I am writing this post to clear up what I see as being a lot of confusion regarding how doshas are analyzed in Ayurvedic practice. For those who are unfamiliar with doshas, a person's dosha refers to the unique balance of elements in that individual, present at birth. Whenever a state of imbalance occurs (disease, emotional trauma, stress, etc.), that imbalance happens because one or more of the elements in the body has increased or decreased beyond the normal range for that particular individual. For example, a person whose dosha is Vata is dominated by the elements of air and space, making the nervous system prominent in their function. The nervous system is then the most likely system in which an imbalance will originate for that person. The elements of water, fire, and earth are still present in that person, but in less quantity when compared to air and space. The dominance of air and space leads a Vata person to be generally fearful, idealistic, small-framed, and have trouble gaining weight from childhood onward. If that Vata person is placed in a highly stressful and/or physically demanding job, they are likely to show symptoms of high anxiety. Over time, they will also likely begin to have inflammatory conditions and/or digestive problems which show that Pitta (fire and water) is increasing beyond its normal range.
If, at this point in time, this hypothetical individual goes online to take a dosha quiz, and if they answer the questions thinking about how they currently feel, the quiz result will likely be that their dosha is Pitta. If they take this result and begin to make dietary adjustments and purchase herbal remedies to balance their Pitta, that may work for awhile. There is also the possibility that the changes they make will balance Pitta but increase Vata, worsening their condition. That person may then decide to consult an Ayurvedic practitioner, or they may decide that Ayurveda is ineffective and move on.
If you're feeling confused at this point, then you are beginning to understand where the role of the Ayurvedic practitioner comes in. The job of the Ayurvedic practitioner is to determine pathology, which is the process of how disease occurs. Pathology in Ayurveda is tracing imbalance back to its cause. The Ayurvedic practitioner has to discern the dosha or doshas that are causing symptom manifestation, and what the healthy balance of elements for that individual would be. The practitioner must be able to create an effective treatment plan that addresses both the symptoms of illness and the underlying causes.
Most of the people who come to my office have already been online taking dosha quizzes, which are a bit like the personality quizzes found in many magazines, except that the questions are written from an Ayurvedic perspective. The dosha quizzes are, in many cases, marketing tools found on websites that sell Ayurvedic products. The idea behind putting the quiz on the website in such cases is that once someone gets a result from the quiz, they will likely buy products marketed for their dosha.
In my experience, it is extremely rare for a person who is not already trained in Ayurveda to get an accurate result from a dosha quiz. The main reason for inaccuracy is that the questions in dosha quizzes are written by an Ayurvedic practitioner who has a different mindset than the average person taking the quiz. The perspective of the person creating the questions differs from that of the person reading them, and therefore the questions being asked are not usually the ones that are being answered. For example, practitioners distinguish between "bloating" and "edema". To us, bloating happens when the abdomen fills up with air and becomes distended, whereas edema is a swollen area that is filled with fluid. Most dosha quizzes will ask if there are digestive problems with gas and bloating. Almost every woman who has answered "yes" to this question in my office continues on to explain that she gets "bloated", meaning that she commonly retains water during her premenstrual period every month. However, what I am asking is if she has indigestion that manifests as the abdomen filling with air. In my office, I can ask for clarification that allows me to accurately discern what is happening. That opportunity is not there with an online dosha quiz or self-test from a book.
Another problem with taking online or book quizzes to determine dosha is that most of us don't see ourselves clearly. When we are answering questions, we are likely to answer some questions according to how we want to be rather than how we are. For example, during one session last summer, I asked a woman if she was frequently experiencing feelings of anger and frustration. She answered in the negative, but immediately launched into a story about the incompetence of the workers at her local pharmacy. As she told the story, her face became red and her voice grew louder until she was yelling and cursing about the pharmacy employees. Clearly, she was holding a lot of anger in her body, but she was either not conscious of it or did not want to be perceived as an angry person. When practitioners ask questions, we can hear the answer not just in the words spoken, but also in the tone of the speaker, body language, and speech patterns.
Those of you who have not met me in person may suspect that I am writing this to increase my own business by making people feel that they must depend on a practitioner. Those of you who have met me probably know that is not my nature. What I believe is that individuals become empowered by working one-on-one with a practitioner to learn about their dosha and how to use that knowledge for healing and health maintenance. What concerns me is that I have observed an increase in the use of online dosha quizzes as a proxy for treatment by a qualified Ayurvedic professional. There are people out there from a variety of professional backgrounds who are deciding that adding "Ayurveda" to their business could bring them more income. Without any training, these people are telling their clients to go online to take a dosha quiz, discover their dosha, and then make dietary changes and begin taking herbal supplements... all based on the results of an online quiz.
