Best Yoga for Your Ayurvedic Body Type

Do you know there are different Ayurveda body types, and you need to perform yoga according to your body’s characteristics? Read the article to understand the best yoga practices for different Ayurvedic bodies.

Ayurveda and Yoga Connection

Not only both of these ancient methods are popular, but they also have other things in common, which include:

• The presence in ancient Sanskrit texts.
• They originated from India.
• Both are holistic and natural forms of healing, health maintenance, and illness prevention.
• They share the same objective, i.e., to offer lifestyle protocols and effective tools to balance your body and mind.

The combination of Ayurveda and yoga is also powerful because of their ability to interrelate and interact with each other. By using Ayurvedic principles and yoga practices together, you will get an unmatched dynamic duo to get wellness and health benefits.

What Sort of Yoga is Right for You?

When deciding which yoga practices will be perfect for you, you need to know your body type, your constitution.

There are three body types called doshas: Vata, Pitta and Kapha.

You can take this quick test from Fit Tuber to define your personal dosha:

It’s said that one is born with a certain division of the three doshas. This may change a little bit throughout the lifetime, but overall it remains the same. Depending on your lifestyle, your diet, your sleep, and your movement during the day it can come to an imbalance in one dosha called vikruti.

To know what kind of yoga suits you, you need to consider your vikruti in your doshas. In fact, you can say that vikruti is the key determinant of one’s entire routine. When a person corrects their imbalance, they can maintain good health. But for this, they need to opt for a yoga practice that balances their prakruti and constitution.

People who belong to the Vata constitution can enjoy the benefits of yoga that are quieting, calming, and warming. On the other hand, people with pitta imbalance need to practice quieting, calming, and cooling yoga. Lastly, people of Kapha constitution and imbalance need to practice warming and stimulating yoga. You need to understand that every person has different needs. If you practice yoga that doesn’t relate to your dosha, you are only inviting more imbalances in your life.

Yoga for Different Ayurveda Body Types

Yoga for Vata Dosha

Vata is one of the Ayurveda body types that can get balance and benefits from the calm, grounding, and contemplative practices. Vatas can be unpredictable without regular activities; this is why you should make yoga your routine. You need to practice it on specific days of the week and specific time of the day. Activities that work on the intestines, colon, pelvis, sacroiliac, and lumbar spine can balance Vata by bringing all the energy towards the torso.

As grounding is vital for Vata body type, you can work on your standing postures such as Virabhadrasana, Tadasana, and Vrksasana. Additionally, you need to practice longer Savasana to get the right balance because of vata’s hyperactivity. Try to practice Savasana for more than 15 minutes.

Pranayama practices that give a high energy level and cool the body, such as Sitali or Kapalabhati, are not great for the imbalance of Vata as they can worsen the dosha. Opt for anything that is calming and promotes balance, such as Bhramari, Nadi Shodhana, or Ujjayi. All these three pranayamas tend to calm the mind, settle energy, and lower stress.

Yoga for Pitta Dosha

Pitta body types usually stay heated and get drawn to physically demanding postures. When it comes to yoga, pitas get the balance from the heart-opening, cooling, and non-competitive yoga class. Due to this, you need to work on the abdominal area. You can opt for the Ardha Mastsyendrasana, which is quite balancing. Additionally, heart-opening and standing forward bend poses, such as Bhujangasana and Dhanurasana, can help you overcome pitta imbalance.

When performing a pranayama activity, a pitta should consider relaxing and cooling breathing. For this reason, you can exhale through the mouth a few times while performing yoga to release excessive heat. Cooling breathes, or Sitali is one of the perfect balancing breathing methods for this body type. This exercise helps with ulcers and hyperactivity, which is a common problem in people of pitta.

On the other hand, Ujjayi is a heating breathing. This is why you need to use it moderately if you are noticing imbalance. Lastly, you need to practice Kapalabhati breathing only if you feel completely cool and calm.

Yoga for Kapha Dosha

When you want to use yoga to balance the Kapha with an overstimulated body, warming, challenging, and vigorous exercises are the perfect solution for you. The people who belong to Kapha body types need to work on the abdominal region. In that case, you can practice asanas that aim to open the chest part. Different backbends can help you achieve the purpose, such as Ustrasana and Salabhasans, which are especially great for balancing asanas. Yoga poses like handstand, Dhanurasana, and shoulder stand are best for Kapha.

You also need to jump during the transitions. It will help you build the stamina for a tired Kapha. In addition to it, you can keep the Savasana a bit shorter during your yoga. You also need to practice Pranayama exercises that can clear the mind and stimulate the body. Vigorous breathing is crucial to open the lungs. Bhastrika and Kapalabhati are the perfect breathing for this type. The most cleansing and energizing breathing is right nostril breathing, which is also great for you. Ujjayi breathing is also an excellent option to use throughout the asana practice because of its warming impact.

Bottom Line

In a nutshell, yoga is best for practicing while adopting Ayurveda. However, different Ayurveda body types have different requirements. This is why it’s crucial to perform a yoga exercise that suits your body. However, it is challenging for a layman to understand their body type. In that case, you can take help from an expert. Once you understand your body, you can start practicing yoga.