[Ayurveda & Siddha Theory > Dosha Theory > Causes of Disease > Dhatus Body Tissue]
Ayurvedic and Siddha physicians gathered information by observing nature and the elements. As they studied their behaviors and qualities, they began to compare and understand how they work in the body. What goes on in the world also goes on within the human physiology.
The difference is that when the elements manifest within the body, they are called doshas.
There are three main doshas called Vata, Pitta and Kapha, or sometimes called air, bile and phlegm.
Vata governs all movement in the body and is responsible for all voluntary and involuntary impulses. It is the director of transportation, causing everything in creation to move to the right place and the right time. Because it controls all movement in nature, it actually governs the actions of the other two doshas.
- Cellular Level: Controls the movement into and out of the cells bringing in nourishment and carrying away wastes.
- Qualities: Dry, light, quick, cold, minute, rough, mobile
- Emotional: Fear and anxiety
- Symptom: Pain, spasm
- Element: Wind-Ether, Air, Space
- Body Zones: Colon, Bones, Skin, Mind
Pitta manifests the properties of heat and light and facilitates all transformations in the body and the mind, such as digestion and assimilation. Pitta regulates temperature and is associated with the Sun.
- Cellular Level: It is the functioning inside the cells
- Qualities: Hot, sharp, penetrating, light, acidic, slightly oily
- Emotional: Anger, irritation, critical
- Symptom: Inflammation, fever, irritation
- Element: Fire
- Body Zones: Small Intestines, Liver, Blood, Skin
Kapha governs form and substance and is responsible for weight, stability and lubrication. It influences the ocean tides and the ebb and flow of fluids in the body, it is associated with the moon.
- Cellular Level: Binds and holds together
- Qualities: Heavy, slow, cold, steady, solid, oily
- Emotional: Desire, attachment
- Symptom: Oozing, swelling, mucous
- Element: Water, Earth
- Body Zones: Stomach, Head, Chest Lungs
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