Spotting your child dosha

Who are your children?

Have you ever wondered about the difference in children from their interest in sports to their hair color or that some are thinner or put on weight easily? No two children are the same.

In Ayurveda there are three basic body types (doshas), and for children, each kid-type will be more susceptible to certain conditions and behavior traits if there is an imbalance.   

The three basic kid-types (doshas) are:

Vata – the magic elf

Pitta – the invincible warrior

Kapha – adorable teddy bear

They are made of the basic elements of nature: earth, water, fire, air and ether.

Ayurveda stresses that we are all born with an individual constitution that is unique; a fixed point which is your personal baseline for health. This is your fundamental nature, or prakruti. The state of your parents' doshas at the time you were conceived is primarily responsible for your constitution or your prakruti. The prakruti is a blueprint of our physical, emotional and mental tendencies.

Let's look, in sequence, at each dosha at work in the body. Air and ether combine to create Vata; Pitta is derived from fire and water; and water and earth constitute Kapha. When the soul enters the baby's body in the womb, the five elements acquire the form of the three vital forces in the body to perform all the body's physical and mental functions.

All physical functions of the body are governed by the three characteristics: vata, pitta and kapha. Every human body is governed by these three biological forces, but in unique proportions. Like the finger prints, no two are alike. In most cases, human beings are born with a constitution in which one (or two) of the doshas predominates.

The characteristics of these doshas are similar to the elements from which they are derived. There really is no difference between the elements in nature and the elements in our body