KAPHA DOSHA

Elements: Earth + Water

Qualities: moist, cold, heavy, static, sticky, soft, cloudy, slow and smooth

Governs: Cohesion, Lubrication, Nourishment and Repair

Life Phase: birth to puberty

Season: Late Winter to Spring

Lunar Phase: Full Moon

Daily Cycle: 6am – 10 am and 6pm – 10pm

Kapha arises from the elements of earth and water. It is the energy of cohesion, lubrication, nourishment and repair. Kapha is the feeling of safety, groundedness and well being.

It is the weight, the strength and the juiciness of our body and mind.  The refined essence of kapha is ojas. 

Kapha is like a swan, an elephant or a whale.

Qualities of Kapha in the Body + Mind: 

People with a lot of  kapha in their constitution are curvy, voluptuous or strong and hearty. They can have plump, full lips, big dewy eyes and thick lustrous hair with darker tones.

Their joints are usually deep seated, and the body is full or thick.

Kapha energy creates a sense of easiness and relaxation. People with a lot of kapha are more down to earth and like to go with the flow. They often don’t want to ‘rock the boat’ and just want everyone to be happy.

Kapha is nurturing and caring. It supports healers and caregivers. Kapha types are deep listeners, long-lasting lovers, and big-hearted honey’s. Kapha creates compassion, forgiveness, calmness, happiness and contentment.

Excess kapha creates weight gain, mucous, phlegm, sinus congestion, clammy skin, heaviness, lethargy, water retention, swollen joints, a cold body and weak digestion. Excess kapha in the mind brings your attention to the past. It creates depression, attachment, hoarding, fogginess in the mind, a dullness, loss of inspiration, and difficulty letting go.  Often times people with a strong kapha constitution find it challenging to express their emotions.

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Late winter and early spring are the seasons of kapha dosha. The elements of earth and water are predominate. The spring rains and melting snow make the earth and soil heavy, thick and damp. Everything is wet, sticky and muddy. This can create the feelings of heaviness or dampness in the body, and things like sinus congestion or spring allergies can show up.

After eating heavier winter foods and building extra fat to nourish the nervous system, the build up of kapha in the body is ready to be cleared out for the summer. Clearing out the ama or plaque that might have built up, the heaviness, the extra fat or even the mucous clears the channels for more spaciousness to help the body stay cool in the summer.

How To Balance and Enhance Kapha::

1. Have dinner early and light. A heavy, late dinner = heaviness and excess kapha. Heavy leads to excess weight, mucous, ama, and an increase in kapha. Early and light dinners help you feel lighter, clearer, and wake up with more energy for the day.
2. Wake up early, preferably at or before sunrise. Sleeping in means you wake up with the heavier kapha energy. An excess of the kapha energy will create heaviness, lethargy, and a dull feeling through the day. If you wake up early, you’ll feel lighter, more free and expansive.
3. Move it! Move your body ~ dance, jump, run, play, walk… Do what feels good and practice moving to breathe deep and generate heat and sweat. Shake up and change your exercise routine as much as possible. Keep it new and fun. Keep it invigorating!
4. Cleanse. Practice a seasonal, spring cleanse every year, and on a regular basis if you tend to have excess kapha often. Once a week or a couple times a month you can do an easy, light fast and just have fruit, broths or spicy soups for a day or two. Or even skip dinner every now and then.
5. Clear your space. Keep your home, closet, office, garage, yard, car, all your spaces free from excess clutter and ‘stuff.’ Foster the free movement of energy by getting rid of material things in your environment, and watch how it frees up the energy in you!
6. Share the love. You have a beautiful, sweet, nurturing quality about you. Practice giving it out to others in any way that feels good to you. Your abundance of earth and water is nourishing, caring, soothing and grounding to all those around you.
7. Stimulate yourself. Wear bright colored clothing, decorate your home with bright colors and fresh flowers, eat spicy foods, break out in spontaneous dance, keep it stimulating and lively! Essential oils that are especially great for kapha include: eucalyptus, juniper, ginger, clove and camphor.

If you need help with any imbalances you’re having, or would like further insight to support your healing, please book an Ayurvedic Assessment. Click here for more info — >> Ayurvedic Assessment.