According to Ayurveda, how do your stages of life affect you?

Let’s say you have a Pitta nature (Yes, we’re talking about “your dosha”.) IF you have a Pitta nature, do you simply eat a Pitta-reducing diet, live a Pitta-calming lifestyle and drink “Pitta tea” your entire life?

No! Life is never that simple. As you gain experience applying the wisdom of Ayurveda, you’ll soon realize that, while your nature is timeless, your needs DO in fact change!

Your nature is called “prakruti” in Sanskrit. It’s great to know your prakruti–what people often refer to as “my dosha.” But while your basic nature stays stable, you know you can’t step in the same river twice! Life’s changes affect you in myriad ways.

Do you remember being 9 years old? Remember how your body looked, and how it felt to move around? I’ll bet your height has changed since then. Your weight and build, too. Your voice, the way you walk–nearly everything about you has morphed and evolved.

As a woman, it’s natural to go through remarkable physical, metabolic, mental and emotional transformations as you move through your stages of life. Each and every stage brings stunning challenges, and unique joys.

When you locate yourself on the continuum of a woman’s life–you’ll understand how your life stage affects you. Then you can embrace the blessings of your time of life, and rise to the challenges, too.

According to Ayurveda, how do your stages of life affect you?

Let’s say you have a Pitta nature (Yes, we’re talking about “your dosha”.) IF you have a Pitta nature, do you simply eat a Pitta-reducing diet, live a Pitta-calming lifestyle and drink “Pitta tea” your entire life?

No! Life is never that simple. As you gain experience applying the wisdom of Ayurveda, you’ll soon realize that, while your nature is timeless, your needs DO in fact change!

Your nature is called “prakruti” in Sanskrit. It’s great to know your prakruti–what people often refer to as “my dosha.” But while your basic nature stays stable, you know you can’t step in the same river twice! Life’s changes affect you in myriad ways.

Do you remember being 9 years old? Remember how your body looked, and how it felt to move around? I’ll bet your height has changed since then. Your weight and build, too. Your voice, the way you walk–nearly everything about you has morphed and evolved.

As a woman, it’s natural to go through remarkable physical, metabolic, mental and emotional transformations as you move through your stages of life. Each and every stage brings stunning challenges, and unique joys.

When you locate yourself on the continuum of a woman’s life–you’ll understand how your life stage affects you. Then you can embrace the blessings of your time of life, and rise to the challenges, too.

In classical Ayurveda, the three stages of life are:

KAPHA dominates the childhood stage. Everything in you is growing, your tissues are developing and your fluids are accumulating. Everything’s building up to provide for your future capacities.

Kapha’s sensory qualities are Heavy, Slow, Cool, Oily, Smooth, Dense, Soft, Stable, Gross, Cloudy. You naturally experience more of these qualities in your body and mind during the Kapha stage of life.

During the Kapha stage of life, a girl is most likely to suffer from conditions characterized by excess mucous and by emotions like sentimentality, attachment, and even depression. As immature kids struggling with uncertainty, its common to overindulge in comfort foods, and gain weight easily without adequate exercise.

Kapha-invoked imbalances are all the more likely during this stage if you also have a Kapha nature.

PITTA fires up the middle, fertile years. We’re warm, tender, and almost always in a sensitive state of transformation! This begins before your first period appears, and you ride your (wild or mellow) hormonal cycles for 3 or 4 decades.

These are creative times–literally. You build your identity, your career, your relationships–and if you choose, you raise babies, too. Whew, hot mama!

Pitta’s sensory qualities are Light, Sharp, Hot, Oily, Liquid, Penetrating and Subtle.  You naturally experience more of these qualities in your body and mind during the Pitta stage of life.

Your Pitta years can feel awash in passion–or even intensity–and the stress that comes with high ambition and pushing yourself too far. Cravings for alcohol, spicy, salty and oily foods can intermix with your monthly hormonal shifts to leave your blood toxic and boiling. You find yourselves too often sleepless, or helpless in frustration, anger or despair. Pitta-fueled imbalances are all the more likely during this stage if you also have a Pitta nature.

