Vata Sub-Doshas

Posted by Magali Lomeli on October 24, 2021

The sub doshas of vata are energies that move and interact in specific ways, they help the body maintain balance and function properly. There are five main directions that vata is moving:

Pranavayu- "life's air" coming from the outside to the inside
Udanavayu- process of air moving from inside to outside; verbal expression
Vyanavayu- Circulation, moving from the center to the periphery
Samanavayu- Digestive energy and movement
Apanavayu- Downward flow of energy and fluids

These five energies are responsible for a certain sector of the body and for the flow of energy from that sector to the rest of the body. Health begins with the input of energy. The substances, thoughts and food we consume, are the inputs that motivate the sub-doshas. Without proper input, the sub-doshas will not function properly. Let's go into the region of the body where the vata sub-doshas reside and how they function in relation to the rest of the body.

Pranavayu

Pranavayu supports the vital functions of respiration, heart rate, and other vegetative functions, such as swallowing, spitting, sneezing, and burping...When out of balance, it is possible for a person to experience,sensory disturbances in specific parts of the body as hypersensitivity, or even mental confusion.

Hans H. Rhyner, Llewellyn's Complete Book of Ayurveda

Prana means "life force", or energy, and vayu means "air". Quite literally, pranavayu is the air that moves our life force within our body. It resides in the heat and the brain. It governs all of the involuntary functions of the body and is also responsible for "our ability to experience the presence of air, water, food, and sensory stimuli."

When pranavayu is not moving freely, anxiety, depression, mental fogginess, is invited to come in. This is where the emptiness of the brain, shortness of breath, and heart beating fast comes forth when under anxiety, or panic attack.

Since the energy of pranavayu moves from the outside to the inside, we must change the physical sensory input to that of a joyous, happiness, stability, and grounding nature. Grounding food for vata dosha is also a must since food is the ultimate source of life-force energy that governs how our body functions.

Udanavayu

Udanavayu is the opposite function; the energy flows from deep inside of us to the external world. It resides in the throat and upper chest- directly related to the throat chakra, vishuddha. It is our verbal expression, our enthusiasm and vitality, strength, physical and mental.

As with anything that needs to produce an outcome, the input needs to be strong and steady for udanavayu to be balanced. If nothing of good quality is coming into the body, then we cannot exert the energy to properly manifest the function of udanavayu.

"To remember" means to recall facts, bringing the internal ‍to the "outside." This knowledge was originally stored through the power of pranavayu. Thus, remembering (knowing) also belong to udanavayu.

Hans H. Rhyner, Llewellyn's Complete Book of Ayurveda

Imbalance looks like the inability to speak clearly, stuttering and rambling. Not making any sense to the words said. The inability to access the arsenal of our memories, intelligence (what we have learned), and our excitement for life. Changing the input of pranavayu will directly influence udanavayu; for the better or worse, depending on the input.

Vyanavayu

Vyanavayu "is the driving force that moves from the center to the periphery. It guides automatic movements, transports nutrients via the heart and circulatory system." Vyanavayu is the wind that carries nutrients to all corners of the body. Cold hands and feet are a tell-tell sign that this energy is out of balance. Biologically speaking, when exposed to cold temperature, blood stays in the center of the body to maintain our vital organs warm, thus reducing the blood from the extremities; which may result in frost bite.

Despite the temperature outside, if the hands and feet are usually cold, then there is an imbalance with vyanavayu energy. A massage with warm sesame oil will stimulate blood flow and bring the imbalance back to normal.

Samanavayu

Samanavayu is responsible for the secretion of digestive juices and the movement and separation of nutrients and waste products. Samanavayu imbalance may be mistaken for a pitta dosha imbalance due to the extreme acidity of the gastrict juices. Producing insufficient or excess amount of juices leads to indigestion and acidity -a pitta imbalance. Hence, taking the necessary steps to pacify pitta will only derange vata more.

It is important to become aware of the root cause of imbalance to adjust accordingly. Good digestion also involves calming vata; whose wind can burn out agni. Just as we cannot light a fire if there is too much wind, we cannot strengthen agni if samanavayu is out of balance.

Apanavayu

Apanavayu the 'lower end,' refers to the downward flow of energy and fluids. This energy is responsible for the separation of fluids from solid materials in the colon and the elimination of fluids, such as: urine, semen, mensuration, and uterine contractions during labor. It is also present in the erection of the penis during arousal.

These are the signals our body sends, telling us that we need to eliminate. Withholding these urges, such as urination (which we all do at some point), will cause our body to turn off the signals and revert the energy of elimination. This leads to loss of period; which ultimately leads to infertility, impotency, miscarriage, constipation, UTI's, and so on.

The sub-doshas help vata govern the wind of the body to produce the gentle breeze that the body needs in order to remain harmonious and stable.

Balanced Vata

Love esoteric material, music, humor, and games, and they are able to develop clairvoyant healing powers. They love to live, at times, a rather ascetic lifestyle; at other times they indulge in worldly pleasures. By nature, they are shy and sensitive. They may quit school early and change jobs often.