Ayurveda Basics: the 5 elements
Someone asked me in a workshop “what is Ayurveda?” and I could not at the time answer in a simple and straightforward manner. This spurred on a deep dive into the foundational pieces in a quest to simplify the complex and multifaceted system.
The very basic foundation of Ayurveda is the 5 elements of Space, Air, Fire, Water, and Earth. Each element has a series of properties that guide us in finding balance through adding or removing components of our lives that align with the element out of balance. Ayurveda also organizes the 5 elements into 3 doshas for additional guidance and here I will briefly explain each.
Space Element: is the most subtle of all the elements and is defined by what it lacks. It is still for it lacks the movement of air/wind, cold as it lacks the heat of fire, and subtle as it lacks the substance of water or earth. It is potentiality, representing all that could come in to form, and precedes the creation of something new for without space there isn’t the availability needed. Think of the empty house with the potential to be filled with meaningful items or trash, fond memories or traumatic ones, many people or few. All things are possible and undetermined at this time, this is space element, and we often lack it in our busy and overfilled lives.
Air or Wind Element: From the subtleness of space we introduce movement in the form of wind. It is still subtle as it is intangible, still cold and clear. Now there are the winds of change, wind can blow from one direction and organize across the plain or can change constantly and create a level of chaos. We can potentially measure movement over distance and quantify it in the metaphor of time - when organized it is represented by the structure of a schedule.
Fire Element: We now add heat to the properties and also light. Fire is transformation and liberation of heat form it’s source. It also allows us the ability to see and perceive in a new way, choosing our course, direction, and pace of travel. You could say fire represents ambition in our lives, our abilities to drive toward a goal and also to over do it. All elements have strengths and need mindful balancing.
Water Element: An interesting element that represents many things often in a way of balance. We have movement and moisture, substance yet with an inability to be held or grasped in one’s hand. Water can be the raging river in flood and the playful creek, the hot bath at the end of the long day and the unending rain storm, the crashing waves on the beach and the endless expanse of glass like reflection in a lake. In our bodies it represents a protective factor of mucous lining our lungs and stomach from the dryness and heat that would otherwise damage these organs. It is cohesive and fluid. We often think of water element metaphorically as the hero’s journey. There is a cyclic nature to it and a journey that can reach to the depths and carry us along on a consistent current.
Earth Element: We now have an element of substance, weight, tangibility and coolness. It can represent stability and also stagnation when out of balance. Earth is the representation of what is, it is our bodies and the tangible things that exist in our lives as opposed to the more creative, etheric, transformative forces or ideas.
From the 5 elements we form 3 Doshas in Ayurveda. These are Vata (space and air), Pitta (fire and water), and Kapha (earth and water). Here is a brief overview of each.
Vata: As you can guess with the elements involved, Vata is light, spacious, subtle, creative, dry, and scattered. We see it in our bodies in people who are thin and long, maybe have asymmetrical aspects to their faces, tend toward dryness and restlessness, and move a lot. In our minds it can be unboundedness - limitless creativity and ideas with a great challenge in containing them, drawing boundaries, and bring them down to earth in actionable steps. Easy to start and hard to finish tasks, quick energy that fades, and moving in many directions at once. The strengths to highlight are creativity, lightness, expansiveness and openness. The challenges or downsides are inability to finish or follow through, in lightness the world can seem to weighty or these people can get knocked over easily, and can be scattered and all over the place.
Pitta: Is the drive to do and change of fire balanced by the protection of water. We need both aspects to move forward - too much fire and we burn through our energy, our relationships, our stamina. With water element it brings in coolness and a playful nature, helping us to step back, even if just slightly, to laugh at our mistakes or our intensity, to cool off when getting over heated and be able to move forward with determination and balance. In people we see it in a musculature build, a hot temper or driven nature, the tendency toward anger as an emotion and the ability to transform a problem into a path forward.
Kapha: with earth and water together we would form mud. It is dense and heavy, stable and coherent, and we can form things that last. Kapha offers us that stability when in balance and stagnation when there is too much. Kapha can be too heavy, it can be too much weight on the body, to much heavy emotions to get going and be sticky or stubborn in an unwillingness to move. Coupled with the high start energy of vata it can offer us the much needed balance and endurance, with pitta as well it can give our drive sustenance over time.
This is just a basic overview of the foundational piece of Ayurvedia. I use this very often in both the real and metaphorical sense in workshops, coaching and retreats to see the balance of our lives in a different way. Consider which elements and doshas you see most in your life now and as a general theme, and which elements you can lack and look to balance them in small ways, even just in thoughts. Are your thoughts spacious and allow for creativity and potentiality or scattered and overwhelmingly expansive; sharp and too the point or bringing clarity and direction; stagnant and stuck or offering the long term mindset and endurance to move through challenges and successes with ease day after day?
