Understanding your prakriti — a beginner's intro to Ayurveda
Why two people on the same diet, same yoga and same sleep can feel completely different — and what it means for designing a practice that fits you.
One of the questions we ask early in a Customised Yoga Plan consultation is: what is your prakriti?
Most students haven't heard the word. By the end of the session, they understand themselves a little better than they did walking in.
What prakriti means
Prakriti is your Ayurvedic constitution — the particular mix of three energies (called doshas) that shaped your body and temperament from birth, and that still govern how you respond to food, weather, stress and practice.
The three doshas are vata (air and space), pitta (fire and water) and kapha (earth and water). Everyone has all three, but most of us lead with one or two.
Why it matters for yoga
A vata-dominant person — quick, light, often dry-skinned, easily ungrounded — benefits from slow, warm, deeply rooted practice. Long holds. Restorative work. Heavy savasana.
A pitta-dominant person — sharp, focused, prone to overheating — needs cooling, expansive practice. Forward folds. Slow breathing. Permission to not push.
A kapha-dominant person — steady, grounded, sometimes stuck — flowers with energising flow, twists, and stronger breath work.
How you find yours
There are quick online quizzes, but they only get you part of the way. A consultation with someone who looks at your pulse, your tongue, your skin and listens to how you describe your sleep and your digestion is far more accurate.
This is what the Customised Yoga Plan consultation is for — Sapna reads your prakriti and designs a 4-week practice that fits, instead of one that fights you.