Did you know that how you exercise can increase or decrease vata in your body and mind? This blog will share some yoga poses and exercises you can do to balance vata in this chapter of our all about vata blog series.

But first, what is vata? It’s one of the 3 doshas, or bodily humors, in ayurveda responsible for your biological functioning. It’s primarily made up of the ether and air elements, making it light, dry and cold. A cold, windy day is a great example of vata predominance in nature. The primary function of vata is movement. Basically, it helps move along things, lets things flow.

Is vata bad?

It depends, says ayurveda. We need just the right amount. A balanced level of vata depends on what we were born with. Too much vata creates imbalance.

How do I know if I have too much vata?

Well, it can manifest in a variety of ways from dry skin and wrinkles to racing thoughts, bloating and constipation. An ayurvedic practitioner can help assess the state of your vata and work with you to balance it.

How do I accumulate vata?

The amount of vata inside you depends on your natural constitution you were born with, lifestyle and diet. But that’s not all. The weather, season and other external factors (e.g., surgery) also create fluctuations in vata levels. It’s no surprise that when you add these internal and external variants together, your vata can easily go out of balance if you’re not careful. Therefore, your goal should always be to make your current level of vata the same as what you were born with. That’s what balanced vata means.

5 yoga poses and exercises for vata

Now, that we got some basic concepts out of the way, let’s take a look at some exercises that help balance vata.

1. Standing balancing poses

Tree, dancer, uttitha, even better uttitha twist, any standing balancing poses, really. Balancing poses force the mind to focus, thus helping calm racing thoughts.

2. Forward bends

Standing and sitting forward bends are all helpful in pacifying vata as they put pressure on the colon and pelvic area.

3. Supine floor exercises

Happy baby, wind-releasing pose, plow, half shoulder stand and leg lifts are essentially forward bends on your back. You’re still lifting your legs up to put pressure on the colon and pelvic areas.

4. Back bends on the floor

The secret to lowering vata with back bends is to come up high with your torso, while pressing your pelvic and lower abdominal area firmly into the floor. Think of cobra and locust.

5. Squats

Squats are your friends to help alleviate vata, not to mention the benefits for your glutes. Go slow and low.

Hold these poses longer than you think you should—and go slowly. Move with intention.

What’s your favorite vata-pacifying exercise? Let us know in the comments.

Image by Jonathan Borba, Pexels