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Writer's pictureVeena Haasl-Blilie

Ayurveda Aromatherapy for Vata, Pitta, and Kapha

Updated: Oct 2

Ayurvedic aromatherapy has a history that spans thousands of years. It harnesses the energetic qualities of essential oils and their fragrances to restore and preserve dosha equilibrium. Explore this age-old tradition and discover its advantages for dosha balance in contemporary living. Find out which scents suit you best.

woman doing aromatherapy

Explore more on the Saumya Blog, selected top Ayurveda blogs and websites.

What Is Ayurveda Aromatherapy?

Essential oils are the distilled essence of aromatic plants used to enhance your health and wellbeing. Though part of Ayurveda's ancient traditions spanning thousands of years, aromatherapy is now considered a holistic therapy that supports whole being--body, mind, and spirit.


"Essential oils can make a positive impact on your health and well-being as long as you use them in a safe way...Aromatherapy is the practice of using essential oils for therapeutic benefit.


Aromatherapy has been used for centuries. When inhaled, the scent molecules in essential oils travel from the olfactory nerves directly to the brain and especially impact the amygdala, the emotional center of the brain." according to Johns Hopkins.


How Does Aromatherapy Work?


Aromas influence the nervous system through tiny molecules that are noticed by olfactory receptors. Those receptors communicate to the brain via the olfactory nerve. These messages stimulate the hypothalamus and the brain’s limbic system.

 

What’s the limbic system all about? It functions to control emotions and warehouses memories. What happens next? Your brain, in response to the aroma, releases hormones such serotonin, endorphins, and dopamine. Those hormones play a vital role in several body functions including mood, sleep, and the all-important digestive process.


Think about a fond childhood memory, for example visiting grandma’s home. We usually recall the smell of her home, her food, her baking cookies, and not so much the color of her drapes. 


Senses are important in Ayurveda and smell is a powerful connector to emotion and memory. When we understand our doshic picture, we can choose aromas that are correct, that is to say, balancing for us specifically and it can be a wonderful tool for restoring balance. The flips side is also true. Not clear on your doshic picture, using the wrong aroma can further aggravate an imbalance.

 

As with all herbs, the tenet of Ayurveda is that what works well for one person may be incorrect for another. Aromas listed below are for informational purposes only. To know what aromas are correct for you, please book a consultation.



What Conditions Are Treated with Aromatherapy?

According to the Cleveland Clinic, aromatherapy can help treat stress, anxiety, and sleep disorders. From Ayurveda's perspective, many other conditions can be helped with aromatherapy including colds, sinusitis, allergies, mood challenges, and digestive issues, just to name a few.

Essential oil treatment can be as easy, fast, convenient, and as simple as inhaling a few deep, diaphragmatic breaths of the aroma that is best suited to your doshic needs.


The Benefits of Ayurveda Aromatherapy for Mind and Body Health

 

 Ayurveda uses essential oils to restore balance naturally and gently to the doshas.  Essential oils can help with:

"Essential oils can lift your mood and make you feel good with just a whiff of their fragrance. For some people they may even help alleviate the symptoms of various conditions." (Johns Hopkins)

Certain scents elicit physiological responses that can help us fall asleep. Aromatherapy is a fantastic Ayurvedic morning or evening ritual that’s easy to incorporate into your daily flow.

imbalanced rocks

How Do I Know If I Have a Dosha Imbalance?

Look at these comprehensive and convenient lists of signs and symptoms of dosha imbalances.

As we are all comprised of Vata, Pitta, and Kapha, there can be an imbalance in any of the doshas, or a combination of dosha imbalances. Read all three lists and see if anything looks familiar.


woman smelling a bottle of essential oil

How Do I Find High Quality Essential Oils?

Quality matters. Whether using a dried herb or an essential oil, it is plant medicine, and we don't want to skimp on quality.

