Have you ever felt hot, irritable or “hungry”? Is your skin sensitive and prone to breakouts and irritation? Do you have problems with excess stomach acid or trouble falling asleep at night sometimes? If you relate to some of these descriptions, it may mean that your Pitta Dosha is out of balance.
What’s a Dosha?
Doshas are the three types of energy that run through our bodies. They're responsible for everything we experience from our moods to our health.
When we feel stressed out, we may be experiencing Vata dosha imbalance. This type of imbalance causes us to feel anxious, nervous, and restless. We may also crave sweets, alcohol, and caffeine.
On the flip side, when we feel calm and relaxed, we may be experiencing Kapha dosha imbalance. This imbalance causes us to feel heavy, sluggish, and lethargic. We may also crave salty foods, meat, and sweet desserts.
Pitta dosha imbalance leads to anger, aggression, and hot flashes. Our skin becomes dry and irritated, and we may crave spicy food.
Ayurveda teaches us that each person has a unique balance of these doshas. The goal of Ayurveda is to find the perfect balance between them.
We all have each of the three main doshas in our mind and body, but one or two tend to be predominant.
Vata: coldness; dryness; clearness
Pitta: warmth; heat; Intense
Kapha: heaviness; wetness
What is Pitta Dosha?
Fire + Water
Pitta is the Dosha that includes fire and water elements. Its core qualities are hot, sharp, light liquid spreading, oily and sour; these allow transformation.
The Pitta dosha controls digestion, metabolism, and energy production in the body. The primary function of Pitta is transformation: people with a predominance of this dosha have fiery personalities that manifest physically as well as mentally.
Pitta qualities and characteristics:
hot
sharp
light
oily or dry
liquid
People with predominant Pitta are typically of medium height and somewhat muscular.
The charge of the process of thinking and discrimination is very active. The mind is clear and sharp, so these people can quickly make decisions or solve problems.
Their willpower allows them to work longer hours, but they do not burn out as easily as those with Kapha dosha; they show greater endurance in physical activity.
They have high intelligence, but they need time to process the information they receive into their own ideas and conclusions.
They tend to be detail-oriented, making them good at organizing information in a systematic way. They are also more likely than other types of people to be introverted; they prefer to spend time alone working on personal projects rather than socializing with others.
The main areas of Pitta are: stomach, liver, gallbladder, the small intestine, spleen, heart, blood, skin, grey matter.
Pitta in balance
Perfectionist: You know how to get things done, and you're not afraid to make decisions based on that. You're also super picky about what you like, which makes it hard to find people who understand your perfectionism (and also means you might not be as close to your family as you'd like).
Strong intellect: You have a strong mind, and it's easy for you to see the big picture when it comes to learning new things. It can also be difficult for others around you, especially those who aren't very logical thinkers, to understand your way of thinking.
Strong digestion: Your body needs time to digest food and process all the nutrients in it before moving on with its day. Because of that, it's important for your digestion to take priority over everything else when it comes down to scheduling time for eating each day
Pitta dosha is all about balance. When in balance, Pitta individuals enjoy radiant, glowing skin and peaceful, happy lives. They tend to sleep soundly through the night and wake feeling refreshed and energised.
• Ability to make decisions and support the decisions they have made.
• Ability to make quick and accurate decisions about people and situations.
• They have the capacity to maintain their level of energy and enthusiasm for long periods of time.
Out of balance Pitta
When your Pitta is out of balance, you might find yourself feeling like you're always on the go. You might feel like you're always pushing yourself, or that you need to be in control of every situation and circumstance.
This could be because your Pitta type is a very fiery personality, and they tend to get very worked up over small things. They'll also tend to be very analytical, and will notice little details that most people would miss so it's easy for them to dwell on things long after they've happened (and even long after they've been resolved).
Because their Pitta is so dominant and fiery, they may also have excess stomach acid (which can make them prone to heartburn), which can cause them to get overheated easily.
Excessive hate, jealousy or criticism
Workaholic syndrome
Egotism, self-absorbed
Heartburn/Acid indigestion
inflammation in the body
heartburn
diarrhoea
skin problems such as psoriasis
alopecia
conditions affecting the liver and gallbladder
How to Balance Pitta
If you're feeling overwhelmed, it's natural to want to get everything done. But if you try to do too much at once, you'll burn out and lose motivation. So take a deep breath, focus on one thing at a time, and make sure to schedule in rest days into your week.
Surround yourself with comforting colours and choose scents that are relaxing and cool, like roses, mint, jasmines, and chamomiles. Massage therapy can help calm elevated Pitta.
Pitta dosha using regular pitta diet
The best thing you can do to keep your Pitta balanced is to eat foods that help calm it down. This includes cooling foods such as cucumbers, watermelon, celery, mint, fennel, and basil. (Ginger can make things worse.)
The best way to balance your Pitta Dosha is by following these simple steps:
1. Eat foods Foods with sweet, bitter, astringent tastes
2. Avoid spicy, sour, salty and sweet tastes. These foods increase heat in the body.
3. Avoid alcohol, refined sugar, and caffeine
4. You should also avoid Sour fruits like berries, grapefruit, and apricot.