Vata: Know How To Recognize When Its Out of Balance

Restlessness? Anxiety? Feeling spaced out? Too many thoughts? Sleepless nights?

These are clear symptoms of ‘Vata Imbalance.”

Vata dosha implies the imbalance of air and space elements in the body. Vata governs the movements in the body, activities of the nervous system, and the process of elimination from our body.

When Vata dosha becomes imbalanced for a sufficiently long enough time, pitta and kapha dosha also get imbalanced.


Ashtanga Hrdayam, a major treatise on Ayurveda talks about the properties of the Vata dosha: "Tatra ruksho laghu sheetah, khara sukshmaschalo nilah"
The qualities of Vata are dry, light, cool, rough, subtle, and mobile.

Vata-dosha renders these qualities to the mental, emotional and physical plane.

Symptoms & Effects of Vata Dosha Imbalance:

Symptoms

Physical:

  • Constipation
  • Gas formation or distension in the abdomen
  • Dehydration
  • Dry and rough skin
  • Pains and general body-ache
  • Astringent taste in mouth
  • Loss of strength, fatigue, low vitality
  • Disturbed or lack of sleep
  • Tremors and twitches
  • Feeling dizzy or spaced out
  • Sensitiveness to cold and desire for warmth

Behavioral:

  • Irrational, Anxious, Nervous, Agitated, Impatient
  • Wanting to run away
  • Feeling confused, fearful & shaky
  • Feeling ungrounded
  • Excessive movement or talking

Effects

  • Wasting of muscles
  • Joint pains
  • Stiffness
  • Headache
  • Retention
  • Constipation
  • Weight loss
  • Cramps
  • Convulsion, tremors, paralytic attacks
  • Colic
  • Dryness, scaling
  • Phobias

This article was originally published by the Art of Living Blog India (https://www.artofliving.org/in-en/lifestyle) and is reposted here with the author's permission.