pizza to because you're saying long walks? So like kind of like low intensity exercise or for longer periods or short bouts of exercise that's really intense. Like that's OK as well.

23:47 Yes. Kind of like a cheetah. Like a cheetah can go for like long walks, but only, you know, at a slow pace versus if they're gonna, you know, Sprint or chase only for a short period of time. And if they try to push themselves more than that, then it'll be too much heat in the body which can lead to that imbalance.

24:05 Leads into imbalance. So we have to understand Pitta generally they have very good metabolism. All of this apart from that they can fall into the category of inflammation. They tend to get all inflammation. They you can see skin problems and then there is stomach problem, then there is acidity and all of this is happening because Pitta going out of shape. Whereas in Kapha it is connected to water and earth which is like a building blocks which is a

24:46 building material for the body which is basically connected to the principle of growth and repair. Like every day when we sleep, there is so many injuries that we do to our body is getting fixed. Right from daily wear and tear. Daily wear and tear, like we know so many muscles, muscle mass that we are breaking the, the bones, the tissues and you know all that things happening in the body when, when we do low lunch, there's something happening to the hips, the muscles of the hip, everything

25:28 is, you know, there is wear and tear happening. Yeah, little micro stretches or micro tears. Yeah, Yeah, Mini inflammation, actually. It's like little bits of inflammation, but like, in a manageable way, yeah. You can explain that better.

25:43 Yeah. And in the end, people who are skipping Shavasan, they are missing out all the benefit of yoga where basically the kafa part of the class is lying down in Shavasan where all repair happens. Those who are not doing 10 minutes of Shavasan in one hour practice, they are missing out Kapha, which is the basic, you know, form, which helps us to, you know, heal the body, rest the mind. And it's that's why important to know what kapha you know kapha does to us.

26:27 And it is also a space holder. Without, you know, kafa element in body, we cannot do anything. So kafa in in balance, it is growth and repair. But kafa becomes too much then it becomes a depository disorders. So people will put on weight, obesity, diabetes like asthma and all the fluid deposition everywhere that happens because of the kapha going into imbalance.

27:07 In those depository disorders, fluid retention, obesity, that's more of like a slowing down, right, which kind of relates back to the Earth being more like heavy, yes. And that's where the laziness term would come from, right?

27:25 But that would be more of an imbalanced kafa. Right, Yes, absolutely. And kafa can be compared to elephant. OK, so kafa people can lift more weights, they can go to gym, they can easily lift 90K, deadlift 125 and then they can go on.

27:48 But Pitta person can challenge them and I don't think they can challenge the Kappa people in the weight lifts. No, no. Maybe in sprinting? Yeah, you have seen the Rio Olympics. In the Rio Olympics, I think there is this guy from the States who was lifting the weight, looks like a Pitta person and he lifted, but he, you know, he broke his arm on on line. OK, No, I didn't see that.

28:19 On TV. So only he knew. If he knew. You're a PITA. It's not a Kava. And Pita person just I was very I was in Thailand just with the elephants. The elephants roar is sorry, trumpet of that elephant is so powerful that it just like my body started shivering like just started having tremors just by listening to that trump and it was so loud so that the Kapha people naturally have that the strength and stamina. So it's it's gifted for them and they have a very good memory like elephants and like their

29:10 metabolic rate is slow but steady. So we have to understand what body type I have. And then according to that, I have to build my lifestyle and the way I eat food, the way I exercise, the time to go to sleep, all of these things are connected to where whether I have kapha or Pitta or Vata in my personality.

29:39 Right. So there are three body tapes in like the Western world that they kind of break down, which are very similar to this forget what they're called, like Mesomorph and things like this, but basically related to exactly these three body tapes. Now I also know that with or at least I think I know you can correct me if I'm wrong, but with the Ayurveda, you know, we are a balance of some sort of combination of these more predominantly usually one.

30:07 Some people are actually like pretty well balanced as well, very few. But some people can have almost like a a 1/3 split between the three. But I also believe that your physical form may be leaning towards more of one, but then your your personality or your other sorts of traits about you could also be more of another.

30:31 Is that kind of true? Well Ayurveda actually says everything. So if you're Pitta person, your mind also is Pitta. So your mind is actually the part of body. So there is no mind can be Vata, body can be Pitta. No, no, because mind is in imbalance of vata. So it's like one element is not in balance. That's why it appears like that.

