Yoga for Your Dosha

Does your yoga class not feel quite right? It could be because it's not a good match with your Ayurvedic dosha.

By Stacie Stukin

The Yoga-Ayurveda Connection
Across the states in New York, Sarah Tomlinson and Gandharva Sauls are also exploring the link between Ayurveda and yoga. They founded the Ayurveda-Yoga Institute (www.ayurvedayogainstitute.com), and they base their teaching on the work of Sauls's mentor, Edward Tarabilda, who wrote the book Ayurveda Revolutionized: Integrating Ancient and Modern Ayurveda (Lotus Press, 1997).

Tarabilda, who passed away in 1999, developed an Ayurvedic system called the Astrology of the Eight Fields of Living, which classifies doshas and determines the planets that rule different areas in your life, such as career, health, spiritual path, creativity, and relationships, and discovers how a body type is out of balance. As in traditional astrology, Sauls creates a life blueprint using a person's date, time, and place of birth and presents his findings during a private consultation.

Then the yogic counseling begins with Tomlinson. A member of the first group of Jivamukti-trained teachers, Tomlinson slowly phased out her Ashtanga practice after a consultation with Sauls. She was 20 pounds heavier, and even in spite of her aggressive practice, she could not shed the extra weight. When Sauls told her that she had a tendency for vata imbalances, she cut back on the vigorous, athletic style yoga, began adhering to some of the dietary tenets of Ayurveda, and incorporated more forward bends and relaxing postures into her yoga practice. The pounds then came off without much effort.

Tomlinson applies what she has learned from her own personal experience to both her private and her public teaching. After looking through the papers and manuscripts that Tarabilda left behind, she found a series of 21 poses he recommended that are not only linked to the doshas but also linked to the planets and the gunas. The three gunas in Ayurveda are the same as the gunas of yoga. They are another level of archetypes that define basic human psychological states: sattva (balance), rajas (aggression), and also tamas (inertia). Of course, everyone strives for sattva, but in life, as in yoga practice, we need to incorporate the other two to be whole. So from here she creates a yogic prescription that incorporates pranayama, asana, and the occasional chanting. Ultimately, for Tomlinson, the key to achieving doshic balance is the approach you take to your practice.

Adapting the Poses
When Tomlinson and I begin discussing the way that I should be incorporating Urdhva Dhanurasana (Upward-Facing Bow Pose) into my practice, she advises that I should do it several times but only hold it for a few breaths. "Keeping the movement compact and doing it in fluid repetition is relaxing for vata," she advises. "For the kapha person I recommend holding the pose for up to 20 breaths, then it becomes much more energizing. If someone with more vata imbalance did that, he or she would become dizzy and disoriented."

I then reveal to her how much I happen to enjoy doing balancing poses. "That makes perfect sense," she says. "Balancing is very integrating, and this is especially true for vatas. These particular poses make them become aware of the top of their head all the way down to the bottom of their feet. It helps them become more grounded."

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