Understanding Pitta Dosha

Let's join the realm of pitta  dosha. Most adults, despite their dominant constitution are in the pitta phase of their life. This phase is the active phase of our life, we need pitta's passion, courage, intellect, clarity, and bravery to get the job done and fulfill our dharma -our duties assigned to us by society (job, career). People with a pitta constitution are always alert and active. They have a well-functioning metabolism and tend to eliminate with ease multiple times in a day. People with pitta dosha have a well developed muscular body with flexible limbs. They transform their energy into sustenance. They seek intellectual growth and are always looking for a challenge. People of the pitta type are planners, schedulers, and organizational maniacs. Because they are stern believers of logic and schedules they tend to become stressed easily. This stress and constant excitement for work and projects makes the pitta type susceptible to imbalances such as: high blood pressure, coronary disease, stomach ulcers, psoriasis, heartburn, among others. 

Pitta is the fire that governs the digestion of food and of tissues. Agni is our biological fire and it is directly encouraged by pitta. Pitta is transformation; it  promotes digestion and metabolism, forms tejas (the subtle energy of pitta, which expresses solar energy in the body), contributes to the intellect  and discernment, and is responsible for the generation of body heat. As prana (our life force) is related to vata, tejas is related to pitta and agni (our biological fire).  

The doshas do not make up these qualities, they are, however, the essence that encourage and stabilize the energies that govern the functions of the body.

The Elements of Pitta Dosha

All three doshas, as well as all living beings in the universe, have the five elements within them. These elements work in unison to provide the human (or living being) with the experience of life. Pitta dosha is composed of the fire and water elements. Antagonistic in nature, pitta regulates the fire and the water elements in the body to produces its vital functions and contribute to the overall well-being of the body.

Pitta’s main qualities, as expressed through the elements, are warm, light, moist, sharp, hard, subtle, flowing, rough clear. When fire is stronger, it will cause the water to boil off or evaporate. Just as boiling water will be reduced the longer it sits over the fire.  Just as a bucket of water can put out a fire, excessive amount of water, especially ice cold drinks, will put out the digestive fire and weaken the secretions. This instability will lead to imbalance and push one or more of the qualities to sound the alarm of disturbance. It is up to us to recognize it within our body and do the opposite to combat the imbalance.

One element will always be dominant, but it is up to pitta to regulate, control, and make the enemies work together. As explained by  Dr. Robert Svoboda in his book Prakriti,

Stomach acid has the ability to break down food and convert it into liquid. If the fire predominates, then we find ourselves in the cusp of a gastric ulcer, acid reflux, and/or diarrhea. If the water is in charge, then the fire is quenched, indigestion takes place, and a variety of other disturbances take over. Balance looks like the water and fire working in harmony to transform food, emotions, and physical stimuli into tissue and assimilate it into our body and life.