31:06 So 3 important personality traits. And these days what happens is we are coming with the combination of like I am Vata plus Kapha. So I have I have to work on my Pitta means I have to stay active and do all the Pitta activity and maintain my lifestyle accordingly. So you could be Pitta and Kapha and so so like that, you have to understand what's my combination that Ayurvedic Dr. Can do that, they can tell you what is your personality traits and definitely going to taking a

31:51 one-on-one session with the doctor is the best way to find out rather than just in YouTube or in. Doing a questionnaire online. Questionnaire. Yeah, that's. Probably what people are thinking right now, like how do I find out what I am?

32:05 Yeah. While there are online quizzes and questionnaires to give you an idea. Yeah, I also agree. From what I understand is, you know, you might not be as accurate because it's all subjective to what you say and what you write, right?

32:19 Which could be an influence of out of balanced mind versus a Doctor Who will actually see through that and they'll check your pulse and they'll look at everything and kind of do an evaluation. I've never actually done it before. I have an indication of what I think I am based off of you know what I understand of this.

32:39 I'm I'm a tall person, 192 centimeters. I'm pretty skinny, but I'm also not super skinny. So I definitely have Vata qualities but I feel very cougha. Cougha. I feel very cougha I see. So I'm curious. I should actually get one. I should have one, a doctor have a look and fully officially like let me know what it is.

33:03 And I also think it's important for people to know is like this is like your constitution that doesn't change. Is that right? Yes. So it's. So what you are is what you are. So technically, once you go to see a doctor once, you only have to do it once because then you'll know what it is, yeah.

33:17 Some people like, think like they are Vata and they get disappointed, right? I'm so weak and this and that, but it is what it is. It is what it is. If you are Vata, you have to take care of body really well. A Kapha person can be careless. He naturally have growth and repair. He he can naturally be lazy and you know, do push himself very well in yoga, in hiking or run, can do whatever he wants to do. Naturally he will recover.

33:53 But what a person compare and do that to himself or herself? They're going to have injuries like very quickly. The body won't support. So they have to understand maybe Vata persons are very creative people. They're intelligent people. They might need to go for a dance where Kafa person cannot dance like a Vata person.

34:20 Right, right. I think that's actually, you know, if you, if anybody's thinking like me, it should be empowering to know what you are right. And to me it's worth it. You know, I don't know how much it cost probably maybe a couple $100 to like actually have a full assessment. But to me that sounds so empowering. I'm actually getting inspired to go do it and find a doctor here in Bali, an Ubud to, to officially check what it is because even though I've been

34:44 living in this like identity that I think I know what I am, but maybe I it would be beneficial to me to actually know. Yeah. Not so much that I can tell people this is what I am, but mostly so that I can actually understand how to operate this system that I this body that I have.

35:01 Like what? What types of guidelines should I follow for myself, You know, if I want to exercise, like maybe I need to be more of a sprinter or more of a long Walker or maybe I need to exercise more regularly or not as much. Or, you know, it'll help to inform, like, you know, I'm going to be going to Nepal soon and trekking into the mountains and it's going to be 12 days, 250 kilometers. Like if I knew what my constitution was fully like, wouldn't that help me to

35:29 understand how to tackle those types of things, activities. Absolutely. Because like knowing that I have Vata or Pitta, if suppose I am Pitta person, I will know that, you know, I have to take breaks when I'm exercising and then my body can get overheated. So I have to keep hydrated and I have to take care of my joints because joints can get inflammated very faster. So I apply oils to the joints and then I will have alkaline food instead of spicy food.

36:09 And so like this Vata person also should know that oil massage is good for me. Rushing in in things will make me more anxious. So like this, knowing what what is dominant in me, what principle is dominant in me makes makes us very powerful. So know what what you are and then you act OK, you you want to do marathon being a Vata person, you can't do that. But you should know how to take care of your body so little by little.

36:42 If you push and then you to reach there, then it is perfect. Whereas scuff, a person naturally can run maybe in one week, but what a person need to, you know, train for longer. Yeah, yeah. That's super informative. I feel might be disappointing for some people to be, you know, expecting and but again, the empowerment word is what comes to mind here. It's like, especially when we compare ourselves to other people, right?

