Yoga and Your Ayurvedic Type:
How to approach your asana practice using Ayurvedic Principles
Just as your individual physical constitution (pakruti) influences how well you do within certain environments, with food and different types of stress, it also determines how effective yoga postures are for you. There is no limit to how you can apply these common-sense principles of Ayurveda.
When
you think about it, of course it makes sense that your yoga practice
can be improved by tailoring it to your physical constitution. (If you
don't know your physical constition, you can find out by downloading my
free ebook "Ayurveda Basics" by clicking here.)
Private Yoga Instruction
I offer private yoga instruction tailored specifically to your physical constitution and particular stress patterns to show you how to best unwind from your daily stressors, and how to become physically stronger and more flexible. We also focus on relieving congested chi in the meridian pathways by incorporating Acu-YogaŽ in the session. Private yoga instruction is $45 per hour. This summer, I plan to offer Beginning Yoga for Stress Management classes, time, place and dates TBA.
You can incorporate some basic principles of Ayurveda into your home yoga practice.
Calming Vata with Yoga
If you are small-boned and restless, with a tendency towards spaciness, you may want to tailor your yoga practice towards calming Vata. This means you would reduce the number of repetitions of an asana, holding it to build core strength, and utilize more restorative postures to build your energy instead of depleting it. (I recommend Relax and Renew: Restful Yoga for Stressful Times, by Judith Lasater, as the best book to learn this approach. (Click here to order)
Because Vata-types love movement, they have a tendency to do more than their physical structure can really tolerate, so doing less than you think you can, and including restorative asanas is helpful.
A basic Vata yoga practice should be done in a quiet, systematic way. Focus on building core strength and maintaining flexibility. Hold the postures, working with the breath, longer than you usually do -- Vata's restlessness and love of movement will make you want to speed right through them. Make sure your environment is comfortably warm, and do enough activity to break a sweat -- no more than that, if that. If you feel tired and depleted after your yoga practice, you'd done too much. Remaining still and bringing the awareness into the body is Vata's challenge.
Instant Vata-reducing poses: Tadasana (Mountain Pose), Trikonasana (Triangle Pose), Child's Pose, supine and sitting twists, standing and seated forward bends (with knees over a bolster being even better!).
Pitta - Reducing Yoga
For Pitta individuals, taking the intense goal-oriented focus is the important thing for calming Pitta's innate competitiveness. Approach your practice in an effortless way, working at about 75% of total capacity. Pittas tend to overdo so much that even working 75% below capacity, you'll still be working harder than anyone else.
A few Instant Pitta-reducing poses: Cat stretch, downward facing dog, child's pose, and those which open up the chest and torso, such as backbends. Pittas have well-defined muscles and enjoy the physicality and power of working out. Do enough repetitions to satisfy this desire but don't overdo. Also, be aware of the season -- in summer, do fewer forward bends which tend to generate more internal heat. Postures which open up and expand the front of the body release heat; those which fold the body into itself increase heat.
Yoga for Kaphas
Kapha types do best with a vigorous practice. Having a lot of endurance when in balance, multiple repetitions of the more active postures balance Kapha. Practice the postures in an energetic way -- the challenge for Kapha is to work up to your full capacity. Standing postures, inversions, including handstands. Forward bends are said to increase Kapha, so hold these poses for a short time. If you're new to yoga, begin by building strength in key areas (shoulders, arms, wrists, core abdominals) before doing the inversions requiring upper body strength, and learn these with the help of a qualified instructor).
For further reading on this topic, I recommend Yoga for your Type: An Ayurvedic Approach to Your Asana Practice, by Dr. David Frawley and Sandra Summerfield Kozak. I have a few new copies left, which I can sell at 40% off. Click here to order it at a discount. Or you can buy a good used copy by clicking here yoga for your type
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