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According to Ayurveda, the ancient Indian natural medicine system believed to be approximately 5000 years old, every individual is a unique blend of three doshas, or body types. In Ayurveda, there is no one diet or lifestyle routine that works for everyone, but recognising our predominant dosha type, or our dual dosha combination, and learning how to read whether they are in balance or out of balance helps us maintain our personal, optimum health.
The doshas are not limited to diet and body type, they also incorporate habitual tendencies and personality traits. Knowing how to work with one’s doshas in business may help you work to your strengths, compensate for your weaknesses and keep your business, as well as yourself, in optimum health.
Vata dosha in business
Vata appears to predominant within yoga teachers and wellbeing professionals. Vata people tend to be creative, spontaneous and joyful when in balance. They have a natural talent for learning and can quickly incorporate new things into their business.
Their lively, enthusiastic and fun personality makes them popular and they can keep up with a large number of clients and make them feel special. As they are natural communicators and sharers, so they ‘get’ online marketing and are naturally good at blogging and social media.
Vata business owners need to be extra careful to get enough regular sleep and proper, balanced meals with enough heavy carbohydrates, as they become quickly imbalanced with irregular routines. When out of balance, they tend towards anxiety, worry and moodiness. They can also be impulsive, which tends to result in inconsistency, and can appear flaky, unreliable and unprofessional. Because of this, they can often burn through staff quickly.
They need to commit to regular business tasks such as daily social media updates, monthly email newsletters, networking events and regular business phone calls to ground themselves in the daily routine of business. When they combine their creativity, sense of fun and social nature with consistency and follow-through, they are unstoppable in business.
Pitta dosha in business
Pitta dosha types tend to own the biggest and most successful businesses. When in balance, they are sharp, orderly and focused as well as ambitious and confident, making them born entrepreneurs. Their natural competitiveness motivates them to always try harder and they tend to be skilled public speakers.
Pitta people tend to be naturally skilled at sales, joint ventures and collaborations.
Pitta types need to keep their competitive nature in perspective and recognise when ambition is counterproductive. While fantastic at managing staff and keeping all the different parts of their business humming along, they can be pushy, demanding and hot-tempered when out of balance.
To keep their anger and impatience in check, they should be wary of too-hot environments and food, and prolonged stress without sufficient down time and holidays. They do well when they recognise and take pride in their progress, and give themselves a break.
Kapha dosha in business
Kapha types are innately stable, loyal and compassionate. Their methodical nature makes them perfect for large, long-term projects where they will break down each task in a step-by-step manner and be relied upon to complete each piece of the puzzle. Their natural tendency towards routine makes them great team players.
While Kapha types will stay up all night when they are enthralled in something, they become lazy, stubborn and complacent when out of balance. Kapha types tend to need more Vata and Pitta in their doshas or work with Vata and Pitta people in their business if they are to thrive. When out of balance, Kaphas need the drive and ambition of Pitta people to shake them out of their laziness and stubborn-headedness, as well as the brilliant creativity of Vata people to pull them out of routine complacency and ensure that their marketing sparkles.
Kapha people can also be insecure and envious when out of balance, so they need to get out of their comfort zone, try new things and mix things up to keep their business fresh and thriving.
{Post script: I owe much gratitude to Jacinta McEwen of Mullum Herbals, of whom I had the privilege of interviewing several times on all things Ayurveda when I wrote on behalf of Byron Yoga, so to Byron Yoga I’m also grateful for this pleasure. A big virtual hug to Amy Landry for reviewing this article before it went live.}
