Pitta is oily, sharp, hot, light, fleshy-smelling, spreading, and liquid.
Having a pitta-predominant prakriti means that these qualities express themselves generously throughout your mental, emotional, and physical make up. You may find them reflected in your strengths and weaknesses.
The oily quality allows for softness of skin but, in excess, can manifest as oily skin, acne or perhaps the quality of being a "snake oil salesman"; manipulating situations to your advantage.
The sharp quality may manifest as a sharp, bright intellect or, in excess, as a sharp tongue.
"Hotness" can manifest as a warm, rosy complexion, warm body temperature, strong metabolism and appetite or, in excess, as ulcers, heartburn, or a hot temper.
The light quality may lead you to have a slender body or to get light-headed if you miss a meal.
The "fleshy-smelling" quality may manifest as a strong body odor.
The spreading quality may manifest as a tendency to spread your name or influence or opinion around the local or global neighborhood. This quality can also manifest as a spreading rash.
The liquid quality may manifest as excess sweating; when it's combined with the hot quality it can present as excess stomach acid.
A basic tenet of Ayurveda is "like increases like." Therefore, increasing the inherent qualities of pitta will increase pitta in your body, mind, and spirit. If you experience hot weather, hot foods, the hot seasons and times of day, and even hot emotions can increase pitta. Likewise humid environments will increase the liquid quality and thereby increase pitta.
If pitta individual visits the equator for a vacation and sunbathe for six hours daily and enjoy hot, spicy food daily for one week. At the end of the week you suffer from an acute rash and terrible heartburn and find yourself in an awful temper. Ayurveda would say that your heat-increasing indulgences increased the natural heat in your pitta constitution and lead to hot conditions "erupting" in your body and emotions.
Balancing Pitta- Simple Guidelines For Decreasing Pitta
Signs and Symptoms of Increased Pitta
You may be experiencing some of the following signs or symptoms:
red, inflamed rash, acne, cold sores
acute inflammation in body or joints
acid reflux, gastric or peptic ulcers, heartburn
nausea or discomfort upon missing meals
loose stools
uncomfortable feeling of heat in the body
frustration, anger, irritability
judgment, impatience, criticism, intolerance
red, inflamed or light-sensitive eyes
excessive perfectionist tendencies
To decrease pitta, Ayurveda has given us dietary, lifestyle and herbal treatment strategies. Here are a few underlying concepts that these strategies are based on: Cooling --- Surrendering --- Moderation
General Guidelines for a Pitta-Pacifying Diet
Enjoy Food:
Foods that are naturally sweet, bitter, and astringent.
Cooling foods, both energetically and in temperature.
A balance of whole, freshly cooked foods and fresh, raw foods.
Most beans.
Cooling herbs and spices like coriander, cilantro, fennel and cardamom.
Dairy, if you digest it well, but avoid drinking milk with your meals. It is best to have it at least an hour before or after other food.
A moderate amount of high-quality olive, sunflower and coconut oils or ghee in your daily diet.
Routine times for your meals.
Taking a deep breath after swallowing your last bite and heading off for your next activity.
Eating your meal in a peaceful environment.
Avoid Food:
Foods that are pungent, sour, and salty.
Warming foods, both energetically and in temperature.
Chili and cayenne peppers.
Highly processed foods (like canned or frozen foods, “TV” dinners or pastries).
Eating fresh fruit or drinking fruit juice within ½ hour of any other food.
Caffeine, nicotine, and other stimulants.
Red meat.
Deep fried foods.
Alcohol, except for an occasional beer or white wine.
Pitta-Pacifying Herbal Remediess
Herbs are useful allies when it comes to balancing the doshas. Ayurveda has a long history detailing the use of herbs and herbal combinations. General formulas based on traditional combinations of herbs are also used.In Ayurvedic seances I will customize herbal formulas to suit the your unique constitutions.
General Guidelines for a Pitta-Pacifying Lifestyle
Enjoy Life:
Surrendering rather than controlling.
A regular, daily routine with regular times for eating, sleeping, working, etc. Make sure you have time to play and to relax as well as to work.
A 10–20 minute self-massage daily with ½ cup warm sunflower or coconut oil before bathing. Click here for more information on abhyanga.
A moderate exercise routine that includes a challenging form of yoga, swimming or biking, about five times per week. Avoid exercising during the hot part of the day.
Keeping yourself cool, mind and body.
Sweet and soothing music, smells, scenes, and company.
Our lives, environments and health change regularly. I recommend that you do Vikriti test every month.
Manage your Pitta-Kapha Constitution
Being a pitta-kapha type means that two doshas are predominant in your constitution. It is usually best to manage a dual dosha prakriti according to the season. In general, as a pitta-kapha, follow a pitta-pacifying regimen during the late spring and summer seasons especially when the weather is hot. Follow a kapha-pacifying regimen during the cooler times of year like fall, winter and early spring and especially when the weather is cool and damp.
Manage your Vata-Pitta Constitution
Being a vata-pitta type means that two doshas are predominant in your constitution. It is usually best to manage a dual dosha prakriti according to the season. In general as a vata-pitta, follow a vata-pacifying regimen during the fall and winter seasons, during the change of seasons and especially when the weather is cold and windy. Follow a pitta-pacifying regimen during the spring and summer and especially when the weather is warm.
Being a vata-pitta-kapha type means that all three doshas are strong forces in your constitution. If you are one of the rare people who possess this prakriti, good news: you have a very sturdy constitution. You tend to get sick less than others and can tolerate a wide variety of seasons and environmental conditions. By nature, your constitutional forces will tend to balance each other and maintain a healthy equilibrium. Whether your doshas are quantitatively equal or one or two are a bit more dominant, the strategy for managing them is the same. You manage them primarily according to the season. In general, follow a vata-pacifying regimen during the fall and early winter, during the change of seasons and especially when the weather is cool, dry and windy. Follow a pitta-pacifying regimen during the late spring and summer seasons and especially when the weather is hot. Follow a kapha-pacifying regimen during the late winter and spring and especially when the weather is cool and damp.
Click and Learn more about Vata, Pitta, and Kapha.
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Nearly everywhere we look in nature, there are creatures engaging in some sort of consistent daily routine. The natural world at large is deeply influenced by the rhythms of nature – the rising and setting of the sun, the cycles of the seasons, and the underlying impulses directing the broader community of life. Continue Research PLACATORY MORNING SCHEMA