VATA ushers in menopause, and sticks with you ‘til the end!  You may be slowly losing muscle mass, but you’re gaining a healthy detachment from taking things personally, from excess emotion and from overdoing things. These ARE your wisdom years, when you can share your hard-earned value with the world in powerful ways.

Vata’s sensory qualities are Light, Cold, Dry, Rough, Mobile, Subtle and Clear.  You naturally experience more of these qualities in your body and mind during this Vata stage of life.

If you didn’t know how to nurture healthy balance all through your previous life stages, now’s when Vata likes to take the wheel, randomly steering you toward trouble. Anxiety, depression, memory loss, nervous-system problems, pain, bone issues, erratic functioning of any body system, dryness and tissue depletion–these are common Vata-driven imbalances. They’re all the more likely during this stage if you also have a Vata nature, and haven’t learned how to nourish, ground and revitalize yourself routinely over time.

Can you recognize your life stage now?
How is it affecting you?

When you know your nature and your stage of life, you gain a powerful perspective to better understand your current needs, so you can meet them!

May you enjoy every delight and meet every challenge in the fullness of your life–at every stage.
with care,

In classical Ayurveda, the three stages of life are:

KAPHA dominates the childhood stage. Everything in you is growing, your tissues are developing and your fluids are accumulating. Everything’s building up to provide for your future capacities.

Kapha’s sensory qualities are Heavy, Slow, Cool, Oily, Smooth, Dense, Soft, Stable, Gross, Cloudy. You naturally experience more of these qualities in your body and mind during the Kapha stage of life.

During the Kapha stage of life, a girl is most likely to suffer from conditions characterized by excess mucous and by emotions like sentimentality, attachment, and even depression. As immature kids struggling with uncertainty, its common to overindulge in comfort foods, and gain weight easily without adequate exercise.

Kapha-invoked imbalances are all the more likely during this stage if you also have a Kapha nature.

PITTA fires up the middle, fertile years. We’re warm, tender, and almost always in a sensitive state of transformation! This begins before your first period appears, and you ride your (wild or mellow) hormonal cycles for 3 or 4 decades.

These are creative times–literally. You build your identity, your career, your relationships–and if you choose, you raise babies, too. Whew, hot mama!

Pitta’s sensory qualities are Light, Sharp, Hot, Oily, Liquid, Penetrating and Subtle.  You naturally experience more of these qualities in your body and mind during the Pitta stage of life.

Your Pitta years can feel awash in passion–or even intensity–and the stress that comes with high ambition and pushing yourself too far. Cravings for alcohol, spicy, salty and oily foods can intermix with your monthly hormonal shifts to leave your blood toxic and boiling. You find yourselves too often sleepless, or helpless in frustration, anger or despair. Pitta-fueled imbalances are all the more likely during this stage if you also have a Pitta nature.

VATA ushers in menopause, and sticks with you ‘til the end!  You may be slowly losing muscle mass, but you’re gaining a healthy detachment from taking things personally, from excess emotion and from overdoing things. These ARE your wisdom years, when you can share your hard-earned value with the world in powerful ways.

Vata’s sensory qualities are Light, Cold, Dry, Rough, Mobile, Subtle and Clear.  You naturally experience more of these qualities in your body and mind during this Vata stage of life.

If you didn’t know how to nurture healthy balance all through your previous life stages, now’s when Vata likes to take the wheel, randomly steering you toward trouble. Anxiety, depression, memory loss, nervous-system problems, pain, bone issues, erratic functioning of any body system, dryness and tissue depletion–these are common Vata-driven imbalances. They’re all the more likely during this stage if you also have a Vata nature, and haven’t learned how to nourish, ground and revitalize yourself routinely over time.

Can you recognize your life stage now?
How is it affecting you?

When you know your nature and your stage of life, you gain a powerful perspective to better understand your current needs, so you can meet them!

May you enjoy every delight and meet every challenge in the fullness of your life–at every stage.
with care,