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One of the first things many people learn about Ayurveda is the idea of the doshas: Vata, Pitta and Kapha. Usually the next step is a quiz. You answer questions about your appetite, sleep, body type, temperament and skin, and at the end you are told what you “are.” That can be a useful doorway into Ayurveda, but it can also create a misunderstanding that follows people for years. Ayurveda does not reduce a person to one permanent type. It makes an important distinction betwee

When people first encounter Ayurveda, they usually encounter the doshas: Vata, Pitta and Kapha. But underneath the doshas is an older and more fundamental idea—the five great elements, or Pancha Mahabhuta. Earth. Water. Fire. Air. Ether. The elements give us a language for qualities we experience constantly: Earth gives structure; Water gives cohesion and flow; Fire transforms; Air moves; Ether allows everything else to exist and move within it. Each dosha is understood throu

Clients arrive to treatment carrying the day with them. They may be lying completely still on the table, but the body hasn't arrived yet. The breath is high. The jaw is working. The eyes are moving underneath the eyelids. A shoulder doesn't quite want to release into the table. Sometimes the person is still talking fast. It usually takes about an hour for things to shift: the breath gets deeper, the body heavier, the face changes. And suddenly the body is actually responding

Abhyanga is one of the practices that first drew me deeply into Ayurveda because it begins with something simple: oil and touch. From there, it can become a much deeper study of the body. The word is commonly translated as “oil massage,” although I think that translation can make it sound more casual than it is. Abhyanga is part of the Ayurvedic tradition of dinacharya, the daily practices used to care for the body and maintain balance. It is not only a treatment you receive.