What is Prakriti? How is it assessed? What are the uses of knowing one's Prakriti?

1. Prakriti
(Ayurveda Constitution)

2. • No two individuals are exactly similar, not even twins
• We often classify people based on some common attributes such as
Sun Signs / Race / Caste / Gender/ Religion/ Economic class/ Region
• Ayurveda does it based on the following:
– Physical features (shade of skin, hair, muscularity, body frame etc)
– Psychological features (preferences / choices /mental abilities/ memory/
behavioural patterns)
– Physiological (eating frequency/ bowel movements/ intensity of hunger/
depth and quality of sleep/ Heat-Cold intolerance)

3. Prakriti (Constitution)
• The sum total of physical, physiological and psychological
(behavioural) traits expressed in an individual.
• According to the principles of Ayurveda, Doshas determine
one’s Prakriti.
• There are three Doshas: Vata, Pitta and Kapha.

4. • The fundamental, mutually reciprocal mechanisms
• Responsible for maintaining the homeostasis, and thus,
health
• When the state of equilibrium is disturbed, the result is
often ill-health and disease
Dosha

5. Vata
• Initiator
• Motive force
• Controller
• Divider
• Sensor
• Movements

6. Pitta
• Production of heat
• Energy
• Digestion
• Metabolism

7. Kapha
• Strength
• Resistance
• Protection
• Immunity
• Growth

8. • Ayurveda proposes that a specific ‘attribute’ of a ‘Dosha’ has a
causal relationship with the specific trait expressed in an
individual.
– Pitta is ‘Ushna’ (heat) (leads to enhanced digestive and metabolic
abilities)
– Kapha is ‘Shita’ (cold) (leads to sluggishness in digestive and metabolic
abilities)
– Vata is ‘Cala’ (mobility) -makes the individual more active
– Kapha is ‘Stimita’ (rigid) -makes the individual less active

10. Vata
• Lean and thin body frame
• Unstable with respect to
– Hunger
– Bowel movements
– Sleep
– Determination (timid)
• Quick to
– Get started
– Grasp
– Forget
– Catch diseases
• Cold intolerance
• Rough/Dry
– Skin/hair
• Unstable bonding with
people

11. Pitta
• Strong hunger / Good
digestion
• Good analytical skills
• Leadership qualities
• Early baldness/greying
• Easy irritability/Short
tempered
• Numerous moles/
freckles/ pigmentated
patches on the body
• Intense body odor
• Heat intolerance

12. Kapha
• Strong muscular body
• Attractive physique/ voice
• Thick shiny hair / Oily skin
• Slow / Stable
– to start
– to eat
– to work out
– to catch diseases
– to grasp
– to forget
– to maintain the body postures
• Cold intolerance
• No irritability (Calm/composed)
• Strong bonding/relationships

13. • The Prakriti of an individual is determined by the dominance of
one, two or three Doshas expressed in that individual.
• Though it is determined genetically, several environmental factors
too contribute in its manifestation.
– Sushruta: Shukra-Shonita (Genetic Basis- inherited)
– Charaka: Role of environmental factors along with the role of inheritance
• Therefore, on the basis of one, two or three dominant Doshas
expressed in an individual, one can have any one of the seven
possible types of Prakriti: Vata, Pitta, Kapha, Vata-Pitta, Pitta-
Kapha, Vata-Kapha, and Sama Doshaja.

14. • In the recent years, the individualized approach to therapeutics
has received impetus with the growing understandings in the
field of genetics.
• Many workers have investigated the possible association of
constitutional types with the genetic make-up, metabolic
abilities and chronic diseases.
• There have been several efforts to see whether certain
physiological or biochemical tools can be used to establish a
link between constitution types and other health-related
parameters.

15. Assessment of the Prakriti
• Prakriti: State of normalcy
• There are quite a few difficulties that are encountered in
determining one’s Prakriti.
• The age, physical and psychological status of the individual,
presence and absence of any illness, and the seasonal
influence - are the major factors that tend to distort the
outcome of this exercise.

16. • Elderly people are likely to exhibit dominant features of Vata
such as dry and wrinkled skin.
• These features of Vata are likely to be exhibited dominantly in
extreme winter as well.
• A depressed over-eating individual is likely to present with
dominant features of Kapha.
• Differences in the subjective perceptions of the physicians also
can make the assessment ambiguous resulting in high inter-
rater variability.

17. • The absence of definite recommendation for identifying
one’s constitution to be either due to a single Dosha (Eka-
doshaja) or due to two Doshas (Dvandvaja) is another
problem.
• Also, there is no data available to show the predominance
of a particular type of Prakriti in a particular population.
• Non-availability of the standardised, validated and
universally acceptable tools to assess Prakriti makes the
situation even more difficult.

18. https://www.hindawi.com/journals/ecam/2011/251850/#supplementary-materials

22. Recent Research

25. 37

28. Prakriti-based Research
Good Reporting Practices

31. Thanks!