What's Your Dosha?

If you’re looking for healthy skin that glows from within, the age-old ayurvedic principle of balancing one’s doshas is your best bet.

- Tatiana Dias

With the skin being the largest organ of the body, it isn’t surprising that we spend so much time and effort caring for it. From picking the choicest beauty products and indulging in spa therapies to religiously following personal skincare routines, you do what it takes to maintain a luminous glow. But did you know that it may not be enough? According to the ancient science of ayurveda, the answer to healthy skin lies in its 5,000-year-old approach of treating each individual based on own unique DNA. As opposed to the one-size-fits-all theory, ayurveda believes that no two people can be treated in the same manner as each of us have our own set of blueprints that need to be dealt with respectively. Relying on its holistic philosophy of going beneath the surface, practitioners follow the ayurvedic psycho-physiological principles, known as doshas, when treating skin-related issues or even simply offering advice on maintenance. Doshas govern the activities of the mind as well as determine the physical characteristics of every human being and hence need to be in balance for overall well-being.

Dr Sharad Kulkarni, Ayurvedic doctor, Kama Ayurveda, says “It is a science that aims to treat your body and mind holistically by working towards preventing as well as treating and curing diseases through healthy practices. Maintaining a balanced state of all the doshas signifies good health, which is the main focus of ayurveda.”

Dr Namrata A.P, Medical Director, Dhanwantri Kerala Ayurved, adds, “Ayurveda is an age-old way of life and an ancient system of medicine that operates in tune with nature, making it a holistic and natural healing technique, which believes that there is a definite relationship between illness and the metaphysical state of an individual.”