Your Body's Thermostat Is Affected By Your Perception

In Ayurveda there are three body types: vata, pitta and kapha.  Each body type may feel a particular temperature when it is out of balance.  Vata will feel cold, pitta will feel hot and kapha will feel cool and lethargic.  While most of us have a predominant body type, we each have elements of the other types because they govern certain body functions, seasons and even the clock.  Therefore, each body type can experience imbalances that are associated with the other types. 

Vata, for example, is prone to fear.  They tend to feel sensitive to cold and will experience anxiety when they are exposed to cold temperatures.  Yet, if one of the other types feels anxious, they will more likely sense a room's temperature as cold.  A recent study divided people in to two groups.  One group had an enjoyable encounter while going through a task describing photos.  The other group was treated in a condescending manner while performing the same task.  The group who were not treated well described the room as feeling cold.  The social anxiety produced an out of balance vata type reaction. 

Science has proven what Ayurveda has always known.  Anxiety and fear aggravate vata which will act in predictable ways when imbalanced.  Another supporting example is a funeral.  How do the grieving people feel at a funeral or burial?  They usually feel chilled.  Next time you are feeling cold when the temperature would usually feel normal, maybe you need to see if there is something else going on.

Ayurveda translated means knowledge of life or nature.  It is a holistic system that works with body from a natural viewpoint.  When we know our body is always talking to us, we can handle the fluctuations and symptoms and make our selves more balanced.

Stay healthy & well,
Lisa