37:14 We see some person that we admire, we we see as a mentor and we're like, I want to be like them. And it's like, cool, I want to do the things that they do, But it's like, maybe that's not the right thing for you. What you know, you're different, of course.

37:27 And yes, it's great to have examples, but at the same time, if you truly know who you are, what you are from a constitutional perspective, from this Ayurvedic dosha perspective, then that would inform you and empower you to be able to make better choices for yourself so that you can be able to, you know, move towards us to say this mentor or this person that you look up to, but in your own way, in your own path.

37:51 Yes. Think it's extremely powerful? Absolutely. Like in it's not only about personality also external environment also goes through this cycle of Vata Pitta kafa. So Ayurveda says morning like 6:00 AM till 10 it is Kafa time. So in kafa time there is natural growth and repair happening. So one can easily exercise because there is natural growth and repair happening.

38:25 And all the activity which is like planning or mourning, enjoying that peace and having the time of Kapha is is like this is the time. And then comes the Pitta time where I can do activities like Pitta intelligence is more active. So I can do all the activities of like reading or making slides or just work on your computers or whatever. The pita time is the best way, best to work and to have like a good meal.

39:05 So there is natural metabolism and you know the natural Agni is burning and then comes the Vata time after like four or three or four. And then evening hours is actually like more recreational, like slowing down and then slowly going back to bed again. It it comes back again.

39:29 Kafa yeah, kafa, Pitta and vata. Then kafa, Pitta and vata. So this is a Ayurvedic Kirkadian rhythm of universe. So best way to be healthy is to follow Dinacharya Ayurvedic protein. So everyday Ayurvedic routine. So how the universe is running, according to that if you function, you will be very very healthy and very very fit.

40:03 So that's what Ayurveda tells us that Yatha Brahmande, Tata Pindande, whatever is happening outside the universe, exactly same thing is happening inside the universe is made out of consciousness. You are also made out of consciousness. So to connect to that is the best way is to connect to this routine and the perfect Ayurvedic routine we can we can check that Ayurvedic clock and according to that if we function then we will have a best life.

40:39 So they basically mention three pillars of health. One is food and taking right time food like it's not only nutritious food, what time I need to eat. Today I eat 8:00 AM and then next day 10:00 AM and then 11:00 AM already in balance and then sleep.

41:05 So how to get that the sound, the best sleep where Delta waves are active. So the sleep and the last one is sensual pleasures like how do I follow brahmacharya? How do I, you know, have this control over my senses instead my senses running towards sensory stimuli.

41:33 So when these three things are balanced, the food, sleep and sensual pleasure, at least one had to be very, very strongly. You know, like we have to hold on. If three things are imbalanced, then they're going to fall sick very fast. Yeah, this is very interesting.

41:59 I mean, I already knew little elements of it and it just makes it's and it's funny because that I've never done this before. And I encourage anyone who's listening to, if you don't know officially what your, your dosha composition is, is go check it out, find a doctor in your area and do it, you know.

42:15 Find out. Yeah, you only got to do it once, so go do it right. But then also just thinking about nutrition and diet and we we kind of touched a little bit on digestion and foods and things like that. But thinking about this world and how a lot of people try to label and categorize certain things and you know, the, the battles of diets, vegan, carnivore, you know, all this type of stuff. And like people aren't sure what they should do for themselves. Like I was saying, so they'll

42:49 follow someone else because they think they've tried all these things and nothing really works for them. I've tried all these diets. It doesn't really work for me. It's like, well, it's because you need to figure out what's working for you, right? But like what, what is you like, what are you kind of thing? And I think that's kind of the advice that I normally give people is like, you know, there's no right diet that's universally good for everybody,

43:13 right? So this whole like, oh, vegan's better than this and you know, vegetarian's better than this. It's like, well, it depends on your constitution, depends on how your body responds to what you eat and activity and recovery and all these things. So that uniqueness that we all have, that we all talk about, like, oh, you know, there's only one of us and we're so unique. It's like, don't you want to know how unique you are and what that uniqueness is and how you

43:37 can live in such a way, which is what you said, Live in such a way that you can enjoy this life by appreciating your uniqueness and working with it and not trying to be something else that you're not. Yeah, absolutely, absolutely and very important to know these days we are following this diet, that diet, we are getting trapped where if we just simply follow, this is a very simple science.