It can be challenging to determine if an essential oil is high quality or not, but here's a few tips for what to look for:

  1. Is that Latin, botanical name provided on the bottle, so you know you're getting the right oil.

  2. Is the country in which the plant grown provided? Quality varies by country.

  3. Is there a 100% purity statement?

  4. Is the price similar to the same exact (Latin name) essential oil sold by other brands? If the oil is cheaper, or cheap, it is likely not the real deal and therefore, no deal at all.

  5. The bottle should be dark, usually amber glass and tightly sealed.

  6. Does the label state which part of the plant was used?

  7. Does the label indicate the extraction process? (Distilled or expression.)

  8. There should be details about the oil including cultivation, composition, country, plant part used, color, consistency, yield, and as mentioned, the extraction method.

  9. If it says "fragrance" it is not an essential oil.


hand holding a dropper bottle of essential oils


How To Use Essential Oils:

  • Mist your pillow with a spray

  • Add a few drops to a warm bath

  • Use in a steamy shower

  • Disperse with an oil diffuser

  • Soak a cotton ball and place by your bedside

  • Direct palm inhalation: put a drop in your palm, rub the palms together and take a couple of deep breaths into the hands.

  • Add a few drops to your abhyanga oil. (Ayurveda self oil massage)

  • Be sure to use a carrier or base oil with your essential oil if applying it to the skin. Carrier oils include jojoba and almond. Do NOT apply essential oils directly to the skin. If you're adding essential oil to your bath, it also needs to be mixed with a carrier oil.

  • Be aware that even when heavily diluted in a carrier oil, there is the potential for skin irritation and related issues.

  • Enjoy our guided practice while performing aromatherapy to deepen the benefits.


bottles of essential oils and diffuser

Ayurveda Aromatherapy for Vata, Pitta, and Kapha


What Aromas Balance Each Dosha?

  • Vata: warm, sweet, grounding, soothing aromas. This includes lavender, vetiver, cedarwood, clove, patchouli, sweet orange, geranium rose, ylang/ylang, frankincense, and vanilla.

  • Pitta: sweet and cooling. This includes sandalwood, rose, honeysuckle, and fennel.

  • Kapha: warm, spicy, and invigorating. This includes camphor, juniper, eucalyptus, marjoram, grapefruit, bergamot, rosemary, sage, cedar, pine, musk, patchouli, and clove.

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"I found Saumya Ayurveda when I was looking for a holistic approach to my health and lifestyle.  

The Ayurveda Consultation with individual attention and focus has been wonderful. I have transitioned from pharmaceuticals to herbal and dietary approaches to manage my high cholesterol and calcium deficiencies. 

 

Digestive issues that have plagued me my entire life have disappeared. I am a dedicated user of the oils to ease arthritis pain. 

 

I was so pleased with my results that I recommended Saumya Ayurveda to my daughters and my mother. My mother enjoys the tea, and the oil is working so well for the arthritis in her hands and shoulders that she has been able to stop using harsh pain medications. Ayurveda is helping me to take care of myself and I can enjoy each day.”

--Rachelle Chase, retired Director Business Process, Target Corporation, Minnesota



 

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Psst! Our clients say it best – so read and watch more of our client's stories.

Ayurveda Aromatherapy for Vata, Pitta, and Kapha is another tool to add to your Ayurveda lifestyle.

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MEET VEENA: YOUR AYURVEDIC GUIDE

Veena is a Certified Ayurvedic Practitioner and meditation teacher, and monk.


She is President Emeritus and teaching faculty of the Meditation Center.


Veena fell in love with the traditional medicine used in her family’s home, learning herbal remedies at her grandmother's knee.


An experienced Certified Ayurvedic Practitioner, Veena’s deep, intuitive knowledge of Ayurveda empowers her clients to reclaim their fullest, most vibrant lives –mentally, physically, and spiritually.


Veena individualizes treatment plans to each person, rather than offering a one-size-fits-all approach, so it fits your life and becomes woven in your lifestyle, naturally.




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