Explore
"Where am I right now?"
Place one hand on your heart, one hand on your belly. Feel the warmth of your hands through the fabric. Take three breaths, without changing anything, just to observe.
Now let your attention wander through the body. The feet, grounded or not. The shoulders, raised or relaxed. The breath, short or full. There is nothing to correct here, only to feel.
Your body is speaking to you constantly. Most of the time, we don't listen. Take one more moment to hear it.
Now that you are anchored in your sensations, let's discover together what your constitution has to teach you.
The foundational test: Doshas
Before talking about health, you first need to know yourself. This test explores your constitution (Vata, Pitta, Kapha) through simple questions about your body, your energy, and your way of being in the world.
Understand
"What's really at play?"
Why this seed?
Health is the natural state of life. Life is constantly seeking harmony and vitality, from DNA to every piece of information found in nature. A human being needs health to live well and make a success of their life, not only to enjoy a beautiful existence, but to have the time to keep walking their path, to grow, and ultimately to realize who they truly are.
Health unfolds on three levels: physical, mental, and spiritual. It is the foundation of a life path for growing, living in a healthy and happy way, and, in yoga, realizing one's true self.
We need a healthy, long life in order to have the time, and the inner state, to contribute to the world.
How does Ayurveda respond to this?
Ayurveda is a body of knowledge based on observing life and the universe. It starts from the understanding that, from the five elements and the three doshas, nature is constantly seeking balance in order to renew itself and stay vital: this is the interdependence between our body and the world around it. Ayurveda is the knowledge of how to maintain this balance and, if it is disturbed, how to restore it, so that life can unfold harmoniously.
Concretely, Ayurveda looks at the characteristics of the three doshas in each individual, and knows the ways of nourishing this balance using tools found everywhere in life: diet, sleep, lifestyle habits, biorhythm, movement, breathing, and many more.
What, concretely?
The why of this first seed is to clarify how to regenerate and develop our vital energy, drawing on the notion of interdependence, and on Ayurveda's holistic vision, which connects body and mind, the individual, the collective, and the planet.
The how is to take care of ourselves. For self-regeneration and healing, we need movement, space, and love: these are the three great principles we rely on.
In this chapter, we look at the link between health and the doshas, the major principles at work, and the causes of illness.
What we take from this should let us make concrete decisions: how to act, individually, on our diet, and on how we care for our body and our environment.
Practice
"What can I do right now?"
A mini Pawanmuktasana
A few gentle rotations, joint by joint, to free the flow of energy: ankles, knees, wrists, shoulders, neck. Eight to ten repetitions per movement, in 5 minutes.
The full sequence, in detail →Prana Vayu breathing
Sit comfortably, back straight. Breathe in slowly, imagining that the air is flowing through your whole body, down to your fingertips. Hold for a brief moment. Breathe out even more slowly. Five minutes is enough.
Videos: yoga and breathing practices by dosha
In the Ayurvedic tradition, yoga adapts to each constitution. Vata, Pitta, and Kapha each have their own specific needs in terms of postures, breathing, and mental attitudes.
Detailed yoga and breathing for each dosha: Vata, Pitta, Kapha.
To go further
Radiate
"What do I do with this in my life and with others?"