May: The Opportunity to #Rebuild
- Rachel Bonifacio
- May 6
- 5 min read
Summer has really raised the heat index in Manila this year (together with our Meralco bill)! As a tropical girlie, I like the heat, but I also sometimes cannot take too much of it.
Recently, I've been reaching for food that can help cool the body: cold water, fruit juices, vegetables and seafood -- raw or otherwise. I noticed I have less preference for coffee and oatmilk intake (would you believe?), rice, and red meat. In terms of activities, I've been doing less explosive gym exercises and more yoga and Pilates, both in cooler (i.e. not warm/hot) spaces.
Some of these behaviors are intentional, but some are instinctive. I don't always get them right, but when I do, I notice the balance in my body, thoughts, and emotions, and as a result, my days become easier to navigate.
Earlier this afternoon, as I was enjoying the sunset ride, I remembered something I already know, but have gotten buried in the things I have to do every day: the Doshas.
Using Doshas to find balance
In Ayurveda, the ancient Indian system of holistic medicine, the concept of doshas refers to three fundamental energies believed to govern the physical and mental processes of the human body. These doshas—Vata, Pitta, and Kapha—are derived from the five elements (earth, water, fire, air, and ether) and represent different combinations of these elements.
Vata embodies air and ether and is associated with movement and communication; Pitta, made of fire and water, governs digestion, transformation, and metabolism; and Kapha, composed of earth and water, is responsible for structure, stability, and lubrication.
Every individual has a unique balance of these doshas, which influences their physical constitution, mental tendencies, and overall health. Understanding one’s doshic makeup can offer deep insights into maintaining balance, preventing disease, and living in harmony with nature’s rhythms.
Food for balance
Food is considered a powerful tool for balancing the doshas, with each dosha responding differently to tastes, temperatures, and food qualities. To find balance, we are encouraged to eat in ways that counteract their dominant or aggravated dosha.
Since Philippine summer is pitta-dominant, with heat and intensity, we should be balancing it out by reaching for soothing, cooling, and hydrating foods such as cucumbers, sweet fruits, and, well, water. In a sense, we have gotten this down pat: halo-halo, mais con yelo, cold salads, and other summer quenchers. (Of course, given our weather, these are welcome all year round.) Pitta-balancing food are also what we can go for when we are feeling hot, sharp, and intense emotions like anger, rage, irritability, impatience, jealousy, and criticism.
During the rainy season, kapha, associated with heaviness and sluggishness, is balanced by light, spicy, and astringent foods like leafy greens, legumes, and warming spices. Kapha emotions, such as sadness, loneliness, depression, feelings of being possessive or resisting change, or just feeling lethargic, can be balanced by avoiding overeating, and favoring warm, cooked meals over raw or heavy ones. I find that light, soupy foods such as nilaga and tinola help with kapha management.
During the colder and windy season (January to early March), we can say that the dominant dosha is vata, and during this time, Ayurveda recommends warm, moist, grounding, and nourishing foods that calm the nervous system and support digestion. Champorado, arroz caldo, and warmer, heavier, and spicier dishes like caldereta, Bicol express, and grilled steak -- all with freshly cooked rice are great choices. We can also reach for these food choices when we are feeling unstable, airy, tentative, worried, anxious, restless, and overstimulated, all of which are vata-based emotions.
How about our yoga practice?
Physically, the doshas can also tell you what practice to go for when you are looking to balance your wellness.
For example, because pitta is hot and fiery by nature, emotional cooling and soothing practices like rest, time in nature, and calming breathwork can help restore equilibrium. (I am pitta-dominant as a person, so my meditation practice includes painting.) In Treehouse, you can join cooling and calming classes like Yin Yang Flow, Recentering Yin Yoga Practice, and Slow Flow to balance out your intense emotions and daily life, if this is your intention.
Some yogis though, as you would notice, prefer to attend a more intense (or even heated) practice even though everything around them is pitta-dominant, and in this case, maybe the intention is more towards releasing or tiring out the nervous system so that they can access rest and recovery. It could also be psychological, that is, to sublimate and expend their energy in a productive, helpful way, rather than in harmful ways.
Practices like Vinyasa Flow, Serenity Flow, Creative Chill Flow, and Yogilates Hybrid Flow are perfect balancers for those who feel like they need a boost of energy or a skip to their step. If you are feeling kapha-dominant: heavy, sluggish, and in need of an inspiration, these classes can generally give you that dopamine boost and make you feel like you achieved something for yourself.
Lastly, when you feel like your mind is all over the place and overwhelmed with things, Ashtanga (Half) Primary Series and Embodied Asana can be your go-to grounding practice. Ashtanga gives you something consistent and predictable in every single class, while Embodied Asana will have you focusing on even the smallest sensations in the body as you move -- switching after a few breaths with no time to overthink. Hatha-Vinyasa Flow is equally great for grounding vata emotions.
Rebuilding mindfulness on and off the mat
Understanding the doshas—Vata, Pitta, and Kapha—offers a powerful lens through which we can view our health, emotions, and daily choices with greater compassion and clarity. Rather than labeling traits, food, practices, and emotions as good or bad, Ayurveda invites us to recognize imbalances as gentle signals and to respond with mindful adjustments in our intake, our lifestyle, and how we approach self-care.
By tuning into the unique rhythm of our daily life and honoring what brings us into balance, we deepen our connection to ourselves and to the natural world. In this way, working with the doshas becomes not just a wellness practice, but a lifelong journey of harmony, awareness, and self-discovery.
But then... sometimes, we forget about it. (Like I did!)
And that's okay.
Because we can rebuild that skill, that awareness, and the practice altogether.
We can always try again.
How about you, what are you rebuilding this month?
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