Are you wondering how to pacify and balance the Vata dosha? If so keep reading more my advice.
Vata is one of the most irregular doshas, so it can get out of balance easily and quickly. Don’t worry – doshas getting out of balance is completely normal, and it’s part of being human. If you’ve noticed your Vata becoming out of balance – you might want to take steps to get it back in-sync and in harmony with your body again. This is called pacifying Vata, and this is what we’ll be talking about here.
Pacifying Vata through lifestyle changes
The main ways to pacify Vata is through lifestyle changes. You’ll notice that lifestyle changes can have a big impact on your doshas and the make-up of your energy.
For pacifying Vata, the main key is going to be routine and regularity. People who tend to be Vata-heavy often find themselves becoming irregular and sporadic – so controlling that is a big part of pacifying Vata and bring Vata levels back in harmony with the rest of your body.
Here’s what to focus on:
- Try and keep your daily routine fixed, without much spontaneity or last-minute changes.
- Make time to relax both body and mind – this could mean introducing daily yoga or meditation to your routine.
- Take warm baths, and make sure you truly relax in them.
- Listen to calming music, classic and piano is a great place to start (you can combine this with the bath!).
- Go for long, relaxing walks in nature.
- Spend time with your thoughts, and give yourself time to contemplate and think about life.
- Set yourself regular meal times, and sit down to enjoy the food.
- Make time for sleep – and make your sleeping environment one that encourages restful sleep.
All of these habits, can make a big change to bring down your Vata levels and feeling more harmonised again. You’ll notice there is a big emphasis on relaxing and being calm – and that’s really important. Because Vata is such a changing and moving dosha – we want to pacify it by doing the opposite.
Things to avoid:
Avoid stressful situations and try to reduce stress levels.
- Don’t eat at irregular times or randomly snack.
- Try to cut down of coffee and caffeine (or completely cut it out).
- Keep yourself warm, and make your home environment comfortable (not cold or uncomfy)
- Don’t exercise too much (and if you must exercise daily, be sure to make it gentle exercise)
- Don’t have late nights and early mornings. Sleep should be important.
- Avoid anything that is too ‘overloading’ on a sensory level. Like skydiving for example!
Massage can help pacify Vata
Massage with an Ayurvedic practitioner can also be a great way to pacify your Vata. Make sure you communicate to the practitioner that you’re looking to pacify Vata, and they will tailor their techniques to ensure this is the goal of the session.
You can also enjoy massage at home (either on your own, or with a partner). If this is the case for you, then be sure to use warming techniques, using warming oils, or hot stones.
Altering your diet to pacify Vata
You can also change up your diet to help pacify Vata too. As a basic guide, when following a Vata diet, you want to do the following:
- Make sure you eat hot, liquid, oily and heavy foods.
- Look out for sweet, sour and salty tastes.
- Eat at regular times, and make meal times an experience.
- Don’t hurry your food, slow down, enjoy every mouthful.
- Drink plenty of hot beverages.
So know you know the basic food / eating techniques for pacifying Vata, you might want to know the kinds of foods that will help pacify Vata too. These are the main foods you should be eating:
- Plenty of grains (about 55% of your diet should be made up of grains)
- Vegetables such as Fennel, Okra, Parsnips, carrots, peas, courgettes, tomatoes and spinach.
- Fats and dairy (such as saleted buttermilk, salter butter, warm milk, sour and sweet cream).
- Nuts roasted in ghee (yum!)
- Pulses (such as our faorites… Mungbeans)
Hopefully this blog post has helped you find the best ways to pacify Vata!
