For the last two years I have been part of an online community hosted by a friend and yoga teacher here in Cochrane about Ayurveda, which is known as the sister science to yoga. I will do my best to explain some of it, but I highly encourage you to visit Jill's site to learn more, especially about the doshas.
Ayurveda believes that all living things, and the food we eat are composed of the 5 elements; space or ether, air, fire, water, and earth. Similarly we each have a mind-body make up, our constitution, which we call the three doshas.
Vata - space and air
Pitta - fire and water
Kapha - earth and water
Each dosha has its own characteristics, both positive and negative. You can look up online tests to help determine your own dosha, and don't be surprised if you are more than one. I am primarily kapha (earth) with a side helping of pita (fire). Everything you look up at kapha says things like "overweight" "prone to depression" "emotional eater" "heavy frame". So when I encountered this first at teacher training and we all did the quiz, I skewed my answers knowingly so I would not be kapha. I didn't want to be that. Even a two years ago I really leaned into the secondary dosa as pitta. Even in the yoga community I have had read kapha referred to as "big fella" (clearly written by a vata- who are described as mobile, fast, light, and thin).
In talking about it with my husband and I said that I suppose I could live with sturdy as a description... and he smiled and said that my "sturdiness" is what he loves about me, not my physical body but we kaphas are full figured and voluptuous usually, but my steady personality. My calmness in chaos. My resiliency. My willingness to grow and change. And these are the things that I love about myself too. It is what made me good at my job. It is what has helped me heal and move forward from my brain hemorrhage. It is what helps me find insight into my own patterns and stories.
So all you other "sturdy" people about there, it is time we honour what comes with our heavy frame and love of cake. I really do love cake. We should be on every police force, in the elementary schools, crisis counsellors, running or cycling long distances, you want us as your best friends, your wives or husbands. Wanna feel good about your kapha body? Listen to "Fat Bottom Girls" by Queen, or my personal favourite "Roller Derby Queen" by Jim Croce. There is an SNL sketch where Tom Hanks is on Black Jeopardy. The category is "big girls" and the answer is "This is what a skinny girl can do for you." The correct question is "Not a damn thing". It is my favourite. Every dosha has it good qualities and the qualities that flare up when it is out of balance. To me it always felt like the imbalances for the other doshas were still desirable in our society. I know now that they maybe portrayed as acceptable but to the people experiencing them they are not wanted and they would love to just feel sturdy.
I know I need to move my body everyday to stay my best self. It always makes me feel better. I know that as much as I love food, I feel worse when I don't eat properly. Vegetables and protein make my system the happiest. I see my strong legs in the mirror now and thank them for all the kilometres they take me in a week. I have been the same weight give or take 10 pounds for 20 years. It is likely more than it should be. But I am finally okay with this body. Because all the things I didn't like about it for years, are exactly the things I love about the rest of me.
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