Dosha Guide - Kapha Dosha
If you’re a bit familiar with Ayurveda, you may already be familiar with the doshas. The doshas are made up of the five elements: earth, air, fire, water, and ether. The doshas are the forces that make up all of nature and govern all emotional, mental, and physical processes in our lives. There are three maha, or great, doshas. These are kapha, pitta, and vata. It’s important to remember that we actually are made up of all three doshas, but the qualities of one or more may dominate the way we digest our food or even the way we learn. Ideally, when we are in balance, we all have a balanced amount of kapha. Balanced kapha looks like maintaining nurturing relationships, lots of self love, love towards the people around us, stability at work, and also stability with a profession. When kapha is out of balance, it may show up as swelling, excess mucus, weight gain, depression, a sense of stagnation, and inability to fully digest food or process emotions.
Kapha dosha is made up of the elements earth and water and the qualities are heavy, cold, moist, static, smooth, and soft. When you think about what happens when earth and water combine, you may think about mud or even heaviness, but earth and water also provide us with feelings of being nurtured and being taken care of. Kapha dosha is responsible for stability and structure within the body and also shows up as our ability to be supportive and caring to ourselves and others. The main sites of kapha dosha are the stomach and the lungs.
The kapha archetype is someone with strong bones, very muscular, lots of physical and mental strength, sometimes slow digestion, a slower walk, a booming voice, and a strong constitution. These are the people who don’t get sick too often, but when they do they’re probably more upset about being out of their daily routine. Kapha’s love routine and rarely get bored of it. They can eat the same thing every day for lunch and go on the same vacation ever year. Since kapha’s really dislike changing their routine, they make some of the most loyal friends and partners! A kapha person is naturally loving and nurturing, but they also naturally hate change. The last thing they want to do is leave a steady relationship to explore something else. They naturally work well with others and make great partners for projects or any kind of group activity. When you look at the home of the kapha archetype, you’ll probably find lots of blankets, pillows, and anything that creates a cozy environment that welcomes naps and relaxation.
The doshas also govern the seasons and the times of the day and night. Kapha dosha’s season is springtime and during the spring, mother earth is moving through a phase where she’s melting the snow and ice and also creating an environment for new life and rebirth. Our bodies mirror what happens in nature, so we are naturally warming up and preparing for the new season and for change. One of the main principles of Ayurveda is that like increases like and opposites balance. If, during the winter, we were drinking tons of cold smoothies and eating raw foods, we were increasting that cold quality that was already so present in nature around us. By doing that, our incredibly intelligent bodies began to find ways to keep us warm and lubricated so when spring comes, this additional lubrication may manifest as excess mucus or springtime allergies. However, if a person ate warm soups and well cooked foods during the winter, that would counter the cold qualities present in nature and the body wouldn’t need to find ways to come back to balance.
The kapha times of day are 6am-10am and 6pm-10pm. If you’ve ever woken up at 8am and felt like you just wanted to go back to sleep or felt like it was impossible to get out of bed, it may be because you were waking up right in the middle of that kapha time of day. Remember, some of the qualities of kapha are heavy, slow, and dull. If you try to move and motivate when these qualities are dominant in nature, it’s naturally going to be more difficult. I often have clients who come to me asking how they can break out of the morning fog they sometimes feel and how they can get out of bed with more energy. The suggestion I always give is to try to wake up before kapha time begins. It might sound like waking up earlier would just mean that they’d be more tired, but waking up before those kapha qualities can be transformative. Waking up around 6am may also feel like a chore at first, but as soon as they get out of bed they say they actually have a lot of energy and motivation to start the day.
Another interesting thing about the kapha time of day is how it can work with us or against us when we are trying to go to sleep. If we can wind our day down between 6-10pm, which is kapha time, it’s much easier to get to sleep. Kapha’s slow and stable qualities work in our favor when we want to go to bed. If you’ve ever been up past 10pm, you’ve probably experienced that “second wind” feeling where you get a burst of energy and are tempted to get some work done or even go out or begin a new project. If I ever find myself up at this time, I catch myself cleaning my home or doing the dishes or folding laundry. This sounds productive, but because I’m past that kapha time of night, it becomes so much harder to get to sleep and stay asleep!
Ayurveda teaches us that when we live in sync with nature, we are able to find and maintain balance within ourselves. Nature is always changing and all of the plants and animals here on planet earth make shifts and adjustments to be in harmony with her. We need to do the same. It’s important to remember this as we move through through this beautiful life and experience shifts around us