Ayurveda cannot be learned by merely reading books, and dosha cannot be analyzed reliably with an online quiz or self-test from a book. I was moved to write this post today because I feel genuinely concerned for people who are being misguided by those using the word "Ayurveda" to make more money for themselves, rather than to facilitate true healing for their clients.
Most people who come to see me have somehow gotten the idea that the standard for analyzing dosha is some kind of form or quiz. The truth is, a good Ayurvedic practitioner can analyze your dosha in a five-minute phone conversation. Of course, to discern pathology takes longer. Each practitioner has their own preferred techniques for analysis, developed over years of professional practice. Some practitioners analyze dosha quickly using face reading, some use the pulse, and others ask questions. Over the phone, speech patterns, tone of voice, and topics of focus show very quickly what a person's dosha is (as well as what imbalances are present). Although each practitioner has a unique set of skills, we are all looking for the same indicators. Ayurveda is a science, after all. What amazes me is when I tell someone their dosha and they argue with me based on the results of an online quiz they took. Online quizzes are not the standard for dosha analysis, so don't be surprised if your practitioner tells you your dosha and it's different from the results of your self-test.
What many people don't realize is that your dosha determines literally everything about you, so literally everything about you provides evidence about your dosha to an Ayurvedic practitioner. When I see someone in my office, I usually know their dosha by the time they sit down. What gives me this information? It's the way they choose to present themselves visually, the confidence with which they enter the room, their physical build, their face, how talkative they are, and what they begin talking about. Some people bring so much heat into the room with them that there is no doubt they are a Pitta type. When they walk in, it feels like a heat wave!
I do use "dosha analysis" forms for each new person when they come to see me. The purpose of these forms is not to tell me the person's dosha, but to provide information about the distribution of elements in the body. I use this information to guide my questions during a consultation. For example, if I notice that someone has a lot of Vata-type answers for psychological questions, I will ask targeted questions about stress, anxiety, and insomnia that will allow me to determine if the nervous system is stressed due to internal imbalance, external conditions, or both. These questions will allow me to discover whether anxiety is caused by out-of-balance Pitta, out-of-balance Vata, or both.
If someone who is not an Ayurvedic practitioner is giving you "Ayurvedic" advice and they refer you to an online or print version of a dosha quiz they did not create, I would advise you to just take the quiz for fun. You might learn something about yourself. However, before making any decisions to take herbal supplements or engage in a therapeutic regimen, I would strongly advise consulting with a qualified health professional.
If, at this point in time, this hypothetical individual goes online to take a dosha quiz, and if they answer the questions thinking about how they currently feel, the quiz result will likely be that their dosha is Pitta. If they take this result and begin to make dietary adjustments and purchase herbal remedies to balance their Pitta, that may work for awhile. There is also the possibility that the changes they make will balance Pitta but increase Vata, worsening their condition. That person may then decide to consult an Ayurvedic practitioner, or they may decide that Ayurveda is ineffective and move on.
If you're feeling confused at this point, then you are beginning to understand where the role of the Ayurvedic practitioner comes in. The job of the Ayurvedic practitioner is to determine pathology, which is the process of how disease occurs. Pathology in Ayurveda is tracing imbalance back to its cause. The Ayurvedic practitioner has to discern the dosha or doshas that are causing symptom manifestation, and what the healthy balance of elements for that individual would be. The practitioner must be able to create an effective treatment plan that addresses both the symptoms of illness and the underlying causes.
Most of the people who come to my office have already been online taking dosha quizzes, which are a bit like the personality quizzes found in many magazines, except that the questions are written from an Ayurvedic perspective. The dosha quizzes are, in many cases, marketing tools found on websites that sell Ayurvedic products. The idea behind putting the quiz on the website in such cases is that once someone gets a result from the quiz, they will likely buy products marketed for their dosha.
