Have a Kapha Type? Learn about Your Balancing Ayurveda Diet
Kapha Type is characterized by Kapha energy - the energy of growth & maintenance, which is smooth, moist, "cooling", dense, and heavy.
Typically, Kapha dosha people gain weight very easily and have difficulties in losing weight. If that's your case, you can see how these problems are addressed with a Kapha diet, including specific foods to avoid and helpful natural supplements.
Kapha type represents the water & earth elements.
It is predominant during childhood and adolescence years, when we develop our bone and muscle mass & structure.
As a Kapha type you're well-built, with a sturdy, heavier body frame and a broad, even expanded chest.
As a Kapha dosha, you have smooth, moist and cool skin, thick wavy hair, and large attractive black, dark brown, or blue eyes with thick, long lashes and brows and an intense look.
Your walk is unhurried and steady showing a lot of grace & stamina. You have a low, soft voice and a slower speech reflecting a deliberate thought process.
In your body, Ayurveda Kapha energy is responsible for your body form and structure - from flesh and bones to blood and fat. Kapha energy sustains your body's strength, lubricates your joints, keeps your skin moist, and helps to heal any wounds. It gives energy to your heart and lungs, maintains your immune system, and supports memory retention.
Kapha energy is mostly found in the chest and in the body's plasmatic fluids and cells (especially fat cells).
As a Kapha type, your predominant senses are smell & taste. You love warm, dry weather, are stable and grounded, with great strength, endurance and stamina, and have a sound, long, and heavy sleep often with romantic dreams featuring peaceful scenery.
You like sweet & sour foods (sweets, dairy, fermented foods, sour fruits) and cold drinks. However, you should know that these only increase Kapha energy in your body.
In plants, Kapha energy is found in the root system, deep in the soil, where the water is stored. Kapha periods of the day are between 2-6 P.M. & 2-6 A.M., and Kapha season is from March through May, when it's humid and cool, or just barely warm.
With A Balanced Kapha Type...
... you are emotionally stable and balanced, self-sufficient and calm.
You have a tendency toward introversion, placing a great value on your privacy. Methodical and slower to learn new things, you have an outstanding long-term memory.
As a balanced Kapha type you have an excellent health and a gentle, undemanding approach to life. With a sweet and loving disposition you are non-judgmental, reliable, loyal, affectionate and loving.
Your nature is caring, easygoing, forgiving and compassionate. Generally you strive to maintain harmony and a healthy peace in your surroundings, making use of your calm and excellent memory, rational thinking and determination.
When your Kapha dosha is balanced, you're not easily angered or upset, your moods are not easily changed - which makes you a point of stability and encouragement for others. Although you have the most energy of all other types, yours is rather steady vs. explosive.
However, even when balanced, at times you exhibit traits of greed, attachment, and envy. You tend to be possessive and hold on to things, people, and money. These natural tendencies make you a good earner and saver, as you have a special ability to preserve and use personal resources.
An Imbalanced Kapha Type...
...typically has to deal with respiratory, metabolic, and weight problems. For example:
Too little Kapha energy results in lack of concentration, dryness of respiratory tract and heartburn - due to lack of mucus, which protects from excess stomach acids
Too much Kapha energy results in flu, sinus congestion, allergies, feeling heavy, bloated and sluggish, a tendency to sleep too much, lethargy, procrastination, resisting useful change, inflexibility, inertia, dull thinking, boredom, depression, weight gain, and water retention
Kapha Type gets Agravated by...
...damp chilly weather, too much routine, excessive rest and oversleeping, overeating, insufficient exercise, shallow breathing, too little variety and change in life.
Your dosha gets also aggravated by heavy deserts, dairy, cold drinks and food and too much sweet, sour, oily, or salty food.
A Kapha Imbalance gets Pacified by...
...lots of change and stimulation, warm, dry weather, energetic exercising, actively seeking new experiences and passionate, joyful activities.
Stimulate your body in the morning with a dry massage with a silk glove, and your sense of smell with "warm", spicy aromas like pine, eucalyptus, and musk.
Make a daily habit of breathing more deeply, as it charges up your metabolism.
To increase it even more and up your energy level, include Pitta energy in your regular activities (set specific goals and make step-by-step plans to achieve them, participate in competitive activities or take up an entrepreneurial venture)
Above all, make sure that you exercise vigorously until you break a sweat every day for at least 30 minutes - whether it's hiking, speed swimming, intense aerobics or yoga - they're all very helpful. Ignore your initial resistance to doing this, as you'll start converting stored fat into energy right away, and you will be pleasantly surprised to see dramatic weight loss results in a matter of weeks.
Your Ayurveda Kapha type is pacified by spicy foods & drinks with a pungent, bitter, & astringent taste (ginger, tonic water, spiced cider, cranberries, turmeric, beans). You naturally tend to gain weight, so you may want to take a look at your balancing Kapha diet >>