By: Sahara Rose
Expert review by: Megan Fahey, M.S., R.D., C.D.N.
Last updated on March 20, 2020
In Ayurveda, the 5,000-year-old medical system from India, anxiety is a symptom of a dosha imbalance in the mind. The vata dosha is fixed on the future while the pitta dosha is acutely present, and the kapha dosha lies in the past. Since anxiety happens when we are disconnected from the present moment and instead engaged in thought loops focusing on the future, it's often the result of too much vata. Here's how to get your vata back in balance in order to feel less stressed and more creative, imaginative, intuitive, and free-flowing.
How to manage your anxiety by balancing vata.
Counterbalancing excess vata in the body is all about grounding your energy. If you're familiar with the chakra system, think about connecting to your lower chakras: the root and sacral. We need to root our physical body into the earth and reconnect to what is happening around us rather than what is happening in the mind. This three-step process can help:
Step 1: Increase pitta.
To increase pitta (fire), rev up agni, the Sanskrit term for your digestive fire. Ayurveda teaches that the body not only digests food but also digests thoughts, emotions, and experiences. When our digestion is weak, we have a more difficult time processing all that life throws at us.
To help manage the physical, mental, and emotional symptoms of anxiety, heat up that fire in your belly. This can be accomplished through the diet by eating warm, easily digested food prepared with stimulating spices such as ginger, cumin, fennel, and coriander. Avoid raw, cold foods, which actually increase that light, airy vata energy. Instead of your usual smoothie and salad routine, opt for a warming breakfast and cooked lunch inclusive of the six tastes (sweet, sour, salty, bitter, pungent, and astringent).
Step 2: Increase kapha.
To increase kapha (earth), establish a set routine. It is taxing for your nervous system to manage the stress of a chaotic routine (e.g., eating, sleeping, and exercising at different times each day). Adapting a routine acts to ground and stabilize the body, which will counterbalance anxiety-inducing vata.
When creating a routine, focus on the importance of doing one task at a time. Relax the nervous system by clearing out your busy schedule and prioritizing sleep, which is a time when the mind can detoxify from negative emotion. To really enhance kapha, try walking barefoot in nature.
