Yoga for Kapha Dosha helps you remove excess Kaph in your body. Kapha Dosha is one of the main doshas in Ayurveda. The meaning of ‘Dosha’ is a problem or a cause affecting the living body. This means if you have a wrong diet, you are stressed, or have some bad habit it may cause either some deficiency or excesses of something in your body that may create imbalance in relation to the natural constitution of your body leading to a disease.

As an example excess of kapha is blamed for increase in mucus, weight, edema, bronchitis, asthma, lung disease and others. Kapha is based in the chest area mainly.

By evaluating individual habits, emotional responses, pulse, and body type, practitioners of Ayurveda determine patient’s current condition and adapt their practices accordingly, prescribing Ayurvedic treatments focused on alleviating any doshic imbalance using herbs, lifestyle changes, and Yoga practices such as pranayama, meditation, and yoga postures.

What is Kapha Dosha?

Kapha is essentially composed out of earth and water components. It is heavy, slow, cool, sleek, smooth, delicate, thick, stable, gross, and cloudy. In medical terminology we can call this as congestion or mucus in lungs, throat or anywhere in the body.  Kapha is often associated with water energy, and with love and compassion.

Kapha provides structure and robustness to all things; it gives the cohesiveness needed to maintain a particular form. Kapha additionally hydrates all cells and frameworks, lubricates the joints, saturates the skin, maintains immunity and safeguards the tissues.

Generally a kapha body is physically solid, compact and wide with extensive thighs, hips, bums, and chest and has a tendency to be obese. 

Kapha individuals love heat and they suffer in cold, damp climates. Kapha types emanate strength and balance, to such an extent that other doshas like vata and pitta types are frequently replenished by simply being in their essence. Kapha types are dedicated however they generally prefer to lay low, even to the point of lethargy. Due to their inclination towards laziness, kapha types do best to focus on a non-sedentary life, following a strict schedule that keeps them moving. Among all the doshas kapha types can persist and advantage from the most intense forms of exercise. Ideally, a kapha type would rise before 6 a.m., take a bath and perform a solid workout before breakfast.

How to know if you have Kapha Dosha?

One who knows the science of Ayurveda or is an Ayurvedic doctors have various tools available to assist with diagnosing the Kapha Dosha. The Ayurvedic practitioner will see your Nadi or will do pulse diagnosis.  Generally the pulse is seen early morning on an empty stomach. The condition of the patient’s organs and any potential disorders can also aid diagnosis. Ayurvedic tongue diagnosis helps the doctor diagnose any dosha imbalance and digestive complaints. Only an in-depth diagnosis from an experienced Ayurvedic doctor can identify the dosha constitution and enable the correct course of treatment.

There are many Ayurvedic centres in Australia where you can visit and learn dosha yoga.

What is best yoga for Kapha Dosha?

If you have kapha dosha you will have congestion, obesity, depression and suffer from lethargy.

For Kapha dosha the following yoga is considered to be the best:

1. Twisting Yoga Postures

Click here to find the various Twisting Yoga Postures and how they can be done.

There are number of Twisting Yoga Postures that you can do staring from beginners to the most advanced ones.

2. Surya Namaskara

Here is how to do Surya Namaskara.

Surya Namaskar also known as Sun Salute or Salute to the Sun, is an all-time favorite of many yogis. It is a very systematic technique which combines the twelve asanas in a yoga sequence. This yoga is done early in the morning when the sun rises.

Be it know that there are 12 types of Surya Namaskara poses in yoga. Besides being a great cardiovascular workout, Surya Namaskar is also known to have an immensely positive impact on the body and mind.

3. Virbhadrasana

Find here how to perform Virbhadrasana or warrior pose.

Warrior yoga pose strengthens the arms, shoulders, thighs and back muscles, all in one go. The story of the warrior Veerabhadra, as all stories from Upanishads, has a moral that adds value to your life.

This pose is named after Veerabhadra, a fierce warrior, an incarnation of Lord Shiva an Indian Diety.

4. Utkartasana

Utkartasana also know as Chair Pose in Yoga is very powereful yoga asana that strengthens your thighs and spine.

Find here how to do the chair pose yoga.

In this yoga you need to practice to sit in an imaginary chair. The literal meaning of Utkatasana is intense posture or powerful posture. You need just a little bit of determination to stay longer in the Chair Posture.

5. Uttitha Parsvakonasana

Uttitha Parsvakonasana or known as extended single angle pose is another good yoga to relieve Kapha Dosha.

Find here how to do this yoga pose.

This pose is not mentioned in medieval hatha yoga texts. It appears in the 20th century in Krishnamacharya’s school of yoga in Mysore, and in the teaching of his pupils Pattabhi Jois and B. K. S. Iyengar, along with other asanas with names that describe the position of the body and its limbs.

Do you know which Pranayama is best for you?

Points to remember

Besides the above best yoga for Kapha dosha, one needs to have a balanced and right diet to eliminate this dosha.

• One should not have full fat or cream milk but consume low fat milk. Always boil milk before drinking it which makes it easy to digest, try adding turmeric or ginger to the milk before boiling it in order to diminish any Kapha in the milk.
• Have fruits like Apples and Pears and avoid heavy and sour fruits like lemons, oranges, banana, dates, figs, pineapples, coconuts, melons and avocados as these fruits can increase Kapha in the body.
• Have limited quantity of bakery and sweet products as consuming sugar products will aggravate kapha in the body. However, honey can be consumed, as it is excellent in balancing kapha. Honey should be taken in a solution form meaning it should be diluted in lukewarm water before taking it.
• Avoid eating cheese and nuts. Cheese and many types of nuts also increase your cholesterol level and are full of fat. Instead take seeds of sunflower, chia seeds, pumpkin seeds etc. Cheese made out of chick pea and soya beans is best to take.
• Reduce intake of salt and salty snacks. Salt is one of the major cause of water retention in body and this increasing the Kapha dosha. Never sprinkle salt from above in salads and fruits.
• Kapha types do not need to drink too much water. However, drinks should be warm and can be sweetened with honey if desired.
• Avoid consuming too much wheat and rice because it increases kapha instead you can take the grains like barley and millet.
• Among vegetables one should avoid tomatoes, zucchini, cucumbers, sweet potatoes as they increase kapha also in body. Eat green leafy vegetables instead.
• Don’t sleep for too long, especially during the day.

Finally to restore Kapha to its healthy form, you need to organize and make a plan. This then needs to be put in place to encourage regular yoga sequence and exercise both in the physical and spiritual sense. A consciously active lifestyle with good social contacts will be helpful too keep your mind in balance.

There are two other doshas that create imbalance in your body that leads to many kinds of problems and these doshas can also be treated with particular type of yoga. Will cover this in our next blog! Good luck and healthy life!