How you experience the world is unique. We’re familiar with introverts and extroverts, star signs and enneagrams. So what is a doshas and how does it impact your performance?

Dosha is your energetic makeup that informs how you interact with the world around you. There are three doshas : vata, pitta and kapha. Each of us has a unique combination of all three, creating a personal energetic thumbprint. In developing an understanding of the doshas we can explore the impact of our environment. The spaces that we’ll thrive in, and even the places that we’ll crash and burn. That is if we choose to pay attention…

One of the biggest factors to not reaching reaching peak performance is burnout or mismanagement of energy input vs output.

We’ve all seen it : The athlete that gets injured right before the big game. The smartest student in the class needing to take a term off after anxiety takes over. Deeply passionate high performers are often at the highest risk of burnout because of their willingness to ignore signs + symptoms of stress until it’s too late.

This is where a yoga practice can have a huge impact!

When you are able to recognize how stress + tension is showing up for you physically, mentally and emotionally you can select practices that will help pacify these symptoms and return to homeostasis.

Step 01 : Identify signs + symptoms of burnout.

Step 02 : Determine which of the three doshas is presenting most imbalanced.

Step 03 : Implement pacifying practices such as asana (movement) + pranayama (breath work ) + meditation + lifestyle changes.

Step 04 : Return to center and continue pursuing your highest potential.

The 3 doshas : vata, pitta and kapha all have their unique strengths. For the purpose of understanding the potential of burnout mitigation the list below offers a brief glimpse into symptoms of stress and pacifying practices :

Vata -

Symptoms : anxious, insomnia
Pacifying practices : forward folds / twists + longer exhale
Recommended classes : restorative + yoga nidra

Pitta -

Symptoms : irritable, argumentative
Pacifying practices : twists / some backbends + samavritti (equal breath)
Recommended classes : hatha + iyengar

Kapha -

Symptoms : over attached, lack of motivation
Pacifying practices : laterals / backbends + longer inhale
Recommended classes : dynamic vinyasa + ashtanga

The purpose of your yoga practice isn’t to get better at the practice. The purpose is to utilize the practice to mitigate burnout, reset to a state of balance and return to optimizing the potential of your life.

To more about developing a progressive personal practice here.

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How Performance is Impacted by Doshas.