10 Minute Pitta Yoga Practice

Below is a little more information about the Pitta dosha as well as a 10 minute yoga practice to keep pitta in balance.

Need to knows

• Energy of transformation  
• Fire Element associated with pitta 
• Focus, Leadership & Intellect
• Late spring thru summer season

Guna Qualities 

Sharp, hot, oily, smooth, mobile

Locations

Small Intestines, Skin, Liver, Eyes

Positive Qualities                                                  

• Put their mind to something they will do it                        
• Strong appetite & digestion                                                  
• Puts on muscle easily                                                           
• Crave transformation                                               

   Downside qualities 

•  Quick to anger           
• Quick to criticize      
• Can get hangry        
• Sometimes overly competitive    

 

Digestion

• Pittas have strong digestion that leans towards sharpness & acidity
• The sharpness happens when they skip meals- hangry
• Pittas don’t skip lunch or you will burn out later that day
• Foods to be careful around- hot spices, meat, alcohol, caffeine, chocolate & processed foods easily aggravates fire types.
• Spices- Cilantro, basil, mint, lemon balm, rose, lemongrass, coconut, dill, fennel, cardamom, coriander instead of pepper
• Favor- Diet freshly prepared foods & cooling foods
• Sweet tastes to chill out your edge- Honey is too hot. Use maple syrup or dates for sweet taste

 

Tendencies

• Burnout
• Sharpness in tongue
• Need to make time to relax & reflect

 

Remedies 

• Daily nature walks to give you space & perspective
• Lunch should be the new dinner
• Beans are cooling and good for pittas digestion
• In general spicy foods will aggravate pittas
• Reflection & gratitude practice at the end of the day to keep your pitta calm
• Plants & greens in particular are go to meal options

 

 

How to find if pitta is off?

What are you overly focused on in your life? Typically pitta goes into overdrive when you work to hard on a goal, job, kids, life in general. Need to ease up and relax this is where the nature walks or getting outside helps balance the sharpness of the pitta.

Other reasons pitta can be off- Too much spicy food, alcohol, staying up past 10pm to finish work which increases focus, starting the day with coffee = more acid in body which turns into sore throats burning esophagus.

Workouts

• Medium intensity based workouts
• Creative workouts/play
• Walks
• Typically love competitive sports

 

General Practices

• Flow & let go
• Avoid burnout
• Eat a large lunch 
• Avoid processed foods they affect pittas the most 
• Watch the spice & alcohol to avoid pitta flare-ups
• Relaxing evening practice at end of day to shut down work 

Looking for more about each dosha or to find out which dosha you are, check out the find your dosha quiz for even more vata, pitta & kapha information!