All Ayurvedic principles are important but the one that provides the main framework for customizing treatments and making them so memorable is the third principle, which introduces the idea that each client is unique and should be treated individually. Each client is the manifestation of subtle energy, a blend of the three doshas: vata, pitta and kapha. Every client is given a SUNDARI consultation to determine his/her’s dosha.

A dosha is sometimes described as a somatic unbounded intelligence or invisible force that is responsible for all the physiological and psychological processes in the body/mind system. Doshas cannot be measured by science or perceived by the ordinary senses they are vibrational modes in subatomic matter. We experience them in the rhythms of nature, the motion of the planets and complexity of DNA. The amount we have of each dosha according to Ayurveda, determines not only the way we look but also how we think, speak, act and feel. Doshas are not fixed in quantity or location and do have the natural tendency to change, move and become unbalanced. They are what makes order out of complete chaos. With them, form is given life and without them we are dust. There are three doshas that keep us alive. They combine qualities of the five great elements space, air, water, fire and earth.

Vata which means to move or enthuse combines qualities that are like space and wind. It is the most subtle, least tangible and yet most powerful of all the doshas as it alone can travel around the body without assistance. The vata dosha is responsible for all movement in the body both those that are voluntary such as walking and those that are involuntary such the heart beating and on the subtle level even for the movement of thoughts through the mind.

Pitta which means to heat or burn combines the qualities of the fire and water elements. Like steam that is made when fire and water combine pitta doshas is forceful and hot. The pitta dosha and is responsible for all transformations in the body such as the transformation of food to cell nutrients or transformations in the mind of information to personal understanding. It works with all the biochemical messengers in the body so are tightly linked with the hormonal and endocrine systems.

Kapha means to embrace or keep together. It combines qualities that are like earth and water just as dust and rain mixed together make clay so kapha dosha is responsible for the body’s form and all lubrication in the system such as the moisture in our mouth and sinuses, the fluid in our joints and the fat around our organs.

Each of us has our own unique combination of Vata, Pitta and Kapha doshas or subtle energetic qualities.