Who hasn’t felt the effects of stress on their body or mind. The signs and symptoms are endless, kind of like the feeling of anxiety when you are stressed out about a deadline. Symptoms ranging from digestive issues, headaches, irregular heartbeat, jaw clenching, complete exhaustion and chest pain to name a few. Stress in turn can trigger bigger issues within the body such as allergies, asthma, herpes, high cholesterol and hypertension. ₁ It may even lead to heart conditions. ₂

How does Ayurveda deal with stress? To put it simply, Ayurveda looks to the doshas and anything that imbalances them causes stress on the body. Dosha, meaning energy, manifests physiologically and psychologically as Vata, Pitta, and Kapha. These three doshas define a person’s makeup and can handle stress differently from one another. There could be emotional stress like an argument with a loved one that may get a Pitta all “fired up”, however make a Vata type person get anxiety that they won’t speak to them anymore or make a Kapha type sad and in turn they cry. One can also have environmental stresses as well, like running outside on a chilly day forgetting to grab a jacket, a physical stress like stubbing your toe on a desk leg, a behavioral stress like taking a daily nap everyday after a heavy lunch.