YOUR MIND & BODY TYPE IS AIR (VATA)
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MIND
Air-dominant people are quick, alert, lively, creative and optimistic. They may walk, talk, and think quickly. They love excitement and new experiences, are energetic, playful, and flexible. They are open minded and easily embrace change. They are quick to learn but also quick to forget. They tend to always be on the go, with a love for adventure and travel. When they are in balance, they are charismatic and enthusiastic people who take initiative and are lively conversationalists. When they are imbalanced, Air Mind-Body types are prone to worry, anxiousness, nervousness, stress, lack of focus and fear. To balance the mind of an Airy person, it is important to make small lifestyle changes that can help restoring balance like creating a daily routine (sleep & wake up at the same times), meditation and avoiding multi-tasking, being on the go and excess travelling.
BODY
Air-dominant people have thin, light frame bodies with excellent adaptability and high energy. Their energy comes in bursts, and they are likely to experience sudden bouts of fatigue. They typically have dark skin, cracking joints and tend to get cold easily with cold hands and feet. They sleep lightly and their digestion can be sensitive. When imbalanced, they tend to experience weight loss, constipation, flatulence, bloating, arthritis, insomnia, weakness, restlessness, aches, and pains. To balance an Air person, it is very important to maintain calm and routine, avoid extreme temperatures & stimulants like caffeine, get loads of rest and eat warm, nourishing foods.
HOW TO BALANCE AIR
Ever wonder how to feel more balanced in your everyday? Ayurveda shows us that small lifestyle and diet changes can have a huge impact on our overall wellbeing.
Browse through the following guidelines to understand how to balance your AIR Mind & Body Type. As you read through the suggestions below, keep in mind that no one expects you to shift your lifestyle and diet overnight. Slow and steady shifts are huge wins and, based on our experience, you’ll feel them right away.
PACIFYING LIFESTYLE
Food: What we eat is at the crux of our wellbeing so take a look at the food guidelines below and try to follow them as much as you can.
Daily routine: Try to instill a daily routine in your life. It may sound boring but AIR types are the ones who can get off balance the easiest so they benefit from a lot of consistency in their life, it grounds their body and mind. E.g. try going to bed, waking up and eating at the same time everyday then you can make the stuff in between as exciting as you’d like!
Workouts: Keep workouts both gentle, regulated and relaxing. Think yoga, dance, walking, tai chi, or rowing.
Sleep: Make rest and sleep a priority – AIR types need the most sleep of all types but are most likely to suffer from insomnia so getting 8 hours of sleep on average and having a bedtime routine can help. Read How to finally sleep better
Self-care: Nurture and self-care through daily Ayurvedic self-massage using oil… think of it as a replacement for applying body lotion after your shower. It is soothing and grounding for AIR types. Read Self body massage with oil
Climate: Avoid very cold and windy conditions, as well as dry climates. Dress warmly if you can’t avoid them or always carry a scarf in your purse for drafty workplaces or restaurants.
Travel: Minimize travel, too much movement and avoid loud and noisy places. These conditions aggravate the natural anxious, over stimulated nature of AIR types. This will most likely be the hardest for AIR types as they loooove travel, adventure and overall change. If you can’t minimize the travel, pay careful attention to your diet and self-care practices when you do travel to compensate for the effects travel has on your type.
RECOMMENDED HERBS
Digestion: Hingvastak: calms excess gas and bloating & supports proper assimilation. These herbs can be taken before eating lunch and dinner.
Elimination: Haritaki: promotes regular bowel movements. These herbs can be taken after lunch & dinner. This fruit is one of the ingredients used in Ayurveda’s rockstar herb called Triphala (also to regulate bowel movements) but tends to be less drying than Triphala.
Calm mind: Ashwagandha: increases energy while combatting stress and assisting in calming the mind for a restful sleep. These herbs can be taken in the morning and in the evening.
PACIFYING FOOD GUIDELINES
FAVOR
Cooked and warm over cold foods: Raw and cold foods such as iced drinks, raw vegetables, and sushi weaken the already weak digestion of AIR types. Favor warm soups, stews, Kitchari, hot cereals and cooked foods over salads or raw dishes.
Moist and oily over dry: Avoid rice crackers, popcorn, dried fruit, granola and all things dry. Instead, favor wet cereal, eggs, milk, healthy fats like ghee, butter, oils, nut butters, avocados are stabilizing for AIR types. Instead of causing weight gain, they will keep the body & skin hydrated and elimination healthy. Moist foods like berries, melons, summer squash, zucchini, and yogurt help to offset AIR types’ dry quality.
Grounding and nourishing over light: AIR types are already light and often, depleted. They need foods with sustenance like cooked grains, root vegetables, stewed fruits, nuts, and seeds. Similarly, stimulants such as caffeine, and alcohol should be minimized or avoided because they tend to undermine AIR types’ need for grounded stability.
Smooth over rough: Avoid raw veggies or unripe fruits as they are too difficult to digest for AIR types. Even cooked, veggies like broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower and some beans are best to reduce. If you eat them, cooked them in ample amounts of ghee or oil. Favor smooth foods like ripe bananas, chia seed pudding, hot cereal and pureed soups.
Sweet tastes: Naturally sweet foods (not desserts and processed foods!) like ripe fruits, grains, root veggies, milk, ghee, eggs, oils, nuts, cinnamon and lean meats are all soothing to an AIR type.
Sour tastes: A squeeze of lemon juice, sour fruits like green grapes, oranges, grapefruits and pineapple, creates secretion which promotes hydration and improves digestion while eliminating excess gas and bloating.
Salty tastes: Raw mineral salt like Pink Himalayan salt (over table salt) is a great addition to any dish as it stimulate digestion, help retain moisture in an already dry body.
*This article is not, nor is it intended to be, a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment, and should never be relied upon for specific medical advice.
AVOID
Pungent tastes: Avoid spicy, hot foods like chilies, radishes, turnips and raw onions as they are very drying to the system and aggravate they dry qualities of AIR types. Also, avoid coffee as it over stimulates an already stimulated mind.
Bitter tastes: Avoid bitter greens like kale or dandelion greens, sunchokes, eggplants and chocolate are cooling, rough, drying and light – aggravating AIR qualities.
Astringent tastes: Avoid unripe fruits, black beans, chickpeas, soybeans, raw apples, cranberries, artichokes, broccoli, rye, crackers as they are all drying and rough in nature.