44:06 It is not explaining something about don't do this, etc, etc. It's just giving you the perspective what how universe is there, how your body is there, how your body functioning and what is the best way that you can live in coherence with nature. And the best way is to follow the Ayurvedic protein and that is called as Dinacharya.

44:33 Dinacharya. Dinacharya. Of course, this is also we can get to know when. Once we know our dosas, we can make our own Dinacharya. What food to eat, what food to avoid and we have this amazing book by Doctor Vasant Lad, Ayurveda for self healing.

44:56 Just one book is enough like it. It has given all the details of do's and Don TS and all the materials to understand our body. So you'd recommend this book then? Yes, absolutely, yeah. So probably the recommendation, you know, if you're still listening and you're, you're, you know, you're like, this is very interesting to me. It would be like, OK, go find out what you are. Go see if the person don't go find a quiz. As much as you'd love to just find a quiz, go find a doctor, find out officially what your

45:31 composition is and then study you basically is what that means. Study who you are, what you are, and then create a lifestyle, create a routine, create a diet if you will, activity, schedule a regiment or something like this according to you. Yes, absolutely.

45:49 And that will be the most empowering thing that you could do for yourself. Absolutely. And this is just a dosha. So today we have discussed only the dosha then comes sama, dosh sama agni there is there is Agni. You can read about what Agni is and then detox mechanism. So in Ayurveda we have panchakarma which is I think very many people know it.

46:19 Panchakarma is a set of treatments to detox the body like any kind of disease can be completely like detoxified by doing panchakarma. So it complete cleanse of the the internal organs, internal system, emotional well-being, mental well-being. It's really a healing things to do 1. If somebody is looking for oh I really need to go for a cleanse then I suggest best ways to do Panchakarma. Well, we're going to talk about that another day, I think. Yes.

46:57 Because I got, I'm curious, but you know, I think we should probably wrap this episode up, but I think that was a pretty good foundation, you know, in the previous episode, basically talking about the foundations of Ayurveda with Dharma, Arta Kama and Muksha as this pyramid. And then allowing that to move more into the health aspect of us, the doshas, our constitution and kind of breaking down those 3, kapha, pita and vata.

47:29 And then understanding your own and then curating your own life so that you can just enjoy life. The quality of life improves. Yes. So thank you. Thank you so much. Yeah. Thank you. So much for sharing. I'm sure it's very much appreciated on the other side of the microphone for those listeners out there.

47:46 As always, we'll put your your contact in there if people want to reach out, ask you questions or anything like that. And of course, we're going to have you back because I want to talk more about this stuff so. Absolutely.

47:57 Thank you so much. Any final thoughts or anything that you'd like to share maybe based off of today's conversation before we wrap up? Yeah, basically, you know, this is all grand mass science in India. Grandma. Science, grandma, science and all of this Ayurvedic food, Ayurvedic cooking, everything was basically grandma, grandfather, they knew it.

48:27 And I say you follow your grandma and you be healthy. There you go. That's true. I can relate to that. Awesome. Thank you. Thank you and. Thank you everyone for tuning in this week, and yeah, we'll speak to you next week. Bye for now.

48:46 Hey everyone, So just before I let you go, I wanted to remind you of the episodes where we have Akshay already on. If you haven't listened to them before, episode 138, Healing Through Tradition, where Akshay shares his story of growing up and learning more about yoga and mantras and how that is a core value of him being raised and studying at a gurukula or a yoga boot camp, as I call it. And then episodes 139, learning more about the Patanjali's Yoga Sutras and episode 40,

49:14 continuing that conversation and cultivating healthy habits and spiritual growth. Otherwise, enjoy the rest of your week and we will speak to you next week. Take care for now. All right, before you go, let me just tell you about the going proyoga.com platform.

49:32 So right now you can go to goingproyoga.com and check it out for free for seven days where you can actually learn more about yoga in the ways of alignment, queuing, sequencing, yoga anatomy. So that if you've done a 200 hour teacher training and you want to continue to learn, practice and grow, this platform is definitely for you.

49:49 So I definitely suggest checking it out. Going proyoga.com right now. You can try it out for free for seven days.