In my experience, it is extremely rare for a person who is not already trained in Ayurveda to get an accurate result from a dosha quiz. The main reason for inaccuracy is that the questions in dosha quizzes are written by an Ayurvedic practitioner who has a different mindset than the average person taking the quiz. The perspective of the person creating the questions differs from that of the person reading them, and therefore the questions being asked are not usually the ones that are being answered. For example, practitioners distinguish between "bloating" and "edema". To us, bloating happens when the abdomen fills up with air and becomes distended, whereas edema is a swollen area that is filled with fluid. Most dosha quizzes will ask if there are digestive problems with gas and bloating. Almost every woman who has answered "yes" to this question in my office continues on to explain that she gets "bloated", meaning that she commonly retains water during her premenstrual period every month. However, what I am asking is if she has indigestion that manifests as the abdomen filling with air. In my office, I can ask for clarification that allows me to accurately discern what is happening. That opportunity is not there with an online dosha quiz or self-test from a book.
Another problem with taking online or book quizzes to determine dosha is that most of us don't see ourselves clearly. When we are answering questions, we are likely to answer some questions according to how we want to be rather than how we are. For example, during one session last summer, I asked a woman if she was frequently experiencing feelings of anger and frustration. She answered in the negative, but immediately launched into a story about the incompetence of the workers at her local pharmacy. As she told the story, her face became red and her voice grew louder until she was yelling and cursing about the pharmacy employees. Clearly, she was holding a lot of anger in her body, but she was either not conscious of it or did not want to be perceived as an angry person. When practitioners ask questions, we can hear the answer not just in the words spoken, but also in the tone of the speaker, body language, and speech patterns.
Those of you who have not met me in person may suspect that I am writing this to increase my own business by making people feel that they must depend on a practitioner. Those of you who have met me probably know that is not my nature. What I believe is that individuals become empowered by working one-on-one with a practitioner to learn about their dosha and how to use that knowledge for healing and health maintenance. What concerns me is that I have observed an increase in the use of online dosha quizzes as a proxy for treatment by a qualified Ayurvedic professional. There are people out there from a variety of professional backgrounds who are deciding that adding "Ayurveda" to their business could bring them more income. Without any training, these people are telling their clients to go online to take a dosha quiz, discover their dosha, and then make dietary changes and begin taking herbal supplements... all based on the results of an online quiz.
Ayurveda cannot be learned by merely reading books, and dosha cannot be analyzed reliably with an online quiz or self-test from a book. I was moved to write this post today because I feel genuinely concerned for people who are being misguided by those using the word "Ayurveda" to make more money for themselves, rather than to facilitate true healing for their clients.
Most people who come to see me have somehow gotten the idea that the standard for analyzing dosha is some kind of form or quiz. The truth is, a good Ayurvedic practitioner can analyze your dosha in a five-minute phone conversation. Of course, to discern pathology takes longer. Each practitioner has their own preferred techniques for analysis, developed over years of professional practice. Some practitioners analyze dosha quickly using face reading, some use the pulse, and others ask questions. Over the phone, speech patterns, tone of voice, and topics of focus show very quickly what a person's dosha is (as well as what imbalances are present). Although each practitioner has a unique set of skills, we are all looking for the same indicators. Ayurveda is a science, after all. What amazes me is when I tell someone their dosha and they argue with me based on the results of an online quiz they took. Online quizzes are not the standard for dosha analysis, so don't be surprised if your practitioner tells you your dosha and it's different from the results of your self-test.
What many people don't realize is that your dosha determines literally everything about you, so literally everything about you provides evidence about your dosha to an Ayurvedic practitioner. When I see someone in my office, I usually know their dosha by the time they sit down. What gives me this information? It's the way they choose to present themselves visually, the confidence with which they enter the room, their physical build, their face, how talkative they are, and what they begin talking about. Some people bring so much heat into the room with them that there is no doubt they are a Pitta type. When they walk in, it feels like a heat wave!
I do use "dosha analysis" forms for each new person when they come to see me. The purpose of these forms is not to tell me the person's dosha, but to provide information about the distribution of elements in the body. I use this information to guide my questions during a consultation. For example, if I notice that someone has a lot of Vata-type answers for psychological questions, I will ask targeted questions about stress, anxiety, and insomnia that will allow me to determine if the nervous system is stressed due to internal imbalance, external conditions, or both. These questions will allow me to discover whether anxiety is caused by out-of-balance Pitta, out-of-balance Vata, or both.
If someone who is not an Ayurvedic practitioner is giving you "Ayurvedic" advice and they refer you to an online or print version of a dosha quiz they did not create, I would advise you to just take the quiz for fun. You might learn something about yourself. However, before making any decisions to take herbal supplements or engage in a therapeutic regimen, I would strongly advise consulting with a qualified health professional.