Words Of Inspiration: Creating Your Indivitual Eating Program

Creating Your Individual Eating Program Part III: The Ayurvedic System/Balancing The Doshas
By Laura M. Turner

If you've taken our quizzes and have found your Oxidative and Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) preferences, you can further define your instinctive eating style by taking some time to discover your Ayurvedic tendencies. (If you haven't read the previous articles on instinctual eating, feel free to view the archive at the end of this article.)

Instructions:

Please consider each characteristic. Then rate each one, according to preference, 0-3 (three being the category which most describes you, zero the category which doesn't describe you at all). The following profile questions pertain to the Ayurvedic Dosha's: Kapha, Pitta, Vata. If your answers are uncertain, go with your first instinct. When you've completed the questionnaire, review the scoring instructions below.

*Characteristics*	*Kapha*	*Pitta*	*Vata*

Pace	Slow	Brisk	Fast
Body Type	Larger Structure	Proportional	Tall and Thin
Fingers/Toes	Short	Medium	Long
Joints	Lubricated	Average	Crack/Grind
Body Weight	Gains Easily	Maintains Weight	Variable Weight
Location Of Weight	Below Waist	Proportionate	Around Waist
Endurance	High	Medium	Low
Physical Activity	Sedentary	Moderate	Active
Appetite/Thirst	Moderate	Doesn’t Skip Meals	Irregular
Metabolism	Slow	Fast	Irregular w/Gas
Best Climate	Mild	Cool	Hot
Worst Climate	Cool/Damp	Hot	Cool/Windy
Bowel Function	Daily/Regular	2X Daily	Irregular
Face	Muscular	Proportioned	Narrow/Irregular
Teeth	Strong/No Problems	Cavity Prone	Uneven/Sensitive
Eye Color	Blue	Green	Dark
Hair Quality	Thick/Straight	Wavy/Fine	Dry/Curly
Hair Color	Light	Brown/Red	Dark
Skin	Clear	Acne Prone	Dry/Patchy
Skin Color	Fair	Freckles/Medium	Dark
Skin Quality	Few Wrinkles	Freckles	Dry
Perspiration	Moderate	Profuse	Rare
Strength	Strong	Moderate	Variable
Voice	Low	Intense	High Pitched
Pain Tolerance	No Tolerance	Moderate	Tolerant
Travel	Don’t Prefer it	Adventurer/With Roots	Transient
Illness	Moderate/Colds Flu	High	Body Pain Mostly
Communication	Cautious	Forceful	Chaotic
Mental State	Calm	Aggressive	Restless
Humor	Serious	Sarcastic	Joyful
Friendships	Few, Loyal	Both	Changes, Many
Competitiveness	None	Very	Variable
Decision Making	Slow, Deliberate	Comprehensive	Impulsive
Grasp Information	Logically	Insightfully	Quick
Receive Information	Sensitive, Feeling	Visual	Auditory
Follow Through	Always, Detailed	Quickly	Inconsistent
Concentration	Steady	Moderate	Erratic
Temperament	Calm	Aggressive	Impatient
Mental Style	Logical	Artistic	Theoretical
Memory	Long Term	Short/Long Term	Short Term
Financial Style	Wealthy, Frugal	Buys When Appropriate	Spends Quickly
Sleep	Easy, Deep	Short	Insomnia
Livelihood	Professional	Blue Collar	Artist
Lifestyle	Home Body	Organized, Pragmatic	Exciting Irregular

Total your numbers for each column. Your highest number will determine your tendency toward a certain Dosha, your "dominant" Dosha. In the next issue, we'll summarize the needs of each Dosha and determine ways to keep your body in balance, as well as how to use this profile to continue to develop your personal instinctual eating program.

Cousens, Gabriel, M.D. Conscious Eating. California: North Atlantic Books, 2000.
Clayton College Holistic Nutrition Workbook (2004). Birmingham, AL: Clayton College Of Natural Health, Inc.

Read The Other Articles In This Series:

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Laura M. Turner is a health journalist, author and net-preneur. She
hosts Beauty & Body Online: Your Home For Natural Health, Wellness
and Creative Abundance. Visit: http://www.beauty-and-body.com
Laura is the Sr. Editor of The New Body News and Wellness Letter.